Tom

Dear    Tom,

Q Can you help me understand how it happened that I drove my 2000

Toyota Camry to a quick lube for a simple oil change and came out needing a
water pump? I had to have it towed home and then towed to a repair shop
where they said I need a new engine. You might ask if I maintain the service
on my car and the answer is yes, every six months.

Barbara—Philadelphia,   Pennsylvania

Barbara,

A Wow. There are too many variables here to accurately assess your

situation. What do you mean by “I maintain the service on my car every six
months“? What service? Oil changes? Tire rotation? Sparkplug replacement?
This information is too vague for me to help you. That said, I would go
through the maintenance records to see what exactly has been done in recent
months to determine what happened. Sounds to me like the car had a bad
water pump, causing the coolant to leak out, which caused the engine to
overheat and blow the head gasket. This, in turn, caused engine coolant to
mix with the engine oil, damaging the engine’s road and main crankshaft
bearings and necessitating engine replacement. That’s the best I can offer.
Sorry for your woes.