2017 Used Tacoma Off Road, Extreme Engine Problems

Where to begin...

I’ve recently purchased a used 2017 Tacoma OR (bought “as is”, I know, big mistake.) CarFax seemed fine, we’ll taken care of, regular engine maintenance/oil changes. Drove it home from the dealership I bought it from in Sevierville, TN with absolutely no problems. Ran a few errands here and there, but since I was working night shift that week, I wasn’t able to drive it much.

A week later, I’m about to go pick up the title to my old car to sell it, I get in my truck and attempt to start it. The engine turns over and starts.. but for only about a second. The following warnings pop up.
1. Check Engine Light
2. Trac Off Light
3. Check Charging System
4. Low Oil Pressure
5. High Transmission Fluid Temp.
6. Yellow Master Warning Light

So I go through everything I could think of that might be wrong. Check the gas, the oil, the battery, etc. I end up having it towed to my local Toyota Service center and they start running diagnostics. They inform me that there’s currently a fuel pump recall. Cool. Fine with that. Then about an hour later while at work I get a call from the service department asking if I was aware the truck has had diesel put into the engine on 3 separate occasions. Completely floored, I take lunch and go to Toyota to see what’s going on. The tech that’s working on my truck pulls me back into the bay where the truck is and starts explaining what he thinks is wrong.

Apparently this truck has been a problem child it’s whole life. They’ve had the fuel injectors replaced on a few occasions, and some other stuff I don’t really understand. (I’ll post a photo of the code sheet he showed me.) Him and another tech say if they were me they’d get rid of it as fast as possible.

Fast forward a few days and we’ve been back and forth with the dealership we bought it from and stated they put every vehicle through a rigorous testing process to make sure they’re good to go. But essentially, they’re not willing to help at all.

Today the service manager and I contacted what I guess is the Corporate Toyota service department and they’ve opened up a case for the truck. So I guess my question is do I attempt to sell the truck, just bite the bullet and replace the engine, etc? I’m hoping Toyota will pull through and be able to help me out some. This truck has been my dream truck since I was a kid. Thanks for any help.

 

Sub'd

 

Sorry to hear about that wow what a shocker!
What do you mean by sell the truck? I don't think it would be the right thing to fool someone else into buying a lemon.

If toyota doesnt come through for you I would consider legal action against the dealer that sold it to you.
If they stated that "they put every vehicle through a rigorous testing process", they informed you that the vehicle was sound, problems arose shortly after driving off the lot - that is ground for a civil lawsuit. I'm in Canada so not sure what the laws are where you are, but this is totally unacceptable on the part of the seller.

 

As in sell the truck to the/a dealership that would be able to scrap it or fix it themselves. I wouldn’t sell it to another poor soul to go through what I am. Haha

 

So sorry to hear of all these issues. I bought my 2017 Off Road with 6 speed manual trans brand new in April 2017, currently have 64K miles on it, been absolutely perfect since mile 0.

I can't add anything directly related, but I can share the following story about a close friend and his 2004 Nissan Titan, just to show that sometimes, the manufacturer does actually dig in and go the extra mile to get a serious issue resolved for the vehicle owner, so don't lose hope.

Real good friend bought a 2004 model year Nissan Titan, 2WD, brand new off the dealers lot in mid 2005. It just hadn't sold yet, was not a return. Had been sitting on their lot for better part of a full year. So he drives it to work every day (~30 mile round trip) and elsewhere for maybe 6 - 9 months. Then the brakes start going out. As in pedal goes right to the floor, no stop....... real bad situation. He takes it back to the dealer, they fiddle with it, replace rotors, pads, lines, even fluid. Everything is back to normal for about a month each time... then no brakes again. Finally, after a few months of this nonsense, the dealership Manager puts in a call to Corporate Engineering. They send an Engineer out to the dealership to do major deep dive analysis. Took a few weeks, but they finally figured it out. His truck had been sitting on the lot for so long, something inside the brake master cylinder went out and it wasn't a readily apparent / visible thing, so no one knew it. I don't recall what it was specifically, but as soon as they swapped the master cylinder, he was good to go. He still has the truck, drives it all the time.

 

How were they able to determine the number of times diesel was put into it? Was it in service records, that truck was towed in 3 times with diesel in fuel?

Trade in to a carmax, and start over fresh with a proper truck.

 

Id speak with a lawyer and see what they say.

 

@farmtacoma They were able to pull the service records at the dealership. Which none of the specifics were on CarFax. (Go figure.) CarFax just says “fuel injector serviced”.

 

I'd fill up a 5 gallon container of gas. Spill it all over my truck and have it accidently catch on fire. The whole thing. Just saying...

But seriously OP, did you purchase this at a Toyota dealership? If so, corporate should be able to work something out for you because they clearly knew they were selling you a rotten lemon.

Also, any sale, whether it's a house, car, or stripper, if they specify "as is"... You better run for the hills
Clearly something with its past will come back and give you chlamydia, errr, I mean problems

 

I came for the diesel fill ups but stay for the clap

 

Lot of injector codes....
The armchair mechanic in me says it's the injector drivers in the ECM.

This owner had to have her ECU replaced twice.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/all-fuel-injectors-bad.586373/

 

How do you accidentally put diesel into a gas tank when the nozzle is too large for the fuel opening? Furthermore, I'm not sure how they'd even know that unless it was recent.

It can cause issues, especially in modern vehicles, but eventually it gets run out of the engine. There was a TV show that actually did this with a couple of old 4 bangers. One diesel and one gas. They ran like shit, but they ran. They went back to normal once the opposite fuel was cycled through and they were running on the intended fuel again.

Have you checked Toyota's website to see the actual services that have been done? If done at a dealership, there will be a record by VIN.

Sounds to me like a lot of problems that are probably caused by one common denominator and said common denominator hasn't been addressed yet.

 

holy cow... best of luck dude.

 

Like I said before, Id go ahead and contact a lawyer to see what your options are. In some states selling a vehicle "as is" doesnt mean the seller is absolved from selling a lemon

 

sucks to see all your troubles.

found this on junk car medics:

"
Diesel in a gasoline tank can cause numerous issues and even permanent damage that would kill the engine. First, it will clog the fuel lines and fuel delivery system. Different and denser fuel can damage a fuel injection system which consists of delicate fuel lines and precise injectors. Also, if the diesel fuel reaches the cylinders and gets ignited by the spark plugs, it can damage pistons, valve train, piston rings and much more due to the fact that the engine internals aren't designed for that type of fuel. Finally, if the engine somehow manages to burn all the diesel fuel inside, the exhaust gasses will damage catalytic converters.

Interestingly, if you put gasoline into a diesel-powered car, the list of problems is somewhat shorter and your car will just stall and refuse to run. The gasoline is a finer fuel and it will not clog the diesel fuel lines, intake system, and fuel injection system."

 

Anyone can go to the owners site and enter a VIN and you'll have full access to all dealership service records. You can do this for any toyota car whether you own it or not. Maybe this will save someone some trouble in the future.

Best of luck OP. Toyota corporate is your best bet, you might have to harass them a little.

FWIW I had a friend put diesel in their gasoline subaru, and it ran fine once they drained all the diesel fuel and refilled with regular gasoline.

 

if i absolutely had to fix it. i would start with the in tank fuel filter and work my way towards the engine. Sea foam the shit out of it and see if i could work out the issues.

 

This ^ I consider that fraud by the dealership.

 

As is is just that and I doubt that Toyota corporate will help . Try to get it running and unload it .