# Toyota Camry, please help!!!



## hogdgz (Dec 21, 2016)

Engine locked up in my wife's 2012 Camry with 89000 miles and we are the original owner. We have maintained this car and serviced regularly and is well take care of. 

Long story short, it wouldn't crank and acted like a bad starter or weak battery. Fixed that and still wouldn't turn over. We were out of town so had the ford dealer pick it up and they called and said it was locked up. The put a wrench on the motor and broke it free. Said it would rotate 1/4 turn either way and then got it to spin over and crank then said it smoked like crazy but now it's not smoking and runs fine, they said the only thing they could thing of was hydro or vapor locked and maybe a leaking injector or head gasket leak.  I hauled it on a trailer to the Toyota dealer to see what they thought happened. They say bad main bearing or rod bearing and needs a new motor or rebuilt. I just don't understand. We run full synthetic and change every 5000 miles. There's a lot more to the story but this is the short version. Any thoughts or anybody else experienced this. They say 4-6 grand to fix it. I am meeting with the master tech and manager tommorw to discuss options.  Thanks


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## NE GA Pappy (Dec 21, 2016)

bad main will lock it down so it won't turn.  Bad rod bearing will make a knocking noise.

Just guessing, but I would say a bad head gasket leaked water down on a piston coming up for compression stroke.  Backing it up and pulling it forward with a wrench pumped enough of the water out they were able to crank it. Smoke would have been from burning off the coolant and such in the exhaust system.

Have you checked the coolant level to see if it is low?  did it ever run hot?  you can do a test on the coolant to see if it has exhaust gasses in it also.  If it were mine, I would pull all the plugs and examine them for signs of burning coolant, without turning the engine over. Then I would spin the engine over with the plugs out.  Have someone else do it while you are looking at all the spark plug holes and see if you see any discharge. A mist or any fluid coming out would indicate fluid getting down on top of a piston


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## hogdgz (Dec 22, 2016)

Pappy thanks for replying. They pulled the plugs at the ford dealer and said they looked great. They said the coolant level was good too and it never ran hot or had any check engines lights on. We drives 5 hours to my wife's grandparents and ran fine. Got there turned it off and 2 days later went to crank it to come home. It spun over then locked up. 

I was kinda thinking hydro locked like u said or vapor locked from a leaking injector. But the Toyota place says the is a rattle at 1200rpm. I have heard this rattle since the summer when going down the interstate but we attributes it to acorns rolling in dash. A pack rat built a best in the cabin filter box and stashed acorns. I took it apart back in the summer and vaccines them out. I always figured the slight rattle I heard was some more acorns roiling around that I couldn't find but we noticed it had gotten worse recently. Any suggestions. Thanks guys.


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## Rick Alexander (Dec 22, 2016)

*Ever think of*

maybe finding a good used engine and having a non dealership shop R&R that for you?  I suspect if this ends up being your dollar completely you might would come out cheaper than a dealership.  Toyota usually makes a pretty rugged engine (my 99 Avalon has 267K on it now and still runs perfect) and a 2012 should be easy to find a very good replacement engine for your car - especially a Camry.  Pull em - replace the water pump, belts, and seals and you're gold for a long time probably.

I haven't done this in years so maybe this isn't a good option any more.  I did do this pretty often with old auction cars in my younger days to make extra money - having the skills and tools to do the replacements myself.  I'm too old to crawl around under and over them any more.

Sucks that yours died so quickly.  Wonder what really happened to cause that.  I'd be ticked too as that's just not many miles now days.


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## T-N-T (Dec 22, 2016)

I'm with Rick.  Unless you plan on driving it for Many more years.  Then maybe a factory new engine is the ticket 
But if you have plans of getting a new car in a year or three....
Sorry for your bad luck on what should be a perfect running car for another 100 thousand miles


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## hogdgz (Dec 22, 2016)

Thanks guys and sorry for all my misspelled words. Was typing fast on the phone as we are really buisy. Not sure what I am going to do. I am thinking I don't really want to drop 5-6grand in this car but it is paid for and low mileage. Actually the car looks new and is fully loaded so we hate to get rid of it. The problem is now they said that to do any further investigating requires pulling the motor and transaxle and all that stuff so labor alone just to find the exact problem is very expensive.


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## NE GA Pappy (Dec 22, 2016)

I would at least get another mechanic to listen to it and see what they say


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## OptimumShine (Dec 22, 2016)

Does this year model still use oil like past year models, or has that been fixed?


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## 3ringer (Dec 22, 2016)

The engine is only as good as the person assembling it on the assembly line. One little mistake and it will show up later. You can purchase a used low mileage engine and let a local mechanic do the job to save a lot of money.


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## hogdgz (Dec 22, 2016)

Hey guys, just wanted to update y'all. I met with the master tech and the service manager and actually I feel like they were very thorough and knowledgable. They gave me several options. They found me a used motor with 28,000 miles and a 12 mounth warranty installed and everything for 5200$ out the door. They said this would be a lot cheaper than them rebuilding the one that's in it. They dropped the oil pan and said there was a few shavings in it. Not sure what we are gonna do but I may drive it home and get a second opinion on it. The wife is sad bc she loves this car but happy cause she wants a 4runner and she test drove one today.


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## 95g atl (Dec 27, 2016)

hogdgz said:


> Hey guys, just wanted to update y'all. I met with the master tech and the service manager and actually I feel like they were very thorough and knowledgable. They gave me several options. They found me a used motor with 28,000 miles and a 12 mounth warranty installed and everything for 5200$ out the door. They said this would be a lot cheaper than them rebuilding the one that's in it. They dropped the oil pan and said there was a few shavings in it. Not sure what we are gonna do but I may drive it home and get a second opinion on it. The wife is sad bc she loves this car but happy cause she wants a 4runner and she test drove one today.



change the oil, take to another dealership and trade in for that 4runner.  I find that once someone removes an engine and replaces with another one, more issues can arise.  Techs work fast and sometimes break electrical connectors OR fail to tighten up everything.


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## WayneB (Dec 27, 2016)

dump it get the 4 runner.


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## pavogrande (Jan 8, 2017)

You will let us know where you dump it so none of us gets stuck with it


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## jcountry (Jan 16, 2017)

I would certainly have some words with the Toyota regional customer service rep (or higher.) 

No matter what happened, there is absolutely no excuse for any engine with 89K doing something like that.  

Toyota should stand behind their vehicles better than that.


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## typx66 (Jan 17, 2017)

Have you traded or repaired your Camry yet?


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