steve white
AH ambassador
I watched a YouTube video by a mechanic who actually rebuilds Toyota engines....a lot. (please google him up, if you can) His main take in the video was just how many head gaskets were blowing on the 8 cylinder Toyota engines in the Landcruisers! Got your attention? Turns out that the steel head gaskets were being etched out by the acids in stale coolant fluids! Acidity which occurred after about 50 thousand miles. The Achilles heel is that the water circulation ports are so incredibly close to the cylinder openings that it doesn't take much to open them up!! He had a whole pile of them which had blown mostly on cylinders 5 & 7. Said it broke his heart to break the news to customers who had spent a lot on such vehicles, THAT THE COST OF REPLACING A BLOCK WAS MORE THAN THE USED PRICES OF ANOTHER VEHICLE!!! If your block is aluminum and it warps, you are toast. If only the head warps and it has to be shaved to flatten it, you have to use a thicker gasket or the variable valve timing goes out of sync. No it does not help if there is a cast iron liner in the cylinder, they are cast into the block. You are still screwed. And these, also in newer more expensive Tundras are a problem waiting to happen. Don't get me started on Toyota's disastrous design changes of late. They are NOT what they used to be, and may be suffering a tarnished reputation.
So, not only change that coolant regularly, but hasten the oil change intervals of direct injection engines to cut down carbon buildup. As engines age that have a plastic or other perishable tube that directs transmission fluid through the radiator, bypass that nonsense and install a separate trans radiator that won't turn trans fluid into pink milkshake! Also preemptively change out any internal water pumps, change out timing belts, water pumps and thermostats every 90K miles and tensioners, etc where appropriate. Don't think you can ignore things because you have timing chains. Many of the newer models have chains that are very susceptible to stretching--not good. Investigate. This could go on and on, and I hope many of you will have your own advice to add
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It's not just Toyota. I am flabbergasted at the recalls, service bulletins and reliability reports on ten speed transmissions, engine anomalies of every kind that regularly plague certain models of trucks that formerly had stellar reputations. Especially in first year new model changes.
It seems that the higher horsepower, turbo charged designs equal less longevity in general. Older overbuilt engines like the straight six cylinder fords, the 4.7L 8 cylinder Toyota, the early 5VZ-FE 3.4L V6, yes even the 4.3 Chevy V6, and a number of other cast iron block beauties are what set the pace for real high mileage, high reliability engines. The list is far from complete, but would include the 5 cylinder Chevy Colorado, the V6 in the 2013-2015 Tacomas, well--you fill in the blanks.
But the newer they are, and the closer tolerances they operate under, the more they are apt to need special care, and a proper understanding of their design weaknesses.
Tell us how you maintenance your way out of serious (and expensive) difficulties....
So, not only change that coolant regularly, but hasten the oil change intervals of direct injection engines to cut down carbon buildup. As engines age that have a plastic or other perishable tube that directs transmission fluid through the radiator, bypass that nonsense and install a separate trans radiator that won't turn trans fluid into pink milkshake! Also preemptively change out any internal water pumps, change out timing belts, water pumps and thermostats every 90K miles and tensioners, etc where appropriate. Don't think you can ignore things because you have timing chains. Many of the newer models have chains that are very susceptible to stretching--not good. Investigate. This could go on and on, and I hope many of you will have your own advice to add
.
It's not just Toyota. I am flabbergasted at the recalls, service bulletins and reliability reports on ten speed transmissions, engine anomalies of every kind that regularly plague certain models of trucks that formerly had stellar reputations. Especially in first year new model changes.
It seems that the higher horsepower, turbo charged designs equal less longevity in general. Older overbuilt engines like the straight six cylinder fords, the 4.7L 8 cylinder Toyota, the early 5VZ-FE 3.4L V6, yes even the 4.3 Chevy V6, and a number of other cast iron block beauties are what set the pace for real high mileage, high reliability engines. The list is far from complete, but would include the 5 cylinder Chevy Colorado, the V6 in the 2013-2015 Tacomas, well--you fill in the blanks.
But the newer they are, and the closer tolerances they operate under, the more they are apt to need special care, and a proper understanding of their design weaknesses.
Tell us how you maintenance your way out of serious (and expensive) difficulties....
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