Sounds like a bad Pulley - Wish it was

Or while engine was hot? I agree with your statement on synthetic oil not being the cause. If the engine doesn't get oil...it siezes bang, burnt, how are the pistons?

On a side note, half the dealer mechanics have heard or seen something before in their lifetime. All pretty much hear-say. My guys never heard of the Suspension problems calling for the upgrade TSB before late 2008? And that is pretty major...

 

Do you mean brake fluid? The power steering reservoir and the oil filler neck are on two opposite sides of the engine bay.

 

Guys, I really appreciate all the feedback I have recieved regarding my issue. It is now in the hands of the BBB and a few select consumer protection groups. If anyone is experiencing the same as me, please file a case with the BBB and Toyota Corp. Like the gas pedal and brake issues, until this gets some Main Stream Media visibility, I do not expect any action by Toyota. I can confidently say I have maintained my truck far beyond what is required. My oil filter choice may be questionable, but the bottom line is Toyota is declaring that a faulty oil pump on the 1GRFE is documented and matches the symptoms my truck has. If at a minimum we get a TSB out of this, we have succeeded.

 

Regardless of what Toyota does (i'm not expecting anything), I've already purchased a new engine - 1200 miles on 2009 totaled Tacoma. As a precationary measure, I will be installing a device between the oil filter and block that allows me to easily run additional sensors for oil temp and pressure. I'll add gauges for them installed in a pillar mount. The product is by Greddy - Oil Block Sensor Adapter, $70 -

http://www.greddy.com/products/display/?Category=oil&SubCategory=27

Since current engine sending units cannot detect the oil pump problem, this may help in the event the problem starts with my new engine by getting some monitoring close to the problem area. Have not found aftermarket oil pump upgrade yet.

If anyone has any other ideas, I'd love to hear them.

While I'm at it, engine out and all, I plan to replace stock manifolds with headers, new y pipe and possibly dual electric fans. Might as well, the whole damn thing is torn down.

I'd also like to hear any other suggestions anyone has that I should take advantage of while installing the new engine.

 

might as well get an APR X-1

 

Are you going to tear down the old engine to see the entire damage and to see if there is anything visually wrong with the oil pump?

 

Why purchasing new engine instead just replacing timing chain and oil pump? Your engine did not seize right? Just replace few parts and give it a run and if does not work then you get new engine

 

Good point. there are a few other parts that are damaged and/or excessively worn - VVT module, chain tensioners, timing gear.. Clearly I'm no expert, but the chain is stretched so far that the chain tensioners are fully extended. There had to have been resistance coming from the valve train - specifically the cams on left side. I still believe the Toyota disclosure that the oil pump was not delivering enough oil to the left side of motor, stuff got hot, expanded, then resisted. Why else would there be only damage on the left? If something other than oil was put in the engine, I'd see damage everywhere, but that isnt the case.
Why did I buy a new motor? I believe other parts in my engine may have been compromised and I was looking for the quickest route, with least amount of effort to get my truck back on the road without worrying about other components failing. This is my primary means of transportation, I dont want to be turning wrenches every weekend unless its for fun; on one of my toys - dirt bike, mountain bike, etc... not my daily driver.

 

I do intend to tear it down. But not sure if I'll be able to identify problems with the oil pump unless they are blatently obvious. I'll post pics.

 

Well gentleman my truck will be going into Toyota next week for service and have them check out some of the peculiar behaviors my trucks exhibiting. We shall see what happens. I'll update later.

 

That's a typical failure mode for a 2 stroke engine. I have not seen a 4 stroke engine that has seized up. I have seen cam lobes worn excessively and I have seen rod bearings beaten up due to lack of lubrication. Carried to extremes, a loose rod will separate from the crank and may come through the block. The vehicle may even run in this condition, though it will leak a lot of oil and not run well.

Too true. When I wrenched on VWs many long years ago I had one (fairly new) come in with an obvious rod knock. I pulled it apart and found one rod bearing badly smeared. I forced water through the lubrication system and found that there was almost no flow through the main journal that fed oil to that rod journal. I poked a wire into the hole and flow resumed. Obviously there was something stuck in the oil passage that was probably there from manufacture. It's possible that Lucky had a similar problem, but with enough oil flow to get him past the warranty period. That would be a sample defect rather than a design flaw. The good thing about that is that not many vehicles would be affected. Bad thing is that it will probably not be covered - attributed to poor maintenance or other user causes.

 

I know this thread is old, and hopefully lucky is still rolling on his new power plant, but I thought I'd throw this out there:

I've had good luck boosting oil pressure by getting the entire stock oil pump assembly ceramic coated on several other motors. It tightens up the tolerances and reduces friction with a good result in higher oil pressure. Supposed to increase durability as well, which makes sense.

There's a couple good companies out there, but I've used these guys each time:

http://www.performancecoatings.com/index2.html

 

Yup, still rolling. I'm around 25K miles on the new motor. All is good.

 

Did you ever tear down the old motor?

 

Are there really many of these around tacomaworld? First I've seen it. But yea, curious as to the cause. Probably never be known. Could have been some VVT failure throwing junk in the oil ports or something. I've found crazy stuff in crank shaft oil ports before, no idea how it got in the crank case.

 

There is alot of things that could have caused that failure. garbage materials got into the oil pump and caused increased wear. failure of the the oil presure regulator( less likely since it was localized), a piece of material came off of one the fram filters he used and partially pluged up and oil passage, manufacturing defect. Doesnt take much dirt to mess up the VVT system or a bearing. Thats why changing oil in a modern VVT engine is even more important then previous engines.

 

happened to me also.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...a-1grfe-v6-engine-dead-98k-4.html#post5482919

 

So any info on the tear down of the old engine to definitely discover the cause of failure?

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by SManZ
The more time goes on, the more its looking like I'll end up being a one-time Toyota customer. What a crock of shit. I hope the OP and 05TacoTRD report this as a possible vehicle defect to NHTSA or other government agency, not just Toyota.

X2. Although I will always buy Toyota, just not the new ones. The older ones, is were its at. They have very few problem's from what I can tell.
=============================================

X3 My first Toyota and probably my last... DEFINITELY my last if my 09 gets this problem. I am old... and have NEVER had to replace an oil pump on any vehicle I have owned, nor have I had any sort of oiling issues. But then I had never had a failed rear axle bearing until it happened on my 09 Tacoma when BOTH were essentially bad from the beginning and needed replaced at 28K miles. This is ridiculous.... gas pedal recalls, a raft of serious TSBs, still waiting for the clockspring recall. GF is likewise fed up with her 09 Camry. All the recalls and a water pump failure at 31k miles. Toyota quality... Are you kidding me?

 

Nah... it's paid for so I'll ride it out. Just sayin' this is not the experience I expected when I bought my first Toyota. I know folks with 1st gens that are driving the wheels off them with no problems. Bottom line is that how things go in the future will determine whether I ever consdier buying another Toyota.

Along the same lines I have a co-worker that has a 2007 Lexus ES 350 v-6. It had the same timing cover leak TSB that the Tacomas had. She took it in, they replaced the gasket. It still leaked. She took it back... they replaced it again... it still leaked. Then they decided it was it was the head gasket so they pulled the engine and replaced the head gaskets. It still leaks from "somwehere". I am waiting to hear what the latest diagnosis and fix is. She has been without her car for most of 2 months. To Lexus's credit they are repairing at no additional cost aside from the original repair bill (that she had to pay since she was over mileage and out of warranty) and giving her a loaner. But she is another that is unlikely to be a repeat customer.