Quality problem with V6 engine in RAV4, Camry, Lexus... [oil hose failing]

ravwhat · Joined: 04 Mar 2010 Posts: 6

Has anyone alerted the EPA about all the thousands and thousands of quarts of oil that Toyota is allowing to be dumped on the ground across the country? I know one company that was put out of business because they were illegally dumping their oil. And that was just a small shop. I think I read about 800,000 vehicles are effected by this leak. Not all have leaked... but seems like all of them are likely to because toyota has not recalled them all, but instead just waiting for them to fail.

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Paul3637

cococola · Posted: March 9, 2010, 5:08 pm Post subject:

This means they will change our oil TOO?! wow, i gotta go in according to my oil change schedule then. I dont want to waste good synthetic Mobil 1 that just I put in.

will · Joined: 20 Jan 2008 Posts: 34 2008 V6/Base/4WD/Package B

imagewrangler

It came in the mail Saturday, official looking envelope from the SSC/LSC notification processing center with huge letters on it "LSC 90K - Variable Valve Timing - Oil Hose Replacement Service Campaign," inside of which is the legal-ease stuff about it's good until 2013 and bring the mailer thing to any authorized Toyota dealer and they will swap the hose "free of charge" and that it should take "approximately an hour" to swap.

It doesn't say, however, if you get a metal one or another rubber one, I'll update this factoid after I go see them.

Problem being, my local Toyota dealer's mechanics are currently SLAMMED with vehicles from the other recalls. As I've only 18K on the ODO of a 2007 RAV4 Base V6 I'm going to wait a month or two as I'm not making any long trips nor do I want to inconvenience myself for waiting more than an hour.

I'm just seeing still a lot of vitriol here on the forums and some irrational comments. Toyota IS handling it's business, finally perhaps, but it is taking care of the issues. So I welcome this as opposed to all those sh***y GM makes my old man bought that were almost DOA but he was that hardcore rah rah buy American type even though the quality was sh*t. Like the Vega that was rusting through as he drove off the dealer lot, his engine seized a year and a half later and the dealer/GM did nothing for him yet he bought ANOTHER GM, blanking on it, that too had all types of problems, then he bought a Pinto which, just wow, wow that was bad, again issues, and nothing covered fixing it. I swear so many whiners on these forums are spoiled and don't realize that there was a time car makes didn't do squat for your vehicle regardless of problems and I can attest to you that plenty of older barges has stuck accelerators only they weren't passive idiots about such things as pussy car drivers are these days and knew how to handle their business, i.e. stop the cars with any means necessary. People these days amaze me.

imagewrangler · Posted: March 14, 2010, 6:14 pm Post subject:

ravwhat · Joined: 04 Mar 2010 Posts: 6

Yes, seriously dude. CA and MA classify engine oil as hazardous material. Other states might also. If you saw the puddle of oil under our toyota when it's oil line failed, you'd have a different tune. These vehicles are dumping thousands of gallons of oil all over the roads. Not only is it safety hazard for other drivers losing control of their cars, but it's also an environmental issue. I don't want thousands of gallons of waste engine oil making their way into the underground aquifers because Toyota installed hundreds of thousands of defective oil lines.

Toyota said it was not issuing a recall because it was not a safety issue. Which I disagree with. Not only are they wrong on the safety issue, but I think Toyota should make it a mandidtory recall because it is also an environmental issue. Try taking your waste oil and dumping it in the middle of an intersection and see the effects. If a cop was there and witnessed it, you'd be cited for littering if not a state environmental law.

xairmech · Posted: March 17, 2010, 3:23 pm Post subject:

Unknown to me when i took my 08 Rav4 LTD in for a scheduled oil change saw on the invoice that Putnam Toyota Burlingame Calif. [they have been a great dealership] replaced the VVTI line. Then when i got home checked & saw that the VVTI oil line STILL has a rubber hose section could tell that it was a new line. Are we being set up for hose failure down the road? Why didn't Toyota replace the line with an all metal line like some of the later 08's, 09's & all the 10's. Don't understand it! Sad

Rickl · Posted: March 17, 2010, 3:53 pm Post subject:

Hydroman22 · Posted: March 17, 2010, 6:12 pm Post subject:

I'm sure they were completley confident in their hoses the first time around as well but when they recognized there was a problem they switched to metal. The metal takes more time to switch and are more expensive. I just had the rubber line they put in a couple weeks ago switch to metal ($27.38 with gaskets). I never heard an explanation from Toyota what the problem was, if it was a bad batch of hose or what and without that info I wasn't completely confident in their fix. Perhaps the rubber is as good or better but I just had them redo mine with the metal line for about $60. The dealer didn't even question it. Time will tell...

Rickl · Posted: March 18, 2010, 5:10 am Post subject:

The following is a quote from the "Customer Satisfaction Campaign" letter I received from Toyota Canada

"Toyota has determined that on affected vehicles, the rubber portion of the engine oil supply hose for the VVT-i actuator on the cylinder head may develop a small crack due to the use of improper rubber material. These cracks can develop inside the oil hose from exposure to small amounts of corrosive components in positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) gases. If the vehicle is continuously operated in this condition, the crack in the hose may expand as a result of the oil pressure and engine oil may leak from the oil hose which can eventually cause damage to the vehicle's engine."

Rick

VIKIRAV4 · Joined: 26 Dec 2009 Posts: 7 Location: California 2008 V6

toyota mailed me the oil hose replacement campaign. its fot the 2GR-FE . got it this week.

eitingon · Posted: March 20, 2010, 11:15 am Post subject:

got my service performed today. it is still a rubber hose.

woody2 · Joined: 15 Sep 2007 Posts: 71 2006 Silver V6 2WD

DakotaRT · Joined: 23 Mar 2010 Posts: 2 2007 Pearl V6 Limited

Wanted to say thanks for all the great info in this thread. I feel I was able to avert potential catastrophe by the efforts of you all. I was able to order the proper parts at the best cost, replace the line with proper specs and finish it in an hour. That rarely happens these days. I don't feel Toyota's solution of replacing one rubber line with another is the fix either considering they scrapped it altogether on later models.

Tomorrow I will be replacing the line on my father-in-laws Avalon as well. Much appreciated!