Tundra engine recall - interesting news

Oh boy... being new here, I guess I need to be careful with asking questions. I am finding more and more examples of some very - dare I say - "deeply personal issues" I had no idea could exist on a truck forum.

 

Errbody got some history. This forum is populated with humans. So human stuff exists here. Mostly the good human stuff, but all of it none the less.

 

For better or worse with the relation to this forum, Just try to take it all in stride Pine_Cone67. Good News is the Tundra Forum therapist/counselor comes in on Saturdays.

 

The reason I don’t buy this argument: Toyota isn’t dumb. They know if it’s a flawed design or not. If it IS a fundamental flaw, there would be zero reason to replace nearly all engines over two model years. It would be far cheaper to just wait for engines to fail and then replace.

If you are replacing engines with what Facebook thinks is the same broken engine, then Toyota is burning money.

there is clearly some change in process or parts to cause Toyota to opt for engine replacement across the board. They would not do-so if the replacements are also time bombs.

As someone who works on very similar issues for very expensive machines, this would by my understanding of the issue. It’s also why I got a 2024 Tundra and have no worries about it

Facebook can’t be trusted because (1) half of it is fake rage bait and (2) the algorithm highlights the very very small percentage of dramatic cases that cause clicks and comments. It is not reality.

 

100%. Spot on.

 

I also doubt they’re replacing everyone’s engine even before it goes out. There’s got to be at least a few near death or instances of death before they’re willing to go that far to spend that kind of money

 

I mean - by that same logic I’d like an explanation how contamination / debris could be the known cause and they continued to manufacture engines with the same issue for over a year after saying they identified and remedied the problem. It’s all in their NHTSA reports and I doubt they’re lying to the federal government.

 

You are all trying to make actual sense out of a situation which is a business decision forced by an NHSTA mandate for safety. Toyota isn't dumb, it's a business. A business makes questionable decisions for profit every day. See our recent healthcare CEOs predicament.

 

Figuring out an issue is complex. A year isn’t a long time, and the problem remains to be very rare, even in those early engines. Just like the apparent Facebook post where a 2025 reportedly failed, one-off and rare events occur in every single industry. An actual trend and data are required, in addition to thorough investigation to justify changing parts or modifying a very costly manufacturing operation.

Again, I have a different perspective because I see a year-ish of investigation as very quick to determine an issue. Especially one that is relatively infrequent

 

This apparent engine issue has been going on for several years (i.e. Lexus is included). Both engine facilities (USA, Japan) are involved.

 

Can't wait for the first post on a replacement / 2nd engine blowing up just like the first one. Now that will be some fun shit But let's hope you're right Sir and I hope they fixed it for good. But just like everything else in engineering there is not such a thing as perfect design. What really irritates me was the whole smoke and mirror shit show and the debris BS story they sold us

 

If this was a one off “normal” type failure rate, Toyota would be replacing them one at a time. The 3.4TT motor is defective. And if you want to see a parallel, read all about the Hyundai/Kia debacle. Toyota is in the same boat. If you guys think Toyota is spending millions to ship all the “non-blown” old motors back for scrap while asking dealers to scrap the blown motors themselves, and that Toyota is not going to be reusing parts/castings/etc from used motors on long block replacements, well I’ve got some oceanfront property in Oklahoma for sale. IMO they’re preparing for a long term replacement program, similar to Hyundai. And the 2025 that already ate a bearing has the VIN posted on FB. It’s real. It’s sad. It’s the latest in epic failures for Toyota R and D department.

 

Ryan Gregg has already confirmed multiple people on their 3rd engine…

 

It would a very bad idea to extrapolate one engine failure to “every engine is on fire”. Go look this up for Chevy, Ram, Ford. You’ll see similar cases of engines failing. It happens. Hence why there is a warranty.

We also just don’t see eye to eye on this. I won’t continue to discuss in a circle. But the assumption that each engine is a disposable item would require case by case replacement as the most economical route. Replacing all engines with the same purported engine would simply not make sense, as they would also need replacement at the same rate. I believe that the opposite of your assumption is true as the most economic path forward for a company intent on making profit.

 

Well now that is shit show for sure. It only makes sense that Toyota have a design issues in their hand and can't close it properly. I wouldn't touch a 3rd gen even if is free Besides, I hate that porn *stache

 

Manufacturers do this all the time. We owned a Honda Odyssey that blew the transmission just out of warranty. Honda and our local dealer were great and replaced the transmission but after that a little research showed that a lot of people were on their 2nd and 3rd transmissions. Honda just kept installing the same transmissions.

 

The Honda Pilot was on that recall as well. They did replace the transmission but if you read the detailed recall they actually added a small cooler to the new transmission which mitigated the initial bad design. Mine never broke again after that and I only put 275K miles on it

 

Bearings failing and literally being puked out points more toward a bottom end design issue. The machining debris issue was just coincidental...not the root cause.

 

The length of the stroke in relation to bore size is off the charts for anything historically from Toyota. It’s got to be hard on the crank and I think their one-piece end cap system doesn’t provide the necessary support. /armchair mechanic hat off.

 

One engine? That’s exactly how this all started back in 2018 with the LS500. Seven years later you’ve got your first 2025 Tundra down. Not a coincidence and not normal failure rates.

FWIW GM/Ford/Ram motors aren’t eating bearings and leaving drivers stranded on the highway. None of the other companies have safety recalls as a result of their engine issues. And most importantly for R and D perspective, the GM 4 cylinder turbo max has been doing just fine, proving it’s possible to design a decent smaller displacement turbo charged truck motor. I love Toyotas, and planned to buy 2 more Tundras, but that’s not going to happen until the 3.4TT is redesigned or replaced. I’d guess a new motor (or a substantially redesigned motor) will be part of the 2026 refresh. I truly hope Toyota announces a vastly extended warranty for all current 3rd gen owners.

 

That's a bit overly dramatic don't you think? Debris on a bearing will absolutely cause the bearing to spin in the cap and could easily be a root cause. There could also be a design issue. There could be many things. As so many have already said, we don't know and likely will never know the real root cause.

 

Yes we DO Is a bad design, end of the story. Many 3rd gen owners refuse to consume the bad news which is natural, but that's the reality. Toyota will never admit it, they will keep patching until something sticks or just re-design the darn engine for the 2026 generation. Pick your option.

 

Truth!!

 

I guess we were ready for another edition of failure rate speculation, arm chair mechanics, and doom and gloom

and where do we get when we do this over and over?

nowhere.

again its simple, either buy one or don't

 

Yeap, love them apples But that's pretty much IT

 

That's the original point. Replacing all engines in advance of failure even a lot that might never fail or fail out of warranty should display confidence in the replacement engine one would hope. Otherwise OEM is just inflating costs for no benefit to customers, company or stockholder.

Otherwise the OEM as in your Honda example just replaces at failure only playing the long game of splitting costs over fiscal years and hoping a good % never get replaced due to non failure, out of warranty, out of service etc .

 

This is incorrect. The main bearing caps are huge, and have 6 bolts holding them in, 4 from bottom & 2 on sides of block. That crank has plenty of support. I would be more concerned with possibly bearing material being soft, or any debris. Tolerances are super tight, any material even the size of a human hair in that bearing will lock up the engine.

 

Yep, shoulda stayed on the sidelines... oh well.

 

No, not all.

This engine has apparently being failing for approximately 7 years...apparently starting with Lexus. (This was long before the Alabama engine plant became an apparent issue).

As previously stated the "debris" issue would appear to have merely exacerbated a previously existing issue.

Based on the lack of information from Toyota (which is certainly their right) and Tundra engine failures that appear to span all years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 it's not much of a stretch to hypothesize that there is an engine design problem.

As they say, "my money, my rules". So no Toyota or Lexus product with the 3.4.

 

That's certainly your prerogative, but why do you think any of us Gen 3 owners care?