Radiator problems of the 2003 Toyota Camry

One day I start my car and leave it to warm up for about 15 minutes, when I got in it I notice it was blowing cold air from vents,I started driving and it start getting hot ,so didn't pay much attention, about few days after my wife drove to church and call me to say theres no heat inside, I told her CO come back home ,when I check the radiator it was almost dry,I could not believe it,I fill it back up and the temperature gauge went back to its original position, and I start getting heat inside again, took it on the road for a test drive only to start getting cold air again so I went home back put about a cup of antifreeze and lift the car only to find that the leaking is coming from between the intake manifold,my michanic told me it's leaking from the head because the bolts go striped and the head is separated from the block and this is a common problem with these models,and it's going to need a knew engine, which I don't have any money to buy, Toyota should take full responsibility for these issues, there's a lot of owner going through the same thing.

The "check engine" light came on while driving on the freeway. About 2 minutes later, a rattling sound could be heard under the hood. While changing lanes to exit the highway, the car would not accelerate and a loud pounding sound could be heard when trying to accelerate. Just after turning onto the side street from exiting the highway, the car died. All of this occurred within a 5 minute period. Upon opening the hood, there was smoke coming from the engine area of the vehicle and the reservoir for the radiator fluid was bone dry. The radiator had been flushed and refilled only 2 months earlier. The car was towed to my local mechanic. Upon their inspection, I was told the head gasket was blown. There had been no warning lights or indication that the vehicle was running hot previous to the "check engine" light coming on minutes before the head gasket blew. In August, 2012, a rushing fluid sound could be heard in the dash area. I had the car inspected and the water pump, thermostat, all hoses and a radiator flush were done to the vehicle. In February 2013, the power steering pump had to be replaced. The rushing fluid sound could still be heard often. If the radiator fluid reservoir was topped off, generally the sound would stop. The fluid sound began again in January 2015. That was the main reason for getting the radiator flushed. A new radiator cap was also installed at that time. I never heard the rushing fluid sound after that flush. The car is a total loss. I am forced to replace the vehicle. The cost of a used motor and all labor is almost $5,000. That's approximately what the car is worth. I understand that there have been hundreds of almost identical complaints listed on the internet. I believe that this is a defect in the vehicle and Toyota should be responsible to correct it.

Tl-the contact owns a 2003 Toyota Camry. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 40 mph, the engine seized while the check engine light illuminated. The vehicle was able to be restarted. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The technician diagnosed that there was a leak in the radiator and the engine needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 88,259. Pam.

My family and I were out of state on a trip for a funeral in February. It was very cold where we were, so I started our Camry to warm up the car. However, instead of warming up, it actually started to overheat due to low coolant. Suspecting a cracked hose or a radiator issue, I searched for the leak, but could not find one. We kept the car filled with fluid, watched the temp gauge like a hawk, and limped the car home to our mechanic. Thankfully, it didn't even come close to overheating again the entire trip home. When I took it into the shop, they said that it was leaking from the head gasket. Upon further inspection, the mechanic found that three bolts near the heat shield were not only loose, but actually stripped. This sounded odd to me. I have an 89 Toyota pickup that I bought brand new, and it is still running like a champ 25 years and 250,000+ miles later. I expected the same kind of service life from our well maintained Camry with less than 150,000. Stripped head bolts just sounded off to me for a Toyota, so I did an online search. Imagine my surprise when I found web page and forum after web page and forum dedicated to this issue alone. One site - carcomplaints. Com - has 36 complaints filed already for just the 2002 and 2003 model years, and this problem extend to engines up to the 2007 model year. Another web site - Camryforums. Com - has 6 pages of forums dedicated to this issue. Six pages. All of them with the same exact issue - coolant leaks from the stripped head bolts next to the insulation. And there are more sites and more forums than just those. Considering that only a small percentage of people are going to file these kinds of complaints or post on an online forum, this is a huge problem with these cars. They should be recalled and repaired.

2003 Toyota Camry. Consumer writes in regards to engine problems. The consumer stated the engine seemed hard to start. It felt as though it was misfiring. The air condition stopped working, the vehicle overheated and started smoking profusely. When the consumer arrived home, she discovered there was no coolant in the radiator. She filled the radiator with coolant and managed to get the vehicle to her local mechanic. The mechanic found a bad air condition fan, no freon in the system, and the radiator was leaking. The consumer paid $1200. 00 to fix the issues. However, after driving 10 miles, the ac stopped working, the engine overheated and smoke was emitting from the engine, again. Also, the check engine light illuminated two years prior, but despite having 3 different mechanics inspect the vehicle, the computer diagnostic system, indicated no problem. It was re-set 3 times, but eventually came back on every time.

We purchased a new 2003 Toyota Camry le. After about 6 months or so we began to hear a water sloshing sound under our dashboard. We thought maybe it was because our driveway was at a slope and maybe the position the car was in, the fluids were rushing through the engine. So we parked in the street. The same noise continued when we braked,turned and stopped. After trying to remedy the problem we took our car to the dealership and they test drove the car and said"OH,that's a normal engine sound" I said I don't think so and went to another dealership who said that it sounds like air in the hoses. They bled the system and it worked for a couple of days and then returned. Back to the dealership 5 more times. Finally they threw up their hands and said for us to give them 60 more days to try to figure out the problem which it was now in arbitration. How can they try to figure out the problem if we still had the car in our posession? we continued to drive this car putting on miles not knowing that when they buy back your car they deduct the miles from the cost of which they pay you on the lemon law buyback. So had they kept the car ,knowing they couldn't remedy the problem,our monies would have been more. They are buying our car back and we feel extremely cheated. We bought a new vehicle. Not a Toyota.