2008 Tundra 1GRFE V6 Engine Dead at 98k

Now make sure you change oil for something good and with decent filter
Unfortunately what you went thru is why most people are affraid of buying used cars. It seems finding car that had maintenance done correctly (not neccesery from dealer) is hard. And cars with dealer maintenance sometimes are worst cars out there.

 

This is horrible, sorry to hear that it happened to you but worked out in the end. My buddy across the street has a Tundra with 300k miles on it and it runs like a raped ape, hope yours continues to run well now...

 

So the 1GR-FE V6 in the tundras have a functioning oil pressure gauge? Any potential to carry that capability over to the tacoma 1GR? Are there any other major differences between the engine depending on what platform it was placed in?

 

The simplest way do do it is to remove the OP sensor, install a brass "T" fitting, then thread the sensor back into the T, and a gauge type sensor into the other leg on the T.

That's what I did on my motorcycle. Works like a champ.
I didn't trust the fairly heavy sending units hanging horizontally on the brass threads, so I attached a stainless oil hose to the engine and moved the cluster of sensors to a mount on the crossmember up out of the way.
I soldered a brass bolt and nut to the brass T fitting to provide a connection to ground the system, even though the stainless hose showed good continuity.

 

There you go

 

That's sweet.
Hopefully we see something like that in the next generation Tacoma... but your experience underscores the need for a warning light as well, which is exactly why I did the mod shown above on my Vulcan.

I love the gauge, but while riding or driving, you don't notice the gauge creeping up or down... but the light smacks you over the head.

When my Suburban blew a radiator tank (shit Chinese radiator), it wasn't the gauge that let me know there was a problem... it was the cold air blowing on my ankles.
Thankfully I was wearing deck shoes and not my work boots. I felt the cold, double checked the temp control was turned up, then checked the temp gauge and notice it was climbing quickly.

 

I don't rely too much on the oil pressure gauge either, but is a nice gadget.

The taco has tranny temp gauge?

 

Idiot light, only on the 5 speed/V6.

 

There are some 2nd Gen V6 tundras out there that don't even have RPM gauge. That's soooo 80's

 

Glad you have it up and running again. I have a very hard time believing that the sludge is from the previous owner as that is 48K miles ago if I understand correctly, and if so would have reared its head long ago. That and regular, on time oil changes would have eliminated the majority of it by now. As you say though, it would be difficult to prove that the dealer is at fault, not necesarily impossible, but difficult, and possibly not worth the hassle. That doesn't mean you can't improve your chances for the future though, such as marking oil filters before a service, then checking after that the service was indeed completed. It only takes a moment to pop the hood, check the filter, and the dipstick to see clean, new oil.

I'm curious if you still have any of the "oil" that was drained into a clean container that you could send for analasis?

 

Next time I will do what I do in my Benz and my bimmer back in Venezuela...

Do the darn oil change myself! Period.

 

That's been working for me for the last 40 years except for a period where I had no place for even basic maintenance.

 

don't write off Toyota completely. just look into older models. like a 1st gen tacoma/tundra. or earlier corolla's/camry's.

 

I just read through this entire thread and it was one of the more intersting, insightful ones I've read through on this forum. I feel like i learned something with the updates, pics and video. Sucks what happened, it really does, but glad it was resolved in the end.

 

Update:

The engine seems to be working perfectly. 800miles ran in 1 week with no issues at all.

Check engine light went on this tuesday, connected my techstream and got the secondary air valve issue, but the drivability is not affected at all. Did not reset the light so I can see if I get any problem by driving 'long term' with the CEL on (limp mode) but it didn't and I've driven the thing a lot this week.

I decided to keep the truck for my starting business, I feel it very strong with that engine now and I don't want to let it go for the price I'll get for it.

I will be talking to a machine shop next week to see what can we do to the exhaust manifolds in order to reactivate the secondary valves and have the CEL off again.

Thanks again everyone for your comments and I hope this information remains for the people that will need a replacement engine in their V6 tundra's for some reason or another, in tundra forums there are only between 5 and 7% of V6 owners. So thanks again to tacoma owners

 

As someone already mentioned, you might be able to just cut a channel n the flange of the manifold from the air port to the exhaust port. A $15 harbor freight cut off tool wold probably last just long enough to accomplish the job! Manifolds are $55 on ebay, so its a ot less risky than trying to ad a port to the head...

 

I'm surprised that they don't use the same casting for both heads. One would expect the tacoma head to be the same, just un-drilled.

In this case, I would think very carefully about modifying the manifolds. The most obvious thing that I see is that simply grinding a slot between the two holes will definitely not work. Rather than allowing air to be pumped into the exhaust manifold, it will allow exhaust to flow out through the slot. The surface on the tacoma head is smaller and there is no backing at all where the air injection path is on the tundra. There is a lot of fluid dynamics to consider in making a modification like this, in particular, the air has to be injected into a location in the exhaust system where the pressure is low. The manifold is a location where the pressure is high. In the head, there is a constriction called a venturi, which causes exhaust gases to increase in velocity and therefore drop in pressure. This is the lowest pressure point on the entire exhaust system

My personal choice in this case would be to fool the sensors.

The question is, of course, what sensors need to be fooled?

Are the air injection pumps even hooked up? If not, this would most certainly trip the error code. I can't think of what else it could use to detect the proper function of these pumps. It can't use O2 sensors, since they need to be HOT in order to function, and the air injection pumps shut off long before they are up to operating temperature.

 

I'm not trying to add a port to the head. The issue is that even if I cut a channel in the inside of the manifold I'll need to cover the actual hole in the side of the manifold because if I don't then I'll have exhaust gases leaking in the engine area + the terrible noise it will make.

 

If the old heads are OK, and they should be unless the cam bores are scored from low oil pressure, you might be best off to swap them. Of course, its no small job, and one that would have been easier while the engine was out. I don't see any way to make it work otherwise, short of trying to fool the ECM. Ignoring the CEL is an option, but you won't readily know if another code is logged. If you tow or haul with the truck I would also install the oil cooler, but not your old one. You can use everything from your old engine but the actual heat exchanger, but I wouldn't reuse it for fear of contamination.

 

The oil cooler was installed as you can see in the last video posted. I don't like the old heads, they looked too waisted and I'm not facing any real problem on my truck with the Taco engine besides the cel.

If I disconnect the air valves then the truck enters immediately in the limp mode, so disconnecting them is not an option at all.

I don't know how crazy this sounds, but I have techstream and can buy the TIS suscription for a couple days and try to upload the firmware from a tacoma ecu... Is that too crazy?