Tacoma Engine Toast - help w/concerns

First off, really sorry to hear about the truck. And I really hope you get it sorted out.

The truck is still under the 3/36 bumper to bumper right? So, a loose hose would be considered a warranty repair right? So, let's just say for the sake of conversation, the hose fell off. Slowly drains the fluid from the radiator and now has resulted in a damaged motor.

Let's say you're driving and your mirror flies off, (warranty repair) and smashes your window on the way down. You would expect BOTH to be repaired, under warranty, by toyota. I think it's the same type of situation. And, to further your argument, less than 3000 miles earlier your truck had just be inspected by a toyota dealership.

They have to maintain some sort of basic safety inspection for used vehicles, especially if it came from auction. Otherwise, they'd be at risk for liability for not correcting a major safety flaw and allowing you to drive off in it.

Well, I actually have no idea where their responsibilities start/end. This is just my $.02

 

No kidding. I saw that price I was like good gawd...my '09 was less than that new, and I got it loaded!

 

Carry over of negative equity from a trade in, total amount financed was $33,000 I believe.

 

I had my radiator replaced by toyota earlier this year and kept noticing my coolant resevoir low. I picked up a gallon of the red stuff & kept on eye on it. I finally saw the upper hose had a seepage leak, crusty red coolant so posted a pic here, asked Chris & friends about it and brought it back to the dealer who fixed it for free (new clamp & hose).

The dealer had re-used the factory clamp for some reason. what do I know about it zip & I didn't notice my temp gauge changing while it was losing coolant, but kept an eye with my scangauge. Oh I drove it to Maine & such easily could have happened too I guess. Thankfully, it doesn't lose coolant now since the 2nd repair.

It really sucks what happened to you for I could easily see this happening. One of those warranties should kick in you would think! You would think in good faith something could be worked out with the dealership. I wish you the best in getting back on track.

 

While this all happened I was recording notes, I didn't review them before posting this up, just did and noticed some lapses in memory - here's the events as I recorded them on my phone- I've updated the main entry, too:


-----------------------
Here's the events that happened:
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Events:
Check engine light turns on outside of Missoula. Check all gauges, everything looks normal.

Pull over, review manual - states drive to dealership - assume amber light and text "drive" in manual means it's okay to drive. Called dealership, no answer- closed Sundays. Drive slowly to nearest gas station with hazards on.

Pull off at gas station a few miles later, fill tank and pop hood
Notice coolant level is low in resevoir, and is bubbling. Purchased more, topped off coolant, overfilled reservoir.
Started truck to see if coolant left resevoir, none did, assumed coolant okay. Check engine light goes off. Assume low coolant caused light, started driving.

Left Missoula
Watched temp guage, check engine light turned on, temp guage drastically rose to red.pulled off road immediately, turned on hazards and took immediate exit. pulled into a closed lube center, turned off the truck and popped the hood. I noticed red fluid at bottom of engine bay. Also checked reservoir and it was still full. Let sit for a bit. turned vehicle back on, pumped gas to see if readings spiked- gauge showed normal temperature. No lights on about other issues, check engine light is off. Wondered about red fluid, checked for leaks, checked gauge for warning lights, didn't see any. Noticed small spraying leak at front lower right of radiator. Noticed red fluid coming off of 2nd radiator- Made note of small radiator leak. Made sure again reservoir full, made sure to have extra fluid, started driving out of town watching gauges for issues. Everything reported fine.

5-10 minutes later, coolant resevoir erupts, steam everywhere. Overfilled it. Cleaned up mess and topped off reservoir, this time to top line. hose popped off from reservoir, figured pressure of over-filled did it, so popped the hose back on. Checked guage to see normal half temp. Let steam pass, cleaned up mess more and let sit. Started truck, hit gas in neutral to see if reservoir loses fluid, none. Started driving. No warning lights.

10-15 minutes later,
Noticed truck had hard time maintaining speed. Looked and no warning lights on. Tested speed it would maintain to be roughly 65mph. Few minutes later check engine light, AT light turn on, engine drops to zero RPM and shuts off. All other gauges show normal. Coast to side of road, pop hood, inspect, no changes- wonder if red fluid was transmission fluid. Called insurance, no tow coverage, kept losing signal.

Engine slow at turning over, won't start. Checked reservoirs for all fluids, all checked out to be fine.


Walked 2 miles to get cell reception.

Called tow truck, took truck to Missoula, MT dealership. Sunday night.

Dealership states a bracket was missing from a hose. Radiator fluid leaked out, emptied radiator.
Engine hit 275 degrees and over heated- fried


What were the signs?
1 red fluid - assumed buildup from small leak or transmission fluid
2 boiling radiator fluid in reservoir
3 boiling noise in vehicle
4 fill up bursts hose- re-apply
5 losing power down freeway -
6 engine craps out.

According to dealership, by the time the hose popped off, the engine was overheated and failing. It was too late to solve the problem.

 

get a lawyer and keep us updated. warranty may not cover you "running it out of fluid" but if the dealership sold you a truck missing a vital part then the fault should rest on them. like is said, get legal advice and let us know how it turns out

 

Let me get this straight.
A clamp was missing off the lower radiator hose subsequently caused the hose to chafe against a rail or other item in the engine bay which led to the hose rupturing and leaking coolant out. Right?

You just purchased the truck pre-owned and have driven it a total of 3k miles.

The engine is seized from said coolant leak and they will not honor the repairs under the terms of the new car warranty. When you broke down you WERE NOT in a safe location and had to drive the vehicle to a point of SAFE HAVEN.

1. Call Toyota rep and state this clearly
2. wait for another response
3. Call State Attorney General office and file complaint if Toyota says no
4. Call Better Business Bureau for your region and file complaint as well.
5. Tell the selling dealer they will have a shit storm on there hands soon
as you just bought this truck and they obviously DID NOT inspect it
thoroughly.
6. Check all you paperwork. Did they give you documents pertaining to a
thorough inspection on a pre-owned vehicle. I know it's not CPO.
7. You need to CYA at this point too. You need pics and receipts, i.e.
towing invoices. You need all your sales papers.
8. I caution on the attorney at this juncture but definitely talk to several.
If you pull the trigger on litigation too early then all communication will
cease between you and the selling dealer and Toyota. State your case
clearly and firmly with the Dealer Principal and General Manager!

 

Almost--

The hose was "barely on" the radiator, off enough to slowly leak out the fluid. The clamp wasn't touched at the dealership, since it was a used car, they just made sure it was full of radiator fluid, changed the oil, and sent it on the merry way. no holes in the hose, the hose appears fine - maybe it extended and broke the clamp off? There's no scuff marks to show the clamp moved in any direction, it just wasn't there.

 

subscribing - good luck

 

Pust put this up to prove this flaw: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/57671-prove-design-flaw-help.html

 

Does your windsheild washer fluid have a low level sensor?
I don't beleive my 08 does unless for some reason it doesn't work. I was just thinking that I missed haveing it as I ran out of fluid the other day. My 96 did have it.

To the OP, that's too bad, I hope things work out for you with Toyota.

Shawn

 

Insurance covered it - they found a hole in the radiator, said that was the cause. Comprehensive, 6k in damages.

I'll have it back at the end of the week with a 5kmi engine in it. Booyah!

Toyota didn't seem too concerned. Clamp missing was forgotten about. I'll get the utility to monitor everything.

 

Did a screw driver accidentally slip into the radiator core while you were doing some inspections of the carnage? If not, I would have been pretty tempted my self. 6k is a lot of dough to be coughing up.

 

Right on, thats good news! Glad you didn't have to pay for it out of your own pocket.

 

i knew that would work good for you man now drive it like you stole it haha new motor boooyaaa

 

Whew

 

I hate hearing these stories.. I purchased a 2008 Taco and the head Gasket was Blown, it was not picked up during the inspection. The Leaking head Gasket lead to an over heating which lead to a Cracked Block and warped head. I took the truck in for warranty and it was covered by toyota.

I can't figure why they gave you problems in the first place.. glad you got it worked out!