Please Help! Engine Torn Apart by Dealer

[srobinson31]

I took my 02 Tundra 4x4 extra cab in to get looked at because I was hearing some serious rattles for about a month when my tundra is started and put into reverse gear. Noise goes away after engine warms up. Sounded like a can of marbles rattling around under the truck.

It has been 17 days so far. I have the Platinum Extra care extended warranty and my truck has 59,250 miles on it. I use synthetic motor oil and have always changed it religiously and I also have a dual remote bypass filtration system that uses two very large oil filters....one is a standard oil filter and the other is a pass thru filter that does not drop the oil pressure.

My service advisor from Steven's Creek Toyota in San Jose said that they hear the nosses and suspect something wrong with the engine. They said that two of their Master Journeyman Technicians had verified what they think the problems is inside the engine block. Before I knew it they had the entire engine out of the car and torn down to the block. Toyota inspectors were hreaded out to inspect the engine. Apparently one inspector came out and told them to further disassemble the engine. Second inspector came out and had them measure all the cylindrers and pistons using micrometers...not calipers.

I called the toyota inspection department and apparently they found that all the Pistons were undersized and that they were going to replace all pistons, rings, bearings. Said block still had all the cross hatching on it so it did not need to be replaced. I went and looked at the block and did indeed verify that I could see all the cross hatching.

Master mechanics stated that this engine was one of the cleanest engines they had ever seen. No sludge at all...still looked lke it had only 5000 miles on it or something. You could rock the pistons back and forth by pushing on them with your thumbs so that is why they suspected was causing the noise.

While they are in there I am having them replace the oil pump, water pump, timing belt, thermostat, plugs and such for about $300 extra.

Is there anything else that I should be concerned about?

Should I get the heads ported and polished? I asked the master mechanic and he said it would not make much difference and I should leave well enough alone.

Should they completely clean and soak the block and clean everything spotless before putting it back together? They looked like they were just going to slap it all back together as is. The block is pretty clean but it is rusty on the outside and I still saw some gasket residue on the machined surfaces.

Shouldn't they warranty the engine for another 36k miles or something if they feel that they didn't need to give me a new engine?

Toyota extra care said that the parts are warranteed for 12 months unlimited mileage but this does not give me much comfort.

I am going back to the dealer today to check things out.

Please.....any suggestions would be helpful.

Scott

[ICON]

Undersized pistons?? I'd be concerned how the wrong pistons were put into the engine. I'm really not buying the undersized piston rational since it'd be knocking like crazy from the get-go, kinda like a chevy engine(haha). Have them mic the pistons(or check piston to cylinder wall clearance and compare to factory spec) and compare to factory spec or at least check for abnormal wear on the skirts. I still don't see how these piston wore down after 59K.

As for porting and polishing, unless this is strictly a race engine, no benefits will be noticed since the 4 valves per cylinder provide plenty of air/fuel and plently of area for exhaust to get out.

Every engine i tear down, no matter if it's a V8 or a weed wacker engine, i clean completely and usually paint for aesthetics and corrosion prevention. They also MUST remove any and all gasket residue, no if ands or buts. They also need to lightly hone the cylinders in order to get the new rings to seat. If they install new rings on the smooth cylinders, they'll never seat and you'll burn tons of oil and damage to the engine over-time. I'm certain they'll do it but ask to make sure. And don't forget it'll be a "new" engine so you'll need to break it in properly in order for it last a long time. See link for some suggestions on how to break-in an engine. Also make sure the crank is OK plus cams are not scored at all. The heads should be ok and no issues there. Deffinately smart putting in a new oil pump. They should also flush the oil lines just to make sure there's nothing in there to contaminate the new oil. You should use a 30w dino oil for break-in then you can switch to synthetic after 3K. Change oil and filter after 500 miles, although there's no casting/milling contaminates left, it's cheap insurance. Good luck.

Break In Secrets--How To Break In New Motorcycle and Car Engines For More Power

[drewbush]

I have done a few newer v8 Mercedes engines for roughly the same noise. I could also rock the piston back and forth as you described. One motor had the coating on the piston skirts wear off, causing piston slap during warm up. The second one was the connecting rod bearing were worn causing noise when ever the rod changed is travel. Both blocks at perfect cross hatching on the cylinders and each had over 60k miles. No need to soak or clean the block. Just as long as they clean all the mating surfaces before reassembly. If they dont clean it right, it will leak.

[barron64]

You can rock the pistons in the bore of any engine if you try. They are tapered with the smallest diameter being at the top which makes them easy to rock. They have this shape because the top of the piston expands due to the high temps of combustion. This is why they need this extra clearance. The whole deal sounds fishy to me though. If it only made the sound when you put it in reverse it is not your engine making the noise.

[srobinson31]

Thanks for the advice guys. I spoke with Toyota Extra Care for about 45 minutes on Friday (Yesterday) and they are not budging one inch. I demanded an entirerly new engine on the basis that they cannot tell me what inside the engine caused this to happen to a barely briken in engine in the first place.

The bottom line according to the service manager and the two master journeyman mechanics is that if this had happened two months ago (when my 5/60k power trane warranty was still in effect) I would have received an entirerly new engine...no questions asked. I will fight with Extra Care to the death if need be to make this happen.

Does anyone know how to find out the VP of customer service at Toyota or Toyota Extra care? I want email address and phone numbers if possible. They are going to get an ear full.

Scott