2017 Tacoma TRD-3.5 L engine problems

I am the second owner, and have had the truck about 3 years now, 155,000 km on it. Lately I have noticed blue smoke from the pipe on cold starts, and on quick acceleration from stop light or slowing down through a construction zone/etc. Also, about a month ago a loud tick/tack from the engine on startup, still there but not as loud after warm up.

I've owned Toyota trucks all my life (about 25 years) and have not had these kinds of issues before. Watching you tube video's like "The Car Nut" indicates it may be valve stem seals or possibly piston seal rings; neither is an entertaining thought for a repair, as it would probably run me into the 3-5K range. Again, not a viable option and not good for trade value/re sale as anyone who sees this will run from the vehicle.

Anyone else experience these problems? I do regular maintenance and change oil around 8K at the longest. Perhaps these years of the GR2 engine were not the best, have they been resolved in the newer models? Or should I look at a Nissan Frontier?

 

Welcome to TW. Do you have a trusted mechanic that you could have check into your issues? Did the previous owner have a maintenance record?

 

I found a Toyota/imprt mechanic in Edmonton, have an appointment next month. However, I rack up about 800 km's every two weeks, so it's not getting much of a rest. See what they say.

 

Have you had to add oil, between changes, over noticed it using it per dipstick? Tail pipe clean or oily?

 

Yes it does sound like an oil consumption issue, as indicated above check your oil regularly. A check of the tail pipe will give you an idea how badly it is. Good luck

 

Check oil consumption on fillups etc before your appointment.
A Leak Down test is the best way to find out the health of the engine's piston rings, valves, and valve seats.

 

In the simplest terms, blue smoke equals burning oil. The only question is where is it coming from. A good mechanic should determine that rather quickly, then all you have to do is sell a kidney to pay for the repair.

 

I'd park it or drastically reduce use until I found the source

 

Welcome to the forum

1) How often do you check the oil?
2) How much oil have you needed to add between changes?
3) Has the PVC valve ever been changed?

 

Not an option for me, sorry. I have to travel 900 km every two weeks for work. If I park it, I'll be out of a job.

Have an appointment next month at a independent Toyota specialist shop, see what they have to say. Plan to sell or trade(after repairs, can't sell it like to this anyone)

 

I check the oil often, drove 440 km for work last week, it wasn't noticeable on the dipstick, but the blue smoke on start up and a few puffs on acceleration on the highway indicates something is going on.

The smoke smells like burning brakes/clutch not oil. Not sure about PVC valve or if the GR2 engine has those.

 

Pcv valve not pvc . Easy and cheap to replace with the right tools

 

Like I said in another reply, smoke smells like burning brakes/clutch. Sometimes no smoke, sometimes alot; some on start up, some on acceleration on the road, sometimes none at all. I really hope it's not valve stem seals or rings, that would be an out of question repair that would force me to take a major hit on a sale or trade in value.

 

definitley keeping an eye on it, changed the oil last week, it's not gulping it that's for sure. As per another reply I said that sometimes there is no smoke on startup, sometimes some/alot; sometimes a bif puff on acceleration while driving, sometimes none.

The loud tick/tack sound is there though. Maybe the air pump at the rear of the engine?

BTW how is 2016? heard they were a terrible year for the Tacoma, 2017 almost as bad but they improved after that.

 

Not sure about the previous owner, I've had the truck for about 3 years. I could inquire at the dealership, assuming they did services there. I am also thinking that the previous owner may have been misled into thinking that with synth oil, can go beyond the 8000 km mark for changes/servicing. Just a thought but who knows, not me...

 

Next question is, how cold has it been when you've dealt with this and have you warmed the truck up at all before driving? Given that you're using km, I'd venture to say you're in Canada. I drive more than you do, by the sounds of it, and I'll notice smoke in the times you've mentioned, but only when I know the ECU is dumping fuel to help warm up the truck. According to the trip meter, I get better MPG when I allow it to warm up first and I also notice less smoke. However, I have no burning smell at all and mine isn't blue so I guess we differ there.

2016 was not terrible. It was the first model year so it received a lot of complaints. However, the majority of complaints revolved around people whining about how the transmission shifted rather than actual mechanical failures. The only thing close to a common issue I've heard is the timing cover can start to leak, but that's a different issue entirely.

 

Yes you are correct about where I live. It was quite cold before I noticed this issue, like -40 C temps, and I recall the wife was driving the truck as well(hmmm, we may be on to something here lol!) another thing was a Toyota dealership had disabled the block heater in the fall of 2022 due to an apparent recall, but they never fixed it?! I have to park on the street so a block heater doesn't help much, but anyway. Ya could be the cold temps, maybe it ripped a vlave seal?

I usually allow it to idle/fast idle for about 30 seconds to a minute before driving when cold out myself.

 

If it's below freezing, I usually give it a good 5-10 minute warm up. -40°C and -40°F are the same so I'd definitely be giving it a warm up. Some people are advocates for saying you don't need a warm up in a modern engine, but I would say you definitely do, especially at -40° and without a block heater. That metal is cold so I definitely wouldn't doubt if it's contacted enough that the rings aren't sealing perfectly and you're burning some oil. Or it could just be the extra fuel burn combined with the atmospheric conditions.

Roughly 10% of your engine wear comes when your engine is at operating temperature. The rest comes when cold, especially if you are applying a load. It's not like it needs to be up to operating temperature to go anywhere, but certainly not -40°.

Try warming it up for a while and see if it helps clear things up. After a few tries at that, if you're still not satisfied or the issue persists into warmer weather, try and get a leak down test. But, it could be a simple fix.

 

You said the smoke smells more like clutch/brake smell , have you ruled out it’s not burning coolant ?

 

Are you 100% sure it's blue smoke and not black? If it really is burning oil you should be able to smell it in the exhaust.