Those who's 2TR-FE left them stranded - what went wrong?

This is what I did

 

i have a 2010 2.7 4x4 5 speed at about 130k and ive ran into a few problems, first i went thru a few alternators because of a subwhooper and extra lights (also the rebuilt alternator must of been just garbage), sadly i went thru a stock clutch which ive replaced myself which wasn't bad and recently i got a tick inside my timing chain aka my tensioner is loose but with some digging ive found that it may be caused by a bad oil pump cause the tensioners are actually operated by oil pressure. its throwing a camshaft angle sensor check engine light. if anyone has any info on this please give me a message

 

May I ask how many miles you got out of your original clutch?

 

Have 150k on original clutch and I haul a 4x6 off road trailer during summer trips. Trailer weight is about 1300-1800# depending on loadings. I'm watching mine

 

Old post but there was a recall for valve springs on the 2TR-FE engines, I think they were weak or failing prematurely, don’t recall specifics now.

 

2010 w/ 170k on it, replaces the water pump (developed a leak) at about 150k also replaced my original clutch the past spring.However I bought the truck with high mileage already so cant speak to how the previous owner treated the truck but I am guessing they drove it pretty hard based on its condition.. I have recently developed a valve cover gasket leak.. But its never left me stranded..

 

OP here with a rather ironic update: My 2TR FE left me stranded because the radiator cap failed. $12 part and I now keep a spare.

 

I got 120k on it but i also learnt standard in the truck while also not knowing how hard the previous owner ripped it. I started having a weird sound coming out of my valve train but it was figured out, ends up the 2tf-fe somehow burnt amost 4 litres of oil and the truck was barely running cause there was no oil pressure. we filled it up and it ran like brand new, these engines and trucks just keep on surprising me but shes never left me stranded

 

May I ask how many miles you had when your radiator cap failed?

 

About 175k.

 

Not to take this old thread off course, but I happened to notice online the other day that Toyota kept the 4 cyl 2.7L in the 3rd Gen Tacoma's(2016->). I never really thought about that as all I heard about were people complaining about the new V6 engine used in the 3rd Gen trucks.
If I were to get rid of my 2nd Gen 2015(I have no plans to do so) and wanted to stay with Tacoma, I'd buy a 2.7L 3rd Gen in a heart-beat.

 

Valve spring recall.

2013 - 2014 2.7 liter 2TR-FE Engine. It had something to do with a supplier screw up during the heat treating process of the springs.

They recalled approx 4000 trucks.

 

Only issue I've had is a bad ignition coil at 124k.

I've replaced a slew of parts as preventative maintenance (injectors, crank/cam/coolant sensors, AFR sensor, water pump, thermostat with 170 degree, and swapped over to DOT5 brake fluid) and even once I turbo'd it, I haven't had any issues. I upgraded the clutch immediately after going turbo, since it was starting to slip doing 3rd gear pulls.

These trucks are built solid. The motors are nearly bulletproofed, and a little love goes a long way.

 

I'm gonna be the outlier here. I just bought a 2006 with 114,000 miles about one month ago. One owner, good service record. I even paid a mechanic to give it a full Pre-purchase inspection. It drove flawlessly for the first 3 weeks I had it.

I drove it on the interstate for about 15 minutes this weekend and started to notice a gradual loss of power no shaking, just slowing. Eventually, the engine light came on. Drove another 5 miles to the nearest exit and as I'm coming to the end of the off-ramp, the engine dies. Open the hood, coolant everywhere. The weird thing is that the temp gage was right in the middle the whole time.

Had to leave it with a mechanic 2.5 hours away from me, he says cylinders 1-3 have no compression, and #4 is at 30psi. Every mechanic I talk to is recommending a new engine, I'm hearing quotes between $4500 and $5500 installed for jdm or refurb. Can't seem to find a good used engine locally under $1800.

My thought would be to pull the head and either replace it or repair it if it isn't cracked. Seems like this would be way less $. I've talked to three mechanics and they are saying it's a gamble or isn't worth it, and I might as well just replace the engine. Does this sound right to you folks?

First car I ever paid cash for. The most I've ever paid for anything. So pissed.

ps- in trying to figure out what caused this in the first place, I'm guessing it was a coolant leak that somehow caused the failure. Below is my mechanic's inspection checklist where he identifies coolant residue around the water pump. Any thoughts?

Thanks all!

 

I've had mine for 10 years and it left me stranded for about 2 mins total.
I decided to drain the antifreeze out from the drain on the block and it's hard to catch all of it without it spilling out on the ground. So I put new antifreeze back in only held 1.5 gallons drove it a ways and checked, still full. So a few hours later went down the road. Then I noticed the a/c wasnt blowing cold and then that the temp gauge was in the red and pulled over let it cool off and then drove up the road to my buddies. He took me home to get some more antifreeze to go in it.
It ended up cracking the coolant pipe that goes behind the intake manifold and I ended up having to fix that. I dont think it cracked until I overheated it. But they are common to fail and i have 170k

2 minutes waiting on it to cool down ain't bad for 10 years.

 

mines got 245,000 miles.stock clutch, replaced the converters. at about 220,000 I think.2 batteries, changed the valve cover gasket,2 sets of plugs.a boatload of oil changes.never left me stranded.KOW.

 

Have replaced head gasket, transmission, and cats. Nothing failed before 200,000 miles. And, the failures were my fault. Currently still driving a 1998 T100 with the previous 2.7l 4 cylinder, and it went over half a million miles before it crapped out. Replaced the head gasket on that, along with every other seal, and resurfaced the head, and it’s still my daily beater. My Dad bought it new in 1998, and the thing has paid for itself over and over again for 21 years. These 2.7l engines are tough.

 

The temp needle has been a noted issue with Tacomas in that it doesn't readily measure the temps. I believe @EatSleepTacos had an issue with overheating but had a scan gauge that allowed him to see the climbing temps even while the needle stayed in the same area.

Sucks that the needle isn't a good measure, me thinks. I'll have to set aside some cash to buy a scangauge to closely monitor temps

 

Yeah I’m extremely thankful I have my ultragauge with an audible alarm set up.

With needle in the middle at operating temp, it’s at 185°. My truck got all the way to 230° before the needle started moving. Then at 240° the needle was a little below red and I cut the truck off.

The ultragauge went off at 220° and started beeping at me to warn me. Without it I probably would’ve overheated and warped my heads.

 

Sorry this happened to you.