07 Camry V6 - Failed Cam Timing Valve Assm.

[BoloMK33]

Hey there 07 Camry (v6) owners!

I wanted to tell you about something that happened to me and solicit for feedback if anybody else has had a similar issue.

I was driving into my office last week and I saw that "Check Engine" idiot light come on...I checked all the obvious stuff and could not find anything wrong.

As I have an extended warranty (thanks to the good people in Torrance, CA after they replaced my transmission) I called the dealer and I dropped off the car in the late PM.

Early the next day I was called by the dealer and advised that diagnostics indicated that the "Cam Timing Valve Assembly" (P/N 15330-0
p020) was faulty and needed to be replaced. The problem was...they did not carry the part and they needed to order one from somebody far away (suspect it was the factory or some central Toyota warehouse in another state).

The dealer arranged for a free rental (08 Avalon) at their expense...without even having for me to ask...nice.

The part came in a couple of days later and replaced without any problems.

When asked, the dealer indicated two things;
1) This was the first one that they have ever replaced
2) They received a call from somebody at corporate asking how they determined that the part had failed and they wanted to have it wrapped and sent back to somebody for review.

SO...has anybody else this part fail?

Thanks

PS
Including the rental car for this repair, Toyota has spent more than $15K in warranty related work on my 07 Camry.

[njerald]

Interesting.

DTC P0020 - Camshaft Postion A Actuator Circuit (Bank 2)

The Oil control valve that they apparently replaced regulates the intake camshaft angle (VVTI).

Haven't heard of that on other forums either.

[BoloMK33]

Yep...exactly.

My Service Writer also indicated to me that when they fail, they have a tendency to fail in a mode that advances the timing...could be really bad if the car is driven for long periods of time.

Hey I'm all for the clean dash lines but why can't a manufacturer use some of the computer logic that they have in cars to inform the user of a problem. As in this situation, the Camry has a dot matrix display panel (OK, the radio panel)...why not tell the driver something other than "CHECK ENGINE". I'm not ragging on Toyota...just manufacturers in general.

[akira751]

Thats the first time I have heard about one going bad.

[Tundrav8yamaha]

Originally Posted by akira751

Thats the first time I have heard about one going bad.

yea me too I have a friend with an 07 Hybrid and been ok. I think Toyota Quality is going down the tube's Now time to review something else The New Tundra doesn't gain the respect it deserves on quality.

[ToyotaTech]

Originally Posted by Tundrav8yamaha

yea me too I have a friend with an 07 Hybrid and been ok. I think Toyota Quality is going down the tube's Now time to review something else The New Tundra doesn't gain the respect it deserves on quality.

I don't necessarily agree with you on the quality thing. We've been having some strange things go wrong lately, but overall the quality is still pretty darn good.

[Tundrav8yamaha]

Originally Posted by ToyotaTech

I don't necessarily agree with you on the quality thing. We've been having some strange things go wrong lately, but overall the quality is still pretty darn good.

You don't have to agree with me but the Quality on part's content isn't the same as before there is a lot of cost cutting going on and that is fact sadly.

ERik

[kathyricks]

Originally Posted by Tundrav8yamaha

You don't have to agree with me but the Quality on part's content isn't the same as before there is a lot of cost cutting going on and that is fact sadly.ERik

Toyota was hit by two bolts of lightning in the mid-1990's that helps explain the slight to moderate decline in initial reliability (long term durability is still excellent):

1) In 1994 the Clinton administration proposed a 100% import tax on all luxury Japanese cars, essentially booting Lexus, Infiniti and Acura out of the USA market. Just hours before this new tax was implemented, Toyota was able to save Lexus by agreeing to
tremendously expanding the percentage of "made in the USA" parts it uses to build Toyotas. So since the mid-1990's quality has declined because Toyota hasn't been completely successful is getting its USA parts suppliers to build parts to Toyota's lofty defect free standards. Americans are what they are - sloppy and not commited to quality and there's nothing Toyota can do to change our culture.

2) The Japanese Yen kept rising after 1993, making it increasingly difficult for Toyota to maintain profitability of vehicles it sold in the USA.

Then from the late 1990's until 2007 Toyota faced another problem: It greatly expanded it's model line offerings because the public wanted new models and was willing to buy them. But this expansion project ended up becoming overly ambitious and there was insuffient development time allocated to make each model offering as defect free as possible.

Realizing that Toyota's quality image was at stake if it continued to release new models that hadn't been fully perfected, the CEO of Toyota made a bold new decision: put the brakes on new model offerings until the bugs were worked out even if it sacrificed sales and profits.

So we shall soon see if this new policy improves the situation. A good test is the new 2009 Corolla. If that all new model proves to be free of serious defects then we can look forward to good quality from Toyota again.

[tam2tundra]

The "new" Corolla is probably 2 years old now, I knowthey had it in Japan about 18 mos ago.

[csaxon]

Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling 539,500 Corolla and Matrix passenger cars because the bolts in the power window system can become loose and ultimately cause a window to shatter.
Toyota said Wednesday it had received reports of 143 cases in which the bolts at the bottom of the power window assembly became loose, caused the window to rattle or led to the window breaking.
Toyota spokesman Joe Tetherow said there had been one minor accident and 15 injuries reported.

[njerald]

Has zero to do with a Camry!