Oh SNAP!- Yes, the Toyota Tundra Camshaft

By Jeffrey RossAutotropolis.com 

Toyota’s learning curve seems to widening every week. From the four-star crash test rating to growing list of recalls, the 2007 Toyota Tundra has been anything but smooth for the Japanese automaker’s first venture into the full-size pickup truck market. Even as recent Ford F-150 commercials have been pointing out to consumers the Tundra’s inferior crash test rating, sales of the Tundra continue to be relatively strong. As a matter of fact, only the Tundra and the Dodge Ram posted sales increases compared to last year.

With all this in mind, the latest news for Toyota could slow down any positive momentum the Tundra had in the market. A small, yet significant, number of the Tundra’s 381-horsepower, 5.7-liter DOHC i-Force V8 have had catastrophic camshaft failures. While only 20 of the estimated 30,000 engines have experienced a broken camshaft, the severity of an engine failure could prove quite costly for the Tundra in America’s most lucrative automotive market. 

The catastrophe for Toyota isn’t so much in the engine as much as the company’s stellar image of quality-built cars. While no company can be perfect in a new car launch, demonstrated by Ford’s flame-throwing Super Duty mishap, Toyota faces an uphill battle with the brand-new Tundra trying to play with the big boys. So far, Toyota is prepared to replace the complete engine assembly on any Tundra that experiences a broken camshaft, but Toyota is still studying how many of the engines may have been affected. The camshaft problem was first noticed in February and changes to the production procedures were changed. While no recall has been announced, the camshaft failures could turn out to be a major problem for Toyota.

 

 

 

 

The camshaft is supplied to Toyota from an outside vendor and the problem is recognized as a “…a metallurgical defect in the casting.” One positive aspect for Toyota is that in order to keep inventories low, engines are built using just-in-time parts supplies which means that there are no “batches” of engines and, good for Toyota, any bad parts should be limited to a small number of engines.  

Regardless, all the negative press on the Tundra lately will undoubtedly be Toyota’s first major test with customer service as many Toyotas are thought to be the most reliable and dependable vehicles on the market to some. Replacing the entire engine and not just the camshaft at least shows that Toyota continues to look ahead yet deal with major problems efficiently as they come along.  While no recall has been announced, this latest problem will most certainly affect sales. Despite relatively strong sales numbers, Toyota’s projected goal of 200,000 Tundra sales this year will most likely not be met. Toyota sold 14,200 Tundras in April, up 60 percent from last year, amassing 40,662 units through the first third of the year, but at the current sales rate, last year’s tally of 124,508 sales seems a more reasonable sales projection.