1999 T4R V6, 120K, thrown rod...thoughts?

S

squire28

New member
Ok, wish I'd found this forum a few weeks ago, but need some opinions.

Rig Info:

1999 SR5 V6
120K miles
meticulously maintained, all regular services
Pretty much a highway driver

Was on the Interstate a few weeks ago, stepped on the gas to pass someone and next thing I know is smoke, noise, smell. Threw it in neutral, coasted to the shoulder, shut engine down. Was told the #5 rod came through the engine wall, need a new engine.

I chose to put a new short block in it and the repair is nearly done, took it for a test drive today. But the mechanic said something I found odd, he said this is the 2nd V6 that he has seen with a thrown #5 rod.

So I figured I'd post on the forum and see if anyone has any info I can glean. Toyota and the Dealer are "working with me" to discount the service bill due to the low milage and spotless maintenance records, but I am curious if this might be a more endemic problem I should bring up. Thoughts?
 
Register to hide this ad
The 3.4 has proven to be an extremely reliable and well built motor.

Remember, there are failures in ALL motors, even Ferrari's.

When you consider how many of these Toyota built I wouldn't get too alarmed that occasionally one has a failure. It happens.

What happened to your motor? Ask the mechanic for more details. A thrown rod is almost always due to a main bearing failure, not a failure of the rod or cap itself.

Have you owned the vehicle since day one?
 
Yes it is the third one posted this week and only maybe the tenth one I have heard of. Remember that the 3.4 V6 has been used in Tacomas, 4 Runners and T100's with production numbers in the 100 of thousands. What would actually be the more interesting information is if there was a way to compare production dates of the vehicles that have thrown a rod and see if they are close. Disgruntled employee sabotaging? or just a bad run of parts(bearings) that wear faster.
 
Pikeman said:
Yes it is the third one posted this week and only maybe the tenth one I have heard of. Remember that the 3.4 V6 has been used in Tacomas, 4 Runners and T100's with production numbers in the 100 of thousands. What would actually be the more interesting information is if there was a way to compare production dates of the vehicles that have thrown a rod and see if they are close. Disgruntled employee sabotaging? or just a bad run of parts(bearings) that wear faster.
Click to expand...

Now that would be interesting to track.
 
notrayray said:
That is what I was wondering also.
Click to expand...

No, I'm not the original owner so I don't have any way of really knowing how it was treated before me. I think I bought it with 45K on it.

I saw the block yesterday and the mechanic hasn't even dis-assembled it so not sure if it was the main bearing or what. I think since they are doing the replacement, they just don't care about trying to root cause it and said it would be tough to do so anyway.

I'm starting to wonder if it wasn't so well maintained prior to my ownership. Some other little things now have me wondering.

The ironic thing is that my occupation is teaching organizations how to do Preventive and Corrective Maintenance so I can accept that in 1000's of engines there will be some % of failure. But given that I've driven my other Toyota's up to 250K with little more than Oil Changes and routine maintenance, and that this T4R was only at 120K, I just don't like getting stuck with the repair.

My biggest concern has been am I throwing good money after bad, right now I'm going to be in $6K and change when all is said and done, and that is right in the Blue Book spot. I can't afford a new car right now, so I'm just biting the bullet and hoping after this my T4R is nearly good-as-new and will hold me for another 125K+

I love this body and style, I don't want to give her up unless forced to.
 
I thought this was rare to happen, but I have been reading a lot about it this week! Good luck
 
squire28 said:
Ok, wish I'd found this forum a few weeks ago, but need some opinions.

Rig Info:

1999 SR5 V6
120K miles
meticulously maintained, all regular services
Pretty much a highway driver

Was on the Interstate a few weeks ago, stepped on the gas to pass someone and next thing I know is smoke, noise, smell. Threw it in neutral, coasted to the shoulder, shut engine down. Was told the #5 rod came through the engine wall, need a new engine.

I chose to put a new short block in it and the repair is nearly done, took it for a test drive today. But the mechanic said something I found odd, he said this is the 2nd V6 that he has seen with a thrown #5 rod.

So I figured I'd post on the forum and see if anyone has any info I can glean. Toyota and the Dealer are "working with me" to discount the service bill due to the low milage and spotless maintenance records, but I am curious if this might be a more endemic problem I should bring up. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Interesting. 2 years ago on the 4th of July, my 2000 did the same thing. Passing on the interstate (nothing out of ordinary), then poof. Same thrown #5 rod. We are the 2nd owners, but all of the maintenance (even by PO) was done at the same dealership we bought it from and on schedule. It had 120,400 miles on it.
They were originally quoting like a little over 8k, so we fought with them a little bit bc it seemed ridiculous on such a reliable engine and it being meticulously maintained. They ended up sending the regional yota rep down to look at it (after trying to sell us a 4th gen lol). Since all maintenance was done there, and they couldn't find any reason for the catastrophic failure, they covered the parts and we paid labor. No hiccups since then after another 55k miles.
Just my experience (a PITA). But good luck to you!
 
bootown said:
Agreed. I think all the thrown rods I have read about were from 99-00 4Runners.
Click to expand...

Yeah, seems to be the case on the years.
Also, the member Rock Slide on here had a 2000 w/ only 109k on the odo, and it threw a rod last year.
Should be interesting to see what other replies turn up.....though hopefully not very many cases.
 
UARandy3 said:
Yeah, seems to be the case on the years.
Also, the member Rock Slide on here had a 2000 w/ only 109k on the odo, and it threw a rod last year.
Should be interesting to see what other replies turn up.....though hopefully not very many cases.
Click to expand...

My 4runner is a 1998, 3.4 V6.
I got used engine ~1200.00, they are working on the repair as I write.
 
To everyone that has had catastrophic cylinder #5 failure.....what was the oil brand and weight, oil filter brand and change interval that you used?
Did you change your own oil or a jiffy lube thing?
 
notrayray said:
To everyone that has had catastrophic cylinder #5 failure.....what was the oil brand and weight, oil filter brand and change interval that you used?
Did you change your own oil or a jiffy lube thing?
Click to expand...

I'm honestly not sure, but I've been taking it to the Toyota Service dept for all services since I bought the vehicle, so I would assume they were using the appropriate materials.
 
squire28 said:
I'm honestly not sure, but I've been taking it to the Toyota Service dept for all services since I bought the vehicle, so I would assume they were using the appropriate materials.
Click to expand...

You would get Castrol oil and OEM filters.....at least that is what they use at the dealership I'm used to.
 
mines a 99 and im at 290,000 sadly it hasnt been maintained to well and has been drivin like a cop car since day one. my step bros dad bought it new and is a bounty hunter and ive talked to him about it, he said its been in more high speed chases then a cop car and has taken many people to jail. i asked him about maintenance and he said uhh oil changes ya..(he's the kinda guy who replaces stuff when it breaks, like his honda last month never maintained it and the timing belt went and took the motor.) when he gave it to my bro we did timing belt and water pump, when i got it i did knock sensors. thats all thats been done and im not easy on it at all. when it goes ill hope it doesnt throw something and hurt the block so i can rebuild/supercharge it, or i might go with a lexus v-8... long story short i think that maybe the ones throwing rods werent broken in right or just had defective parts???
 
got 230+K miles on my '99 3.4L and still running like a champ and pulling 5k miles road trips every summer through the southwest can't complain one bit.
 
Interesting that two of the very few cases recorded had by-the-book dealer maintenance.....hmmmmm.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

No members online now.
Total: 386 (members: 0, guests: 386)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,315
Messages
3,554,104
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top