Before Wednesday, Toyota had already recalled more than 225,000 vehicles with its 3.4-liter, twin-turbo V6. The automaker claims machining debris may have been left inside the engines, potentially causing catastrophic failures like sudden loss of power and no-start conditions in certain Tundra pickups and Lexus SUVs. It’s been a massive headache, and tragically, the problem continues to grow as Toyota just added 44,000 more 2024 model-year Tundras to the list.
Toyota published a press release that might cause deja vu for anyone who has kept up with the saga so far. In it, the manufacturer explained, “There is a possibility that certain machining debris may not have been cleared from the engine when it was produced.” We’ve heard the same explanation twice before, and the problems occur when one or more of the engine’s bearings fail.
What’s even more interesting is Toyota’s explanation as to how this happened again. “The engines involved in this new recall were produced using additional controls for removing manufacturing debris,” the release says. “We have found that, even after these additional controls, the remaining debris could be sufficient to cause damage to the #1 main bearing and lead to this issue.”
For anyone worried that the problems might persist on other Tundras built later, Toyota says, “Engines produced after those included in this recall were manufactured with an improved #1 main bearing to help resist certain debris that might remain.” So the troublesome manufacturing debris could still exist in later engines, but they’re supposedly less susceptible to failing because of it.
Also, hybrid models are still not included in the recall.
This recall is by far the smallest of the three so far. The first involved roughly 102,000 2022-2023 Tundras and Lexus LX models, while the second added another 127,000 vehicles. Even still, with this recall featuring just 44,000 pickups, it’s significant for 2024 Tundra owners who experienced problems but found their trucks were manufactured too late to be covered under the first two. Of course, most remain under warranty, though those repairs have historically involved replacing affected parts rather than the entire engine.
Toyota said in its announcement that it has completed “more than 77,000” of the Tundra V6 recall repairs so far. Customers should visit their local dealer for the free repair when they’re notified that it’s available. If you’re affected by this latest recall, there’s a chance you’ll be waiting a while.
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