I apologize if this is a duplicate thread. I thought I saw a thread on this subject a couple of days ago and now I can't seem to find it.

So, I got the recall notice for the 2018 Camry piston issue. Received it sometime in May/June. Just now getting around to taking my new Camry in for the 6 month courtesy check and to have the recall addressed.

I'm furious.

I dropped the car off yesterday. They told my husband they would have to examine the pistons first and get the date stamp off the piston to tell if the car is affected. Said this shouldn't take too long and they would have an answer for me in the morning. I waited until 1:30 today and called them after not hearing anything. I was told that they were having to do some fuel injector thing to run it through the engine so they could clean things well enough to see the date stamp (I know I'm not explaining this properly but honestly it went right over my head what they were doing). The service manager said that it was taking MUCH longer to do this than they thought it would and it *might* be done late today but, for sure, they'd have an answer tomorrow morning. Apparently there is a lot of "carbon" and they can't see the dates. So I had to stop and get a loaner.

Honestly, I just don't want the car anymore. And I really don't want it if the engine needs replaced. I fear I have no recourse though.

So, has anyone heard any experiences on this recall? I can't believe they can't research my VIN and figure this out.

According to the notice, the cars that are affected were made between the dates of december 17, 2017 - Jan 11, 2018.
The VIN doesn't say the month or day it was made, it just says the Year. But, if you open the driver side door and look at the stickers, it will say the month it was made but i dont recall seeing a specific day. So if your car was built in December or January, they won't know if your car is affected until they read the dates in the piston's and when they were made.

According to the Remedy Instructions, they look up the Piston's date and see if it falls in the affected dates and if it is they replace. They use an endoscope, a small camera, and put it in each piston to look up the date but i guess they can't see it cause its not clean... not sure why they can't clean it. Anyway, if you didn't by the warranty, i would demand to have it for free because you don't know if the new engine will last. If you did buy the warranty demand the warranty to be extended for another two or three years. Try calling Toyota directly and asking them about the problem.

 

Since the car is in the shop, I can't look in the door. I guess if I got the recall notice, my car was probably manufactured close to the time. I purchased it in late February but it had a January 2018 Virginia inspection sticker on it so the dealership took delivery on it some time in Jan 2018.

They claim there is a carbon buildup and they it's taking much longer than they thought to get it clean.

So why would I need to buy a warranty? This is a recall so it's covered and the car only has close to 5K miles on it. Also, according to this dealer, the engine is already warranteed for life as long as I do my maintenance/care at that dealership.

I am definitely not thrilled with spending $30K on a car and having them even LOOK for this problem as they are, much less getting my engine replaced. If the engine does get replaced, I may just end up trading for a 2019. I know I'll lose on that but I just don't really want the car again. After many years of buying Toyotas, I'm totally soured over this. I actually just want the entire car replaced. For 1700 vehicles they could/should do that. No one wants to pay that much money and have this happen. But hopefully I'm just mad tonight, nothing will happen, and this will all be over soon.

 

You miss one oil change, bam the warranty is now denied. Or you use a non toyota brand oil, bam the warranty is now denied. Marketing scheme to make you buy at their dealership.

 

Well fortunately I was going to buy there warranty or not so I wasn't lured in by that. However, I do know someone who had to use it with them and they backed it up.

 

Why can't they tell the build date from the VIN? I was curious about the build date of my '18 SE. I called Toyota and from the VIN they were able to tell me the exact date.

 

So my friend found a very interesting write up on the piston issue (maybe has been posted before).

The defective pistons were from a supplier in Tennessee. During the piston suppliers two shifts (afternoon of December 18th and morning of December 19th), a batch of improperly sized pistons were manufactured due to improper resetting of the machines after the December 18th shift change. On the afternoon of December 19th, the machine was recalibrated and all pistons after that were correctly made.

This batch of pistons was sent out to Kentucky and WV plants. Any car under production during that time could have one bad piston or all bad pistons (or none) depending what was pulled off the shelf.

My car, noted by VIN, was on the production line during the time those pistons were being installed, but there is no way to know if the faulty piston was installed until you examine each piston and verify which lot it came from--looking specifically for a time stamp of afternoon December 18 or morning Dec 19.

If you car was not manufactured between 12/19 and 1/11 (when they figured all the pistons were used), then you are okay. If it was manufactured then and someone is telling you, via just a VIN search, that you are okay, then I'd say they might be wrong.

 

OK, that makes sense. Hope it works out for you. Just having it torn into to determine if it is affected would piss me off too. Hopefully it isn't, but just that work would make my wary.

 

The Saga Continues

So they've now had my car for just over 2 days and they made 3 attempts to clean it up in order to read the time stamp on the pistons. They are unable to get the carbon buildup off of them (car only has 4800 miles on it). They had to file a claim with Toyota because they are only authorized (paid) to attempt to clean it 3 times. They are not authorized to put in a new engine until they can read the pistons. So now they've got a claim in to do more "cleaning" or whatever. Unbelievable.

 

You need to understand that this is dismantling of an engine to get to the piston which is the heart of the block.

Things like this happens unfortunately and be glad Toyota is owing up to this mishap and they're fixing it free of charge.

Only inconvenience on your end is that you don't have your own car for several days, maybe weeks but I do understand your frustration and feeling of not wanting the car anymore. I would too.

Hope everything works out without any issues for you.

 

You need to understand that this is dismantling of an engine to get to the piston which is the heart of the block.
Things like this happens unfortunately and be glad Toyota is owing up to this mishap and they're fixing it free of charge.
Only inconvenience on your end is that you don't have your own car for several days, maybe weeks but I do understand your frustration and feeling of not wanting the car anymore. I would too. Hope everything works out without any issues for you.

I understand that. I'd hate to have a brand new car that had to have the top end dismantled to determine if there's a problem from the factory. I wouldn't want a brand new car knowing that the engine was taken apart, put back together, and then being told there's no problem. You're then relying on the technician who did that work for the life of your car.

 

That sounds all nice 'n easy, but... Per the OP's post (see #11 this thread) the dealer can't get a clean read on the piston info. and had to defer to a higher authority.

 

it's scary to think that there's so much carbon build up on 5K engine to prevent them from seeing pistons for a week. What's going to happen at 50K? Or 100K? Or 200K that some of us expect to reach which isn't unreasonable given that this is Toyota...

 

Final Outcome

So, good news. They worked late into Saturday night and ONE MORE TIME ran the Toyota Motor Corp. directed way to clean the pistons (fuel injector fluid). Didn't work again, so I guess one of the mechanics had an idea to use what I think they told me was some brake fluid (I may have that wrong as my service manager was talking fairly fast). They had the spark plugs out and somehow they were able to put this other fluid on the piston and the carbon immediately cleared.

The pistons did not have the bad dates on them and I do not need a new engine. I did ask about this supposed carbon buildup. It wasn't anything they were surprised about and said they see it, especially due to the ethanol mixed gas. What was troubling was that Toyota directed that they had to clear it a certain way and it did not work. Basically they had to stray off the range to get it cleared.

So, I guess we'll see if there's any fallout from all of this that was done.

 

So, good news. They worked late into Saturday night and ONE MORE TIME ran the Toyota Motor Corp. directed way to clean the pistons (fuel injector fluid). Didn't work again, so I guess one of the mechanics had an idea to use what I think they told me was some brake fluid (I may have that wrong as my service manager was talking fairly fast). They had the spark plugs out and somehow they were able to put this other fluid on the piston and the carbon immediately cleared.

The pistons did not have the bad dates on them and I do not need a new engine. I did ask about this supposed carbon buildup. It wasn't anything they were surprised about and said they see it, especially due to the ethanol mixed gas. What was troubling was that Toyota directed that they had to clear it a certain way and it did not work. Basically they had to stray off the range to get it cleared.

So, I guess we'll see if there's any fallout from all of this that was done.

They probably meant brake cleaner (Brakleen). I've never heard of shoving brake fluid into an engine and would have concerns about what it might do to seals and gaskets.

And if they did not do an oil change AFTER introducing all of this cleaner into the combustion chamber(s), insist on one or do it yourself.

 

should be only using Top Tier gas at the recommended 87 octane. Plenty of articles about drivers wasting money on higher octane gas that is not needed. Top Tier gas provides add'l cleaning/detergent properties.

https://www.toptiergas.com/licensedbrands/

 

Actually, I use Top Tier 87 octane fuel.