Worst car incident of my life:
Unknown to me, large amount of oil was gushing out of engine while driving! No idiot light warning; only indication was a raw gas smell. I only discovered problem when vehicle parked in garage and floor was covered in oil. There is a technical service bulletin out, but no recall (YET). 3 questions:
1)What damage did I do?
2)Vehicle is less than 3 years old. Will warranty cover this if engine fails beyond 5 years?
3)Small amounts of oil leakage are still evident after 3 weeks; is this residual OR evidence of continuing problem?
Thanks for your input!!!
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it’s impossible to know from here. Raw gas smell in a hemmoraging oil leak is not a good sign. I hope you’re not still driving it.
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Whether the warranty wlll cover it depends on why it happened, what the maintenance records have been, why it happened, how many miles you have on it, and why it happened. Is it still covered currently? Have you been properly maintaining it? Can you prove it with records?
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you just ansered my question (1).
Has anybody looked at this yeat? What, exactly, was diagnosed and what was repaired? Were the fluids changed out?
Hi and thanks for your reply!
Yes, the vehicle is under warranty (less than 3 years old). My question was whether AFTER the warranty expires and the engine goes, will it be covered? [I keep my cars for 15 years, and they are all maintained by the dealer.]
I am taking it back to the dealer tomorrow re: the continuing oil drips. My garage floor is a mess! What picks up oil?
soak up the oil with kitty litter and then scrub the stain with an industrial detergent
Dish washing liquid, and a scrub brush after a absorbent has been used to get up most of it.
This weekend I was driving my 2006 RAV4 VVTI and heard the engine grinding. I pulled over immediately and found oil all over the underside of the car.
I had it towed to a service station where they found a ruptured oil hose. They replaced it with a similar hose (not the Toyota part) and it seems to be working fine.
Where can I find the Technical Service Bulletin? Should I have it looked at by Toyota?
Kind regards.
Hello,
Since it is under warranty, and you may have done damage to your engine, yes, I’d take it to the dealer. This should be documented so you have recourse later if necessary.
Did your oil warning light go on? (Mine did not).
I am not sure where to find Technical Service Bulletins.
You did not help the engine but you will never really know.
Factory warranty will likely never cover this after it expires. Very hard to prove failure related to this back this incident.
The residual may not be a 100% cleanup. I would check your oil level (good habit) and have it checked out at your next oil change.
My List Of 2006 RAV-4 Engine TSBs Doesn’t Include One That Covers Your Oil Leak, But It Could Be Too New To Be Listed.
The only engine oil leak TSB I see is the one for front timing covers. You don’t say which engine you have, 4 or 6 cylinder. If I knew which engine VVTI went with I could possibly figure it out. It’s always good to specify an engine when discussing engine problems. We don’t have any Toyotas around here.
CSA
Hello CSA,
Thanks for your posting. I did a quick “Bing” search and could not find any TSB nor comments about the VVTI problem. [Where is is best to look for these items please?]
I have a 6 cylinder and the Toyota dealer stated that all models using this engine would eventually have this problem. They are especially seeing Avalons’ oil lines breaking. Great, huh?
Thanks,
Mary
SAME thing happend to me today as well… I hope the extended warranty covers it… and I agree with your questions… they ought to take care of their mishaps.
I’ve just had same problem w/06 Rav4 V6 40K miles, Toyota dealer repaired under warranty, replaced engine drive belt and engine cover, both were “saturated” with oil. No mention of a TSB, but they cleaned up the mess, still slight burning oil smell but may take a while to burn off all the oil that was sprayed around. Luckily we spotted oil smoke and got car to dealer before any apparant damage to engine.
Hello everybody,
The same happened to me yesterday. Car is 3 years old. While I was driving I heard an engine grinding and saw some smoke. I pulled over and found oil all over the underside of the car.
What if it’s starting to happen with those cars after about 35- 40K miles now? Who can guarantee that it is not a manufacturer?s defect? After car is fixed how I can be sure that this is not a manufacturer?s malfunction and this problem will not repeat after another 30K miles? If it’s manufacturer’s problem how about recall?
Finally a recall !!! This mess affects many Toyota vehicles.
This Looks Like A Toyota Campaign To Avoid A Govenment Ordered Recall.
CSA