[Snooka]

i sent my 92 Camry to get the trottle body cleaned along with other things to a shop whose always been honest and good. However i just got a phone call telling me my engine seized. Some of the stuff used to clean my throttlebody got into the pistons and seized the engine
They explan to me it was their fault and will need to take apart the engine to fix it. they say it will be alright but I'm not too sure what any of this means! I've really never had direct engne trouble. It has always run like a champ. Will taking it apart ruin the engine life???

 

[davemac2]

they must have hydro-locked the engine by putting too much cleaner in. How much engine life can you actually HAVE left on a 92? hard to say whether damage has been done or not. I would think removing the plugs would clear a lock but I'm not an expert.

davemc

 

[alotawatts]

Whos knows....you may do well with this if they end up tearing down and rebuilding !

 

[acitydweller]

what was the mileage on the car?

A throttle body cleaning really just requires removing the intake, wiping and spraying the butterfly. It takes about 15 minutes to do really unless they really dont know what they are doing....

Honest and nice mechanics dont usually mean competent ones.

 

[toyomofo]

Ouch. Well, at least they're not blaming you, like some places would. I'd get the specifics of what they plan to do and research on your own. Even though you say they're being honest, a shop will go the cheapest route, its all about the money. But as stated above, you may come out on top if they do a good job freshening it up.

 

[Luckynumber5]

It should be ok, they will end up removing the spark plugs and it will turn over again. MAKE SURE they do a compression test on all cylinders and give you the numbers. If you dont do this the engine may run fine for a little while but then it might show signs of bigger problems and they wont be liable even though they caused them.

 

[marc780]

It should be ok, they will end up removing the spark plugs and it will turn over again. MAKE

Maybe so but i doubt, he would never have received the phone call. The valves would have opened and blew out the solvent if it was really ok.
this may actually be a blessing in disguise for you! Maybe you will get lucky and they will drop in a used japanase engine. Put i'm betting chances are they will just patch it cheap.

 

[Snooka]

thanks for the insight

I'll check to make sure they do a compression test and i wont sign anything untill I've tested it out. It has 145k on it but it never had engine probs and it is a Japanese engine btw

I'll post what happens next

thanks again for your replys

 

[96CamrySport]

the only thing that could have SEIZED the motor is hydrolocking the pistons. this would be caused by putting so much fluid in that a cylinder fills with fluid (not compressible) and when the motor comes up to compress the cylinder, it gets stopped dead. normal result: twisted rods. THAT would require an in-chassis rebuild or full rebuild at their expense. if the rods aren't twisted, a compression test will show even numbers across all six cylinders. if one or more is low, the next step is to leak down cylinders and try to find other causes - valves not seated, rings, or blown head gasket. if the engine is otherwise mechanically sound, they probably need to do some major surgery at their expense...and buy a different throttle cleaning system.

ALSO, EVERYONE SHOULD REMEMBER THAT NOT ALL SHOPS ARE OUT TO GET YOU. There are a lot of honest shops out there, and most techs and shops are competent and knowledgeable. Sometimes shit happens though, and proper shops won't leave you with a car in worse shape than before. also, nobody ever tells the story about where they went to the shop and everything went right. trust them, but also be involved, and keep us updated in case they aren't being ok.