2012 Tundra with 73,000 miles engine major problem

[callbay]

A contractor friend of mine had the engine in his Toyota Tundra have "the rings stick and then carboned up and was shooting oil all over". He said it was not coved by warranty and he traded in the 2012 for a new Tundra. He said the dealer blamed ethanol in the gas for causing the rings to malfunction. He also said a business in the area had just brought back three Tundras in the last week for the same thing.

Anyone heard of this. It just sounds bogus. I saw the new Tundra though.

 

[supton]

Sounds very bogus to me. Any chance it was the sales guy or general manager stating this?

He was probably out of warranty and out of luck; but if it was me I would not being doing a rebuy of a Tundra. Not after that, and certainly not if three others had the same experience that week!

Hmm, side question: did he get a decent deal? I mean, let's just say that they gave him $1k less than typical trade-in. That wouldn't see so bad to me. I still wouldn't do a rebuy though.

 

[NHGUY]

Once a sucker....has a bad experience with Toyota and a Tundra and buys a new one again....lol.....{removed OT bashing of another brand}

 

[bdcardinal]

I'm trying to wrap my head around how that could happen, and just can't do it.

 

[supton]

Shooting oil all over? I don't think this has an oil cooler, at least not an external one; but it does have that oil cannister, which has an o-ring on it. Which is supposed to be changed each time the cannister comes off.

Odds that the o-ring was never changed, and it failed? It'd shoot oil on the bottomside of the motor, not all over; but, maybe it got high enough to thrown around by the fan... If it has the towing package it should have a large ATF cooler in front of the radiator; the lines are in front too. When changing my ATF I managed to douse the radiator in ATF, and there is a nice pattern on the underside of the hood of ATF. Slow ATF leak instead?

I have read complaints about the 5.7L flex-fuel motor getting really bad fuel economy; the sensor used to test for ethanol gets confused, and it runs pig rich. Combine that with a minor (well, catastrophic, but minor in repair cost) oil leak and ... voila! perfect hook for sale?

 

[CBR.worm]

Yeah, it would be interesting to have the whole story. Could range from a bad o-ring, bad PCV valve, etc. to bad engine. If it's a '12 w/ 70k...

 

[Zaedock]

Sounds like it was not maintained correctly.

 

[dernp]

Sounds bogus to me. Although I have the 4.6L Tundra it has been absolutely problem free.

 

[callbay]

I thought he meant oil coming out of the tailpipe because of the bad piston rings. He did say it was hard to start. From low compression?

 

[Rolla07]

2012 not under warranty and he didnt put up a fight? He sounds like an easy sell...

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: Rolla07
2012 not under warranty and he didnt put up a fight? He sounds like an easy sell...


I believe drivetrain is only out to 60k on Toyota's.

 

[widman]

Probably never changed the oil

 

[Danno]

Had the oil ever been changed?

 

[tig1]

Bogus. The only engines that I have seen the rings stuck(ring coking) was caused by OCI abuse. The oil over heats and causes carbon deposites in the ring area. An indicator that this may be happening is when you start seeing varnish forming.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
I'm trying to wrap my head around how that could happen, and just can't do it.


I can't wrap my head around any of this.

First, there's the "'the rings stick and then carboned up and was shooting oil all over,'" (what, where?) then "he traded in the 2012 for a new Tundra."

I think your friend needs to go buy some Restore, Motor Honey, Lucas Oil Stabilizer, AND really anything else that is "grease for your engine - fixes everything that's broken." I have no doubt putting in the thickest, stringiest snake oils available will keep the new Tundra from blowing up and shooting oil all over at 73K miles.

 

[callbay]

I'll try to find out his OCI and what oil he used. He is a good man and he does not [censored]. He does not seem like the kind of guy that would not change his oil often. I just hope he did not get talked in to trading in early.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Something fishy happened.

If I lost an engine at 73K in anything, I would definitely NOT buy another vehicle from that manufacturer - especially trading in the one with the problem.

Wonder if it was something simple, not really bad, that the dealer realized they could low ball him because of a "blown" engine and give him a "good" deal on his trade in and a new truck?

 

[surfstar]

I could imagine an oil fill cap left off - 'oil shooting everywhere' and the dealer wanting to sell a new truck. That's way more plausible than an engine with 73k miles giving up the ghost.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: tig1
Bogus. The only engines that I have seen the rings stuck(ring coking) was caused by OCI abuse. The oil over heats and causes carbon deposites in the ring area. An indicator that this may be happening is when you start seeing varnish forming.


It happens all the time with 1998-2002 corollas. Pistons run too hot and oil turns to carbon in rings and piston oil holes even with good maintenance. I got oil consumption after 70000 miles of 4000-5000 mile OCI intervals.

Some other toyota engines had the same problem to some degree. Recently discontinued 2.4L had that problem too.

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: callbay
A contractor friend of mine had the engine in his Toyota Tundra have "the rings stick and then carboned up and was shooting oil all over". He said it was not coved by warranty and he traded in the 2012 for a new Tundra. He said the dealer blamed ethanol in the gas for causing the rings to malfunction. He also said a business in the area had just brought back three Tundras in the last week for the same thing.

Anyone heard of this. It just sounds bogus. I saw the new Tundra though.


Bogus...this would be all over Toyota Nation. Nothing.