V6 3.5 L Failed at 71k Miles

Hi All, I'm new to Tacoma World, but figured this was the best place to get some advice. I have a 2019 Tacoma TRD Off-Road (3.5L V6, 4WD) with 71k miles and the dealership says it needs a new engine. The coolant has leaked into the engine, which seems to be a head gasket failure. I know other things could cause this, but figured its not worth the labor to pull engine apart to find out the root cause if the engine needs to be replaced regardless.

Has anybody else heard of the 3.5 L V6 failing with such low miles? If there is another thread about this, please share.

A little more about the truck. No HP modifications have been made to the truck. Only modifications are: Bilstein 5100 shocks set at clip location 4 of 5, 1" block in rear, and 17" wheels with 265/70/R17 tires. Tire and wheel combo are lighter than stock TRD Off-Road 16".

 

that is crazy. and you're out of warranty. what are you planning on doing? 71k is like baby miles for these trucks.

 

I don't know what I'm going to do yet. They quoted me $14,000 to replace the motor with a used motor that has 60k miles on it, and only a 12 month warranty. I really don't want to replace it with a motor that is only 11k miles younger than the one that just failed me.

 

Start by taking it somewhere other than a dealership and go from there.

 

Engines with less than 10k are running $8750. the labor sees a bit excessive too.
car-part.com

 

Waaay too much money what codes are you getting did they do a leak down test and actually test for head gasket leak? Car-part.com should have much cheaper motors for way less miles

 

2nd opinion. 10'S of thousands+ of engines have been rebuilt with blow head gaskets. Which cost a hell of a lot less.

 

There is no reason at all to assume the whole engine needs to be replaced. A head gasket job will cost a fraction of that (maybe $2500-3000 for both sides, and on such a low mile engine both sides may not be necessary). Even if it’s a cracked head to be replaced, there are enough used ones out there now, that would still be a fraction of the cost to replace the whole engine. The only scenario where you’d even need to think about replacing the whole thing would be a cracked block, which is extremely uncommon for a 3.5 (I’ve never even heard of one personally). But even in the super rare chance it was a cracked block, don’t have a dealer replace it!!! Find a low mile junkyard donor for a few grand and pay a regular shop ~$1500ish to install. In the meantime, do a compression and a leak down test to properly diagnose and determine what cylinder(s) are the issue.

 

I also say get a second opinion at somewhere other than a dealership and do not tell the second shop what the dealership said.

A few months ago my elderly mother took her car (not a Toyota) to the dealership and they tried to tell her that there was an oil leak and it was going to cost thousands to fix. They showed her oil all over the engine cover.

I took it to the independent mechanic that I trust with my Tacoma and he looked at it and said the dealership tech spilled oil on the engine and there was nothing wrong with it.

I don’t wanna be that guy with the “all dealerships are crooks” post. Suffice it to say I caught my Toyota dealership lying about service related things on my Tacoma as well (which is why I go to an independent mechanic now).

I’m sure some dealership service centers are trustworthy but 100% get a second opinion.

 

I'm not planning on having the dealership do anymore troubleshooting. I'm going to first attempt to get a hold of corporate Toyota and see if they'll admit to this be a manufacturing flaw and help me out even with it being out of warranty. I know you're shaking your head, but it doesn't hurt to ask. If that doesn't work, I plan to have it towed off to a reputable mechanic shop. My real question is if anybody else has heard of coolant leaking into the crank case with such low mileage, whatever the cause was.

 

No, I have not heard of that. I would say take it to another shop before contacting Toyota so you know what you're really dealing with. At which point Toyota will tell you whatever the issue is falls outside of warranty.

 

Welcome to the forum , sorry this has to be your first post.

Question: What brought you to the dealer for diagnosis in the first place?
Overheating issues?
Did you have volumes of steam coming out of the tailpipe?
Did the dipstick have a mayonnaise looking crud on it?

Get a second opinion from a trusted independent shop, normally head gaskets and cylinder heads can be changed more economically.

If you do need a new engine, people crash these trucks every day so replacements are out there.

 

Toyota won't even repair peeling white paint on Tacoma's, yet they do every other model Toyota.

Get the second opinion before bothering to call. A blown headgasket does rarely means a new engine. Unless it was driven long and hard after failure.

What symptoms got you to the dealer to begin with?

 

I took it in because of the rough idle, overheating and steam from tailpipe. I was also throwing codes for misfiring on a couple of cylinders. I chose dealership because it was a Saturday and I figured most shops were closed. I recently moved to another state and didn't have a trusted mechanic to contact yet.

 

X2

 

LS swap!!!

 

Or part out... Sorry, had to be said.

 

Definatly the lift blocks. Didnt you see the 20k posts on that?

 

JK, bummer dude. Any history on the truck? How long did you own it? Just hit 68 on my 18

 

I've owned it since it was new in 2019. Have had zero issues with it. Changed oil and air filters per Toyota schedule.