Broken camshaft? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

phantazn · 04-23-2011, 12:13 AM

quick backgroud:

Car had been rattling/grinding on cold starts, and was taken in for a tsb 0087-09. It was supposed to get a new cam gear set.

As it happens, the tech didn't properly align the gears, and snapped the timing chain. After a week or so of being bullshitted back and forth, I come to discover that they're waiting on a new camshaft because they broke that too. Yup, they broke the fuckin camshaft along with the timing chain. Engine was running when it snapped.

So anyways, before I go down there and chew them out for withholding what I would consider very crucial information rather than just fessing up and explaining the situation, how fubar is the motor? I'm fully expecting some valve on piston carnage, but whats the worst case and best case scenarios?

phantazn · 04-23-2011, 12:16 AM

Forgot to mention, this is the 09 corolla.

madbikes · 04-23-2011, 07:08 AM

I'm curious how close you are from the end of warranty.

I hope the camshaft and timing chain are the only thing damaged from the misalignment. How long did it take the engine to stop after the timing chain snapped? You'll be fine if the 2ZR-FE is not an interference engine. If not, then I'd be somewhat concerned.

carsrus · 04-23-2011, 07:20 AM

I would raise hell. There are going to be small dinks on each piston top, however slight they might be. And force them to put a whole new head on it, in the long term it will bite you in the ass if its not fixed right.

2zr-ge · 04-23-2011, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madbikes

I'm curious how close you are from the end of warranty.

I hope the camshaft and timing chain are the only thing damaged from the misalignment. How long did it take the engine to stop after the timing chain snapped? You'll be fine if the 2ZR-FE is not an interference engine. If not, then I'd be somewhat concerned.

the 2zr-fe is def an interference engine so toyota might have tko'd that motor!!!

phantazn · 04-23-2011, 01:19 PM

Thanks guys, I'm heading down there now. Broken timing chain and broken camshaft on an interference engine, I'll definitely call them out on any bs they spew.

MAToyotaSales · 04-23-2011, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phantazn

Thanks guys, I'm heading down there now. Broken timing chain and broken camshaft on an interference engine, I'll definitely call them out on any bs they spew.

You should be made whole, Id ask to bring an outside mechanic in to verify any damage other than what they are offering to replace. If he finds nothing you'll pay him and be on your merry way. If he finds additional damage you might have just saved yourself a ton of $$ down the road. This is totally on the dealership, and they have insurance for mistakes like this. Of course though, like any insurance policy they are trying to perform "damage control" and you oght to make sure it isn't at your expense.

ZO6_Vette · 04-23-2011, 06:40 PM

Have a mechanic pull the plugs and scope the pistons for damage.

phantazn · 04-24-2011, 01:35 PM

The hood was open when we got there to "pick up a few things left in the car" and to get the rental. The service manager stand in who took us back really had no idea what was going, so I got an opportunity to poke around and check the car out for myself. My observations:

the cylinder head has been pulled and reinstalled (manifolds off, old gasket in trash, radiator, coolant lines all gone, etc)
no visible damage to the valve stems
one of the new timing gears is broken, new set sitting on the bench
new timing chain ready to go in
there is already 1 new camshaft installed, the other is the original. I'm assuming they're waiting on that one, but I can't seem to find any breaks on it.

From what little I could see looking into the plug holes, the pistons seem ok.

Looks like they've checked things out thoroughly and are/will replacing what they broke. The question now is to see how they're going to try and play this off to corporate, which will determine whether or not the warranty gets extended.

I still don't have the full story on exactly what happened other than the timing chain broke. As i mentioned earlier, the stand in guy had no idea what was going on so I was unable to get info out of him. That has been the big issue all along; shit happens, but fess up and fix it rather than dicking around and bullshitting about the timeline.