please sit back and enjoy
i love my townace 2.2 auto & i look after it ,it has been serviced as recomended by toyota since i got it 8 months ago just had front wheel bears and genrerally loved and looked after
tonight on the way home from work i had a knocking noise sounded like the exhaust was loose when i got home i got out the noise was louder from the outside called a mate round to have a look he spotted oil in the water i then called the AA out the guy took one look scratched his head and his bits then said you had better get this to a garage to which i had the pleasure of replying no mate you had i have full parts and labour AA cover at which he made a call then towed to me a garage telling them the problem is something to do with the engeine
symptom niose knocking
tinny rattle
no smoke
engine runs
no leaks or loss of levels
oil in the coolant
please feel free to take
a guess onthis problem
i dont think it is the engine as the AA man kept insisting

cream cake to who ever get closer

i will up date
when the garage phone me

- (#7188) Andy Lyons, 17 Feb 03

Oil in Water, I'm afraid it looks like the old headgasket & cracked head syndrome again, even the 3CT engine suffers from this as well. Let us know what the garage discover, make sure that if they do take the head off & find it's the gasket, they also have the head crack tested, they normally crack the pre-combustion chambers if the headgasket goes. if they don't do this, it could all be in vain when they reassemble it. HTH Rob.

- (#7189) Rob Drinkwater, 17 Feb 03

Mine ran with a similar noise when I bent a con rod two years ago.

- (#7190) Mark, 18 Feb 03

well the garage have just got back to me and told me its a belt pulley come loose hit the fan and they think one of the cam belt tensioners is loose they think the head gasket is intact but they are flushing the coolng system cos they dont think its oil they just think its scum in the cooling system so i will let you all know what happens when i get my baby back


- (#7310) Andy Lyons, 18 Feb 03

Eh!!! so they reckon the front cranshaft pulley came loose, common problem, this can happen, BUT the crankshaft needs to be carefully checked for damage & the woodruff key replaced as a matter of course, inspect the pulley itself, worst case scenario is new crank & pulley, but hope it has been caught in time. Can't quite see how the pulley has managed to hit the fan though, unless either the fan had fallen off, or the pulley managed to jump several inches up & forward then back onto the crankshaft, as it sits behind & below the fan. As regards the cam belt, if the tensioner was loose, then one assumes that you need a new belt, the tensioner is sprung loaded, you use the spring pressure to set the correct tension at the time of fitting, then tighten the bolt to hold the tensioner pulley in the correct position, if the belt is now loose it will probably need to be replaced, good practice anyway if you've got all the rest of this apart. Check the tensioner bearings & the spring tension as well to make sure. Let's hope it is only scum in the coolant & your head is OK. Regards Rob.

- (#7311) Rob Drinkwater, 18 Feb 03

i must addmit i cant see where fan damage comes into this they are replaceing the pulley but there is a good fewq inches between the belts and the fan i will be getting a full quote from my local toyota when they tell me what parts i need i also want the old parts back they are checking the cam the tensioner bearing and replaceing as required just waiting on a date to get it back and when i do i staight off for a 300 mile trip to check the head i still have a couple of months on the warrenty
so if the head does seem to be passing after they have flushed the coolant
- (#7312) Andy Lyons, 19 Feb 03

I suspect they're putting the tinny rattle down to the cambelt tensionner. Its probably the large washer that fits behind the crankshaft pulley rattling against the bottom cambelt sprocket. I would,nt settle for the crankshafy pulley simply being put back on. I'd want a new one. Any room for movement of the key and this will just happen again, when your out of warranty. Also make sure they confirm that there has been no damage to the keyway in the crankshaft, for the same reason. Better still inspect it yourself.
This advise is from personal experience.

- (#7313) stephen judge, 19 Feb 03

well it just get better ii have just been told that where the crankshaft pulley came off it has damaged the end of the shaft the options are
1 fix it anyway (oh and we dont say that will last long )
2 new engine just waiting for a price on that one
3 put in a new crankchaft (my garage says not good to put new part in old engine "you mean you dont know how to " )
they think they can get me an engine in running for £2500

it is the 2.2 townace engine
what does everyone think it just seems to be getting worse

help
- (#7275) Andy Lyons, 20 Feb 03

If this problem had happened to me whilst my bus was under warranty, I would be pushing the warranty company to have the crank replaced at no cost to me.

If this is not covered by warranty then provided that the end of the shaft is still true, not bent like a banana, I would attempt to repair the crank/pulley before going to the expense of either a new crank, or engine. After all if its already bust, what’s the worse that can happen? it’s still bust! then you can decide on either a new crank or engine.

- (#7276) dave Bright, 20 Feb 03

just spoke to the garge they say they can fix it without new engine or crank shaft but they wont garentee the work because it is not a normal repair but assure me it will last a good few years
do i trust halfords rembering that it was not my choice for it to go there

- (#7277) Andy Lyons, 20 Feb 03

Oh God! You didn't say it was in an AA Service Centre (I.e. an ex Halfords Service Centre) I had assumed it was in a real garage, not a glorified kwik fit. I suppose if it was towed in by the AA, they will want to take it to one of their own places rather than a real garage, if they can put loads of Lock 'n' Seal on the shaft & thread, then reallt torque it up with a new woodruff key in the keyway it should last OK, trouble is finding a REAL technician in these places is a rarity. Let us know how you get on, regards Rob.

- (#7278) Rob Drinkwater, 20 Feb 03

andy
on the warranty side - you bought what you were lead to be believe to be a mechanically sound roadworthy vehicle. if the warranty covers it, demand a replacement engine or crankshaft and a warranty on the repair at no cost to you. absolute hogwash that you can't put a replacement crankshaft in an aged engine. it just thats its a difficult exercise in a townace.
your other option is a repair to the crankshaft. probable that they will fill the damaged area and dress back to profile. dangers here are if they try to weld replacement material in place. the heat may damage the crankshaft oil seal.then its an oil leak and engine out anyway. the other option they may try is to fill it with a 2 pack epoxy structural adhesive and dress to profile. either of these two options may work. its an absolute must that you have a new crankshaft pulley woodrift key and bolt. make sure they are aware of the torque values for the bolt. this is important to ensure that it is not overtorqued and later stress fractures. belt overtension is another issue. the latter of these repairs i carried out. check messages posted 12/22/02.

- (#7279) stephen judge, 20 Feb 03

well we are two weeks since my townie broke down and the garage has all the parts to fix it apart from the fan and coupling they have told me it could be up to 15 days beforethe part arrives in this country i am not a happy bear does any is it worth tradeing my townie when i get it back or do you guys thinkthat packing the crankshaft dressing fitting new pulley,key belts fan and cuopling

any ideas a very sad townie owner i want my bus back

- (#7517) Andy Lyons, 3 Mar 03

If all they're waiting for is the fan & cxoupling, I would suggest that they get on with the job, put it all back together, minus the fan, then get the vehicle to a competent garage & get them to fit an electric fan conversion. This just might prevent further problems. And should get your wagon back on the road sooner. HTH Rob.

- (#7518) Rob Drinkwater, 3 Mar 03

hi all for anyone that followed my strange tail my townace is almost back together after throwwing the crankshaft pulley through the fan

the cause was found when they went to put the new bolt in the cranshaft they found the old one about two inches in that was successfully removed with a nice 2 hour labour charge but there is now no cranshaft damage

when i gat it back monday im fitting a new sterio i want to vchange the front speakers how do i get in to the dorrs and what size are the speakers

hope some one can help

Andy Lyons

thank you alll
- (#7682) Andy Lyons, 15 Mar 03