Ask an expert

Well, there I was parked at the side of SH1 with my Toyota Camry badly overheated. Foam was coming out of the overflow and I immediately knew that meant a blown head gasket.

I had the car trailered home, removed the cylinder head to find the engine block itself had suffered from extensive corrosion. I decided it wasn’t worth dismantling further and managed to get hold of a second hand motor.

The car went to my local Toyota Dealer to install the engine. Their hourly rate was a bit dearer but I figured their product knowledge would mean the job would take less time than the local garage.

A new cam belt, rear main seal, water pump were fitted along with a change of oil and filter.

Engine ran OK but it developed an oil leak from the cam cover which turned out to be loose bolts. Oil was coming out in buckets.

I would have expected the installer to check all bolts are tight. Or at least the ones known to give trouble such as the rocker cover.

I think a franchise garage should ensure everything its correct before handing the car back. What is your opinion with this?

Kevin

From the "Ask Jack" archives - 18 October, 2010

Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon story in situations where the customer supplies used parts for the Dealer to install. When something does go wrong, the Dealer often doesn’t want to know as they will say they were fitting your engine (in this case) and carrying out specific other repairs as directed by you, and were not instructed to check anything else including all bolts for tightness.

This scenario becomes worse if second hand parts are fitted and major problems are discovered or are only evident after installation. Warranties from many auto dismantlers only cover the components supplied not the labour involved in fitting.

Like you, I would be disappointed, but the Dealer’s argument may be that they didn’t supply the engine, and can’t be responsible for any problems with it.

Was it merely a loose bolt or do the gaskets need replacing? Often, a second hand engine has sat around for a while and the gaskets may have dried out, causing a leak.

If the oil was leaking from the start and it’s the gaskets, the Dealer should have notified you and given you the option of replacement. If it started leaking later, it is a grey area, as the Dealer will argue that they weren’t aware of any potential leak when the job was completed.

It’s probably not an unreasonable expectation for you to assume the dealer would check for loose bolts, given all the additional work that was carried out. But in assuming things that may seem obvious to one party, you often find the other party assumes something else.

There’s probably no right or wrong answer here, but communication about such things is often the key to finding some common ground. If the gaskets need replacing, maybe the Dealer will agree to install them at no charge if you were to pay for the necessary parts.

I would discuss the matter with the Dealer in an attempt to resolve the matter to everyone’s satisfaction.