Blair

Long head gasket story follows...
For the past month, I've had a HG issue with my '91 3.0. Took it in to the Dealer...pretty clear from the typical symptoms that it's a head gasket...white smoke, a miss, poor mileage, etc...
Dealer checks the VIN...covered under the warranty. Dealer replaces the HG, timing belt, idler pully and tensioner pully. I pick up the cost of the parts and four days later I get the Runner back.
The symptoms return after about 50 miles. Back to the Dealer.
This time, the Dealer checks the head...no cracks, but a small amount of warp...shaves the head. Puts on a new HG...still leaks.
I suggest maybe he check the block (?!?!?) finds a small amount of warp...tells me "0.005". Tells me "Short block. Maybe Long block (!!!)". Wants to try to shave the block, as the warpage doesn't meet the guidelines for replacement. Gets me a rental Camry. Nice little car, but not my Runner, which I've greatly misssed, considering all the snow we've had as of late. 14 days later (Today - Monday) I get it back. New HG. AGAIN. Once again, all seems good. Tells me they had it under pressure...no leaks. Road tested..no white smoke. I'm thinking "Good to go". Except...I drive it to work...about 60 miles, all highway. Stop at a store for about 5 minutes. Get back in to start up....billows of white smoke!!!!
Call the Dealer..."Bring it back, we'll look at it and we'll get you another rental..." Also says that "If it needs a new block (long or short) it will "be coming out of THEIR money"

Can anyone tell me what the $&^# these people are missing?
They have put in three HG's, shaved the block and the head (no cracks in either, they claim. Obviously, someone is missing something here. I'd really like to be able to give them some pointers on Tuesday morning. Or maybe, something POINTY!

Anyone have any input?
Please, keep from telling me what a slack bunch they are...I've learned that Dealers don't seem to be very effective, when dealing with warranty issues. What I need is soild advice.
Thanks,

AgRunner06

Man, that really sucks. The only thing I can think of is to have the dealer put a different tech on it, preferably a master tech. I would only mention it after you get the free short/long block.

Definitely milk this for what it's worth. For a little bit of trouble you get a free motor. You can't beat that.

Blair

Well, the Dealer has been at least reasonable with me. Got me the rental after the first failure (I had to prompt him). It was his suggestion re: short/long block. I even brought the SM, the service advisor AND the Tech each a bottle of my home-made wine because I felt they were being at least adequate in meeting my needs. I figure the dealer's cost so far to be : 3 HG sets, 30 hours labour, 2 weeks car rental plus 1200 miles @ .15. Totals around $4000. They could have probably BOUGHT it for that.

I've been unusually reasonable in return. Normally, if it were on my dime, I would have blown a nut, by now. However, for now, I'm sticking with being the Nice Guy.

I like the idea of asking for a Master Tech, and judging by how long the second/third HG job took, I'm pretty sure they work on it only when they have a slow period. But, I think I'll hold off on that, until I get a commitment for at least a short block.
Am I being reasonable here?
Or too easy on them?

AverysDad

i think its a great idea to ask for one of their master techs to do the work. in fact you should demand it.

my 4runner had the HGs replaced for free about 3 years ago (previous owner) and about 3 months after i bought it the HGs went on it. my mech (whom i trust a lot) redid them for me and was able to show me during the teardown process where the toyota techs had half assed it.

keep being the nice guy but make sure you cover your ass and don't let them get away with anything.

rimpainter.com

I think Toyota and you are handling this really well. You have to understand that if something is not out of tolerance for warp, they cannot replace the part. The primary reason for this is that Toyota is catching the bill for this recall in its entirety, not the dealership. So, they are going to have to prove via paper trail that they needed to replace the faulty part or block (which appears to be where this is headed). Another thing to remember, is that the dealer is not getting full price on labor, so they are most likely sticking Tech’s that need work on the job. Labor on recall campaigns is usually around 75% of normal cost. In my HG case, I asked the service adviser to put the Foreman on the job, and thus far it was a good move (cross my fingers).

You are doing the right thing by keeping your cool. That is great you are getting a rental car. Make sure you are also getting all the paperwork, even if the fix did not work. You never know when you might need a paper trail to fall back on.

Keep us posted.