Newly Purchased 2.2 T-spirit Head/head Gasket Fail!

[Sir Nodrick]

Hi guys,

Just bought a 55 plate 2.2 D4D T-spirit tourer with 70k, its a beautiful car with all the creature comforts that we wanted, I rang the toyota dealers before i bought it and they informed me it had the head gasket replaced under warranty, but they'd fitted the revised gasket so all was good and was assured "it was a common problem and since its been replaced with the revised gasket, theres nothing to worry about...." so bought the car and now 4 days into ownership, the car has used 2 litres of water, the coolant system is massively pressurised, there are diesel fumes coming out of the coolant header tank, the transparent red coolant has been clouded with diesel fumes, the header tank pressure cap pops off, water is ejected out of the overflow down the front of the engine, and you can hear bubbling water behind the dash board..... I've kept topping it up but i have just had it checked out yesterday by a mechanic and its definately knackered... so its parked up now and cannot be used, and with a wife that is 8 months pregnant with our first child, that could go into labour at any time, i have been let down byt japans finest automotive brand...

Thankfully, we purchased this car from a garage with warranty cover, so i guess I'll have the option to either return the car for a refund, or the cost of repair will be covered... Do I even want it repairing?? or has this 2ND head gasket replacement tarnished my view of the toyota reliability reputation??? it has blown twice, whats to stop it blowing again when the car is out of warranty??? and with quotes of £3000 being thrown about for this work to be carried out, i dont think as a young family, i could stump up this cash...

[OldSkoO1]

I believe toyota extended their warranty to cover this work to 100k miles.

Take it to a toyota garage - they will fix this under warranty.

[DONFRAMAC]

I believe toyota extended their warranty to cover this work to 100k miles.

Take it to a toyota garage - they will fix this under warranty.

My cousin was plagued with this very problem, with a Peugeot-engined turbo-diesel Citroen BX Estate, which was a real work-horse, for the family grocer business. ( they had previously used Citroen GS Estates, due to the self-levelling suspension ).

He had several new cylinder-heads to no avail, so he cut his losses by fitting a complete engine from a breakers yard, and sold it, then promptly got the last of the BX Meteor Estates :-- no troubles since, and that has since been updated with a ZX Estate Turbo diesel, but with heavier bodywork ( no plastic bonnet or tailgate etc).

The old-days reputation of diesels blowing head-gaskets every 70 thousand miles, with only a new gasket being needed after a check on the head (x-ray today), and flatness of faces, must be forgotten, due to the extra pressures in todays CRTDi engines.

I would reject the car, and I wouldn't want a new head fitted by what we have today as mechanics, as they are not proper precision engineers, and nor are oil-rig engineers, or gunsmiths. Some fitter-turners trained within the nuclear industry ARE genuine skilled people, who could reface a head and block with the aid of "engineers blue" dye, and proper milling machines, as found in specialist engine remanufacturing workshops, and these businesses DO give proper warranties on their work. ( BMC used to supply Silver Seal, and Gold Seal rebuilt engines.)

[Beagh1958]

To Sir Nodrick,

Sorry for your troubles with your car, but i have a feeling from a previous posting via Toyota-Tech that the head cannot be skimmed (will stand corrected if someone knows otherwise) on a 2.2 ltr diesel. It's more or less a throw away item??? When your car boiled the first time was cyl/head not checked out ie: pressure tested etc by a proper engineering firm ex: we use middlesex rebores in Mill Hill.

Just to back up above posting, i recall Ford supplying 1/2 block or full block engines painted Blue or Green depending on which afore mentioned engine you required going back to the eighties.

Regards, Beagh.

PS: I wish you good luck with your repairs.

[Aamir2892]

Hi Nodrick

Sorry to hear about your car. I have the exact same car as you, mines done 72,700miles and as far as i know head gasket on mine hasent been replaced once.

[Kendoakita]

Hi Nodrick

I'm also extremely sorry to hear of your HG woes.

I also have the T Spirit 2.2 Tourer with 77k+ on the clock and it's been a brilliant car so far. Good luck with any chasing of Mr T under warranty - please do keep us informed of the outcome.

Steve