2002 Camry 4 cylinder blown head gasket

[briandownunda]

Hi,

I just bought a 2002 Camry LE with 110K miles on it. The head gasket is blown.....is there a problem with the head bolts in these cars ? I have seen some blogs about loose head bolts & blown head gaskets.

The previous owner is an older gentleman who drove it for a while after the gasket blew, but the engine still runs.

Are there any references to other threads on this topic ? Just wanted to start familiarizing myself before I get to work.

Thanks in advance,

Brian (new member)

[toyomoho]

The threads in the block can fail the result is loose bolts.

If this is the problem Toyota's answer is a new block. There may be third party methods to repair the treads such as Time-Sert thread inserts. See link below:

http://www.timesert.com/html/toyota.html

[njerald]

Search...

[briandownunda]

Thanks for the reply....what is the best way to identify the loose bolts ? Take off the valve cover & attempt to re-torque them ?

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Well,

When you pull the head to fix the blown gasket, the "loose" bolts just might be the problem....

[teenarose]

I am having a problem with 2003 Solara 125,000 miles, 4 Head bolts supposedly damaged the threads because of overheating (according to the dealership). They do not want to repair, want me to buy used (31,000 miles) engine. Total bill of 5900.00
Car never gave check engine light or stranded me on the highway due to overheating! I am not happy.
Teenarose

[JOET/CAMRY]

I am going to be inheriting a 2003 Camry. I hope this loose headbolt and blown headgasket deal is not a problem with the 5th generation 4 cylinder camry engines. That would really suck. I just have the feeling this car is not going to be as reliable as my (current car) 1989 Camry with 271,000 miles on it. Both the 4 cylinder (3s-fe) engine and transmission are original and never rebuilt. I'm sure this car could go 350,000 miles easy : )

[carsrus]

Originally Posted by JOET/CAMRY

I am going to be inheriting a 2003 Camry. I hope this loose headbolt and blown headgasket deal is not a problem with the 5th generation 4 cylinder camry engines. That would really suck. I just have the feeling this car is not going to be as reliable as my (current car) 1989 Camry with 271,000 miles on it. Both the 4 cylinder (3s-fe) engine and transmission are original and never rebuilt. I'm sure this car could go 350,000 miles easy : )

The head bolt issues are only a problem with the gen 5 2.4 4cyl. Idk if the newer toyotas can make it to 350k like the old tanks use to. They just dont build them like they used to.

[carsrus]

Originally Posted by teenarose

I am having a problem with 2003 Solara 125,000 miles, 4 Head bolts supposedly damaged the threads because of overheating (according to the dealership). They do not want to repair, want me to buy used (31,000 miles) engine. Total bill of 5900.00
Car never gave check engine light or stranded me on the highway due to overheating! I am not happy.
Teenarose

There taking you to the bank. Get it towed to a local non stealership. Should cost at most 1500$ish to get head bolts replaced.

5900 for a used engine I can buy a newer, lower mileage solara for that.

[JOET/CAMRY]

[QUOTE=carsrus;3511430]The head bolt issues are only a problem with the gen 5 2.4 4cyl.QUOTE]

The generation 5 Camrys are from 2002 - 2006 and I will be getting a 2003 Camry with the 2.4 four cylinder engine.

I wonder what are my options here. keep checking the head bolts for the correct tourqe every 30,000 miles. Do the head bolts work themselves loose after awile? Thank You for any info.

JOET/CAMRY

[JOET/CAMRY]

[quote=JOET/CAMRY;3511676]

Originally Posted by carsrus

The head bolt issues are only a problem with the gen 5 2.4 4cyl.QUOTE]

The generation 5 Camrys are from 2002 - 2006 and I will be getting a 2003 Camry with the 2.4 four cylinder engine.

I wonder what are my options here. keep checking the head bolts for the correct tourqe every 30,000 miles. Do the head bolts work themselves loose after awile? Thank You for any info.

JOET/CAMRY

Well, i did some research and came across this thread from the Toyota Tundra fourms. Why it was posted in there.... beets me. Here it is.

10-12-2008, 06:43 PM
bandkauto
Rookie
My GarageDealer : N/A
2003 Toyota Camry
My DetailsLast Online: 10-12-2008 06:51 PM
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Walterboro, Sc
Posts: 2
Rep Power: 0


Camry With Stripped Head Bolts
I am a service center owner and technician of over 40 years in SC. Recently, a 2003 Camry LE w/ 70,000 miles came into my shop with a coolant leak. I consulted this forum and others to find proof of the same instance in the Toyota Camry. I write this in response to some posts I read on this site. This is to be informative for those in similar situations.

To do the exam, we pressurized the cooling system and put the car up on the lift. We immediately noticed coolant leaking from underneath the plastic INT intake Manifold in the rear of the engine. I also noticed a Large piece of foam rubber between the Intake Manifold and the Engine Block and Head. This was blocking our view of the leak. We could only see that the leak was behind the foam piece. The only option to discover the source of this leak was to remove the plastic intake manifold, which I did. After this was removed, it became obvious that coolant had been leaking a minor amount for quite some time due to build up between the cylinder head and block.

The only option left is to remove the head, which requires an exstensive disassembly (R and R cylinder head). After Loosening the bolts in sequence, I notice the head bolts in the back of the engine are loose. From my experience in the field, I can confidently conclude that this only means one of two things: The bolts were left loose at the factory, or the Bolts are stripped. ( I commonly have seen stripped bolts in the Aluminum Cadillac North Star Block discovered through leaking coolant.)

Next, I removed the head and sure enough, one bolt came out with aluminum in the thread...thus indicating a stripped bolt.

MY THEORY: The placement of the (insulation) foam rubber piece between the Intake Manifold and the engine block created an uneven dispersion of heat, creating "metal fatigue" in the aluminum block allowing the headbolt to strip.

If Toyota had out an Aluminum Manifold instead of Plastic, there would have been no need to insulate (w/ foam piece), thus eliminating the probem.

The only solution to this problem is to unforunately replace the engine. The cost to repair it otherwise would be substantial. This is an engine defect and we WILL be seeing more of this.

http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forum...s/#post1131714


Could his theory about the uneven dispersion of heat (caused supposely by the foam rubber piece located between the manifold and the engine block) be the cause of the threads for the headbolts to deteriorate? I wonder if an aluminum manifold is available for this model engine.

JOET/CAMRY

[teenarose]

I am going to have to meet with them. They want 1200.oo to put the cradle back in and not finish the repair.

[teenarose]

Originally Posted by carsrus

There taking you to the bank. Get it towed to a local non stealership. Should cost at most 1500$ish to get head bolts replaced.

5900 for a used engine I can buy a newer, lower mileage solara for that.

I went back to the dealership with a durometer in hand. When they asked me what it was I told them I was going to do a hardness test on the head-the block- and the head bolt. Very quickly I became a customer they just wanted to make happy. I won't name the dealership but they claim to make customer satisfaction a priority. This was my second trip as the first one I just wanted to see the four stripped bolt holes, and they were definitely stripped. Back to the real issue, I insisted they put in the "timeserts" and they agreed. They did all six bolts, charged a hundred a hole(seems high) (let me know if you have had experience with prices for timesert installs) replaced water pump (no labor charge) and we have it back now and it is running fine.
The moral of the story--Take your care to a reputable garage who will put in the timeserts and you should be fine. If you happen to go to the dealer first--don't accept their pat answer of replacing engine--Insist on the timeserts.
I could be proven wrong about this, but I believe my engine (head bolt issue) is now stronger than it was than the day it was built.
Peace

[BlackG5]

^^ Is your car US or Japan built? This should also be included when talking about 2az-fe head bolt issues..

I have almost 170,000 miles on my 04 Japan built 4-cylinder, with zero signs of head bolt/head gasket leaking issues...

Also, this problem does not happen in a large number of these cars. Think about just how many 2az-fe's are made--- Tc, Rav4, Solara, etc.... Of course there will be a few bad apples out of the batch. Look at Subaru-- their main turbo motor, the 2.5L, is tuned so poorly from the factory to meet emissions, and their piston rings are too weak, that they run very lean at full boost and blow up-- with NO mods and very few miles. Ever since 07 when emission rules got more strict, Subaru has had to lean out their factory tune, which in turn kills motors... This is different from the Toyota issue, but there are tens of thousands of 2az's built. A few are bound to have problems.

[Robert1820]

I agree with BlackG5 on some points. I work at a tire and auto service shop. We service 12-15 2az-fe equipped vehicles per week. I have seen only two cases of obviously blown head gaskets. One was a 2003 Camry at 80k with combustion gases in the coolant. Replaced head gasket, no problems with the head bolts. The other was also a 2003 Camry with oil leaking from the head gasket. That car ran fine, customer declined repair.
I think there is a tendency for low probability problems to be blown up out of proportion on the internet generally and in forums specifically. If this problem becomes widespread (unlikely), I think Toyota might do some repairs out of warranty as they have in the past.