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5.7 valve spring failure

23K views 33 replies 12 participants last post by  jdub85ga 
#1 ·
My 2014 had a valve spring snap in half driving 30mph putting my daughter to sleep. Long story short, the motor is toast. I baby my truck (no aggressive accelerating) and haven't towed anything with it since I've owned it. There was no warning signs at all. Was running fine, then running not so fine. I reached out to Toyota, just to let them know of the issue and possibly see if they wanted to assist at all (outside warranty at 85k miles). Doesn't hurt to ask, right? They set me up with a case number and requested I call with more info tomorrow. I was bummed to find out via my mechanic that the part number of the spring is the exact same part number that was recalled on the Lexus. May be a different part all together, but I'd swap the numbers if it were and I were Lexus/Toyota. My questions are; anybody had this issue? What are my odds of Toyota helping out?
 
#4 ·
Yeah I’ve only found a couple instances via searches. Mechanic is a Tundra guy who owns an 08 and said he’s never heard of it happening in a Toyota. Apparently more common in Silverados. I need a new motor whether they help or not, so....

A shame . Sorry to hear.
There is never a warning on a failed spring and I didn't know the Lexus has shared springs nor the recall.

Good luck sir
Much appreciated. Mechanic is the one that told me. After searching I found the recall from Lexus but am taking his word on the part number
 
#6 ·
Well Toyota basically told me to kick rocks. Lesson learned to buy an extended warranty. Wasn't expecting them to foot the bill, but honestly their complete lack of care makes me doubt I'll buy Toyota again. I get it's a rare occurrence, but they didn't really want any info about the failure. All they wanted to know was my VIN and check my service records.
 
#7 ·
Dude that sucks. The failure makes be a bit tentative going Toyota next time. It was the only major issue I had and it came at 98k miles but it left me stranded. I'm about 8k miles away from the warranty being over so starting to think about my next vehicle and not dead-set on a Toyota at this time.
 
#9 ·
All machines break, it's normal. I came from American trucks. A Dodge, a Chevy, and a GMC. The Dodge and GMC were atrocious mechanically. The 4 cylinder S-10 was good. My GMC lost the intake gaskets 2 months out of warranty and GMC told me to pound salt and that's on a known problem. I will not bore the members here with the list of expensive repairs I made on it and it was a low mileage truck. I will NEVER buy an American truck again. My two Tundras have been a dream compared to Dodge and GMC. Best of luck to you.
 
#10 ·
The Tundra is an American truck. I wasn’t expecting much, nor are they obligated to help at all. Was hoping they’d stand behind their product though. Maybe a little goodwill. Labor charges would have been a drop in a bucket. It is what it is. I was expecting more from their customer service. Even if they couldn’t help, the individual on the phone could have handled it much better. This is costing me more than just a new motor though. The resale value on my truck is shot now.
 
#11 ·
I’ve got a 2011 with 88,000 miles. I tow occasionally about 3,500 pounds and I take excellent care of my truck. A few days ago I was driving along approaching a stop sign at about 10mph and the truck just died and would not restart. I had the truck towed to the dealer where today they told me a valve broke and fell into the engine. Based on what they saw without tearing it down further they think the engine is shot and quoted me at $17,000+ for parts and labor on a new one. This in a truck that’s only worth in the $20,000+ range. I called Toyota corporate and they also stared a case number for me. They told me that occasionally they assist with repairs but that it’s typically only between $500-2000 if they do and in a case like this where the cost of the repair is close to the value of the vehicle they won’t compensate anything. I live in Alaska so the only other Toyota dealer is hundreds of miles away. Im going to take my truck to another shop for a second opinion but at this point my truck is shot. I wouldn’t take another Toyota after this if they offered it to me for free.
 
#13 ·
Are you sure you are out of warranty? If you bought this from a dealer as a certified used truck, they usually give you a 10 year 100K mile extended power train warranty. It's worth looking into.

As for the failure, it can happen. It is rare, but it can happen. As good a truck as the Tundra is, I would look at installing a used engine and keep driving it. I bet you will never ever have this issue again in your lifetime. But I would not give up on Toyota for this one thing. The Tundra is so far superior to anything else available that you will be money ahead in the long run compared to switching to any of the other big trucks out there.

I know it hurts to fork out several thousand for a replacement motor, but the big three trucks will $undred and $housand you at a time until you waste way more than this keeping their crap on the road. But as for the Tundra, this will probably be the only thing you ever do to this Tundra and the next 4 or 5 that you own.
 
#14 ·
Appreciate the responses. Yeah I found a used motor with 68,000 miles up here locally so 20,000 less than the rest of the truck for $4200. And a reputable shop that will install it for $2000 so worst case scenario I’d be looking at $6200 for a new motor. When I talked to the shop owner on the phone he seemed skeptical of what the dealership said so hopefully the motor can be saved. I won’t have time to tow the truck there until next week but hopefully by the end of next week I’ll have my answer on if the current engine can be repaired or not. And yes I do feel like this is a fluke. Even the dealer said issues like this are extremely rare. It’s just frustrating buying a tundra and keeping it well maintained to have a major issue at 88,000 miles when I read time and time again about guys with several times that amount of milage with no issues. We’ll see what the final verdict is, hopefully the dealer was wrong.
 
#15 ·
You might get lucky, but they will have to either use a camera, or remove the head to see.

I have had a couple of interference engines have the timing belt fail and just bend valves. I have also had a few where the guide breaks and fubar's the cylinder walls.

But unless someone scoped it, or removes the head, the dealer may have just been guessing.
 
#18 ·
Had you read the rest of the thread; yes I’m out of warranty. The issue, while rare, is a known issue. So much so that the exact part number has been recalled on Lexus vehicles. This is how recalls come about. I wasn’t upset with them not compensating me at all, but a goodwill repair would have been nice, rather the “I don’t give a shit attitude I received” from them. Thanks for your reply though
 
#20 ·
Well update on the truck. Towed it to another shop yesterday and got a phone call this morning. They confirmed the dealers claim that a valve spring broke, and a valve had fallen into the engine. So looks like I’ll be forking over $6200 for this new/used engine. I know this is a rarity but still extremely disappointed. I called Toyota corporate last Thursday and they were supposed to follow up with me in a day or so. I’ll call them back today although I don’t expect it’ll lead to anything. Didn’t Lexus have an issue awhile back where they had known issues with valve springs and didn’t fix the issue for years?
 
#21 ·
Unless the valve retainers or the stem broke off, the valve didn't fall into the cylinder. The valve spring itself failing would cause the valve to not hold closed, and could have contacted the piston, it's a question of how much damage unless the valve itself broke, or retainers fell out. The retainers can fall out and drop the valve. Hopefully shop #2 actually scoped into the cylinder to confirm the damage, and are not going off an assumption.

Yes, Lexus had the same issue, as they use the same engine series.
 
#22 ·
You can get a new reman engine for $7k online and I'm sure you can find cheaper labor other than the stealerships.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/vre-865a/applications/

https://www.jegs.com/i/ATK-Engines/059/865A/10002/-1?ymm=4294829560+4294829046+4294827907

Just a FYI, but dealership parts guys are just like care salesmen.

They try to sell you parts as high priced as possible to get max commission.

Only time I buy parts at dealerships is if they price match the lowest price I find or it isn't available anywhere else.
 
#23 ·
That's really more like a long block, but good to know. Didn't know that option was out there. There used to be nothing offered in a reman period.
 
#24 ·
Yeah I found some local options up here which is beneficial due to high shipping costs to Alaska. And I also found much cheaper labor options than the dealer. Dealer prices are ridiculous for just about everything. They were kind of enough to let me know too during their curtesy inspection they recommended I replace my windshield wiper blades and their quote for that was $80.....no thanks I’ll get them for $7.99 each at Costco.
 
#25 ·
I'm think this is actually NOT all that rare. Same thing just happened to my 2013 Land Cruiser at 99K miles. Luckily, I was not injured, but I was stranded in the middle of nowhere for 2 hours. Got the same stiff arm from Toyota, too. Putting used engine in this week, and bracing myself for the $15K+ bill that is coming. I understand that things break, but an engine should last much longer than this. Would love to compare notes with those who have experienced this.
 
#26 ·
I had a 20
My 2014 had a valve spring snap in half driving 30mph putting my daughter to sleep. Long story short, the motor is toast. I baby my truck (no aggressive accelerating) and haven't towed anything with it since I've owned it. There was no warning signs at all. Was running fine, then running not so fine. I reached out to Toyota, just to let them know of the issue and possibly see if they wanted to assist at all (outside warranty at 85k miles). Doesn't hurt to ask, right? They set me up with a case number and requested I call with more info tomorrow. I was bummed to find out via my mechanic that the part number of the spring is the exact same part number that was recalled on the Lexus. May be a different part all together, but I'd swap the numbers if it were and I were Lexus/Toyota. My questions are; anybody had this issue? What are my odds of Toyota helping out?
[/QUOT
My 2014 had a valve spring snap in half driving 30mph putting my daughter to sleep. Long story short, the motor is toast. I baby my truck (no aggressive accelerating) and haven't towed anything with it since I've owned it. There was no warning signs at all. Was running fine, then running not so fine. I reached out to Toyota, just to let them know of the issue and possibly see if they wanted to assist at all (outside warranty at 85k miles). Doesn't hurt to ask, right? They set me up with a case number and requested I call with more info tomorrow. I was bummed to find out via my mechanic that the part number of the spring is the exact same part number that was recalled on the Lexus. May be a different part all together, but I'd swap the numbers if it were and I were Lexus/Toyota. My questions are; anybody had this issue? What are my odds of Toyota helping out?
My 2011 Tundra which I also took great care of dropped a valve at 88k and destroyed the engine. I too called Toyota to see if they would offer any assistance outside warranty. They offered $1500-$2000 max and that was of course only if the work was done at the Toyota dealer who would of course only instal a brand new motor and they’re price quote for that was $15,000. I ended up having a used motor swapped in by another shop for $7,000. That motor shortly thereafter had the infamous secondary air induction problem in addition to rattle and clanking sounds periodically at idle. I traded the truck in on 2019 F-150. More power, more comfortable and better fuel economy than my Tundra. Time will tell how it holds up but it would be hard pressed to do worse than my Toyota.
 
#27 ·
They offered me nothing but I wasn’t the original owner. I also swapped the motor with a used one for just under $8k (it had a 3 year warranty). The new motor had a valve tap and it didn’t activate the warranty because technically it still ran fine. I traded it in on a Silverado.
 
#29 ·
Yeah a new 5.7 was 13k just for motor and Toyota wouldn’t even sell my shop a new motor, it had to be done through them. They didn’t even make an attempt to offer anything though. Probably would have just been more angry had they offered that. All I wanted was to split it really. Pick up parts or labor. Something.
 
#30 ·
Well the issue seems to be more common than I originally thought and something that should be addressed but the Lexus valve issue seems to have been more swept under the rug than anything else. Like the secondary air induction problems with the Tundras where Toyota quietly extended the warranty for that specific issue rather than issue a recall like they should’ve done. I know all car companies cut corners to maximize profits but the reputation for reliability was the number one selling point for me when I bought my Tundra. Either way after this experience I won’t be buying another Toyota again.
 
#31 ·
I just read that the Subaru/Scion valve spring recall was initiated by only 11 incidents over 3 years. I also read that car manufacturers are legally required to report known safety problems to the NHTSA within 5 days with their plan to address it. I called Toyota to inform them of the safety problem with their valve springs, and my call was disconnected. Twice. I just called the NHTSA and spoke with a very helpful gentleman, James, who patiently recorded my safety complaint. I strongly urge each of you who have experienced this failure to do the same. The more cases they can confirm, the sooner we can force Toyota to admit this problem exists. Aside from being costly, this is extremely dangerous. They should be accountable and make this right. Please call them or go online NHTSA.gov 888-327-4236
 
#33 ·
I'm at 125k miles now and out of warranty. The truck runs fine but it ran fine before the failure too. I'm starting to think about my next vehicle and targeting Q4 of this year or Q1 of 2021 to buy. I'm commuting quite a distance now so will most likely go with something that has better MPGs...I really like my Tundra tho so unsure what to look at right now. I don't want Ford or GM because I don't want to purchase a UAW produced vehicle. Don't want RAM because it's a Fiat. The new Titan is interesting but Nissan is having major Corporate issues and there's a possibility they'll cut the Titan or won't have enuf $$ to build it reliably/service it honorably. So I'mback to Toyota if I want a truck. Then I think about MPG...should I do an SUV or go back to a car? Most SUVs look like station wagons to me. Cars are OK but can't see around anyone in traffic. First world problems as my kid says....
 
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