2020 3.5 V6 engine failure

Long time Toyota owner, and car/truck enthusiast. Just joined this forum today with this sad post. Thanks for your help…

2020 Toyota Tacoma SR5 V6 2wd 102k miles

Driving down the freeway and the engine started clanking loudly and had an associated loss of power. No CEL, no heat issues, no leaks. Had it towed to the dealership. This is a bone stock truck with a boring life of just driving around town. No hauling or towing. No abusive activities. Dealership maintained since new.

Engine has failed. The dealership drained the oil and it had a lot of metal in it. They didn’t specify exactly what failed as they don’t know for sure without opening it up, however they say it is for sure a goner and I need a new engine. There was nothing done to the engine to have caused this. I am just the unlucky one to have a freak (and expensive) failure.

They quoted $15k for a salvage motor with 85k miles, or $27k for an OEM rebuilt motor installed.

I did contact Toyota corporate and they have started a goodwill case on it. I’m waiting to hear back on that. The guy on the phone at corporate said I have a reasonably good case considering the maintenance history on the truck, and how rare the situation is.

In the mean time I am calling around to independent shops for quotes, and also maybe looking into sourcing an engine and swapping it myself. (I don’t want to, but I have swapped engines before.) If I do source an engine myself, are there any differences over the 16-23 years that I need to keep an eye out for? Also, I’ve found a couple that still have the transmission attached. That might make it a little easier, but are there differences in the transmission if it was from a 4wd, or 2wd? (Mine is a 2wd)


I'm in the Phoenix, AZ area, so if you have any contacts, advice, or an engine in this area to suggest, I'd welcome the input. Thank you

I do have a video of the failure, but it looks like I can't attach it to my post. Is there a way to share it?

 

Their pricing is criminal rape charges.

27K for a rebuilt OEM engine is more then you could buy another one for plus you could flip yours to boot.

 

27k seems reasonable when the quote is as follows:


Jr. Tech picks up ratchet….. Labor… 0.1hr
Jr. Tech finds 10mm socket… Labor… 0.1hr… shop fees… $0.99
Jr. Tech attaches 10mm socket to ratchet….. Labor… 0.1hr
Jr. Tech pops open hood….. Labor… 0.2hr
Jr. Tech disconnect & remove battery… Labor… 0.5hr
Jr. Tech remove battery tray…. Labor… 0.3hr

…
Etc etc

 

Tech loses 10mm socket, charges customer $89.95 for a replacement snap on one. Repeat.

 

How often are the oil changes, every 10k from dealer?

 

Every 5k miles

 

$27k that's wild

 

This is your lesson not to get any future repairs done at the dealer. Some fuckery probably happened at the last oil change.

Salvage yard engine installed by an indie shop is the way to go. Don't try to replace the transmission (engine and transmission need to be separated to be installed anyway, unless they pull the cab off the frame).

Source engine should not be from a TRD Off Road or Pro as they lack the mechanical vacuum pump on the back of the head.

 

Sorry to hear this. Those prices are astronomical, I would try to go the used route with a used motor for 3-4K and swap it myself if I were you.

As stated, getting an engine from any V6 truck that is NOT a TRD Pro or Off-Road will suffice. I'd shoot for as new as I could. I wouldn't buy the transmission, just the engine. You'll have to split them anyways as stated, so buying a transmission doesn't really save you any hassle. Inspect the wiring harness on the new engine if it comes with one. If you have any doubts, move your own wiring harness over. Seen guys here swap engines and use the harness on the new motor which had problems on the harness and caused additional troubleshooting and headache once the motor was swapped.

Not to turn this into an oil thread but being that you are in Phoenix where it doesn't get too cold, I would consider running a thicker oil in the next motor. 5W-30 at minimum, if not more. Just provides a bit more margin of protection. And I'd do the oil changes yourself, so you know they are actually getting done. There is a lot of dealer fuckery out there.

Sorry you're not joining the forum under better circumstances.

 

odd, I do the same 5k oil and filter change and I'm at 165k. Seems odd it would let go at 102k

 

OCI is highly unlikely to be the root cause of failure here, or for most engines that are reasonably maintained.

 

Curious to see what Toyota does, especially considering the maintenance history. That is a bummer either way, sorry to hear it.

Those dealer quotes are wild though. I had a timing belt snap in my old 300zx and I bought a used engine for $1100 and a shop installed it locally (no warranty) for another $2000.

 

For anyone who knows anything about 300zx and its engine bay, $2k motor install is a steal!

 

Here you go, found this 2grfks engine from a 19 SR5


from this 19 Taco, just google the VIN 3TMCZ5AN5KM204383

 

Yeah I don't think he realized what he was getting into..

 

Dang

 

Damn that really sucks. We never want to be stuck on the side of the road waiting for a tow and today is definitely one of those days seeing that we've peaked around 118F.

 

Welcome to TW…

 

I don't know where you are in the valley but this place is 45 miles from me and I still go there for the big ticket stuff.

YOTA PRO'S - http://yotapros.com/
(480) 699-2880
Info@YotaPros.com
7144 S. Priest Drive, Suite 101
Tempe, AZ. 85283

They are definitely worth talking to for a second opinion on replacement. Every call you make is a little bit of intel to make a better decision. Give these guys a shot.

 

Unfortunately anything mechanical can fail . So 1 of two things , a little bad luck , or the dealership screwed the Pooch at some point . I worked at one in younger days and you would be surprised what they do . I saw brand new car once fall off a car carrier and get some damage underneath only and they sold the car anyway , and never told the customer .