2GR-FKS failure at 150K, looking for input/some questions

Never owned Eco boosts, but hear not such good things about them. I've had great experience with older fords, so did all my buddies.

4k sounds about right yeah, its pretty crazy right now.

What are you thinking on getting next?

 

There was that dude's carrier bearing that fell off was that a thing or just that dude?

 

FIFY

 

Exploded? What was the failure? Or did your turbos fail?

 

Don't mean to hijack, My F-150 3.5l Ecoboost had the timing chain stretch issue with the rattle at start-up. It was pretty bad, like metal on metal (loud) grinding for about 2-4 seconds each start-up. Ford told me that the noise didn't meet the required "duration" and that it was within spec. Paid somewhere around $4,000 for them to replace it. To my surprise, when I got the truck back nothing had changed. Turn out, they charged me and didn't change a thing. Unfortunately, I had a 360-mile trip I needed the truck for so I didn't have time to bring it back to the dealer and sort out that mess. Halfway home I had a turbo failure which resulted in throwing a rod through the block. I was able to get Ford to pay half the cost of a new engine since I was able to prove they had not fixed the previous issue but that was still just a drop in the bucket. I had around 60-70k miles on the clock. Funny thing was, the new engine was not the same as the newer F-150's that "apparently" had the revised timing chain. I didn't bother holding onto it.

Moving on to my girlfriend's Escape... 2.0l Ecoboost. Around 60-70k miles the cylinder head started developing micro-fractures which is common on the smaller line of EcoBoost motors. Constant coolant loss, sometimes a quart, sometimes more. Ford's solution was to install a low coolant sensor in the reservoir so that drivers knew when to add more. Any other claims were denied as Ford blamed the owners for letting their engines "overheat", causing the cracks. Problem was, sometimes this was daily. Fast forward to 80k, car has been running like crap on start-up since coolant leaks into the cylinders when shut off. I finally convinced her to trade it in for a Toyota Corolla that was marked at an awesome price + we were able to get a family discount. The very next day the engine hydro locked when they attempted to start it. The dealer ended up throwing in an engine from a totaled car and sent it to auction.

TLRD: From my knowledge, the early 3.5l ecoboost used the same timing chain as the non-turbo variant which caused it to stretch. The smaller 2.0l ecoboost and similar would develop microfracture in the head that cause coolant to seep into the cylinders. From talking to friends, some of these problems are still present on the 2019 models.

 

Recall of lpfp affected all Toyota's v6 3.5 equipped models, not just "Tacoma engine" + lpfp techically is not a part of the engine. HPFP is.

 

doubt this engine will be as durable as the 4.0, 2.7 and 3.4

what about the multiple TSBs?

i got retune from Toyota that greatly improved the engine performance. I had a manual transmission, so it wasn’t just the Auto Programming.


my personal experience from the factory, which many others here corroborated.

Funky torque zone around 1.5K to 2.5k rpm.

Daily ping/knock for no reason, which was fixed after the retune. verified misfires from OVtunes research.

Worst highway performance of any vehicle I have ever driven. again, this was slightly improved after retune.

I think this engine was mistake.

based on the Land cruiser reveal, there is a 4.0 in the works. Hopefully that will power all Naturally Aspirated TNGA-F models going forward.

 

This 2GR has been used in many Lexus vehicles with good reliability record. All they did is add direct injection and “Atkinson cycle” to the Tacoma engine. Don’t see how it won’t last like most of the Toyota engines out there. We will find out I guess. There is a TW member with 200k on his 3.5 and reported no issues whatsoever.

Sucks you had issues with your 3.5. Even on Pre TSB factory tune, I never had pinging, misfires, or funky torque zones. I pressed the pedal and she went. Was great on the highway too, lots of power for passing. Toyota TSB tune did add a bit more low end torque and the gas mileage seemed to improve a bit. SFOB premium tune really turns this 3.5 into an animal though.

 

What about TSBs? Are any of them address issues with engine reliability? No. CSP is the closest to, but affected a small number of trucks and was mitigated quick fast. The rest is just minor adjustments to driveability..
Btw, Ovtune pinged/pings as a mofo in 60-70% load range on 87. So are other tunes. Based on what I see , it has to do with valve angle advance/retard..
if your "retuning" did not touch valve angles, it is still there. Check knock feedback on this load range.

 

That's funny I got rid of my 2018 2.0 Ecoboost escape because of that coolant issue. I had a larger front mount intercooler and tuned with hptuners and it ran like a sob just got worried I would puke a cylinder and have to fix it myself.
Like you I was able to convince my wife to trade it in on a Toyota although it was a Tacoma. It took me a minute to convince her but now she admits this is her favorite vehicle so far.

 

At what knock feedback are you considering too much? Are you getting audible knock?

 

Not sure where you got the new 4.0L from - Toyota's own website tells us the new LC will rock a twin turbo 3.5L

https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/toyota/35323595.html

2GR is a very reliable motor. Yes, it has some (arguably minor) issues, but so does the 4.0L. I say this as someone who's owned both a 3G and 2.5G Tacoma.

With that said, I tend to agree with folks who say Toyota 1/2 assed the development of the 3G Taco. The shifting issues should have never been a problem IMO and I'm dumbfounded they didn't drop the 4R 4.0L into the 3G Tacoma. I think they saw easy $$ when "Seatbelt Mike" Sweers suggested using the Camry motor for the truck.

 

past -5. I usually get the audible on downshift under high load, somewhere around -7 .

Here is an illustration of the KFB is going down to -6 under a mellow driving.

 

Exploded isn't really the word I suppose. Timing chains, then turbos, then head gaskets, then I dumped it.

 

2021 Sierra 1500 Dmax. Love that motor, and with me recently doing another 1000km a week, I might want something bigger. It's all still up in the air, might even keep the Taco. Haven't decided.

 

Totally agree, nothing wrong with the 3.5 motor at all. Just isn't very "truck" like I suppose. I like it. And that's coming from a diesel guy.

 

This sums up my experiences with the ecoboost motors. The n/a V6 they offered in the 2011-2014 f150 (3.7, same as the one in the mustang) is rock solid in my experience. IMO They just rushed production of the ecoboost family and left in some pretty serious flaws.

 

I think the reliability of an engine really isn't known for years. A lot of Triton, N14, N18 would attest to this. They may have run great for the first boner, and sometimes it's all down hill from there.

I don't think the 3.5 is going to live up to the what the 3.4 in the first gen had. I think for all we know the 3.5 could turn into a 3.0.

 

By the time it gains a reputation you will only be able to buy it on used lots with 125k on the clock.

 

Again, the 3.5 is used across a HUGE number of vehicle models worldwide in various tunes and is from the same family as the previous 4.0, it just has a shorter stroke that lowers the displacement (and a more modern valve train). The 3.5L 2GR version has been in use since 2005, similar to the 1GR. It's not just a Tacoma engine, they use it across multiple Lexus models, and it's in the Lotus Evora. This is part of what makes Toyota trucks reliable -- they stick with what works and refine it for a long time, and they usually don't put something new and untested into their trucks. I say "usually" because that is kind of what they did with the 4.0 in the 2nd gen, and we know that early models did have a head gasket problem. I'm less worried to see the 3.5 in the 3rd gen than I was to see a new platform released with the 2nd gen (so much so that I ran out and bought a 2004 as soon as I learned about the new gen).

I'm sure that with the number of these engines on the road that there have been many other failures, but I would bet that if someone ran the numbers, the 2GR series falls into one of the most reliable platforms out there. No need to worry about your "3rd gen motor," and maybe the OP will come back with more info some day.