Possible Engine Failure in 2024 Tacoma TRD Sport

[32spoke]

Im interested in the outcome of this, on how it went from engine to injector, and what was your end result?

Ive been a mechanic for something like 25 years now, on heavy equipment, so these things pique my interest..... It sounds to me like you may have gotten an inexperienced mechanic who cried engine, and was maybe followed up by a more experienced person who instead found injector? The thing that interests me most is, gasoline injectors rarely ever fail. Especially on a new vehicle. Have you done any modifications? Intakes or otherwise?

Its very hard to find legit mechanics nowadays. The only thing i allow the dealer to do is alignments and tire changes...because i dont have the machines. Even then, 50% of the time they blunder it. They cant even balance tires correct, but its still better than the private shops.

Please, give us an update, as well as sharing photos of any write ups they gave you. It would be very interesting to see.

Folks, this gent gets it and has more wisdom than I could ever wish for. The crux of the issue is…. How to terrify a Toyota customer, with engine failure claims, then it transitions to an injector failure… if this truly occurred, then it makes for better leverage to get the dealer to perform cylinder leak down tests during oil changes… because at the dealer level, a Toyota customer was initially advised of engine failure, then the issue changed… this doesn’t instill confidence in the dealership’s diagnostic prowess… keep in mind, the dealership is an independent business that flies the Toyota flag… mistakes happen, and getting future cylinder leak down tests during oil changes, could rest the concerns of the owner of this vehicle.

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[SilverSurfer]

I recommend you sit tight and see how things work out. Document everything along the way. No surprise that an initial inspection of a barely broken in truck shows some metal debris because it’s to be expected in your first couple of oil changes as the engine breaks in. The tech who cried “engine” is probably not their experienced engine troubleshooter, but “tier 1” support, whereas Toyota demands the facts from an experienced engine tier “3 support” mechanic. The change in story doesn’t mean anything at this point. Take a breath and see what happens. If there’s metal debris in your engine at 20k, that’s worth making some demands, but now is just too early And it wont go anywhere.

 

[TheGreatWhiteNorth]

...... The change in story doesn’t mean anything at this point......

It sure means a whole lot. Its actually huge. Its an indication of the type of folks they may have working there.
If someone made that type of misdiagnosis, you wouldnt want them to be the actual person installing a whole engine, as they could possibly blunder that through inexperience. Apprentice mechanics learn by trial and error, and someone, unfortunately, has to be the recipient of that.

I'll give you an example:

I lived in south florida for a short time. I had a third gen that i had the dealer put new tires on and get an alignment. I always pay for them to align the wheels, or check it, after the install.

Since it was south florida, The dealer i went to had all mechanics who......were most likely new to the country, lets say.

I drove in with a straight wheel, and drove out with crooked wheels. I spend the entire day there while they aligned and test drove, told me it was fine......then i get into the truck, the steering is way off. I was refunded the entire amount for install and everything.

Made an emergence appointment the next day at another dealer, drove up north to the dealer in the more, lets say, "American" part of Florida, and drove off with a laser straight wheels in a hour or so.

So in conclusion, this is an eyebrow raising situation that should be looked into deeper.

 

[mangotaco]

Ok, time for a follow up. Sorry it took so long, life has been quite busy!
After the injector was replaced, the truck seems to be driving perfectly. Miraculously, the part came in on the exact day that I told corporate that the dealer had to have it to be able to get my truck back in the road in time for my trip…. Even though they can’t expedite it… funny.
The dealer got the part, installed it, tested it and called me in to pick it up.
Over the next few days I was in a mad dash to install the lift and the bigger tires. In fact, I returned from getting the tires mounted the night before we headed out on our trip.
Over the next 9 days we did more than 3000 miles. A few hundred miles of that was off-road/overlanding on CO, Utah and New Mexico. All of those miles we were heavily loaded and had a rooftop tent and awning on a rack.
The truck performed amazingly well. I haven’t had any engine issues since. The larger tires definitely impact the power and fuel efficiency. When we got back, I brought it in and checked the oil, no debris was found. I asked them to test the output of the engine as it seemed sluggish and weak, which assumed was the large tires. Horsepower and torque came back where they were supposed to be.
I’m now at 18300 +\- miles and she is still driving great. I even did a road trip to Florida and back last weekend towing a small trailer back and it drove like a dream.
Seems like the issue was the injector and the dealer made a bad first call that shook my confidence in them.
I’m more in love with the truck every day and am very happy to be back on the road…. But I do always have engine failure haunting my thoughts as I drive…

 

[32spoke]

Ok, time for a follow up. Sorry it took so long, life has been quite busy!
After the injector was replaced, the truck seems to be driving perfectly. Miraculously, the part came in on the exact day that I told corporate that the dealer had to have it to be able to get my truck back in the road in time for my trip…. Even though they can’t expedite it… funny.
The dealer got the part, installed it, tested it and called me in to pick it up.
Over the next few days I was in a mad dash to install the lift and the bigger tires. In fact, I returned from getting the tires mounted the night before we headed out on our trip.
Over the next 9 days we did more than 3000 miles. A few hundred miles of that was off-road/overlanding on CO, Utah and New Mexico. All of those miles we were heavily loaded and had a rooftop tent and awning on a rack.
The truck performed amazingly well. I haven’t had any engine issues since. The larger tires definitely impact the power and fuel efficiency. When we got back, I brought it in and checked the oil, no debris was found. I asked them to test the output of the engine as it seemed sluggish and weak, which assumed was the large tires. Horsepower and torque came back where they were supposed to be.
I’m now at 18300 +\- miles and she is still driving great. I even did a road trip to Florida and back last weekend towing a small trailer back and it drove like a dream.
Seems like the issue was the injector and the dealer made a bad first call that shook my confidence in them.
I’m more in love with the truck every day and am very happy to be back on the road…. But I do always have engine failure haunting my thoughts as I drive…

Hey! Thank you for the update and glad to read that everything came together at the last moment and it worked! The larger tire setup is a known issue and when the software tunes become available, At the risk of voiding a warranty if discovered, are intended to try to provide more grunt to combat heavier rotating mass. Two more considerations are an aftermarket air cleaner assembly and the AFE intercooler pipes, could push the same horsepower as the Tacoma hybrid… regardless, glad it worked out! Enjoy your truck, and know you don’t take money to the grave, but you take experiences to the grave, so rack ‘em up… enjoy life

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