Well, it was fine 'til the stealer worked on it.....

[kitkraft]

I had a 90K service performed yesterday including a new water pump.....about 1500.00 worth. Last night noticed a very slight rubbing (not clicking) sound when coasting around 20mph....goes away when power or brakes applied. Anyway, was taking it back to the dealer this morning to have them listen......hit stop and go traffic on the freeway in a construction area....down to 2 lanes..no shoulders. Notice the temp gauge rising......by the time I could exit the freeway, the gauge had pegged for 3-5 minutes....opened the hood and noticed steam coming from under the manifold cover. Now its back at the stealers and I have a Durango loaner (dreadful, by the way) but my question is am I likely to have warped heads or other damage due to the overheating? '98 100 with 215,500 miles........
Thanks to all for your thoughts...........

 

[jjbodean1970]

tough to say until the actual problem is diagnosed first....

 

[e9999]

pegged for 5mins? sorry, but not good, potential for serious trouble I would think...

time to get some prep time in for when/if it hits the fan and they claim it's not their fault. Try and get the process of repair rolling making it clear it's their fault all along.... (if it is)

water pump work, eh...?

 

[Campfire]

Document, Document, Document! Keep a log of everything they did, what they said, and MOST important, be sure that everything the service writer told you was done is written on the repair order!
The repair order will be you legal document in court. Look down the road where this might go. If you demand that all the documentation is correct before you leave the service area, they will know you are serious.
Have the service writer or service manager go over everything how it is written on the repair order before it's printed. If you don't agree with it, don't accept it and get the general manager involved. If they start denying anything, or offer up that's "it's all done, no problems", have it on the repair order that all work is warrantied for XX months and any Toyota dealer can do the work.

Whoa, sorry! Ranting over now. Too much coffee this morning.

 

[kitkraft]

Thanks, guys....and I think they know they screwed up...pinched a seal or something when they installed the pump.....maybe even a bad pump......I think the fight will come if the heads are warped or worse and they argue I should have shut it down in the middle of the freeway when it began overheating rather than waiting to get it off the road.....

 

[e9999]

Thanks, guys....and I think they know they screwed up...pinched a seal or something when they installed the pump.....maybe even a bad pump......I think the fight will come if the heads are warped or worse and they argue I should have shut it down in the middle of the freeway when it began overheating rather than waiting to get it off the road.....

you're fine with the freeway I would think, with construction, no shoulder etc, it's easy to argue that it would have been unsafe to stop there...

You should get second opinions on what is wrong with the engine (warpage etc) and not take their word for it that all is good ...

 

[kitkraft]

you're fine with the freeway I would think, with construction, no shoulder etc, it's easy to argue that it would have been unsafe to stop there......

That's my take as well....and, I suspect, unlawful to stop if not completely disabled.........

 

[a990dna]

Document, Document, Document! Keep a log of everything they did, what they said, and MOST important, be sure that everything the service writer told you was done is written on the repair order!
The repair order will be you legal document in court. Look down the road where this might go. If you demand that all the documentation is correct before you leave the service area, they will know you are serious.
Have the service writer or service manager go over everything how it is written on the repair order before it's printed. If you don't agree with it, don't accept it and get the general manager involved. If they start denying anything, or offer up that's "it's all done, no problems", have it on the repair order that all work is warrantied for XX months and any Toyota dealer can do the work.

Whoa, sorry! Ranting over now. Too much coffee this morning.

Excellent advice.

I've noticed the service writer's and or technicians are usually remiss at documenting the problem and fix. This was a recent issue I had with my 2005... I made the service writer (manager) go back and document what they actually did to my vehicle to try and remedy ongoing problems. I also documented discussions using timelines and sent a letter with a returned receipt to the President of the dealer for review and response.

I'm glad I've insisted on an accurate paper trail since now I'm in the middle of a dispute settlement and arbitration with Toyota.

In fact, I'm using my posts and responses from a few people here to counter any claims the dealer or Toyota may use in the attempt to squirm out of their responsibilities.

Good luck with your ordeal.

 

[SWUtah]

I would just start out telling them you want a new engine and work from there.

 

[richg]

The overheat cause is likely as simple as they didn't bleed all the air out of the system properly when they refilled the coolant. I know when I did the 90K service on my 98 LC it took me quite a bit of time to get all the air out of the system. It has such a huge capacity, especially with the rear seat heater, there is lots of places for air to hide.

Now, depending on how bad it overheated will determine what needs to be done. I've had cars that have overheated, but once cooled down and the source of the problem addressed, they were fine. Personally, if the truck is OK, I wouldn't want the dealer to tear it apart; liable to end up with more headaches in the long run. About the only test you can do right now is to do a leak-down test (not a compression test). If the numbers are good on that, then you really just have to drive it to see if it is OK, and get some UOA's done.

I'd maybe go for getting a letter from the dealer that puts some sore of timeline down that repairs can be made at their cost.

rich

 

[Landpimp]

dealer did my 90K service.......managed to poke a hole in my rad.......silly manager said they would repair it........smart service advisor said NO we will replace it with a new OEM rad..........now thats a smart man

 

[Jim_Chow]

Good point, maybe they didn't burp the cooling system well. It helps a lot to be on a sloped driveway. One time I drained the block on my 4runner and disconnected the heater hose, I didn't "re-prime" the heater hose with distilled water, so there was air trapped in there. When I let the engine run (w/ radiator cap off on the driveway), I had Old Faithful under my hood due to the super-heated boiling water in the block rapidly exiting into the radiator...had me scared for a second. 70K miles later, all is still well, so don't panic yet.

 

[EdsCruisin]

Regardless of incompetent workmanship, you should always ask to see the replaced parts.

 

[kitkraft]

Thanks again, All! I didn't think of the underfilled system possibility, however, I doubt that since I put 40 miles on it Fri night without over heating, then experienced the problem Sat. AM.
Dealer has had the truck 5 hours Sat, all Monday and I have not heard a word. That concerns me..........

 

[kitkraft]

Thanks to all who offered sage advice! Took it back to the dealer...they kept it a couple of days......said the gasket between the hose neck and water pump was pinched.......said they did compression and leakdown tests and all was fine.......when I picked it up, I asked for the tech's compression figures and was told, oops, he didn't keep them.......so I am suspicious and will have those checks done at another shop.....just for my info, what should the compression range be on a stock '98?
Thanks again!

 

[e9999]

Thanks to all who offered sage advice! Took it back to the dealer...they kept it a couple of days......said the gasket between the hose neck and water pump was pinched.......said they did compression and leakdown tests and all was fine.......when I picked it up, I asked for the tech's compression figures and was told, oops, he didn't keep them.......so I am suspicious and will have those checks done at another shop.....just for my info, what should the compression range be on a stock '98?
Thanks again!

get something in writing to the effect that this happened and they guarantee there is nothing wrong with the engine and will fix within xxx years if something else happens...