Repairs to my 2002 2AZFE complete

[dave0919]

Well feel a bit better about the 2AZFE engine in my 02 LEX. The 3 center head bolts had no threads left in the block. After 147,500 miles the engine was losing coolant but ran fine (no water in oil) took it apart to replace the head gasket and found the bolt problem. The socket head bolts (3 of them) rounded out and had to be drilled out (did this with a 1/2" hand drill and a 13/32" bit) The head was flat so just had the seals replaced. Using a Time-Sert 11mm 1.5P universal repair kit I drilled out and installed new inserts in all 10 holes. the Time-Sert insert is 30mm long and is a much better repair than a HeliCoil. The engine shows little wear and came clean with soap and hot water (GTX Super Clean). The job took me 5 days (total time) and coast me $750 (dealer wanted $2600 for a short block)

Time-Sert kit $400
Gaskets & WP $250
Install seals $45
Oil, coolant, plugs $55

The engine is not real easy to work on but repairs can be made at home with a few special tools. The head bolts need a 12mm 12point male tool (got mine at Checker Auto for $10)

I have 2 other 2AZFE's in the family so plan to keep the Time-Sert kit, but might rent it out...LOL

Dave

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Dave,

Glad to see you got it running again. I have never used Time-Sert inserts but will check them out. Not many people will even try to do this kind of repair. Congrats....

[Asteroid]

Wow good on you for tackling it yourself. It's great to know the stripped threads can be repaired without too much fuss.

[dave0919]

You can check out the kit at:

"http://www.timesert.com/video/Headbolt01.wmv"

They are not cheap but the longer insert at 30mm I think will hold better than the Heli-Coil (7/8" insert).

The problem is out there although Toyota didn't "know" about it. Machine shops have repaired the blocks but thought the problem was with the mechanic. NOT SO !!! the threads in the block just give up. The TTY type bolts apply a lot of pressure on the threads.

Dave












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[CharmCityES]

good on you for tackling this yourself!

[Yazovets]

That's some seriously impressive work!

[Mike Gerber]

Had you ever changed the coolant on this engine? Just curious.

Mike

[dave0919]

Yes, the coolant and trans serviced at just over 100,000.

The head bolts do not touch coolant so there is no interaction between metals. I think it was just bad casting or lose threads.

Car is running good and if the MPG is still over 30 I will keep it for a while.

Dave

[lammydi]

Originally Posted by dave0919

Yes, the coolant and trans serviced at just over 100,000.

The head bolts do not touch coolant so there is no interaction between metals. I think it was just bad casting or lose threads.

Car is running good and if the MPG is still over 30 I will keep it for a while.

Dave

I wish I can be handy with engine like you.

[warpedrotor]

Glad to here you got it fixed, when I heard about this problem I became neurotic and wanted to get rid of my car; This is the first home fix I've seen reported that confirms a successful repair. Thanks for the detailed info, mine has 65,000 miles, hopefully I will be good for a while.
What was it like dealing with the timing chain, do you have to take all the covers off etc or can you just hang it off to one side?

[MrObvious]

Nice work. I should drive to AZ if I ever have car problems. Haha.

[dave0919]

The chain has 3 off color links, you just put one on the crank and the others on the cams. You could mark the cam links and lay it off to the side, but I wanted to get it out of the engine for cleaning ( chips were everywhere ). You can get the timing cover off (with the engine still in the car) by removing the idler piston stud using 2 nuts.

PS. Ran it into LA last weekend and got 36.6 MPG, looks like I'll keep it for now. I would buy another Toyota with the same engine in it (it's better to know and face the demons)the power and MPG out weigh the problems.

[warpedrotor]

Thanks for the info, I cheated with timing belts a couple of times (Chrysler 2.2, Civic 1.5) by marking them and the camshafts with white-out then holding them tight out of the way with bungee cords; but the chain is probably a little less forgiving to work with. I'm glad to see the engine is performing well. Hopefully newer engines don't have this issue

[Brainstorms]

This is apparently a widespread problem for 2AZ-FE engines...

Just joined. I have a 2002 Camry with a 2AZ-FE engine that sludged up unexpectedly at only 56,000 miles after being regularly serviced by the dealer here in El Monte, CA. Somehow the Toyota dealer missed obvious signs of this, such as THICK brown sludge all over the inside of the oil filler cap...

My new (independent) mechanic, in the process of replacing the engine with a reconditioned engine ($5000), discovered the cause of the problem while torquing down the first head bolt; something "didn't feel right". When he pulled it back out, it had little curls of aluminum slivers on it -- the threads in the aluminum block are too soft, and they strip easily!

Several owners have been reporting head bolt threads that stripped or resulted in loosened bolts (typically between 50k-90k miles), allowing the head to lift up just enough to allow coolant to either "leak out the back" or (in my sad case) slowly seep past the gasket into the crankcase. In my case, this built up oil sludge slowly over time, which destroyed my engine.

Needless to say, my mechanic is now heli-coiling all the block threads on the replacement engine block before bolting the head on.

One service center owner predicts that we'll start seeing a lot of these cases, and that the root cause is the placement of a large piece of insulating foam rubber between the plastic intake manifold and the engine block. This creates an uneven dispersion of heat, causing "metal fatigue" in the aluminum block, allowing the head bolts to strip. If Toyota had made the manifold from aluminum instead of plastic, there would have been no need to insulate it, thus preventing the problem.

[JohnGD]

Heard about Time-serts, but never used them (or need to thus far).

Just curious: $400 for the universal kit? How about the metric M11x1.5 kit at $90 on Amazon? Of course you'll have to buy 30mm pack of 10 serts at about $30 right?

Originally Posted by dave0919

Time-Sert kit $400