Had the recall j02 done on my 2013 scion frs at 37,739 miles on the car and 1,000 miles later the car has a motor that has a bad rod due to oil not getting through. I have never had problems with this car until after the motor was worked on by the toyota dealership. Now they wont fix it. Driving the vehicle and the car just shut off. It was making a knocking sound right before that happened.
2013 Scion FR-S engine complaints
Page 5 of 6: complaints 101 to 130 of 146, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Vehicle was in dealership (toyota of redlands, redlands ca) for the f02 valve spring recall. Upon recieving the vehicle back from the dealership the engine was ticking more than usual. 700 miles later it spun a bearing resulting in total engine failure. Car was towed back to dealership for inspection, they deemed it not their fault and wanted to stick a 8k-12k bill on me to move on with repairs. Small amounts of sealant were found on pickup screen. Car ran flawlessly for 97k prior to recall work.
I received a recall notice from toyota for valve springs. I had the recall work done at my local toyota dealership (toyota of marin, california). Several weeks later, on my way to my regular mechanic to have the repair inspected (driving on a paved road on private property at sonoma raceway in sonoma, ca), I experienced a bang and knock in the engine. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw smoke. I looked forward and saw smoke and flames coming out of the hood. I pulled over and a fire crew helped put out the fire but not before the entire engine compartment was destroyed.I have been working with toyota. They inspected the car in april and I am awaiting their response. This was a life threatening experience. I was lucky to have it happen near a fire crew who could provide immediate help. I followed the recall directions and lost my vehicle. I would like help in dealing with toyota to resolve this issue. I have attached my letter to toyota and a picture. Thank you. -[xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
The vehicle (2013 scion fr-s, 69000 miles) was in a factory authorized service center [xxx] to have recall j02 (the federal safety agency recall campaign 18v772000) performed. We were notified that the car suffered a major engine problem following the recall service, but before the car was returned to us. The description of the circumstances involved indicated that the car was on a test drive following the completion of the recall service and required towing back to the service center. We were informed of this two days after its occurrence. A visual observation of the partially disassembled engine indicates likely oil starvation as the cause of the problem. At this point in time, the service center has retained the vehicle and parts pending a determination by toyota. At this point in time, the service center is of the opinion that a non-factory oil filter caused oil starvation. The oil filter had been installed on the car and functioning appropriately for approximately 3500 miles prior to the service. The oil filter was not replaced during the engine out service which required replacement of internal engine components. We were not notified during the 9 days that the service centered had possession of the car prior to the problem that there were any concerns related to the oil filter - the make and model of the oil filter has only become a point of discussion after oil starvation occurred. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Catastrophic engine failure, on the road, after performing the repair for the j02 recall on the valve springs. Dealer who performed repair was reluctant to help me tow my vehicle to their shop. After reaching out to corporate hq, they sent a tow truck for my car. The dealer very clearly did not appreciate me going over them and straight to toyota, because they treated me very poorly once I arrived at their shop. I have not received any information on the status of my vehicle since dropping it off. My engine has less than 60k miles on it, and ran beautifully before taking it in for the recall.
Before I took my car in for recall I made sure it was in tip top shape no leaks or noises of any kind, no issues whatsoever! Post j02 valve spring recall car was returned with a 1/2' hole in exhaust manifold dealer says it was my fault although it happened while in their possession it was at that time the shop foreman decided not to address the engine squalling around 5k RPM and instructed me to fix the exhaust and drive it. 3k miles later I'm driving down the road 55mph normally the cars starts bogging down and less than a mile later starts knocking violently as I turn at an intersection the vehicle just dies leaving me quickly exiting the vehicle trying to push it out of the road with the help of passing motorist I finally succeeded after my car half in the intersection sat for 15 min blocking traffic and potentially causing accidents. Dealer wanted me to pay for investigation if they determined I was at fault. I decided not to let them continue and choose to have a private repair facility investigate what caused the failure. They determined that sealant had been sucked into the oil pickup tube clogging the screen essentially starving my engine of oil leading to catastrophic failure. This recall is the first and only time my vehicles engine has been worked on leading the private repair facility to determine the dealer at fault with a probable cause being carelessness removing old sealant from engine and timing cover. Currently being treated as a liar by dealer while providing the findings from private repair facility trying to get them to fix my car.
Following the j02 recall work my 2013 frs was picked up and brought to me 4.1 miles away when I got off work and started my vehicle I noticed a ticking sound coming from the back passenger side of the engine. Upon acceleration there is a distinct knocking coming from the engine, since then I have driven 12.7 miles including the distance back to the dealer where the vehicle is once again. There also appears to be way too much sealant applied to the engine when they put it back together.
Received vavle spring recall notice in november and read up on the recall, realized in january there were tons of failures after recall. Held off until march 1 when I saw new training had been done. Took car in for recall service to northridge toyota at 100,1xx miles. March 12th got the car back. Drove it until april 18th noticed light knocking noise, april 19th car started shaking violently at a stop light. Upon accelerating car started horrendously knocking and screeching. Had car towed back to dealer with 101,0xx miles (less than the mandatory 1200 mile warranty on services toyota has). Toyota states not related to recall, and requests $2700 to just take the engine out and look at it. Rep stated might be oil related and sent photo of oil pan with golden oil in it (from recall) and about a pound of metal flakes. Contacted corporate filed a claim and am awaiting response. Absolutely absurd they still have the nerve to say this isnt related when so many people are having the same issue.
I took my car in for a recall repair regarding replacement of the engine valve springs on 1/8/19. The car was ready for pickup two and a half weeks later on 1/25/19. After exactly two months, on march 8th my car began shaking and wobbling while I was driving on the freeway. When the check engine light turned on and I noticed my car began slowing down, I immediately pulled over to the side right side of the highway as the car shut off. After I tried turning it back on, the car would turn off after a couple seconds. I got the car towed back home and contacted toyota. They did not provide a tow truck so I had to tow it in for them to inspect it. In the first update, they told me it had something to do with the lubrication on the sides of the engine. During the second and final update they had a second tech come in for inspection and concluded it was an internal engine failure. I am now in worse situation than before and I feel like I am being charged to fix something that was not broken in the first place. Not to mention the estimate to fix and install a brand new engine will cost up to $11,000. I am currently awaiting for a responses from corporate.
On highway, vehicle @ 3400-4000 RPM, 70-75 MPH, a heavy knocking noise started from the engine, moments later same knocking can be heard at 2000 RPM, had to pull over on highway. As soon as the car fully stopped (while still in drive) the engine stalled out and could not turn back on. Had the vehicle towed back to the dealership that performed the recall work for the spring valves replacement. They tore down the motor and advised me the issue was a spun rod.
My car was brought in for the recall for the faulty valve springs. After about a month and a half the engine began knocking. I took it back to the dealer and after looking at the engine they wanted records of regular vehicle maintenance. They wanted this to make sure maintenance was done because toyota corporate suggested to replace the whole engine . I change my own oil but keep track of the mileage and date I changed it and gave that to the dealership to send to toyota corporate. They denied the engine with no reasoning.
Tl* the contact owns a 2013 scion fr-s. After the vehicle was serviced per the federal safety agency campaign number: 18v772000 (engine), it immediately experienced loss of power and sputtering. The vehicle was taken back to hamer toyota (11041 sepulveda blvd, mission hills, ca) where it was diagnosed that the engine gasket and camshaft were faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred approximately two months later. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the engine rod bearing was faulty. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The contact indicated that the failures were not present prior to the recall repair. The failure mileage was 92,400.
I brought my 2013 scion frs in for a j02 valve spring replace and not even 1,100 miles later I had engine problems that LED to the damage to my "rocker arm , camshaft " two weeks later the dealership says they will not repair the damage 100% due to the damage wasnt caused from the initial recall. And my warranty is voided because they did the recall. My vehicle has been at the hendrick toyota for a month now and I dont know how I'm going to get it back.
I was notified by mail that they're was a safety recall for my 2013 aciom frs which was to replace my engine spring valve at no cost. I took in my car january 18 to have the work done it took around 2 weeks to get a respond back that my car was ready for pick up. I took it out and drove it for about 5 mile to get gas and when I turned on my car it was struggling to turn on and once it turned on it was it was shaking violently , 3 engine codes came up p0017 p0300p219a. I took it immediately to toyota and all they did was clear my engine codes drove my car for about 30 miles and handed it back to me saying it was safe to drive. I had my car for about 2,000 miles I was driving back home at night and I heard a loud pop inside my engine so I parked the car. The next day I was going to my friend house to change my brakes and while I was on the freeway I head a soft engine knocking and it became louder and louder until the engine completly died on me and I was stranded. Toyota send a tow truck to pick up my car and when they inspected the engine they said I had a cylinder that was destroyed and a rod bearing destroyed and they said it was due to 'oil startvation'. I've owned that car for a year and I have never had a single issue with it, until now that they worked on my engine. They are telling me I gotta pay $8,600 out of pocket for a whole new short block and they don't want to take responsibility for the damages occur after their work.
I got a recall notice from toyota, and took it in february 2, 2019 for the valve spring replacement. I got my car back february 12th 2019 & after leave the dealer that day it started bogging, so I returned it to eliminate the sound that very night. After returning it, I got my car back february 13th 2019 everything appeared to be fine until this past weekend, april 6th I heard a pop in the engine. I began to hear knocking coming from the motor and lost power immediately while on the freeway, I tried turning it on but the motor was dead all lights on the dash were on. I went in, in attempt to "fix" my car due to the recall notice, which has lead me to have a completely inoperable car.
Less than 1000 miles after bringing my car to toyota to have mandatory recall work perfomed invokving valve springs, my engine died. The engine has a spun bearing, likely due to oil starvation. I was driving along the highway, and when I stopped for fuel, I noticed a tick that soon became a knock. The car was bogging down on idle and almost stalled numerous times. I drove it to a toyota service center that happened to be less than 2 miles away.
Experience sudden loss of power and engine failure 37 miles after the j02 recall was performed. I was driving for about 10 minutes when suddenly felt the engine had lost power, turned the engine off and coasted to get out of the way of traffic. Noticed a lot of smoke coming out of the hood and a oil leaking from under the engine. -dropped off the car for the j02 recall to be done on 11 march 2019 with 42,581 miles. -recall done, car picked up on 16 march 2019. -engine failed on 18 march 2019, millage 42,618. The dealer technician explained that a right side intake rocker had come loose and subsequently was pinched by the exhaust cam, ejecting it through the valve cover. The rocker blew a whole through the valve cover causing a large amount of oil to pour on to the hot exhaust manifold. Since then, the dealership assumed the cost of the repairs but do not accept responsibility for the failure.
On march 19th 2019 I had the j02 valve spring recall performed on my 2013 scion frs with 74,502 miles on the odometer. Work was done by wyatt johnson toyota of clarksville tn. I chose this dealer because the also own a subaru dealership. They assured me that this was the 12th frs that they had performed the recall on with no history of problems. I picked up my car 3 days later with 74,505 miles. I drove the 100 miles to my home via interstate 24, running at 70-80 MPH. I noticed a ticking noise after an hour of driving. By destinations end I had severe rattling noise from drivers side of engine and rough idle. Now with 294 miles total since repair after the engine is running rougher and emitting squealing and rattling, rough idle and trying to die. It was suggested by wyatt johnson toyota that I not drive the car to them for inspection rather take it to my local dealer. I delivered the car to coad toyota of paducah ky today, april 2nd 2019 with 74,801 miles. I await thier inspection. This was a great running engine. Now I suspect it is on the verge of failure. I have suggested draining and inspecting the oil for evidence of unusual wear.
I had the j02 valve spring recall done and 2 weeks and roughly 80 miles later my engune developed a knocking noise and started losing power the dealership that performed the recall denied responsibility even after finding fipg sealent in my oil pickup
Tl* the contact owns a 2013 scion fr-s. The contact stated that the check engine indicator illuminated. The vehicle was serviced per the federal safety agency campaign number: 18v772000 (engine and engine cooling) by autonation toyota las vegas (6300 w sahara ave, las vegas, nv 89146, (702) 605-5801); however, the check engine warning indicator remained illuminated after the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and did not assist. The failure mileage was 69,449.
After receiving my car after the recall was performed, 15 miles into driving it home my engine began to knock and slow down on the freeway. This safety recall put me at risk. The dealership stated that they will not compensate for the price of a new engine and tried to blame it on me, completely disregarding all of the other vehicles just like me after this recall. I purchased an engine on my own expense after that occurred, and that engine is bad. I cannot believe this toyota dealership isn't compensating like others did.
Valve springs recall: was getting off the freeway, and went to turn and realized my car shut off (all lights on), and wouldn't turn back on (lights disappeared) , but got it to start again after a couple of minutes, and died again, and happened 3 or 4 times and it was sputtering / shaking as if it was out of gas but my gage was a little above a quarter and pulled into a gas station 50 ft in front of me filled up and turned the car on, and above 2000 RPM's starts making a horrible noise. I had the recall done on it last month (valve springs) , while my car was there my vacuum pump went out and the technician only realized after putting the engine back in, and ended up taking the whole engine apart again and put back together and realized it was the vacuum pump, tried to send me on my way but ended up talking to a manager who ate the cost and off I went 3 or 4 days later due to getting the part, no issues since then until now. Went and did some research and come to find out over 40 other have had the same issue as I have after the recall and it turned out that toyota had used the wrong sealant of some sort and now my engine has thrown a rod, and they're making me pay for it! $5000-$7500 for their mistake!!! The dealership told me I have to replace the whole short block, or rebuild my entire engine. They sent out one of their gm's and he said they did everything right obviously not! I have a spreadsheet of 40 others that this has happened to as well as 4 different news articles regarding the same issues. I have spent over 8 hours on the phone with either toyota or the dealership itself. No help. Https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133521 https://www.thedrive.com/news/26848/scion-fr-s-subaru-brz-owners-say-valve-spring-recall-fix-is-destroying-their-engines https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sel4x84cy_ynrkcws9gnoiyntwljdotgqzu1j4rlzow/edit#gid=0
On jan 26, 2019, I send my 2013 frs to do the valve spring recall by toyota, which lasts about two weeks. After about 200 miles added, I heard a couple of times of abnormal noise from the engine, it was like rhythmic knocking. They happened right after I started the engine and can be clearly noticed. The noise became weak in about 1 minute. In addition, I drove it for another 200 miles and the average mpg decreased from 34 to 30.
I had the j02 recall work completed at walser toyota in bloomington, mn in early february 2019. 800 miles later, I note a ticking noise while exiting the freeway. The car stalled repeatedly as I limped the car to safety and had the car towed to the dealership. Similar to dozens of other owners reporting issue with engine failure after the j02 recall on the ft86club.com message boards, my engine spun a bearing due to oil starvation. It is unknown if the engine failure is poor workmanship or a failure with the recall procedure/parts.
I took my car in for j02 engine valve spring safety recall on jan 29th, 2019 at a toyota dealership. Took them a couple days, but when they finished, they said the car was good as new and I could drive it normally. 2 weeks of daily commute to work with no issues, then on feb 17, 2019, I was driving up highway 1 for a couple hours, as I came around a turn, I was going about 25mph, I tapped the brake to slow down as the road was sloping downhill with two hair pin turns up ahead. As soon as I hit the brake, I felt the rear wheels give way a little and the traction control light blink (I was going 25mph, no reason for traction control to engage). Thought it was a little weird, so I let off the brake, coasted downhill a little and then tried tapping the brakes again, the same thing happened. Thinking my brakes are having issues, I tried to slow down by shifting from 3rd to 2nd gear (manual transmission). When I engaged 2nd gear, I heard a pop and saw the hood of my car jump up as if something inside hit it and saw a little bit of smoke. Since I just passed the first hairpin turn, I was looking ahead to safely park my vehicle to the side, but I felt my feet and legs were burning hot. When I looked down, I saw flames coming from the driver side tirewell through the window, it was at this point, I remembered I just filled up a full tank 20 miles back, so I used the brakes to completely stop the car in the middle of the highway - disregarding any warning lights and exited the car. The fire eventually spread and burned the entire car down. I had no cell reception where I was at, so I waited by the car untill the police and fire showed up.
412.8 miles after having j02 valve spring recall work performed, while driving, the vehicle began making a ticking noise. Within 2 minutes of driving, this escalated to loud metallic knocking. I pulled over immediately and had my vehicle towed to the dealership that performed the recall work. That was on february 18th, at 9 am in 2019. My vehicle has 53,610 miles. It is now march 8th, 2019. The dealership still has taken no action after determining that rod bearing #4 was spun. I have been offered no rental, I have to call multiple times to speak with somebody. Toyota customer care says that this is not a recall issue, but a workmanship failure, and to work with the dealership. The dealership says to work with customer care. At the dealership, my parts are all thrown on the floor, including a brand new clutch they had just installed. There is now dirt and saltwater being kicked onto my parts that would be reused, and it's infuriating to see my stuff being treated this way. My wife and I have been having to share our only other vehicle and are so terribly inconvenienced that I am losing sleep and not eating well. All I want is for toyota to replace the entire engine, or compensate me to pay another facility to do the work. I have an estimate ready and a shop willing to do the work immediately. Please help.
Toyota dealership is not following recall procedure from toyota corp. And they refuse to disclose the technician's qualification/certifications. My car was dropped off at dealer for j02 recall, engine valve replacement. After the recall service, I received the car with multiple problems, exhaust leak, oil leak, engine knock. However, dealership is unable to diagnose the problems. Sealant was applied to wrong spots on the engine, causing oil leaks or blockage which could result in rod knock. Exhaust gaskets and other gaskets were not replaced, although, the repair manual says to replace them. The recall service quality is not being double checked by another technician, however, service manual clearly states " at least one associate (someone other than the individual who performed the repair) to verify the repair quality of every vehicle prior to customer delivery".
Received safety recall notice from toyota, to bring my car to any toyota dealership service center. The recall is for engine valve spring replacement. The federal safety agency recall no. 18v‑772 dealership performs work. Vehicle dies while commuting to work about 1,000 miles after recall work performed. Vehicle towed back to toyota of santa cruz. Juan and mike relate to me that they will troubleshoot and, if they deem that the problem is from the recall work, they will fix the car for free. Several days later, they said the engine has a spun bearing on the #4 rod. They state that the failure is not due to the recall work they performed and offer me a used, low-mileage engine for $7.5k, or a new short-block for $8.5k. I told them that I do not feel that I should pay because my vehicle was in perfect running order before the service, and that my being broke down on a busy highway put my life in jeopardy. Problem was escalated to toyota corporate, where I talked to beth (case nr. [xxx]). She later told me that toyota has determined that the problem was not due to the recall procedure. As of 02/28/2019 - there are 12 cases of customers, nation-wide, who have brought their 2012-2013 scion fr-s in for the recall service and have experienced the same catastrophic engine failure as I did. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
My car is roughly 85k miles right now. At 20k miles a cel light came on indicating that something was wrong with my camshaft and timing chain. Under warranty, the cost of that was $2500. At 60k my car starts misfiring, rough idling and even stalling sometimes. I get it serviced again. At 82k my car received another cel stating that the right side of my cam system needed to be replaced (according to the dealer). Only this time it cost me out of pocket - $2500. My car is now at 86k. Another cel popped up. Rough idling. Weird knock noise. Stalled on the highway while moving 3 times!!!!! Very dangerous! Spark plugs and oil changes were done before this. I've had the same problem with this car and it has not even reached 100,000 miles yet. I've researched and almost every 2013 model has the same problem. I've researched about valve springs and how it correlates to the camshaft and pistons as well how it operates. Broken valves will cause misfire and will cause engine problems- misfire, rough idle, stalling. Every symptom my car has had indicated that there's something wrong internally and my 100% correct guess is towards the valve springs. I've read that there is a recall about this problem yet my VIN doesn't indicate that there is. Even though the production of my vehicle falls in the threshold of the recall. This is dangerous and needs immediate attention. Almost had two car accidents because of the engine stalling on me. It's unfair how costly this is when this isn't the only complaint about this situation. Are you guys waiting for a horrible car accident to accur before taking action? Thank you for your time.
The valve springs located inside the engine of the affected vehicles may fracture, which may cause an abnormal noise or engine malfunction. In the worst case, this may result in the engine stalling during driving and the inability to restart the vehicle.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2013 Scion FR-S?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history