Engine seized

2005 TOYOTA LAND CRUISER PRADO
305,000 MILES • 3.0L • 4 CYL • 4WD • AUTOMATIC
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WANDELLA
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I had a timing belt replaced and 600 km later the engine seized.
It is a 1kze te engine.

What has caused it to fail?

Mechanics found a bent connecting rod and there was coolant in head.

Was it an airlock or timing misfire?
Dec 7, 2018 at 12:44 PM
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CARADIODOC
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Neither. The cylinder head gasket developed a leak, which is not uncommon in any car, but the coolant caused "hydro-lock". Liquid can not be compressed, so the sudden gasket failure filled that cylinder with liquid coolant that stopped that piston in its tracks. With the high momentum of the spinning crankshaft, something had to give, and that is usually the connecting rod. The proof is the bent connecting rod. That tells us this occurred unusually quickly and most likely at highway speed. This has nothing to do with the timing belt.
Dec 7, 2018 at 4:05 PM
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WANDELLA
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There were no other symptoms before hand, it just happened and it happened after the timing belt was replaced and we did 600 kms. Everything was fine with the engine beforehand.
Dec 7, 2018 at 4:36 PM
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WANDELLA
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The only thing I did notice was a rattling sound the day before and engine light came on and then went off.
Dec 7, 2018 at 4:36 PM
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CARADIODOC
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The glaring clue here is the 600 km. If something was done incorrectly with the timing belt, that would have shown up right away, and it would not have damaged the connecting rod. Sometimes engine failures can be hard to figure out what happened first, but this one is pretty straight-forward. It is unfortunate, but it can happen on any brand of car.
Dec 7, 2018 at 5:03 PM
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WANDELLA
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Okay, thank you.
Dec 7, 2018 at 5:09 PM