Toyota is recalling more than 100,000 pickup trucks and Lexus SUVs in the United States because there might be things in the engine that could make the vehicles stop working. These vehicles include certain Tundra trucks and Lexus LXs made in 2022 and 2023 with a specific six-cylinder engine made by Toyota.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that things left over from making the engine might get inside and cause the main parts of the engine to break. If that happens, it’s really bad for the engine. Toyota’s own papers explain more:
“The trucks and SUVs have a special engine called V35A. It has parts that help the engine run smoothly. But during a certain time when the engines were made, there might have been leftover bits and pieces from making the engine that didn’t get cleaned out. If these bits get stuck to the engine parts and the engine keeps working hard over time, the main parts might break.”
A notice sent to car dealerships in the United States says: “If this happens, it can make the engine make knocking sounds, run roughly, not start, or lose power while driving fast, which could cause a crash.”
Toyota first knew about this in June 2022 when they found two pickup trucks with engines that stopped working. They thought it was because of leftover bits in the engine. They kept looking at more engines until May 2024. To stop more engines from breaking, Toyota changed how they clean the engines when they make them.
“As of May 20, 2024, Toyota looked at records and saw that there were 166 reports from technicians and 824 warranty claims from people who had this problem with their engines in the United States,” Toyota says.
Toyota is still figuring out how to fix the trucks and SUVs with this problem. They will pay back people who already paid to fix their vehicles, and they won’t charge anyone for fixing this issue.
