Toyota V35A-FTS Engine Teardown (1 Viewer)

[pnwgx550]

I just ran across this video on YouTube that I thought you would find interesting. It’s an engine teardown of a V35A-FTS engine from a Toyota Tundra.

 

[damooji]

Plastic hoses/pipes for coolant (around 13:30 mark) reminds me of my 958.1 that I traded in for the GX. Porsche had also used plastic piping that were notorious for cracking, believe they either had a recall or updated the part to metal ones...luckily I had the metal version.

Seeing the intake valves makes me wonder if it's worth getting a catch can but think I'll hold off on any engine related mods atm.

 

[pnwgx550]

I found his comments at 50:26 of the video to be interesting. He questions Toyota attributing the root cause of the main bearing failure mode to machining debris. He asks why the rod bearings weren’t also damaged as they share the same “oiling circuit” as the main bearings. He also notes there was no debris in the top of the engine and no damage to cams, cam caps, cam towers, etc.

All that said, he also notes that there’s a lot to like about this engine.

Hopefully Toyota has found the root cause of this issue, and the engines that went into vehicles after that point in time (as well as the engines that replaced recalled engines) will perform well and not be subject to the same failures.

 

[RetiredSteelWorker]

Without question it's interesting video.

This guy has a great job, earning a living tearing down failed engines and making videos showing every step in the process.

I've been reading the comments (2700 in two days), and just took a break from doing so. From what I've read so far, commenters agree with him on the point it's not machining debris.

 

[Warrantero]

Curious to see if Toyota will change their tune. I’m sure they have watched the video. I would think they have performed their own tear downs already,

 

[gvan1998]

The problem is that Toyota is replacing engines with the same defective engines.

 

[RetiredSteelWorker]

Curious to see if Toyota will change their tune. I’m sure they have watched the video. I would think they have performed their own tear downs already,

Agree. It would raise incompetency to a new high if they haven't already done so.

I've watched the last 10 -12 minutes of that video twice so far, and it leaves me with a deflated feeling of 'did I buy the right vehicle'?

 

[Warrantero]

Well maybe since our version has less hp and torque we will be safe. That being said , uncertainty has crossed my mind too, especially after dropping 90k+ cash for my Lux+.

 

[BoostedGX]

Seems like mostly tundras , not many LXs GXs and Sequoias that share that Motor.

 

[RetiredSteelWorker]

Seems like mostly tundras , not many LXs GXs and Sequoias that share that Motor.

Maybe I misunderstand your wording. That V35A-FTS engine is in all GX 550s.

But there is a specific data range into which Lexus has supposedly narrowed down the issue. The first post in a thread on here named '2024 Engine Recall' has all the details.

My Lux falls well outside (well past) the end date. But that video raises a tiny bit of doubt.

 

[BoostedGX]

Maybe I misunderstand your wording. That V35A-FTS engine is in all GX 550s.

But there is a specific data range into which Lexus has supposedly narrowed down the issue. The first post in a thread on here named '2024 Engine Recall' has all the details.

My Lux falls well outside (well past) the end date. But that video raises a tiny bit of doubt.

I’m talking how Toyota does recalls , they do it in batches … I wouldn’t doubt if the 2025s end up on the recal

 

[RetiredSteelWorker]

The comments in that video are flat-out great reading, to me. I'm a sample of one, so YMMV.

One comment that caught my attention compares The Car Care Nut and I Do Cars (this video). The main points are TCCN has to put his cars and engines back together, where IDCs strips down a failed engine and parts it out, example where he just throws the head gaskets on the floor. I don't fully comprehend all the back forth in the 30 replies, ... yet.

I never would have guessed there could be so many ASE Master Technicians with 30, 35 or 45 years experience commenting on one YT video.

 

[JG550]

According to the car care nut the main bearing part number was changed sometime around April 2024 which is the date of cutoff for the recall. This teardown makes it seem like it’s more than the main bearing but I’m no technician, just a schmuck who finally splurged on a car that may have major engine issues.

 

[Nuke]

The problem is that Toyota is replacing engines with the same defective engines.

Would like to see solid evidence in this regard, i.e. the main bearings failed on the replacements. It could also be the technicians did a poor job with the swaps.

 

[JoeRob]

If the replacement engines are "the same defective engine" Toyota/Lexus must have made a whole lot of them and stashed them in a warehouse somewhere.
I give some credit to Lexus knowing not to swap out a bad engine for a - bad engine.
But hey, even GM knows better than that..... Naw - they don't either.
So far, my '24 GX is not included in the recall as it was manufactured in December, '24. I don't have any idea when the engine was built but.....

 

[jpto]

It doesn't feel great knowing there could be something wrong with your engine but the amount of speculation from content creators is laughable. As I always tell my kids, content creators are driven by views and getting paid and not boring facts. They are chasing trends and aren't really qualified to give an opinion about design, manufacturing or "forensic" teardowns.

I want to know the root cause of the issue, i.e. design flaw, debris, supplier issue but no one knows what's actually going on except Toyota. Is Toyota actively hiding stuff from us? Maybe but I think a simpler explanation is the issue is complex and Toyota's response is evolving.

Is the V35A a dud? I don't have the facts and I going to trust these content creators about as much as trust getting tax, investment and health advice from YouTube ... bring lots of salt

 

[gvan1998]

Would like to see solid evidence in this regard, i.e. the main bearings failed on the replacements. It could also be the technicians did a poor job with the swaps.

 

[JoeRob]

It would be interesting to know about the replacement engine - did it "blow" due to the same reason as the originally installed engine.
I have a neighbor that has very recently had to replace the engine in his Tahoe. GM has had a terrible time with the L87 V-8 in MANY of the Tahoes. After he got the vehicle back from the Chevy dealer, the vehicle, for the first time in his ownership, and he bought it new, there was a puddle of oil under the engine after a couple of days being home. That was fixed. Again, after a couple of days home, there was an even larger puddle of oil. The dealership that replaced the engine now has the vehicle in the shop, my neighbor hasn't heard anything back now in about a week. I guess it went into a "Black engine hole".
All car companies have problems and they all vary about the way problems are dealt with. Lets hope Lexus is NOT a GM.

 

[richord]

It doesn't feel great knowing there could be something wrong with your engine but the amount of speculation from content creators is laughable. As I always tell my kids, content creators are driven by views and getting paid and not boring facts. They are chasing trends and aren't really qualified to give an opinion about design, manufacturing or "forensic" teardowns.

I want to know the root cause of the issue, i.e. design flaw, debris, supplier issue but no one knows what's actually going on except Toyota. Is Toyota actively hiding stuff from us? Maybe but I think a simpler explanation is the issue is complex and Toyota's response is evolving.

Is the V35A a dud? I don't have the facts and I going to trust these content creators about as much as trust getting tax, investment and health advice from YouTube ... bring lots of salt

I agree! I don't understand how speculating is helpful except for the content creators. But I'll add my concerns to the conversation.

The guy in the video does state that this is just one example and not necessarily indictive of more that this engine failed.

I will be concerned if their fix is replacing the engine on my GX 550. It's on the recall list.

This is not dealership level repair. How many technicians have ever swapped a modern engine? From the tear down in this guy's video its evident all the components and connections. What components will be reused off the original engine? There are a lot of coolant hoses and connections on these engines. Some coolant hose connections are press fit with O rings. Great in the manufacturing environment but once you take them apart, they never seal properly again. So, problems may not occur immediately.

I've done an engine swap once on a simpler vehicle and I'm not a trained tech. These vehicles were not built to facilitate an engine replacement.

Toyota should have a facility where they do the replacements in a controlled environment. Not one where the dealership and technicians are paid on a flat rate schedule.

 

[bart]

I don't think this counts as the evidence. The guy shows two sentence post on FB. No followup, with actual cause, repair bill, etc. There are 100s if no 1000s of reasons why a car might not start and ends up on the tow truck. Main bearing failure is just one of them. I am not trying to defend Toyota here. Maybe there is more to it than machining debris, but this video is garbage imo.

I don't know, maybe I am naive but I find it difficult to believe that Toyota would be replacing engines without getting to the bottom of the issue. They said themselves that it costs them ~$30k to replace a single engine. This is a huge loss. It means they haven't made any profit whatsoever on a single Tundra, GX, or LX sold until April 2024... So now they are doubling down? Why?