Interesting deep dive into 2024 Tacoma powertrain

I dig the way this guy always goes deep into all things mechanical.

A couple of interesting points that I'd pay attention to:

- plastic parts used in the cooling system are failure points, this could be a bigger limiter on vehicle longevity than the turbo;
- the turbo 4 cyl longevity will probably depend on your oil maintenance practices.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX6gUJrlyW4

I'm mostly bummed about the increasing use of plastics in the engine. These are parts that tend to disappear first from inventory for older vehicles.

Only time will tell.

 

^Most thorough look of the mechanical bits yet!

ADD actuator appears to be still a motor, not electromagnet like on the Tundra.

Front diff torque tube is aluminum at least on the SR5. This is a weak point on earlier gens, and Toyota appears to have made it weaker.

The single-bolt front diff rear mount that can tear out in earlier gens appears to be unchanged.

The SR5 gets the old tulip-style inboard CV joints like in earlier gens. TRD models were advertised with the birfield-style inboard joints which have additional strength/angle.



The ECM mounted in the engine bay is exposed to a much harsher environment than the in-cabin location in earlier gens. However, it's small potatoes in context of upcoming hybrid models with large amount of power electronics under the hood.

Plastic valve covers and plastic PCV valve have been reliable on the 2GR-FKS after 8 years and millions built. The plastic thermostat housing has been reliable as well. However, the plastic coolant crossover pipe has been a problem. Not too common but labor-intensive to access due to location.

 

We will find out how it all holds up. Plastic parts in places where a lot of temperature change occurs is indeed *a bit* concerning so it will depend on if the Mexico built units get quality parts or not. AMD mentioned in his 200 Land Cruiser videos that even though the US and Japan built vehicles both used the 5.7 engine, the plastic parts in the LC was noticeably better built than the US market sequoias and tundras, but at the end of the day the US units were plenty durable enough, it's not like V8 Tundras and Seq's are dropping dead like flies. Maybe the commuters don't need all the overbuiltness of LCs that can go to conflict zones and endure the abuse.

Thank you to all the the early adopters.

 

The 4runner 4.0 is filled with plastic parts. So my question would be what parts are plastic in the new tacoma that are not in the 4runner or 3rd gen tacoma?

Longevity relating to oil maintenance? Well yeah but thats the case in all vehicles. Any engine will have longevity issues with two things, neglect and abuse.

 

I owned a Audi and now I own a GTI, both 2.0 turbo engines with lots of plastics... honestly plastics are a nothing burger. The only issue I had once was a water pump that went out and it is plastic, but it was covered under warranty in my GTI because it was 1st year SKU and it suffered from first year model of the EA888 engine. My Audi, when I sold it, I sold it at 170k miles and it was still running strong.

Honestly, with proper care this 4th gen Taco and the 6th gen 4R will last close to 300k miles with proper maintenance esp proper fluid and oil changes. Also, we all scream "MuH rElIaBiLiTy!!!" but honestly how many of us are truly gonna keep our 1GR-FE until 300k miles before selling it? I definitely plan to keep it forever, but the majority of 4R owners will get rid of it when they get tired of it. Vehicles are like toys for most.

 

Toyota is actually on the conservative side with plastic use in the powertrain. One only needs to look at Ford with its plastic engine oil pan on the Powerstroke diesels...

 

On the contrary, the Tundras and Tacomas are brought into conflict zones when they need to turn the tide.

 

Warring parties will use whatever can be obtained and relatively easy to fix in the field.

Note the white 3/4 or 1 ton GM full size pickup to the left in your 2nd photo. The truck behind that GM has taillights that look like it could be a Ford F150

 

These guys are like kamikaze lol. Do you think these dudes worry about reliability that much when they can get killed at any moment. The last thing I’d be worried about is how many plastic parts are in our engine.

 

Well, I'm gonna disagree with your statement about Audi and VW 2.0 turbos. My experience with both has been incredibly negative, but, I'm glad you had a better experience.

 

Related story this reminded me of:
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a...k-traded-in-ends-up-in-syria-with-terrorists/

 

First let me admit that I haven't watched it yet. An hour is way to long to get away with sneaking it in at work over morning coffee - will check it out some evening when I get time.

Re: The plastic parts in the cooling system. I totally get that concern as this is something that BMWs and other German makes have been notorious with for years - using plastic water pump impellers and plastic thermostat housing that where prone to fail. Many hardcore BMW enthusiasts follow the alternative "maintenance schedule" made famous by Mike Miller the longtime tech editor of the BMWCCA club magazine. They basically recommend replacing pretty much the entire cooling system (T stat, water pump, all plastic parts and rubber hoses) proactively around 60-100k on any German car (!) .

Now if you research, you will find that the situation is a little more nuanced than simply "plastic bad, metal good" (Spoken in an SNL I'm just a Caveman accent ) There are Environmental rules in the German automotive industry that require high levels of recycled plastic to be used. Its possible that if these parts where entirely virgin oil derived plastics they may last longer. And a big aftermarket has developed with metal alternatives you can replace if you want.

So I think the jury is out till we get some long term longevity data.


Similar situation with plastic parts like intake manifolds. When I first saw them I was really skeptical that they would hold up as well. But if you dig into the engineering there are a lot of benefits to using plastic - Injection molded plastic makes it a lot easier and cheaper to make complex manifold shapes that improve power and efficiency, and with plastic being a natural thermal insulator a plastic manifold doesn't heat up nearly as fast as metal leading to a cooler, denser intake charge - again better for power and efficiency. And they have generally proved reliable in practice, automakers have been using them on various models almost back to the 90s.

 

I watched the full video last night while waiting for my son at sports practice. Very well done as always and I learned a lot - thanks for sharing.