Head Gasket Leak

[Hershey]

come to find out that the '08 YARIS sedan has a leaky head gasket and will need to get it repaired later in the week . They used the dye test to locate it . I suggest others to pay attention to this issue . The leak is on the upper right side hand ( passenger side ) corner of the block . The car has less than 21,000 miles and noticed it about 6 months ago . May have been leaking from the time we bought it and progressed . The coolant seems to be fine . The reservoir is at the full mark when hot .

[UTVitz]

oh joy, at least you have warranty. I've had to deal with a head gasket twice on a miata and what expensive misery. I've got over 40k on my 08, so far so good. I'm trying redline synthetic just to see if my gaskets last any longer on the yaris. I know valvoline conventional did not help my miata one bit-after 80K it started leaking from every gasket it had. The synthetic is only a self indulged experiement on my part, I know of no facts to support my logic.

[Hershey]

we've used 5w-30 SHELL Full synthetic and PENNZOIL Platinum since 1,200 miles . Must of been that way from the factory . The car was bought when gas prices were over $4.00 and the YARIS was a hot commodity . Thus they pumped them out quick as they could to meet demand . Therefore , miscues are more likely to happen . The YARIS was manufactured in APRIL of '08 . TOYOTA wanted to pass G.M. and are getting a bad rep for their quality as G.M. and other AMERICAN car makers . They're not what they used to be . Next car may be a COLT or MAZDA . Very discouraged . Wish the YARIS had a temperature gauge to monitor , maybe that would of helped . Or not , .

[Black Yaris]

just take it to the dealer... you are well with in your 3 year 36k mile bumper to bumper warranty

does not matter what manufacture (ford, honda, audi) they are mass produced, and anything mass produced is going to have a few bad apples.... and that is what warranties are for

[auxmike]

No temp guage, but I sprung for the ScanGuage II. Let's me watch that temp. with ease.

[Hershey]

been to the dealer twice . 1st time they said it was the oil filter leaking . Had to crawl under the car and take a few pictures of the leak to show them it wasn't the oil filter or spilled oil from an oil change . Don't have much faith in the help . If they can screw up an oil change , it's a bit concerning what can go wrong with the replacement of the gasket(s) . We could tell a few horror stories with other service centers in the past . I'm sure if it was your YARIS leaking oil you'd be somewhat peeved and worried as well . We just got 41.35 miles per gallon with a fill today . Maybe we should just pass . Sometimes the car is never the same after a fix .

[STC]

I bought the Yaris because my last car's 2.2L engine sprung a Head Gasket leak.

The 2.2L engine is notorious for head gasket leaks. The 1.5L engine is not. But, as Black Yaris says, "does not matter what manufacture (ford, honda, audi) they are mass produced, and anything mass produced is going to have a few bad apples...." I must agree!

I wish the Yaris has a Temp guage... The sure sign for my last car's HG problem was a slow progressive change in my temp guage reading.

[Hershey]

mechanic says there's not always oil in your coolant or coolant in your oil and can only leak oil . Is that the case ?

[Hershey]

just checked the coolant reservoir for the '08 sedan and is 1/2 way between LOW and FULL mark . Car has sat since 5 P.M. Monday . Hopefully not low due to head gasket . Could have been that way from factory . TOYO tech said the head gasket is only leaking oil outside of the block and not coolant internally . Hope he's right .

[STC]

Originally Posted by Hershey

mechanic says there's not always oil in your coolant or coolant in your oil and can only leak oil . Is that the case ?

Yes, this is the case! My old 2.2L car was not leaking the coolant into the oil case. It leaked out. If it were to leak internally, you would see white smoke from your exhaust... the mixture of oil and anti-freeze.

When you started the car you could see the anti-freeze slowly dripping out from the head gasket seem and evaporating on the block. The smell was apparent. I dropped approximately a 1/2 container of anti-freeze in 7-10 days!!!

The TOYO tech is correct...

[Hershey]

o.k. , thanks . Forgot about the sweet smell of exhaust . Years ago we had a NISSAN Stanza that you could smell it .

[fearturtle44]

Now that is bad luck. Least you won't have any out of pocket expenses and hopefully they will lend you a courtesy car during repair.

[Hershey]

don't forget this includes 2 YARIS with oil leaks . 2008 sedan with nearly 21,000 miles and a 2010 3 door with less than 6,500 . Highly suggest others to take a glance for this leak or others .

[Red Horse]

Then im lucky, my sedan is 70,000 miles and still no leak

[Hershey]

it's official . Both cars have the plastic head gasket leaking . See details under " 2010 Oil Leak " . Thanks for your input .

[auxmike]

Wow, this must be very upsetting, to say the least!

Consider making them take back the 2010. It's a NEW car!
Please keep us posted as things progress.....

[Hershey]

went for 179 mile trip yesterday and found more oil seeping from the head gasket today . Recleaned and wait for another spill .

[Yaris Hilton]

Originally Posted by Hershey

mechanic says there's not always oil in your coolant or coolant in your oil and can only leak oil . Is that the case ?

Yes, but the only way this can happen is if the leak ONLY lets oil from a pressurized oil passage going up through the block to the head leak to the outside, with no leakage involving cylinder compression or coolant. This is uncommon. Leakage of oil into coolant is also uncommon.