2018 Tacoma 60k miles. blown cylinder and cracked head

2.20$ per fucking liter!



So glad I have a company van 5 days a week.

 

Like I've said before, the 3.5 is a minivan motor, and an absolutely terrible engine to put in a truck. (it's a good motor in a sedan or minivan)

I looked at a third gen when they came out, drove a few of them and decided fk no.

anyone that disagrees with me is simply wrong, my statement is purely objective, as this motor is literally a minivan motor with some slight modifications.

Toyota is going to loose against the other small trucks, because of this. i was rooting for the third generation of tacos to be great...

(no, i don't think my 4.0L is the best motor ever, I'm no being bias)

go ahead, I'll wait for someone to point out some nonsense and make an argument... it's a fkin moror that was NOT DESIGNED FOR CONSTANT LOAD AT LOW RMP's. Just the load of 31" tires without any weight in the bed makes this motor strain constantly.

it is a Toyota engine, so in the right application, it should last for xxx, 000 miles. but a truck requires an engine designed and built with constant low end torque

 

What’s so bad about a minivan motor? It’s made to carry passengers.

 

Thats a nice truck you have there. I like that on Tacomaworld we actually see guys using their trucks for what they are intended for. Not just dressing them up for city driving as so many do these days.

I am stock other than shocks (bilstein 5100), and tires 265 75 16 KO2s. Plus roof rack for my boat, and my toolbox jammed full with every piece of survival and recovery gear imaginable.

I am solo remote every trip, so I go prepared. My winch is a 15K pound come along, used them a lot during my construction days. Works for me.

This is my 4th 4x4 in the last 35 years, all stock except for tires and shocks. All used extensively offroad, way over 500 trips and counting.

About 110 trips in just the last 3.5 years. Grew up from age 3 fishing, hunting, hiking all over BC with my parents. Non stop really. We would hunt 2-3 times per year, and about 20 fishing/camping trips per year. Every weekend in summer and spring/Fall and every longer holiday camped for a week or two on some remote beach on Canim lake, Sheradin, Ross, Beaver Dam, Mahood and countless other lakes. Never at a camp spot, always taking the boat up some lake and parking it on a remote beach. Then fishing, swimming, hiking and water skiing every day.

Back in the old days, Pitt lake was great for that as then there were no cabins and pick any beach at the north end and setup camp for a week.

We lived in Coquitlam, so every Friday night in summer, we would haul our 16 foot homemade boat all the way up to Highway 24, an 8 hour drive each way. Just for weekend trips, crazy but for us it was normal life. I could not get enough of that and still can’t.

Old canvas ground tent on those trips, and always far off road throughout BC. I still use a ground tent. Lots of encounters with black and grizzly bears on those trips, stealing fish out of our coolers while we slept. My dad was a nut, he would each time grab a shovel and chase them off and also chase after them in the black of the night with just a shovel. Crazy bugger. We never took our hunting rifles on camping or fishing trips, and no bear spray in those days.

I use 87 octane, Esso or Chevron. I have tried 92 and 94, and for me it does not make enough difference to justify the crazy expenditure. The 94 made little difference for me even on the haul up 97c. I sure wish it did.

Mine is 2016 TRD OR access cab, I bought it 4 years ago used when it had only 6K miles on it.

Paid $35K. That is why the orange, not a color I would pick if new.

It is 65K miles now, almost 15K offroad. The truck runs smooth on the 87, no knocking or pinging or rough idle or any of that.

I am retired, so all of my days when my wife works, is spent offroad and I hate seeing even 1 other truck or person, so I do a lot of exploring for small hard to access fishing lakes. In the last 4 summers I have already fished over 30 small lakes that I had never fished before we moved here, and most days I fish alone with no others on the lakes. All the spots I fish require 4x4 to get in, I would not have it any other way.

Next week at it again, a small lake that you don’t go to unless you bring your chainsaw. It is used mostly by ATV guys, but I can get in. Takes me about 1.5 hours to go the last 4 miles. Maybe longer this time as the tree and shrub growth will likely slow me down, getting out to clear some spots. I don’t mind the scratches, but I hate spending so much time to cut polish them out.

If I had more money I might entertain a lift kit and such, but I am already using the truck offroad way more than most and if the road is that bad, being solo remote sucks when you break down. Definitely gained some wisdom after some bad break downs when I was younger. Eight hours to get unstuck, that sort of thing. Not my idea of fun these days. Twenty years ago did an overnight hike out to get to a FSR road to get help, 2 blown sidewalls on my tires but only one spare. A logging operator came along and gave me a ride into Kamloops and I paid him $150 to drive me back with 2 used tires. Had to pay a lot as that was a big time issue for him.

I also blew 2 tires same day on this Taco, first summer I had it and had not yet changed out the crappy Goodyear Wrangler Kevlar crapola tires. Was trying to get up to Ridge lake and the trail a lot worse condition than the previous time I had been up there.

I also will not spend a nickel to dress up the truck. You know, lights, and buttons and doo-dads. If the change does not provide a major functional improvement, it ain’t going on my trucks. I could care less that it has the TRD badges and chrome and all that still on it. Who cares? Not me, has not stopped me from getting offroad twice every week.

End of rant and BSing. Time to drink my afternoon coffee, the mojo of life.

 

Lol dude, you should look up the actual specs for the Sienna(highly inferior minivan). The curb weigh (at least for the 3rd gen Sienna which actual had a gr2-fks) is only 120 pounds less than a 3rd gen tacoma (taco at 4,425–4,480 lb, Sienna at 4,310 lb), plus its a 7 seater, with a conservative weight estimate of 180 pounds per person puts the Sienna at 1,260 LBs max load (without gear/luggage) versus the tacos 1,440 pounds. You can even a Sienna with a tow package that lets it tow 3500 pounds. The Sienna's curb weight is actual more than the 2nd gens at 3,550–4,220 lbs.

 

Your logic would disqualify every Toyota engine ever made besides the 3ur and 2jz as a stretch, even Toyotas diesels are anemic and high revving. Anyone buying a midsize truck, especially todays midsized trucks, that isn’t a diesel or forced induction expecting low rpm torque is kidding themselves. The displacement and rotational assembly mass simply can’t do it without ultra high compression.

 

aaaaaaaand there's the arguments



aaaaaaaand, there's the reason why the other brands of small trucks are about to take the lead in the next few years.

the Taco is still living on its previous reputation, not it's current reputability.


go put 3,000lbs on the roof rack/ bed of your truck (that isn't supposed to handle that load anyway, but the previous tacos can still do it.. then we'll talk)

 

Your just jealous that the minivan motor makes more horse power than your big strong truck motor.

 

oh, on paper, it's definitely a better motor.

pretty much any minivan will beat me in a drag race.

 

Gotta source for this or are you just "point out some nonsense and make an argument". You haven't said anything that isn't your opinion so far.

 

1. Get a scanguage to monitor engine/oil temps.
2. Stop driving if the truck gets too hot.
3. Do as much maintenance yourself, so you know it's done right.

I find it interesting how many engines grenade after being serviced by dealership techs. The head of service at my local dealership had a candid conversation with me and straight-up said they do not have a lot of quality techs anymore. Good talent flocks to dedicated racing/offroad shops where they make much more money. Took a couple days just to get an alignment because he didn't have people that could do it.

 

That’s your rebuttal? Forced induction is great if the engine can handle it reliably. If I was in the market for a reliable medium size truck I’m going to pick a larger naturally aspirated engine over a boosted 4 cyl all day long. Following the KISS mantra what do you think is going to get you to 150k with less issues? Like I said any midsize truck is a compromise, especially as engines get more and more complex as emissions standards tighten. To answer your question, I wouldn’t put “3000lb on my roof rack/bed” because that’s not what the truck is designed for, if I need to carry a ton and a half I’ll use my 3500 ram. By your logic a second gen with the almighty 4.0 is a POS compared to a 90s half ton with a v8 that would yield similar reliability and fuel economy, can’t compare apples to oranges my man.

 

Wonder if it was cylinder #5......

 

the source? LMFAO, it has drum brakes and a minivan motor, but costs more than a full size truck.

^^^ That's your source little buddy

 

My 2gr-fks went at 150K-ish miles. Cylinder #5 overheated and caused a connecting rod failure. Dealer quoted me $21K for a new motor or $15K for a used swap. I ended up rebuilding the motor for $8K all-in. $7K sucks forsure, but if the dealer is offering a warranty on it, might be a good option if you can't pressure them to stand by the truck.

I tried pressuring Toyota USA to help me out but they basically told me to pound sand, unless I could prove they were the only ones that serviced the vehicle it's whole life. If you have dealer records for service that might be your way in. But otherwise, I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Cracked cylinder they're forsure putting in a used swap, that's not a crazy price point for that work from a dealer.

 

Ummmmm... the second gen also has drum brakes? So not sure how that supports your point. Which full sized truck did you have in mind? Still no source also.

 

Toyota sells 200k+ Tacomas a year. Who are they losing to?

Toyota sold 24k tacomas in July. Ford sold 4k rangers.

In Q2 of 2022 there was 55k tacomas sold. 16k rangers, 20k gladiators, 20k frontiers, 22k Colorado’s…. Who is Toyota losing to?

 

The motor is fine . It has more power than most 8 cylinders of 25 years ago. Back then I would not have dreamed a 6 cylinder could have 250 plus horses. I am fine with it . Do I think the truck could have better throttle programming/ yes . Do I think the gearing could be a little better/ yes a tiny bit. But over all it’s a straight up old school truck , which is a great thing in my opinion. It’s not perfect but nothing is ever.