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.
Hi, Today I brought my 2003 Camry (4 Cyl Sport) to my dealer in Scarb Ontario, and received the shocking news that my engine would need to be replaced at a cost of $6000 + tax.
It has a small leak of coolant, which will certainly get worse over time. The Toyota service advisor told me it was because of loose headbolts. He also informed me he has seen this problem before, but would not commit to it being an engine design problem.
I called Toyota Canada Customer Relations, described the problem and was told.
"It's not under warranty - we can do nothing." I have been very happy with Toyota products, I have recommended them to many friends now they have just lost a loyal customer.
I will do my utmost to ensure no more of my friends and colleagues make the same mistake. Is there anything else I can do?
I've been a loyal Toyota owner for almost 40 years... I find it very hard to believe that Toyota won't admit to a major Design flaw and recall and fix this problem
Hi, I have the same question. Does this "stripped headbolt" problem occur on models 2004 and newer?
My 2003 camry has just been diagnosed with the same problem. My dealer in Scarb Ontario has estimated $6000+tax to fix.
Called the Toyota Consumer Relations and was told "Not under warranty - why are you calling us?".
Needless to say that Toyota has just lost a longtime loyal customer.
Its was fixed with the release of the 2.5/2.7L engines. With the 2.4, cross your fingers and hope for the best!
Where is this engine? The 2010 still come with the 2.4L in the inline 4 banger did you mean in 2005?
This is what I found that happened in 2007 from toyota The 2AZ-FE engine, standard across the Camry grade lineup, is based on the 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine from last year, but is substantially upgraded. This redesign employs optimized intake and exhaust systems, as well as strategies that reduce internal friction and enhance engine-block/crankcase rigidity. The result is improved power output with exceptional fuel economy and reduced noise and vibration levels.
Hello,
I'm new to the this forum. For what it's worth, I developed the NS300L insert kit to repair stripped head bolt threads in the Cadillac Northstar. My engine was repaired with timeserts(GM approved inserts) and they also stripped (Google HuhnSolutions to see our website). I have had several customers purchase the NS300L insert kit in the past year to repair the toyota 2.4L engine and did it with great success (some that have been repaired with failed timeserts). I had no idea that that the 2002-2006 2.4L had the same problem as the Northstar until just recently. I know very little about this engine other than it uses the M11x1.5 thread (the same as the Northstar) and several techs have used them to repair the 2.4L. I'm looking for more information about this engine, primarily whether there is enough meat in the engine block around the head bolt hole that the NS300L inserts can be installed safely with out hitting a water jacket. The NS300L insert has a coarse external thread (5/8-11) rather than a fine thread like the Timesert and it is much longer and bigger in diameter (you can see the difference on the History page of the website). They have three times the thread engagement with in the aluminum block than Timeserts. I have no problem with Timeserts, I think they are a great design, but they don't always seem to hold up under the high torque of a head bolt in an aluminum block since they still have a fine external thread.
Other information I am looking for is 1.) the length of the head bolt from under the washer. 2.) when the head bolt is dropped through the head, how much of the head bolt sticks out of the bottom of the head? 3.) what is the length of usable thread on the head bolt?
Any information on this engine would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.
I have a 2004 Camry and this just happened to it. Brought it into our mechanic last Friday and he called and said the head gasket blew and the oil and water went inside instead of out and ruined the engine. Monday we found out that we bought and ext warranty with the car (we bought it used) and the car is less than 1,000 miles from reaching the end of the warranty. (Lucky.)
Last night the warranty company sent someone out to inspect the car and they tore down the whole engine. Turns out it has stripped head bolts, did a Google search and this is the first site that popped up.
I just want to make sure, this isn't something we could have prevented is it? I just have a bad feeling the warranty company is going to try and get out of this somehow.
And I agree that there needs to be some kind of recall or class-action suit against Toyota for this problem. If I didn't have the warranty I'd be out $6,000 for a new engine. Completely ridiculous.
Re: Camry With Stripped Head Bolts
Re: Camry With Stripped Head Bolts
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