NHTSA Complaint #10269843 — 2002 TOYOTA CAMRY

I OWN A 2002 TOYOTA CAMRY PURCHASED NEW FROM DEALERSHIP AND REGULARLY MAINTAINED. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON WHILE MY DAUGHTER WAS DRIVING THE CAR AND SO I TOOK IT TO OUR MECHANIC WHO SAID IT WAS A FAULTY SENSOR WHICH HE REPLACED. THE NEXT DAY THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN WHILE SHE WAS DRIVING AND SHE WAS JUST ABLE TO MAKE IT BACK TO THE MECHANIC'S SHOP WITH THE CAR RUNNING ROUGHLY. THE MECHANIC ADVISED THAT THE ENGINE (136,000 MILES) HAD SUFFERED A "BLOWN" HEAD GASKET. HE RECOMMENDED REPLACING THE HEAD GASKET BUT WARNED ME THAT BECAUSE OF THE ALUMINUM CASTING OF THE ENGINE THAT THERE WAS A GOOD CHANCE THAT WHEN HE REMOVED THE STEEL BOLTS THEY WOULD STRIP OUT THE ALUMINUM THREADS AND THEN I WOULD BE LOOKING AT A NEW ENGINE. UNFORTUNATELY THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED - TOTAL COST TO PUT IN A REASONABLY "NEW" USED ENGINE (FROM A 2009 SCION) WAS $5,800. I UNDERSTAND THAT THINGS CAN HAPPEN AND AM NOT UNDULY UPSET THAT THE HEAD GASKET WAS BLOWN HOWEVER, SOMETHING AS BASIC AS KNOWING THAT YOU SHOULD NOT USE STEEL BOLTS IN AN ALUMINUM THREAD SHOULD BE REMEDIED BY TOYOTA. WHEN A REPAIR SUCH AS MINE IS UNDERTAKEN THERE IS A HIGH PROBABILITY OF THE BOLTS STRIPPING OUT THE ALUMINUM THREADS. WHEN THAT HAPPENS THE COST OF REPAIR GOES FROM APPROXIMATELY 1600 TO REPLACE A BLOWN HEAD GASKET TO 5800 TO REPLACE AN ENTIRE ENGINE. THIS IS REALLY A DESIGN FLAW THAT SHOULD BE OBVIOUS TO ANY ENGINEER AND SHOULD BE REMEDIED BY TOYOTA. *TR