2003 Toyota Camry Trouble

[cfelton]

My daughters camry blew a head gasket and the head bolts pulled the threads out of the block. Its an all aluminum engine and from reading post on the net its been a known problem they have soft blocks. I tore it down and tapped out the stripped holes and installed Helicoils. They didnt hold for the final torquing. So I found some old Mercruiser head bolts, drilled out the holes in the head and drilled out the helicoils and tapped the holes out to 9/16 for the mercruiser bolts. Had to grind down the hex head to fit the hole in the head. I installed the head and started putting it all back together yesterday. Bolts torqued down good! A stuck thermostat started all the trouble. I have 8 toyotas in the family but if you have an older camry 2.4 four cylinder 2002-2006 be careful and dont let it run hot any at all!