NHTSA Complaint #10197410 — 1994 TOYOTA TRUCK

WHILE RUNNING ERRANDS DIRECTLY AFTER HAVING THE VEHICLE SERVICED FOR A CHECK ENGINE LIGHT STAYING ON FOR PREVIOUS FOUR DAYS, THE ENGINE STUTTERED, THEN WOULD NOT START AFTER HAVING BEEN OFF FOR A FEW MINUTES. THE SERVICE PERFORMED HAD FOUND THAT THE EGR VALVE WAS FAULTY, AND A NEW ONE INSTALLED, BUT THE SUBSEQUENT SYMPTOMS WERE NOT RELATED TO THE EGR AT ALL. ENGINE WOULD NOT TURN OVER, BUT COULD BE ROTATED COUNTER-CLOCKWISE MANUALLY. WHEN ROTATED CLOCKWISE, IT WOULD ONLY GO AS FAR AS IT HAD BEEN WHEN STOPPED. HAVING HAD THE WATERPUMP REPLACED A MONTH BEFORE, THE TIMING BELT OR OTHER COMPONENTS WERE SUSPECT. TIMING BELT HAD BEEN REPLACED 14 MONTHS BEFORE, BUT IT MAY HAVE BEEN SOFTENED BY THE COOLANT FROM THE FAILED WATERPUMP. ON INVESTIGATION BY DEALER, THE TIMING BELT COMPARTMENT WAS IN SATISFACTORY CONDITION, BUT COOLANT WAS FOUND IN THE OIL, AND IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THERE WAS NON-COMPRESSIBLE LIQUID IN AT LEAST ONE COMBUSTION CHAMBER. INDICATIONS WERE A BLOWN HEAD GASKET. HEAD GASKETS HAD BEEN REPLACED DURING FACTORY RECALL IN 1998, WITH ABOUT 75,000 MILES ON VEHICLE. AT TIME OF THIS FAILURE, VEHICLE HAD ABOUT 100,000 ADDITIONAL MILES SINCE THE HEAD GASKETS HAD BEEN REPLACED. VEHICLE SOLD FOR MUCH LESS THAN MARKET VALUE, DUE TO NEEDING MAJOR ENGINE WORK/REPLACEMENT. *TR