Do not remember if I posted this here or not?? Anyway Special Service Campaign is officially over!

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...UUPiVDuUeDITAA

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...UUPiVDuUeDITAA

 

I'm amazed it lasted that long. The idea of a brand replacing head gaskets on a 23-30 year old car under anything relating to a warranty is pretty awesome. Past a certain point it's really hard to tell if a failure is truly due to a defect or just because the engine is old.

 

We put headgaskets and blocks in vehicles where the new parts were worth more than the truck. Some true piles of s***. The only vehicles we could decline the SSC were those with salvaged titles.
Im not sure what ultimately decides when Toyota will stop a SSC. I know Toyota is required to contact every current owner and perform a certain % of repairs before NHTSA considers it satisfied, but what makes Toyota finally close the file I’m not sure. We did the 20R exhaust manifold warranty replacement for a very long time, and only stopped when the magnitude(and cost) of the V6 headgasket became apparent.

 

I'd be curious to know how many heads, gaskets, and blocks were actually changed throughout the life of the service bulletin. I'm willing to bet that it's a fraction of how many 3vzes were actually made.

Roseville Toyota denied my request but also could provide zero information that it had ever been done. /shrug.

 

Roseville Toyota? That’s one store I hated working with. But that was ages ago. Maybe different these days. But in their defense, once TMS shuts down a Service campaign/Goodwill/warranty whatever, the dealer has zero power to change that. The factory rep who calls on that store can typically meet with a customer if the Service Director sets it up, but they can’t change TMS policy. So regardless of previous warranty work, or not, the dealer can’t do a thing. But I’d be shocked if your gaskets were original. What’s more likely is aftermarket gaskets at this stage of the vehicle’s life.

Regarding percentage of vehicles recallled vs production it was pretty much all of them. We were initially backlogged months on gaskets kits. Complete shortblock assemblies or deckings was very common on the ones towed in, while the owners who drove in because they got a notice could often get away with just headgaskets.
I wasn’t very fond of the decking approach. If I could find any way to condemn the block I would. I just hated all the machining.

 

This was years ago back when i had my 1992... I think i sold it in 2012? The truck had 120k miles on it when it popped.