CAM SHAFT TOWER SEAL LEAKING ** PLEASE READ***

You seem to enjoy holding a grudge.

Are you an engineer who works on and designs mass-produced vehicles? Because if not, your opinion on this matter is no more credible than anyone else's. Car internet forums are full of people who think that they know more than the OEM engineers....the funny thing is, none of those know-it-all's ever have to put their money where their mouth is by producing something of substance...they just have to talk up a good game.

There is a huge difference between something that might have a design flaw and something that is truly broken (meaning it won't work). The 5.7l (or at least some of them) might have a design flaw; I have not heard of any of them "breaking" or failing because of this "flaw."

And for the record, there are plenty of design flaws with some of the other OEM truck engines which manifest as catastrophic failures after prolonged use. I've never argued that Toyota's 5.7l v8 is perfect. I do believe there is ample evidence to suggest that it will last a very long time with basic maintenance.

 

I read engineer and thought he drove a train

 

Well either way, the posturing with that kind of chest-pump statement is just a bit laughable....

 

My wife and I engineered a kid who became an engineer (BioMed). Now having said that I did NOT stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...
B

 

No chest pumping. Just stating what I do for a living. Currently, I don't work in mass-production vehicles. But I have worked in a production environment for heavy equipment for a couple of years. But, it doesn't matter what I say - you will just push it off as some internet lore or a backyard mechanic - or me trying to thump on my chest. I have never claimed to know more than OEM Engineers for automobile design. But, I know that I could design a better seal than a basic form-in-place gasket.

You get really tripped up on semantics. Failure/breakage/design flaw - whatever - the fact remains that it is a shit design that would be relatively easy to fix. All I can say is that I am glad that you aren't an Engineer designing products that I use with your "good enough" attitude.

I remember the Lexus slogan "The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection". I used to really like that idea. Sure, we make mistakes, but let's fix them when we see them. This cam tower leak is evidence of not trying to pursue perfection.

 

UpSteer 32 I can see your point of this not causing total engine failure. I could not live with a leak on a vehicle with only 35k miles. I could smell oil burning on the heat shield. It really is inexcusable that this is still happening on 2018 and 2019 trucks. That is what it comes down to for me.

 

Honestly. The documented failure rate is sub 1% that I can find. If someone can show me that number is wrong id be willing to listen.

To add, I have 2 5.7's. Both are dry amd my nieghbors are all dry too. I just dont see this thread as much more than an exercise in justifying one's perceptions.

 

I like turtles...

 

spooky, not 5 minutes ago, I said that exact same thing in the middle of a conference call.

 

Misanthropes unite

 

I would bet it's more then that. This was the mentality I had going into purchasing my truck, oh this is just on forms never will happen to me. 21k later oil on the heat shield passenger side burning of, dreaded cam tower leak.

I don't understand how do so many find this acceptable, that's exactly why Toyota doesn't give a rip about solving the problem.

 

Are you an engineer who works on and designs mass-produced vehicles? If not, then your opinion is no more credible than his if that's the logic you're using.

 

dropping my truck off at dealer in an hour

right side leaking, hopefully they will do both

2015, 39k miles

 

Seems like more than 1% of trucks on this site have leaks so I would be willing to bet the rate is much greater than 1%. My truck was leaking on both sides enough that it was dripping onto the heat shields and burning off. I could smell it every time I drove the truck. I also have a co-worker that has a leak on his truck as well (he has started to smell it so it is getting worse).

 

Like I said, if someone can show me numbers, that's great. but also remember, there are over 600K 5.6's on the road in the US. so let's say it's 10%. That is 60K with an issue that are taken to the dealer to fix. that's a LOT of engines being worked on in the service dept.

1200 dealers in the US, that's each dealer averaging about 50 fixes? Just playing with the math.

My skepticism is based on my own test pool. 5 on my street alone, zero with a leak.

 

....and to be clear, I'm not saying the problem doesn't exist. I'm just skeptical of percieved total impact. People don't like it, I get it, but it's not a "I'll never buy a Toyota again" thing. if you don't like leaks, never get a Land Rover, BMW, Cummins....etc etc You better never see a weep on a differential or tansfer case either.

And yes, I do love to push peoples buttons a bit.

 

It's a matter of perfection. If I went through life expecting everything to be 100% perfect, I wouldn't get far. It's also one of pick your battles. As mentioned above, the truck isn't "broken." The method they applied the sealant with the robot should be addressed, but that doesn't mean the 5.7L engine is broken or by any means the Tundra is a failed vehicle. Quite the opposite. I would love to have the perfect ____ (fill in the blank). I'm pretty darn happy when I get pretty close to 100% and I for one am pretty darn pleased with my Toyotas, going back at least two decades from having a Corolla, a Tacoma, a Sienna, current Highlander, my current Tundra and two of my daughters driving Corollas. If they were as bad as some make it out to be, I would have switched to Ford a long time ago. Just isn't the case. That said, I'm not giving Toyota a pass - they should make the requisite adjustments. But I'm not in the camp that this minor leak is something terrible and I should therefore bash the vehicle.

 

I'd love to see any actual documentation on this. I'd definitely be willing to bet the failure rate is much higher than 1%. The tech that did mine says he gets 1-2 per month, and that's just at that dealer for that one tech.

 

The only data I can find is that petition, less than 3,000 signed. published production numbers for Tundra/Seqouia since 2012 at about 600K.

Dealer says 1-2 a month, so that's 24 a year (I'm guessing at the high end). Then we need to look at population density for each dealer to see how many units they support etc etc.

 

I don't think people expect it to be perfect—they just don't expect the engine to have to be opened up with such low miles due to a design flaw that has gone unaddressed for 12 model years. It opens the possibility for further damage, like in the case of mine.

 

I completely agree with that. As I said earlier, if it is just a small weap, I wouldn't trust the dealership to open it up and make the mod. Different if it was a steady drip and I could smell burnt oil from it dripping on the heat shield.

 

You also have to factor in all of the undiagnosed cases. There are a lot of people on this thread that had no clue about this issue until they read all this, then they go look at their engines and find that they're leaking. If that's the case for people just reading this thread then there have to be a lot more out there that have no idea about this.

 

sorry if I spend $40,000 or $50,000 on a vehicle it better not have any thing that isn't functioning properly. At least for quite a while. It definitely should not be leaking within 14 thousand miles.....as was the case with mine. Mine was dripping onto the exhaust shield and producing smoke.

people keep making this argument that I shouldn't expect everything to be perfect. If I expect everything to be perfect that I am setting myself up for a lot of pain and stress. but it is what I have come to expect from Toyota at least before I had the tundra. The other Toyota vehicles that I have had have all been completely flawless for at least 100,000 miles. My Tundra has not been flawless.

 

I do agree that dripping and smoking is a problem, but a "weep" is also something else as well. The fact that there are some folks that "just discover" the weep because of a forum thread, otherwise they would've never known kind of tells the story.

 

Update regarding my cam tower leak. Toyota has generously offered to pay for the repair, even though I am well outside the 5 year/60,000 mi power train warranty. I am at roughly 82,xxx. I do not think I would made repair until it was leaking significantly more, if it had been my dime. I traveled over the holiday, confident that it would not leave me on the side of the road. I had a great experience dealing with Toyota corporate. I am still a fan of Toyota, and this situation only strengthened that opinion.

 

That's good to hear Toyota stepped up for you. They don't seem to be interested in giving extended warranties for this issue, but you and a few others seem to have been able to get them to cover this outside of warranty.

 

Warranty's are only as good as the dealer you're working with. I don't care what manufacturer, car, bike, boat. It's awesome to hear what Toyota is doing, it's getting to be rare in the car world for sure.

 

Not so much a bash on the truck as it is Toyota, this issue has been going on for what like 12years? For them not to address it is pretty sad and that's what makes me not want to buy another Toyota. Why on earth would you let a problem like this persist for so long. We have all heard the robot didn't apply enough sealant story, well Toyota fix the damn robot. How hard is that, I personally don't think that's the case and I think its a design flaw that they cannot correct and that's why its gone on this long. They would have to make changes to the motor in order for it to be fixed which they are not going to invest in until the next generation or they dump the 5.7 altogether if they cant fix it. Some want to discredit this issue, yes your truck wont leave you stranded etc...but the bottom line is its still an issue.

If Tundra's had paint flaking off them in the time frame these cam towers happen I'm sure people would be highly upset, but hey it wouldn't leave you stranded right? An issue going on this long should not be discredited, I will be replacing my Tundra in another 20k miles. If it wasn't for my cam tower leak I would highly consider another Tundra but since it has been proven they still have the issue with the 2018's I have been looking into other trucks as well now.

 

^^^this 100%.

 

I don't disagree that Toyota should fix the well know problem. In the big scheme of things, this is such a minor issue that I can't get myself worked up over it. I certainly do not consider it so significant that I would look at the big three to replace my truck. I've had two Ford pickups, a F150 and a Ranger, and I would NEVER purchase one again. I encourage you to go look at those three company reviews of their products and compare those against this issue. I will happily stay a part of the Toyota family and will stay happy with my Tundra until something catastrophic occurs that would make me reconsider my position. The interesting thing about reviews is that you have generally two camps, one that is vested in complaining and the other smaller subset that is a proponent. The most interesting is that the majority are silent because it doesn't rise to a level they feel compelled to say anything. Just my 2 cents.