A tale of woe... Advice very welcome

[nothappy]

Hi. My name is Mike and I have been the happy owner of a RAV4 since late 2000.

Until about 6 and a half hours ago.

My wife and I bought the RAV in my Yamagata, Japan, which is where my wife comes from. In 2005 I got a job in Perth so we packed up and moved down here. The resale value of the RAV in Japan was very low so we decided to bring the car with us to Australia. Everything went smoothly and the car served us well here.

Thursday 23rd September I took the car into Melville Toyota for 100,000 km service.

$480 later I had my car back with the following recommendations:-

Timing cover + sump reseal + rocker cover gasket + water pump + coolant @ $910

Engine drive belt @ $97.96

Brake fluid flush @ $99

Carbon Clean @ $230

Throttle body service @ $148.50

I agreed to get the work done and booked the car in on 7th October.

On the 8th I received a call saying that the timing chain tensioner was jammed solid and needed replacing @ $68 to which I agreed. Toyota Melville gave me a loan car as the tensioner had to be sourced from eastern Australia.

Today at about 4-30 they call me and say that my engine is stuffed and it will cost $9500 to rebuild it. The service guy said that some of the sludge had blocked the oil pick up and the oil light came on when the technician was driving the car. When the sump was opened up there was slivers of metal in it.

The only time I have ever seen the oil light come on is when I start the car. I have changed the oil and flushed the engine myself at least every 6 months for the last 4 years.

I took a working car into the garage and now have something that is worth little more than scrap.

Apart from the extreme financial hardship this will cause me, this car has been a bloody good car that has caused me no real trouble at all. It also took my pregnant wife to hospital on both occasions and brought her and both of my sons home again.

I am more than slightly angry and was wondering if anyone on this site could give me some advice.

Thanks in advance.

Edited October 13, 2010 by nothappy

[dyslexik]

Did they do an engine oil flush with the service? If so, that may have caused the clogged oil pump.

Most likely than not, someone inexperienced had serviced your car. If there was an oil sludge, they would have noticed it when the first service was completed.

On the other hand, the clogging may have been caused by a busted head or manifold gaskets, which in turn may have resulted in the coolant contaminating the engine oil. I say this, because you stated that they replaced the rocker cover gasket. Sludge occurs when the oil deteriorates and thickens due to the moisture/contaminants in the engine oil, thus not being able to lubricate the engine parts effectively.

As for the metal in it, did they snap a bolt/screw on the rocker cover and had to drill it out? Check if any bolts/screws on the engine head have been replaced. The metal shavings from drilling the thread out of the hole may have fallen inside the engine head.

OR

Because of the sludge problem, the engine wasn't being properly lubricated and in effect metal was grinding on metal when the engine was in operation.

Edited October 13, 2010 by dyslexik

[rusty 62]

Brisbane Motor Importsd have new motors from Japan for approx $4000.