5.7-liter Toyota Tundras Hit with Camshaft Failures

The launch of the all new 2007 Tundra full size pickup continues to go anything but smoothly for Toyota. Automotive News is reporting on a string of twenty recent camshaft failures in Tundras equipped with popular i-Force 5.7-liter DOHC V8 motors. Toyota is trying to determine how many of the 30,000 engines built so far might be affected by, "...a metallurgical defect in the casting," according to Toyota spokesperson Mike Michels in the story. The company is blaming the defect on the camshaft's supplier and says it has been corrected.

A camshaft is a metal rod with lobes, or cams, that spin and push open an engine's intake and exhaust valves to let the air/fuel mixture into the engine and the exhaust out during combustion. Double overhead cam motors, like the 5.7-liter V8, use four cams - two per head - to allow for better gas flow and more power.

Toyota will pay the costs to replace the entire engine of any new Tundra with a failed camshaft.


Read Article

kpaxx - 5/29/2007 10:46:54 AM

+6 Boost

Sludge, hesitation, and camshaft failures...where is this toyota quality I keep on hearing about?

DallasMR2 - 5/29/2007 1:05:40 PM

+8 Boost

ok, then why is it that when i purchased my MR2 in spring of 2000 that within a year and a half i had 3 catalytic converter failures that made the exhaust clog? then when they replaced the whole exhaust system the engine, no longer under horrible strain (it couldn't rev past 3k) it would spin a rod??? it's a huge documented problem with the 00 and 01 models and toyota NEVER did a thing for us.

so how's THAT for Toyota reliability????

i guess i should be thanking Toyota in a way...it reminded me i shouldn't have strayed from Honda.

SevorbeupstryIsBack - 5/29/2007 11:33:53 AM

+4 Boost

I truly RESPECT the almost legendary reliability of the Japanese. But some of you forget that German cars are ALSO very very reliable. BMW, Audi and Mercedes all had their problems but in the end they make reliable cars that fun to drive. Many of you don't remember the fantastic Merc 190E, Audi 100, BMW E24... As a matter of fact many of the great reliability you experience in current Japanese cars are all things they "learned" (I don't think copy is the right word here) from the Germans and Americans. (and some others too..)

It seems that many of these 12 year old ignorant fanboys don't grasp that fact because:
1) daddy tells ... is best
2) they weren't even born
3) they believe everything the leaflet says

Stop it!

As with this Tundra pick-up, even the best have issues. This doesn't change my opinion about Japanese cars.


To be honest, they don't make bad and unreliable cars anymore.. ask any engineer.

Threepoint1415926 - 5/29/2007 3:59:24 PM

+1 Boost

I have to agree.. "unreliable cars" aren't made anymore. Even if I hear people complain about this and that, they clearly dont remember the really unreliable cars of yore. For years you couldn't get a car that promised to start up at the dealership properly... let alone drive off the lot. I'm exaggerating of course but it sure seemed like that back then.

Anti_Bangle - 5/29/2007 7:54:53 PM

+6 Boost

"I have to agree.. unreliable cars aren't made anymore."

No, VW Touareg is a nightmare in terms of reliability. The Porsche Cayenne isn't any better. These two aren't the worst however, the worst have to be Range Rovers and Land Rovers.

BMWRocks - 5/29/2007 12:02:17 PM

-4 Boost

Only 20 units. I would say that is damn good. Less than 0.06%. This is not a bad news but a praise worthy.

Keep up the good work Toyota.

kpaxx - 5/29/2007 1:09:31 PM

+2 Boost

This "limited number" (20 units) is the same tactic toyota tried with the sludge issue and we all know how that ended up.

paul3230 - 5/29/2007 2:19:05 PM

+5 Boost

Keep up the good work?? Dude, what are you smoking? We are talking about camshafts..not some interior radio trim piece here! Camshafts are one of those things that shouldn't break...ever. Especially on a "tough as nails Tundra" Give me a break. Apparently they didn't take a large enough sample size to create a normal distribution to understand (from a 6 sigma standpoint) how many defects they were to expect. Would be nice if they understood the operating loads and designed the camshaft to not operate so close the failure strain limit of the material.

Agent009 - 5/29/2007 2:43:20 PM

+1 Boost

Statistically it is a small number, but the problem is we are also very early into the production cycle as well.

Hopefully it is limited to a small number overall.

Designer1 - 5/29/2007 12:16:33 PM

+6 Boost

Since Toyota and all other Japanese companies started building their cars in the US, their quality went down. Its amazing as why do we make a bad product? is it that we're lazy and we just want to get the job done and go home and drink bears? what is wrong with America??

SevorbeupstryIsBack - 5/29/2007 12:31:03 PM

+1 Boost

It's the same with Mercedes.

paul3230 - 5/29/2007 2:15:00 PM

+3 Boost

This is NOT an assembly issue, it's a design/manufacturing issue...

no1listensanyway - 5/29/2007 5:44:08 PM

+1 Boost

Thats right, blame the workers who have nothing to do with the cam shaft failures. This is clearly a design flaw. I understand that there are only 20, but their is bound to be more.

BigShow50 - 5/29/2007 12:27:12 PM

+1 Boost

I agree with you completely, us americans in certain labour positions sometimes needs a slap in the a$$ every other day. The label "Made in America" is starting to look like "Made in Taiwan"...I am not basing this towards the Toyota plant, they took thier chances on a American 3rd party supplier, that I am sure Toyota will take the Camshafts and put it up their you know what...

Ironman273 - 5/29/2007 1:29:17 PM

+4 Boost

Every manufacturer will have problems. What sets them apart is how they deal with the problem. So far 20 camshafts have broken (out of 30,000 engines) because of a metallurgical defect in the casting from an outside manufacturer that provides the camshafts. So how will they take care of it? Well, they'll air freight a whole 5.7l V8 engine to the dealership to replace yours if you're having a problem.

The bottom line is that Toyota owners will have fewer gripes than most other manufacturers and when they do have a problem they'll be happier with the solution than most. I have a feeling most of the people complaining here never have and never will own a Toyota for their own reasons.

mopar4dodge - 5/29/2007 1:37:35 PM

+5 Boost

I'm not really sure much is "Made in America" anymore. "Assembled in America"...sure. Thanks to NAFTA and outsourcing most of the parts are manufactured outside the U.S. and shipped here to be assembled. Ironman, you are correct in that Toyota does probably handle their customers better. It all goes back to the old saying, make one customer mad they will tell everyone they know. Make them happy and they are pacified and don't say anything unless asked about it a majority of the time. I know because I have worked in a Chrysler Jeep Dodge Dealership for 10 years. Customer service has taken a backseat to just trying to make the sale. Truely sad....

JUGNU - 5/29/2007 3:56:08 PM

+2 Boost

Well this is sad.
But as we all know it's an All new engine.there would be still some work to do.

But i think Toyota should really concentrate on it more than normal.Trucks are meant to be reliable.
That numbers(20) may be small,but that's a big issue Toyota.

Good Luck

JUGNU

JUGNU - 5/29/2007 3:57:25 PM

+2 Boost

and haters calm down.

JUGNU

trd1 - 5/29/2007 5:52:06 PM

+2 Boost

i know like one recall on a toyota and everybody goes off.

EnnNorak - 5/29/2007 6:29:50 PM

+1 Boost

OK, that does it -- Toyota is completely off my shopping list. It's bad enough that some Toyota cars had engine sludge problems but news about camshaft failure is the straw that broke my camel's back. Cracks in castings are a problem that can be nipped in the bud by incoming statistical inspection and working closely with the supplier to solve the problem immediately upon discovery. It's much more costly to fix these kinds or problems after the offending component has been installed in vehicles that have been delivered to customers. Obviously Toyota's offending supplier in this case is incompetent in statistical process control.

kart1 - 5/29/2007 11:42:35 PM

+4 Boost

To be fair I doubt you were ever going to buy a Toyota. A camshaft failure turning you away from Toyota just means you were not serious about buying one.

scottb67 - 5/29/2007 7:23:51 PM

+2 Boost

first year blunders, I work for a Toyota store and we usually hear about first year problems with in the first three months, but one thing I can tell you is that Toyota reacts fast to the problem and takes care of the customers,

kpaxx - 5/30/2007 9:01:28 AM

+3 Boost

Right they reacted so fast when they had sludge in their 3.0 litre engine. Toyota's first reaction was blame the customer.

BMWreplicat - 5/29/2007 8:56:21 PM

-4 Boost

God I hate the lexus fanboys here that truly believe that it is superior to BMW.

THEY AREN'T EVEN IN THE SAME LEAGUE!!!!!!!

League 1 BMW, MB, AUDI.
League 2 Lexus, Acura, Infiniti.

BE DONE WITH IT YOU FUCKING RICERS!!!

cbro980 - 6/1/2007 12:40:21 AM

+1 Boost

yep

gsh23 - 5/30/2007 6:22:23 PM

+2 Boost

wow my post got deleted, but BMWreplicat's is still up there?

elviososa - 5/31/2007 10:42:15 PM

+3 Boost

Well...Tundra is a truck that built by Americans ... what do you expect!?

wanga - 6/1/2007 12:56:39 PM

0 Boost

Yo Sailor,remember The big H manufactures Vtec.
lexusKind/Admirer,Toyota has the Sludge Problem for more than 10 years now.It's about times that they do something about it.They are competing with GM,they build more cars than GM,they start to act like GM.Honda had tranny problem with their V6 vehicles 99 to 01,they solved it within 2 years.

wanga - 6/1/2007 1:43:25 PM

0 Boost

95% of SUV and Pick up trucks owners don't take their vehicles off roads or pulling more than a 3000lbs boat.I just don't see the need for these monsters that only guzzle fuels.Toyota+GM= unrelable vehicles

truckmen - 6/1/2007 2:47:45 PM

0 Boost

Engine sludge, camshaft breaking... No problem here? Wake up toyota in going down hill! Dodge sounds a little better now! I'll stick with Honda!

rocker - 6/1/2007 10:03:35 PM

+2 Boost

Hey it looks like a Dodge Ram and performs like a Dodge.