The Tacoma 1GR-FE Story

The 1GR-FE is a naturally aspirated port injected 4.0L displacement V6 gasoline engine produced by Toyota for their light duty trucks. This engine can be found reliably propelling Toyota trucks in the most inhospitable environments of Africa, South America, North America, and the Middle East. Toyota introduced their GR family of engines with the 1GR-FE in 2002. At inception, the engine was put into the U.S. spec Toyota 4Runner and global spec Land Cruiser. The engine then slowly made its way into the Tacoma, Tundra, FJ, and many more of Toyota’s light duty trucks. Today, in 2018, the engine can still be found in the Hilux, Land Cruiser 70, and 4Runner. Over the engine’s 16 year life it has been relatively unchanged. Beginning in 2009 Toyota introduced a dual variable valve timing technology that could alter timing for both the intake and exhaust camshaft. The introduction of this technology increased horsepower (236-270 hp) and torque (266-278 lb-ft) while having a negligible impact on fuel economy per EPA economy predictions. Most other changes to the engine were in regards to more strict emissions standards, such as the introduction of a secondary air injection system for 2012 model year vehicles. The 1GR-FE is arguably a low stress engine when compared to most other automobile powertrains available today, likely lending to its reliable nature. The 1GR-FE in the Toyota Tacoma (equipped with VVT on the intake camshaft only) produces 236 horsepower in a 4.0L package or 59 horsepower per liter. In comparison a 2010 CR-V with a 1.8L I4 produces 148 horsepower or 82 horsepower per liter, thats a whole 23 more horsepower per liter than the 1GR-FE. At the other end of the spectrum is the Lexus LFA with the 1LR-GUE 4.8L V10 that produces 552 horsepower or 115 horsepower per liter, almost double what the 1GR-FE produces per displacement. The reliability of the 1GR-FE is legendary. In 2016 a 2007 model year Toyota Tundra equipped with the 1GR-FE reached 1,000,000 miles on the original engine, reportedly without ever performing an engine rebuild or overhaul. The only faults commonly reported on TacomaWorld are issues with the head gasket, with many drivers reporting high mileage (over 250K) with no gasket related or other issues while performing purely general maintenance. There are several reports of catastrophic engine failure resulting from a myriad of issues but there is no common denominator for the the fault causing those failures. A mechanical complaint that has not been deemed a reliability or performance issue is excessively loud valve clatter which has been reported by many Tacoma (1GR-FE only) operators.


The 1GR-FE has a cast aluminum block with cast-iron liners and aluminum heads with steel laminate gaskets. The crankshaft is forged steel with aluminum alloy bearings. The connecting rods are forged steel. The pistons are aluminum alloy and sport a “taper-squish” style cylinder head. The camshafts in the DOHC design are cast iron alloy and utilize maintenance free timing chains as opposed to a timing belt. The engine utilizes siamese style intake ports and a “drive by wire” or “linkless” butterfly intake valve. The 1GR-FE is port injected and uses sequential injection with 12 hole injectors placed ahead of the intake valves for each cylinder. There are 2 intake valves and 2 exhaust valves per cylinder, 24 in total. Ignition is coil on plug and uses Denso K20HR-U11 spark plugs with a firing order of 1-2-3-4-5-6. The exhaust system in pre-2012 MY trucks uses three way catalysts with both upstream and downstream O2 sensors. In 2012 secondary air injection was implemented to heat up the catalysts faster and facilitate complete combustion of unburned hydrocarbons.




Specs:

Wet Weight: 370lbs

Style: 24-valve DOHC 60 degree V6

Oil Capacity: 5.2 liters/ 5.5 US quarts, uses 5W-30

Coolant Capacity: 9.8L/ 10.4 US quarts, uses Toyota Long Life coolant

Compression Ratio: 10.0:1 (VVT-i)/ 10.4:1 (Dual VVT-i)

HP: 236HP (VVT-i)/ 270HP (Dual VVT-i)

Torque: 266lb-ft (VVT-i)/ 278lb-ft (Dual VVT-i)

Emissions (USA): Low Emissions Vehicle (LEV) (pre-2012)/ Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle (ULEV) (2012- )

Emissions (Global): EURO-II

Fuel Consumption per Fuelly for Tacoma (05-15): 17.6 MPG/ 13.36L/100KM

Carbon Dioxide Emissions: 1.1lbs/mile / 310g/km

Fuel consumption at idle: 0.4 gallons/ hour (A/C OFF) / 0.55 gallons/ hour (A/C ON)

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/tower-and-toad.396401/

 

5w30 oil not 10w30 is recommended.

 

Whoops yes 5W-30, good catch.

 

One small thing: The Million Mile Tundra had the 4.7L V8, not the 4.0L V6 1GR-FE used on our trucks. This point is especially confusing because several sources, including Jalopnik, claimed it had the V6. This video was finally proof of it having the V8:

https://youtu.be/TL7fyyUNRmA?t=77

 

My Honda Silver Wing 600 (582 cc) puts out 93 HP/L; making them both he Toyota and Honda engines slackers...

 

A quart Gatorade bottle screws perfectly into the oil fill neck on the 1GR-FE.

 

Ive never tried that, isnt the fill neck threaded on the inner part though?

 

Yeah, I needed to correct that. I saw the video a while after I posted this. All of the info I gleamed before then was that it was the 4.0L

 

Yes, cut the bottom off the Gatorade bottle. Screw the bottle into fill neck. Perfect funnel.

 

I have a friend that keeps saying that not all the 4.0 have forged crank is this true I find it hard to believe they would switch it up