07-21 Tundra/Sequoia vs 200 series Land Cruiser/LX570 — common issues in each platform

I’ve owned a Tundra for 2 1/2 years now, and I bought a 200 series LX 570. I self-maintain my vehicles. The LX came to me with decent maintenance records, and I have spent every bit of my ever-vanishing spare time establishing a maintenance baseline for it. I still have a few things left to do.

What I am noticing from my own experience and that of others I read on the forums is that while the Tundra/Sequoia and the 200 series share the 3UR-FE 5.7L v8, some of the common issues on each are different. Here is what I’ve gathered:

2nd/2.5 gen Tundra and 2nd gen Sequoia:

• Cam tower seepage. This has got to be the most common “issue” with the North American-made 3UR-FE. I put issue in scare quotes because it’s arguably not even a real issue. It is basically a small amount of oil moisture visible on the engine. It doesn’t change the oil level on the dipstick or even drip on the driveway in all but a tiny % of cases. Many have reported that running 5w30 oil (which is what the rest of the world is told to run in the 3UR-FE) clears it right up. This is apparently not an issue with 200 series cruisers.
• Valve spring issues. A very very very small smattering of 5.7s have had this issue. I do not believe that the Japanese made 200 series suffered the same problems.
• Front diff needle bearing. A rare issue, but I have seen a few pop up, even in later 2.5 gen trucks. Haven’t seen anyone talk about Cruisers having this issue on Mud.
• Factory battery sucks. All batteries fail, and while this isn’t related to the construction or durability of the 3UR-FE or the truck in general, it still sucks that the factory battery often doesn’t last nearly as long as expected.

200 series LC200/LX570 common issues:

• Radiator. the radiator, unbelievably, has a manufactured weak point where the top is only a millimeter or two thick. There is a massive thread about this on Mud. Toyota started making this flawed radiator in 2008 and did not address it until late 2018, when the design was very slightly changed to prevent such a thin point on the housing. Most people replace the radiator when they see the stress crack (which can appear at 80k miles or even lower, or it will last into the upper 100k range). They replace water pumps, tensioner pulleys, and a few other things that are somewhat convenient when replacing the radiator. My LX’s radiator has the faint beginnings of a stress crack at 150k miles. I put JB Weld on mine, lol. Many Mudders (members at IH8MUD, the LC forum) look down on this. I just don’t think I should be worrying about anything other than that one specific weak point until past 200k or 250k miles. We will see…
• Coolant valley leak. Lots of Mudders have had this dreaded coolant leak at the very back of the intake. It’s a huge pain, and while I have seen some on Tundras.com have it on their 5.7s, it seems more common with Cruisers on Mud, especially considering there are far more 5.7L Tundra owners than 200 series owners in the States.
• Heater T degradation. Again, fairly common on Mud. Common enough to be suggested as preventative maintenance by Mudders. I don’t read about it here, but maybe it’s because I don’t spend as much time in the 2nd gen forums where the 5.7s are old enough to have heater Ts that need attention?
• Extremely noisy interior. This is somewhat subjective, but I read a lot on Mud about rear seats making annoying noises. From leather rubbing against leather to rattling 2nd row seat mounts to 3rd row seats rattling in their “up” stored position. My 2nd row in my LX rattles, even after I put some thicker foam underneath. To be fair, driving the LX is like driving a bank vault, and it is so quiet that there is less road noise to mask the quietest noises. Still, it really iseems that for $90k+, this shouldn’t happen, but it is very common, even in newer 200 series trucks. My Tundra, on the other hand, is dead silent. Granted, I only have 40.7k miles on it, but I’ve sat in quite a few others, even older ones, that are very quiet as well.
• Weak brakes. This issue particularly affects the 2008-2013 model years. My speculation is that elsewhere in the world, the 200 series uses smaller wheels with tires that have more sidewall due to a lack of infrastructure, and Toyota needed to use smaller brakes on those vehicles. Because Toyota is Toyota, they decided to make it one way regardless of where in the world the 200 series is being shipped. The 200 series has a GVWR higher than the highest 2nd/2.5 gen Tundra. It is a stout vehicle that is sorely under-equipped in stopping power. I put Tundra calipers/rotors/brake lines/pads on the front of my LX, and it’s like night and day difference.

To me, the radiator, coolant valley, heater T issues with the 200 series, and the cam tower issues with the Tundra/Sequoia show us that there are issues specific to the 3UR-FE depending on where it was built and/or assembled. The MIJ trucks have issues common to themselves, and the NA trucks have issues common to themselves. I’m also surprised to see that most Tundra/Sequoia owners seem to have a more hassle-free ownership over the long term than the 200 series.

I expected long term ownership of my LX to be as quiet and boringly uneventful as my Tundra, but there are big ticket items that I have had to address and others I will likely have to address that I don’t expect to have to address with my Tundra within the first 250k miles. I am still a huge fan of the 200 series and have no regrets getting into one. Just noticing the differences.

Any other issues common to each platform that I missed?

 

The smell of burning oil on the exhaust manifolds would bother me the most with cam tower seepage.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/poll-have-you-had-the-dreaded-cam-tower-leak.979403/

 

Had the coolant valley leak on my 2007 Tundra about 6 months ago. Agreed on the huge pain description.

 

I'm a 2nd gen owner with the 5.7l 2wd and 276k miles

Concerning the Cam tower leak. Toyota does make some shitty valve cover gaskets. My 91 MR2 Turbo had the valve cover stained, my 93 SC400 has the valve cover stain (leaks as if a rod went through the block a little exagerated but does leak a fair amount) My 02 Celica also has the valve cover stain on the 1zz, swapping to the 2zz it has the same issue. Does get annoying to smell oil burning through the HVAC. Tundra started about a year ago, but burn smell hasn't come through yet.

Never heard of the heater T, I've owned my tundra since 07, when I do, it'll be posted on here.

Haven't had the valley leak yet, although I have seen how much of a pain it is.

Brakes appear to be different between the LX/Sequoia and Tundra, they do appear smaller, I was shopping for rotors a few years ago and the LX were cheaper, someone on here talked me out of them since they were a different part number.

I have replaced more than a dozen (yes, 12 batteries), a starter, water pump and the radiator since the water pump pierced through it when it burst.

 

200 series brakes are quite a bit smaller. First and so far only real mod on the LX that I’ve done is put 2nd gen Tundra brakes on the front. It stops substantially faster and with more authority. I bought used calipers off a 2017 Tundra, reamed the mounting holes out to 9/16” (fairly common mod over at Mud if you’re putting 2014-2021 Tundra brakes on a 2008-2015 200 series), and bought OEM Tundra pads, rotors, and brake lines. Install, bleed, done.

 

I would put down the timing chain tensioner #1 issue that seems to be fairly common on the tundras. I know mine is failing/has failed.