Leaking coolant...Possible blown headgasket?
 

2006 scion tc , automatic , 72k miles , all stock , dealer maintaned

Since last week, the car has developed a nasty leak under the intake manifold. The leak is dripping alongside the backside of the block around the black foam and drips onto the ground and the s pipe at idle.

After doing some googling on this matter, it seems there are several other cases of similar problems. Possibly the threads for the head studs were stripped and the head bolts are backing themselves out.

Anybody else experience this? Unfortunately I am out of warranty and would have to pay at least 1500 at the shop or perhaps attempt to diy this

yup, sounds like your head bolt threads are stripped. your going to have to get the head off and inspect it for sure. if the threads are done then you'll either need a new block or what we do at my dealer is drill and time sert the head. done over 15 and has worked every time.


or you can just get a used motor.

GL

How in the world did that happen on its own?

I spent a few hours researching this issue and it looks although uncommon it is a prevalent issue in the camry community.

Unfortunate in the design of the engine.

We got a quote from carmax yesterday for 6,000 and will probably just sell this car to them because it's not worth it to fix.

look up hunnsolutions.com and get there timesert kit.

ya, like you said, its mainly a problem with the camry but i've doen 2-3 tc also. did you get a quote on a used engine? Insurance?

unfortunately, I would do the DIY if I had the time but I simply don't at this moment and it needs to be taken care of asap otherwise it will get worse.

It will be around 1300 for just the head gasket job not including the time serts and rethreading of the block.

Or 3000 for a used long block swap (potentially having the same issue though).

I'll be taking it into carmax tomorrow to sell for 6k. Sad but toyota has lost me as a fan.The car as it sits fixed is probably only 8-9k anyways. I rather not deal with this ticking bomb.

Blown headgaskets
 

2006 tc 68,000 mi headgaskets leaking. The company knows this is happening on the camry and recalled it but not the scion? Since it seems to happen just out of warranty they told me Scion could not assist me in this matter! Repeated attempts to get them to remedy this resulted with "its ok if you are unhappy with your scion we will not be helping you". Can you imagine a professional company leaving you with that as their last words?? After lenghthy online searching I have found this problem to be more prevalent than they are admitting to. To fix it will cost 2-3 grand! Had it happened just a few thousand miles ago, or a few months this would be completely covered. So sad that Scion is putting their hopes on all these repairs being discovered 1 mile or 1 day too late. I can't be the only person irritated that this is a multi million dollar company behaving like toddlers saying "nah nah nuh nah nah your headgaskets leaked too late". I have many more cars to buy in my future, two more for teenagers, and it is just sad that I won't be able to consider Scion, Toyota, or even Lexus given the treatment I have received. Knowing I don't have the support of a company before I buy is most definitly a reason to not take the chance on their product. I had always heard from people that Toyota products are the best out there. I guess you just can't rely on anything anymore. Just sad.

I really think this is why the head bolt length changed in 2007 on the 2nd gen 2AZ. Kind of one of those, were not going to admit we made a design mistake, but were going to fix it silently. To be honest, how many average people even are aware it was changed from 2006-2007? Prob not many. It is extremely strange if the 2AZ was recalled for head bolt thread failure in the Camry, that it wasnt for the tC, as there are only 2 diff 2AZ-FE's ever produced, the 1st gen used up until 2007, than 2nd gen used from 2007-on. TBH, Id just swap in a 2007+ long block. You can use it without issue, just have to use all the sensors and wiring harness from your 06.

good thing i got the 07 for $200 over 2006. california is flooded with salvaged tc's. full motors average $1k i've seen foctory boxed heads, for $250