NHTSA Complaint #10181201 — 2001 TOYOTA RAV4

I HAVE A 2001 TOYOTA RAV4 [XXX] THE ENGINE TYPE IS A 1AZFE. I RECENTLY LEARNED ABOUT A TOYOTA OIL GEL PROBLEM WITH ENGINE TYPE 5S-FE. THE MOTOR MAY BE DIFFERENT, BUT MY STORY IS THE SAME. THIS IS A WORK VEHICLE THAT WAS MAINTAINED. IN SEPT 2006 I CALLED TOYOTA TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE $2800 REPAIR DUE TO WHAT THEY HAD CALLED "OIL GEL". THE REFERENCE NUMBER FOR THIS CALL IS [XXX]. AT THE TIME I WAS UNAWARE OF THE LAW SUIT IN PROCESS FOR SOME TOYOTA ENGINES DUE TO THIS EXACT THING! JAN 19TH 2007, WHILE DRIVING, MY CAR'S ENGINE LIGHT WENT ON AND 30 SECONDS LATER THERE WAS A PLUME OF BLUE SMOKE ( THE BARTOW FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS CALLED AS I WAS ON I-75 IN GEORGIA AND SOMEONE THOUGHT THE CAR WAS ON FIRE). THERE WAS NO FIRE, JUST SMOKE. I PULLED OVER IMMEDIATELY. THE CAR WAS TOWED TO THE SERVICE DEALERSHIP WHERE THEY TOLD ME I HAD THROWN A ROD. THEY CLAIM THE TWO ARE UNRELATED OCCURRENCES. FROM WHAT I HAVE READ ON WEB SITES, THEY SEEM VERY RELATED TO ME. THE REPAIR IN SEPT WAS COSTLY, TO HAVE THE ROD THROWN 4 MONTHS LATER MAKES ME THINK THE 1AZFE ENGINE MAY HAVE SOME DEFECT AS WELL. THE CAR COULD NOT BE REPAIRED WITHOUT A TOTALLY NEW ENGINE. WE CHOSE NOT TO REPAIR IT. I BELIEVE TOYOTA SHOULD PAY FOR THE REPAIRS IN SEPT 06 AND THE TOW IN JAN 07, AS I AM CONVINCED THIS IS A DEFECT. I CAN PROVIDE ALL THE OIL CHANGES AND MAINTENANCE RECORDS AS THIS HAS BEEN A WORK VEHICLE FOR ME. I WONDER IF OTHER TOYOTA ENGINES SHOULD BE EXAMINED AND REPORTED. THE DEALERSHIP AND TOYOTA HAVE BOTH CLAIMED THIS ENGINE IS NOT INVOLVED. I DISAGREE. HAD I NOT PULLED OVER I AM CERTAIN A FIRE WOULD HAVE BEGUN WITH ALL THE ENGINE OIL ON THE MOTOR. *NM UPDATED 07/11/2012 *JS INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)