I have a 2015 Scion FR-S that wasn't part of this recall. However, my car had a very similar engine failure last year. At the time I could not find any other cases of completely stock engines failing catastrophically under normal use. Now that so many others are having similar issues, I think this might add some credence to the possibility of dislodged sealants being the cause.
Here’s a short summary of what happened in 2018.
- 49k miles : Oil seeping from timing chain cover. Dealer removes cover and reapplies sealant under warranty.
- 52k miles : Oil seeping again. Dealer puts die in the oil to check where the leak is from.
- 53k miles : Dealer finds the oil seep is still from the timing chain cover. Dealer removes the cover and reapplies sealant again under warranty. Suggests it may not have been done properly the first time.
- 53.7k miles : Clicking sound from engine. Almost immediately got louder, smoke from the engine compartment and power loss. The engine wouldn’t crank. Had car towed to the dealer. They found that a connecting rod bearing failed, which in turn pretty much shredded everything in its vicinity and cracked the block.
The Toyota dealer was great. They said I needed a new engine and offered to get me one under warranty, without me even having to ask. Every part that engine oil passed through was destroyed by the metal debris, as was the intake manifold. I was told they ordered about $12,000 worth of parts. They did take two months to get all the parts and put it together though.
I had to take the car back to the dealer at 55.5k miles for an oil leak, but it was a quick fix. The dipstick O-ring wasn’t seated properly.
I have done about 3000 miles on the new engine so far, and everything seems ok so far. Now that I’m reading about these engine failures, I plan to add as many miles as I can to make sure any problems are flushed out before the 1 year warranty on it expires.
