2017 Tacoma Off Road TRD Lemon - Valve failure - Engine Head Replacement

I've looked online and seen the same problem in these vehicles. Has anyone else had this happen to them or is there another thread with this issue? Toyota would not do anything for me. I have had all the necessary service done to the truck from the day I bought it new. Check engine light came on, took it to the dealership. They said the fuel/air mix in one of the cylinders was off because a valve would not close properly. The fix was a $6,500 engine head replacement because the problem was in the "seat" of the valve. My dealership has a great service department and I believe the problem description is accurate. I contacted Toyota and they would not do a good will repair as they said I had "denied services" for the truck. I have never denied anything for service from the very beginning except maybe for suggested services, I've always asked to make sure the records would indicate that I have done all the proper servicing. Truck is a 2017 TRD Off Road Manual Transmission. Has anyone else had this problem? If so, has anyone filed a claim or started a suit? I'd be happy to join up. I would like to see if this is as common of a problem as it seems. If it is, why have they not done a recall? The treatment from Toyota USA has been unbelievable.

 

There have been a decent number of the poorly sealing valve codes, unfortunately. At this point I haven’t seen anyone have luck with anything besides strictly warranty coverage if within the time/mileage.

Do you know what cylinder was affected? Commonly the problem is #1 or #3 but there have been a few MT owners coincidentally that all had #2 go bad. No idea why, the valves don’t know what transmission is attached to the engine.

The member here with over 400k miles on his 2018 manual has had a valve leaking on cylinder 2 for over 100k miles, probably closer to 200k miles now.

 

I don't know (can't remember) which cylinder it was. That's great information though. If I can drive it, I will. I don't have any idling issues or misfiring going on so maybe I'll just keep her going. I love the truck but I can't have a $6k problem every 90k miles. Mine is at 90k miles so it should not have the problem. I'm just disappointed in the value proposition. Truck is supposed to run forever.

If anyone else has the same problem, I'd be happy to lead the charge on a suit. I'm running on principal here. Toyota basically told me it was my fault because I had denied services for the truck. I know enough about cars to know I didn't say no to anything necessary and certainly not to anything related to the fuel/air mix or valve function. If Toyota wants to deny a request for repairs, just deny it and say it's bad luck. Don't tell me I don't know how to take care of a vehicle.

 

It is a frustrating problem to have for sure and unfortunately it happens just rarely enough that Toyota won't do jack about it. Especially now that that engine is retired and they're moving forward with the turbo 4. Nobody really knows why the problem occurs, but at least one tech here has said that every time it happened on one he worked on, he tested the old valve with water and it would leak out of the valve when the valve was in the closed position. So it's definitely a valve sealing problem, but no one really knows why that sealing problem occurs. The mileage it happens at is totally random. Many of them fail early (20-40K), but plenty have happened at 70K, 90K, 120K, etc. It certainly puts a downer on the future of owning the truck.

Personally I would just drive the hell out of it, but the trouble for me would come when it's time for emissions inspection, if I can't get the code to clear long enough to pass. If that happened, I'd probably trade the truck. If I lived not in an emissions county, I would just drive it until it became a real problem, which would likely be many years out if you can make it 100-200K before having real issues on that valve.

Honestly, this probably happens more than we realize on other vehicles, and they just aren't smart enough to detect it. I recall the car care nut mentioning that the 2016 Tacoma was one of the early vehicles to start using 7 digit codes (I think that's what he said). These codes are of that category and the previous gen tacoma didn't have that code. So minor valve sealing issues may not even be detected in older models and so that might be why it's such a "problem" now, only because we now know about it. Something else to consider is we have a decently high compression ratio of 11.8:1, which may make it harder to reliably seal the cylinder, and might be easier to push past the sealed valve if there are any imperfections. But, these are all just guesses. No one really knows what's up, other than they stop sealing, and only a few cylinders are the most common. Could just be a poor head manufacture or design and the unlucky ones give up earlier/easier. We really don't know.

Anyways, good luck with it.

 

Thank you so much. I would not have known that. Fortunately (I think), I live in a state without emissions inspections so pass the gravy and fire the exhaust!

 

the truck is 8 years old

 

That means it's due for a $6.5K valve replacement?

Valves don't know how old they are, and if he drove 45K a year and reached 90K in 2 years, that wouldn't make it any more or less acceptable of a problem to have at 2 years old.

 

stuff breaks but expecting toyota to pay for it is a stretch
dealer price is crazy as usual
and calling the truck a lemon now ?

 

I don't disagree, out of warranty is out of warranty, but it's frustrating to see the same parts keep having the same failure (even if a small percentage of owners) when it's such a huge expense to the owner if it happens. Failures happen, but recurring failures across all years of a model run should be addressed in some way besides simply replacing only the warranty failures. Even if it's a small percentage.

 

OP has yet to mention how many miles on the odometer...

 

90K mentioned in post 3.

 

maybe it was fixed by toyota after earlier problems.....i dont hear many with this problem

 

I see a lot more on FB than I see here. Still a small number overall, but it's enough to make me think it's not just unlucky parts and is more of a design flaw that doesn't always suffer.

The parts have been updated but it's happened on all years. Who knows, it doesn't really matter.

 

no vehicle is perfect, I'm sure different ones have different issues, you just have to do your research when buying one and hope for the best

 

Oops. my bad - missed that.
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My 1st gen had a valve spring snap at somewhere around 40K miles. No abuse or hard driving. Too young for a used or rebuilt engine. Toyota would do nothing to help out so I had to go with a new short block. Rather pricey repair. Sold it at 4 years old.

 

"lemon" doesn't mean what OP thinks it means.

 

True. Posts like these miss my Frontier, which mechanically was a wonderful truck. But then it had other undesirable issues like terrible fit and finish. Can't win.

 

First off that is not how a "lemon law" works at all.

Yep. From Cornell University
"Lemon laws are statutes adopted in some states to make it easier for a buyer of a new, or in some jurisdictions new or used, vehicle to sue for damages or replacement if the dealer or manufacturer cannot make it run properly after a reasonable number of attempts to fix the car"
Every state is different:

California "The problems your car is having are covered under the manufacturer's warranty. The problem first occurred within 18 months of delivery, or within 18,000 miles, whichever came first."
Colorado "The motor vehicle was out of service for repairs for a cumulative total of 30 or more business days; or The dealer tried unsuccessfully to repair the motor vehicle 4 or more times."
New Hampshire "The vehicle must have been subject to at least 3 repair attempts by the manufacturer, its agent or authorized dealer, for the same defect, nonconformity or condition within the express warranty term, and the same nonconformity continues to exist; OR The vehicle must have been out of service for repair of one or more non conformities, defects or conditions for a cumulative total of 30 or more business days during the term of the express warranty. Documentation, such as invoices or repair orders, must be provided to verify the claim."

 

There are a lot more common issues with 3rd gens than a couple bad valve seats, and most other issue wouldn't get covered outside of warranty either. Nots sure what the expectation here was.

 

Go to a private guy and get a quote