Toyota Can Fix Its Costly Mistake By Offering Its Tundras a Non-Turbo Towing Engine Option

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Toyota's costly mistake is leaving some owners in the lurch, but the "turbo disaster" can be fixed if the carmaker offers Tundra buyers a non-turbo towing engine option.

Toyota Tundra forums and groups on social media are full of discussions about Tundra's engine issues, like the one I covered at Torque News this morning about a Tundra engine failure at 34,000 miles and Toyota's honorable handling. And now there is a thought in the Tundra enthusiast community that Toyota can fix many issues if it could offer something new.

"They need to offer a non-turbo towing engine option soon. They don’t have this figured out after 3 years. Sad to see this happen to Toyota," writes David Nix under a disucssion at 2023-2024 Toyota Tundra Owners Facebook group, upon which the above-referenced article was written. You can check it there.

Now, some of you may ask, why non-turbo towing engine for a Toyota Tundra?

David explains:

"Because these turbo engines add a ton of complexity, pressure on the engine and heat. The turbos are only there to get a V6 to do something it likely shouldn’t be doing. I watched a video of them rebuilding this engine and it has to be torn down to every last nut and bolt. It’s a mess. The truck will never be good again and they won’t go the short block route because it costs too much. This engine is the biggest disaster in the history of Toyota reliability."

Yes, these things happen to the best of them as well. And just like Tyler Thiede in the previous article (referenced above) I am glad that in these cases the Toyota dealerships are standing by it and they seem top notch. But it must be sickening watching your Toyota Tundra get hauled off. "I went to the Tundra years ago for one reason only, I could not afford to be down and in the shop for a day much less a month. Three years is long enough to correct a catastrophic engine failure issue in Tundras and they can’t," David wrote.

I understand David's frustration with the new Tundra engine. The complexities and potential issues associated with turbocharging are definitely concerns and Toyota should address them. Many Toyota owners have come to expect a higher level of durability and reliability, and it's clear that this engine has fallen short for some.It's important for Toyota to address these issues and consider offering alternative engine options to meet the diverse needs of their customers.

The only Good news is that as we learned last night Toyota and Lexus are taking care of their customers! They're replacing about 100,000 engines in Tundra trucks and LX SUVs made in 2022 and 2023. This is because there was a tiny mistake during manufacturing, and some small metal pieces ended up inside the engine. Do you think this will solve the issue?

Armen Hareyan is the founder and the Editor in Chief of Torque News. He founded TorqueNews.com in 2010, which since then has been publishing expert news and analysis about the automotive industry. He can be reached at Torque News TwitterFacebookLinkedin, and Youtube. He has more than a decade of expertise in the automotive industry with a special interest in Tesla and electric vehicles.

Images by David Wallace, from the 2022+ Toyota Tundra Owners group on Facebook.

Submitted by Eric Burke (not verified) on July 26, 2024 - 10:02PM

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Everyone has an opinion and not all are right or wrong. Get a hybrid for towing if that’s what you’re wanting to a lot of.

Submitted by Daniel Convertino (not verified) on July 26, 2024 - 10:05PM

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All Toyota had to do was pair the 5.7L to a 8 or 9 speed transmission to get the gas mileage and average it the fleet for government regulations.

Submitted by Josh Szelmeszka (not verified) on July 26, 2024 - 10:05PM

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Why isn’t nobody understands what’s going on? Nobody is going to a turbo engine because they think that’s what the consumer wants. It’s all emissions related. That’s the reason they killed the V8 in the first place with the higher CAFE requirements that were instated under the Obama administration. They’re doing everything they can to be able to sell cars. It’s the same thing they’re all doing remember people Toyota still the same non-turbo diesel. They did in the 1980s but it’s only for sale in Third World countries because it doesn’t need any emissions requirements. The reason they’re using these smaller turbocharged engines is because they tax the vehicle based on the emissions output of the engine as a tailpipe emission, but they also tax it based on the size of the engine and they also give credits towards the fuel efficiency based on the size of the engine, same thing with the size of the vehicle that’s why they’ve all gotten so damn big that’s the current Corolla is the size of the original Avalon and that’s why the Tacoma is as damn big as it is because larger vehicles have lower fuel efficiency requirements. The problem is not the manufacturer. The problem is the requirements imposed by the federal government. Believe me it’s the reason Toyota has never brought a diesel here. Yes they make lots of good ones.

Repeat of the 70's. I had a useless V8 Pontiac Ventura that went from 0 to 60 in 35 seconds due to the emission choking it to death! Embarassing first vehicle. Lets go Brandon! Invest in muscle while we can.

I do agree that these problems stem from government regulations on fuel efficiency. I believe that the regulations are intended to make automobile companies strive to put out better more efficient vehicles and while the regulations are needed the technology is just not there to require such high requirements. Manufacturers have no choice around them unless they find loopholes which include making bigger vehicles and other sometimes silly design choices just to get around these rules and regulations. When it comes to the engines themselves a lot of manufacturers have decided to use smaller engines and then force pressurized air and fuel into them to get the power needed and desired. Anytime you take an engine and do this it increases the wear and tear, heat, complexity, and maintenance requirements on an engine shortening its life span and increasing the maintenance costs to the consumer. Auto companies might have found a way to meet the government's fuel regulation requirements but how happy are you going to be as a consumer of a vehicle when your vehicle breaks at 100,000 miles? How are the auto companies going to handle replacing or repairing (sometimes free of charge) engines and engine problems when they break under warranty? How is this going to affect the faith a buyer will have on an auto brand? I drive a 2002 Toyota Tundra 4x4 with the SR-5 package and a 4.7 liter V8 and it even has a 3” lift which adds to more wear and tear on the engine. Yet it has a naturally aspirated engine (no turbo or supercharger forcing air) so although it has over 300,000 miles on it my baby is still running strong with no problems. The engine because of being a V-8 produces enough horsepower and torque naturally without all of the heat and wear that you would have to put on a smaller engine like a V-6. I wonder if we were to relax the fuel requirements put on the automobile manufacturers would we get more size choices in the vehicles produced? My full-sized 2002 Tundra is about the size of the Toyota Tacomas I see now. My Tundra is much smaller than the Tundras and other full-sized trucks of today. Are the government's fuel economy requirements causing us to burn more fuel than if we were to relax and let supply and demand dictate which sized vehicles we the consumers want? If the automakers are making bigger and bigger trucks and cars to skirt fuel economy regulations aren’t those bigger and bigger vehicles burning more fuel? If we let the consumers decide what they want would some not want smaller choices in the market? Smaller choices mean less fuel, doesn’t it? Fuel prices are not cheap so I would think the consumer's pocketbook would entice auto makers to look for solutions to lower how much fuel their vehicles burn. I would think that without having to worry about so much government oversight the automakers would have more money for research and development in all aspects of car building even researching more ways to get away from fossil fuels altogether. Also, I wonder how much cheaper our vehicles could be produced without all of the government red tape and regulations. I know some requirements are needed but I think the government is pushing way too hard and fast when it comes to forcing automakers to meet its fuel economy standards.

Submitted by Toni Fell (not verified) on July 26, 2024 - 10:07PM

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I heard they're recalling 100,000 vehicles and replacing Tundra and Lexus engines. Whether it's the V6 turbo or not I'm not sure.

Submitted by Phil B Bryant Jr (not verified) on July 27, 2024 - 10:43AM

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I have a 2023 1794 Tundra-Hybrid with 15,000 mi. The truck has been flawless. So yes they can fix this. Big hit to Toyota's reliability reputation, yes. But they can absolutely fix this.

Submitted by Paul Bois (not verified) on July 31, 2024 - 8:50PM

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I have a 2023 Toyota tundra platinum. I have 49,000 km on the vehicle now and I have not had any motor/engine problems yet hopefully it continues that way. I am a loyal Toyota customer and have had both Tacoma and tundras and my wife is currently driving, a 2023 RAV4. I will be following the engine problems closely.

Submitted by Alex (not verified) on August 1, 2024 - 2:20PM

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We had, still have, few Toyotas in the family with a 23 Taco as the latest. Not likely to get another one, not because of the current problem, I operated few turbo motors before without trouble, but because it went to the dogs of massive savings without passing a penny to the consumer. A keyless ignition and a electric parking brake are not the latest tech, just mechanic and thieves friendly unnecessary devices.

Submitted by George Salvesen (not verified) on August 1, 2024 - 7:56PM

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Hopefully the introduction of a 4 cylinder turbo engine in the new Tacomas and Forerunners doesn't wind up with similar results..what were the Toyota engineers thinkon