3.5 V6 2GR-FKS Reliability

I recently bought a 2022 SR with the 3.5 in it and 39k miles. It was a "Toyota gold certified" vehicle and by all accounts the previous owner took great care of it. I have wanted a Tacoma for years due to their rugged reliability and I do not care about speed or power or towing capacity as long as it lasts a long time. From what I have seen the 2.7L 4-cyl is a lot more reliable than the 3.5 V6, with the latter having a lot of issues with oil and coolant leaks and being aluminum instead of cast iron. Am I justified in being concerned about these things? This is just the most expensive thing I have ever bought and I want it to last a long time.

 

The most common issues would be valves burning/leaking (most likely due to failed guides), ACIS flap breaking in the intake manifold, plastic coolant crossover pipe cracking and leaking, and the timing cover leak. There have also been a few engines that have suffered random (rare) one-off failures that are not any of the more common trending issues, such as total engine failure, such as scored cylinder walls, bearings gone bad, roller rocker fell apart, etc. The engine being aluminum doesn’t appear to contribute to any of the failures.

How common any of the trending issues are is pretty much unknown. It can be discouraging to read the threads where it feels like a lot of issues are popping up. Granted definitely more are popping up that are also not talked about, but then you also have plenty of engines that are fine. If you like the truck, pretty much just run it and don’t worry too much. I would personally suggest more frequent oil changes than 10k and I personally do also run a thicker oil for a greater margin of safety. That is really all you can do to help yourself aside from scheduled maintenance. If it’s going to fail, it will fail.

I don’t think it’s an “unreliable” engine per se, but based on observations, if I had to guess, I would consider it to be significantly less reliable, or considerably more prone to issues in the long run than its predecessor, the 1GR-FE V6.

 

Oh man, they are junk

Quick sell it and get a Ram before they are sold out!!!!!

 

2017 no issues so far at 100,000 miles .all stock though except for the snorkle. No fluid leaks

 

Any mass produced products will have issues. Some more than others. Luck of the draw and knowing when to let go can be key.

I have had only a handful of cars in my 58 years. I was lucky with two long term. Brand new 1989 Ford Ranger. (2WD and oil leaks) Dumped it after only 3 years for a brand new 1992 Toyota 4x4 Truck with the 3.0L. I owned it for 14 years despite the 2 head gasket failures. Loved that truck. After that because kids showed up in 2006, a lease return 2003 Nissan Pathfinder we owned for 14 years as well. Was an awesome family vehicle. Wore it out. Just one throttle body failure. Both vehicles were maintained regularly. Neither never left us stranded or suffered from catastrophic failure. Then on to our current 2020 Tacoma with the 3.5L. Purchased brand new. 4.5 years in and no issues so far. We love this truck too. Oldest is now learning to drive on it.

I always carefully monitor my vehicles and do regular maintenance. Despite that my Tacoma could shit the bed tomorrow.

Get what you want and what you’re comfortable with that fits your needs and budget. Unless you have a crystal ball, you might not wake up tomorrow and miss the bus of life.

 

400k miles from now you should start looking in to a new truck… https://youtu.be/ao2lMu_Y5Ow?si=4EhGZ8phEISUU8dc

 

It’s great to see him continue to achieve high mileage, but like anything else, it is only one data point. It only proves that high mileage on one motor is possible, not that it is likely. Ironically, he’s had the burnt valve problem on one of his cylinders for around 200k miles and it’s starting to misfire now as a result.

 

Welcome, don't stress it. Yeah, with millions made, you are going to read a few horror stories, but what you don't hear are the other hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of 3.5 owner's praise,,, as they are on the road right now.
Check the maintenance map in the stickies, take care of it, and it will take care of you.

 

Is it the most reliable V6 ever made by Toyota? Far from it.
Are there A LOT of people experiencing grenaded valvetrains and various leaks from the 2GR-FKS? Absolutely.

Will it happen to you? Nobody knows.

Stay away from 10k oil change intervals and keep an eye out for leaks and you should be fine.

 

There is a high probability that you gonna get rearended and get totaled before the engine explodes.

 

Quoted an engine today.

21 with cylinder scoring leading to dreaded imbalance code. 180,000km so about 120,000 miles.

 

You will read a lot of stuff here that you wished you did not know, unfortunately you can't unread it!

 

In 1963 180K km (120K mi) was considered good; technology and expectations change. My '63 Valiant went to 130K. I hope my Taco surpasses it ;-)

 

Modern tundra aside I rarely change engines anymore.

motorcycles are the only low mileage expectation now it seems.

At least the old engines were easy and common to repair. I could get an old v8 out in 1 hour. Modern tundra takes me 3-4 while rushing

 

Scored cylinder would have me curious of the oil change intervals at only 120k miles.

 

^^^^^^…..that. Car care nut has done several videos of this exact scenario.

 

These are very reliable trucks, this forum will make you believe otherwise though. There are a lot more completely satisfied 3G owners who don't post how great their trucks are. I have personally spoken to many 3G taco owners and none had any leaks or mechanical issues.

Zero issues or any sort of leaks. Its been 7 years and im not easy on my truck, plus its modified.

Of course anything can happen but with the 3G taco you have pretty good chance of having no issues for many years to come.

 

Keep burying your head in the sand, it will make all the well known 2gr-fks issues disappear for sure!

 

I will also add ; my 2019 off road has been great. The other thing I will say is lots of people don’t 'take care of there stuff. I’m pretty sure some of the issues that pop up on here are from user situations.