Rock in pulley in brand new truck

Service manager said it was a new one for him too! I asked if it could have been there from transport - he said possibly. He said there is no telling how it happened. Could have been there, could have shot up in there at just the perfect angle, it could have been somewhere else and dropped in there at some point. He said he doesn't know. He said two pulleys because the belt burned another one from rubbing.

 

I can easily understand how a rock might damage a serpentine pulley.
I don't understand how a rock could break the serpentine - it has a spring-loaded tensioner that would allow for just about any rock that could get up in there to begin with... which brings me to
I don't understand how a rock could get up in there to begin with, and within the first 300 miles off the assembly line. You should play the lottery.

 

It's True .... Shit Happens ... !!
I have been living at the base of the Blue Mountain off the Appalachian trail for 34 years , struggled like everyone else (almost everyone) to make ends meet ... Drove crappy vehicles for years and years and more years ... Crappy , meaning used fuel efficient vehicle that I wouldn't mind having some DA door ding me nor a lot of other things .... Last fall I couldn't wait any longer , and bought a brand new 2013 Tacoma ac TRD Sport .... I love this truck !!
I spent @ 6-7 Big ones making it like I want .... I'm obsessed with my new love : )
So last week 7-3 I have it parked in the backyard under some nice shady oak trees .. My favorite place to take good care of it , do mods and look at it from the kitchen table ... Thunderstorm rolls through ... I see a branch laying in the yard about 6' from the truck ... Wow "That Was Close " I said to myself ... Go out the next day to see that the branch bounced 6' after kinking my A pillar on the PS , dented my hood in 3 places, and dented the DS fender !! WTF !! ? Never had one of my beaters receive any damage like that !!
I checked the tree for any more dead branches .... None .... I must have caught the lonely dead branch in the 150 trees surrounding my house !! Haha
Gods way of letting me know I worship that truck too much !! Hahahaha !
Insurance is taking care of it .... No deductible !
The body shop is scared to death of the snorkel that has to come off for the repair ... So am I !

 

That's a whole lot of !'s. But that sucks, had mine hit three times in the last 8 days by inconsiderate no note leaving DB's.

 

I wheel my rig through a lot of fucking shit. And not once through all the gunk and scum and crud I have sunk it in and subjected it to have I ever caught a rock on my pulley in the two years I have owned it. Even when I was stock. I would study what they show you long and hard and make sure it all matches up correctly. Better make sure they don't do some hack job and fake that it happened just to get some money out of you.

 

I see how the rock could happen and the damage as well, not likely but it can happen. Like Jonek (that sucks by the way).

I was wondering one thing. Do the sports have the same (I know it's flimsy) skid plate as the off roads? Seems like even if it is flimsy it would help stop little stuff like rocks and debris from flipping up into the motor.

Either way OP it sucks. I would probably be more upset about the wait on the side of the road though, as long as the truck can be made perfect again. It could have been one of those bad luck moments that suck.

 

The sports have the same front skid plate as the off road models, yes.

 

Just got a call. They are going to cover the costs!!!! I'm guessing they don't know how this can happen as well and are as shocked as all of us that something like this happened. Or feel bad because we were left on the side of the highway so long. Thank you for all the replies and sorry about your truck JoneK and the DB's who hit the other post's truck. So I will go buy a lottery ticket and stop worshipping my truck. I hope I'm not too scarred to take it on road trips or take it on a gravel road or any roads that have rocks for that matter!

 

02Duck, saw that you are from Oregon, you know that one store town called Unity?? That is where we coasted in to after losing power steering!

 

He has the rock? They have balls to think an average customer would believe that.

 

Why do I stick up for dealers? Because I worked for dealerships for 20 years of my career. I was quite proud of the ones I worked for. I do get surprised by so many of the bad comments because none of the dealerships that I ever worked for did shady stuff like that. We took care of our customers. The dealership is where I learned my craft, and where I learned the right way to fix a vehicle, and to take care of my customers. Since I WORK in this field, I have actually seen more shady stuff done at independent shops than the dealerships. I have seen guys at independent shops take twist ties and wire to fix a loose component, where at the dealership we would use screws, bolts, nuts whatever it took to PROPERLY secure something. Heck, look at the way so many of the oil change places cheat customers, yet dealerships get a bad rep. It is different I guess when you are on the other side. I am sure everyone out there in THEIR career has seen some shady stuff done as well.

A rock stuck in the front of the engine compartment can do some SERIOUS damage. I remember one guy a while back who had a rock that was caught up in the fan and destroyed his radiator I believe. For those who have never seen or heard of it happening before, it is probably because you don't work in the field (assumption, yes) So far I have seen rocks bust holes in radiators, condensers, damage overflow jugs and washer reservoirs (From being bounced around inside the belt area. Remember, those belts and pulleys are spinning at 1500 or more RPM. That is a LOT of force if a rock gets caught up) I have seen the results of small tree branches get kicked up by tires and slung into engine compartments, oil pans, fuel tanks, and break a rubber brake line. I have seen some REALLY strange stuff for sure.

See, all the bashing made towards the dealership, and they are going to take care of him. NOW do you see not ALL dealerships are crooks or con artists. It all comes down to a simple fact that I have learned when I was going to college for my degree: A dissatisfied customer will tell 20 people, a satisfied customer will tell 2. So people typically will talk about their bad experiences 10 times more often than a good experience, because people EXPECT a good experience, so when they get one, it is not important to talk about. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I worked only for independent dealerships, and not corporate ones. Maybe because I have only worked at dealerships in the south. Say what you want, but if you study the trends, businesses down south tend to have better customer service, in a service oriented business. That's not conjecture, that is facts we learned studying business in college. Just my opinion.

OP, I am glad that you are getting taken care of. I hope this helps you to consider renewing your faith in dealerships. They are not ALL bad. Truthfully the techs are some of the best trained in the business. Dealerships LITERALLY spend thousands of dollars EVERY year on each technician for training.

 

I have seen them. Usually they bounce around and end up resting in either the skid plate, or bottom of the fan shroud. More common than you might think.

I believe the OP stated that they had the rock in question. I don't think they would say that if it ended up being a tool left over from a PDI. As I have said, I have seen it happen many times. Rocks are a pretty common problem in the fan area.

 

just because a tech at a dealer tells you something you dont want to hear doesn't mean they are lying. there are dealers out there who do shady crap of course but thats true of every thing, bad doctors,mechanics,contractors, construction etc.... but all this bs about the dealer lying is absolutely retarded. your not a tech you haven't seen the truck/damage and in the end the dealer is making it right. as a tech I too take great pride in my work and take care of my customers. I leave my card in every car I touch to ensure that I am accountable for work and diagnosis. so again just because a tech says something you dont want to hear doesn't mean its time to go talk junk with your buddies on the internet. to the op im glad the dealer is making it right and that it has made you a return customer

cheers

 

tells me nothing.

It always goes back to that, he can't help himself.

 

My post was simply to hear from Tacoma owners on how common this is... and have a discussion. I have no knowledge in the automotive world. The reason I buy Toyota is because I do not know how to work on cars and they are the most reliable. I know my previous Tacoma was a beast and had no issues. This one had this issue in first 300 miles.
Honestly, I do not have a ton of trust in dealerships because my brother used to work for one. He walked away and became independent because he said the dealership rips off their customers.
I had to take my truck in on day 2 because the grinding noise when I turned the wheel - it happened when the salesman backed my truck up... I said what was that - he said just a mud flap caught in the tire. It wasn't a mud flap, it is a new 6 inch rubber piece that sits in front of the tires. They told me it helps in gas mileage (not an upsell - it was on my truck already). Anyway, they wanted to just pull them off. I said, I would appreciate if you fixed or replaced it. They proceeded to tell me I should not turn the wheels so far that it was bad for my truck even after I explained that the salesman was the one who did it. I feel that I shouldn't have to argue about having a part fixed that was either bent to begin with or done by their own salesman pulling it around. I could see that it was bent and curved in compared to the other side.
I was not bashing any dealership (didn't even mention the dealership's name), simply wondering how a rock could get lodged behind the pulley in the first place. I understand rocks cause damage. The first dealership that saw my truck said a pulley seized up... never mentioned a rock. So it was a question as to anyone hearing of this... I also question if it is perhaps a design flaw that a rock can get lodged behind the pulley???because the next dealership knew that I was informed about the pulley prior to them looking and said they didn't see the rock until they pulled the pulley off - so I'm assuming it must have been lodged behind it.
I am glad they are taking care of it and making it right. I don't think this is comparable to a rock hitting a windshield - that is common. Not one person has stated that they have ever heard of this happening including the mechanics and service rep at the dealership. So that was my purpose for posting originally. Just was extremely frustrated that the truck has been in the repair shop longer than I have had it in my possession in this first two weeks.

 

Is there some sort of grill cover or any other sort of protection to help prevent this from happening? I feel like I will be nervous every time I drive it (whenever I do get it back)

 

Bama and Fordidipower, any comments on that one?

I'm leaning towards the fact that the dealer may have taken advantage of what (in most cases) a female may not understand in the world of machines.

 

Unity that's out a ways. Haven't been out that far for awhile.

I checked on Toyota's site and it does seem the Off Road package comes with an extra "engine skid plate" that isn't listed on the Sport package. I don't know if it would help or not but you might want to check it out. Can't hurt anyway.

Glad to hear they're taking care of you. I see both sides of the dealer debate. I've had some problems with a few and others have been helpful. Just sucks that so many of us don't feel like we can trust them. In that respect it sucks for the honest dealers as well.

 

Well time for my first post in over a year with my Tacoma. Belt broke on my Jeep and a small stone was completely imbedded in my belt. Stones happen when you live in the mountains. By the way very informative site.

 

Thank you Duck. I will look in to this skid plate as well as other possible options.