I’m pretty sure most of us have thought about getting a Toyota before. After all, this brand is one of the most reliable and well-known brands. But now, you’ve run into Toyota 5.7 engine problems.
It’s like a massive slap in the face after getting your dream car. Don’t worry, though. Every vehicle is prompt to fail at some point.
That said, we’ve done as much research as possible and found the root of those issues. Ready to learn more? Let’s jump right into it!
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Contents
The Most Common Issues Found On The Toyota 5.7 Engine
Down below, you’ll find an in-depth discussion and fixes for the most common issues on most Toyota 5.7 engines.
1. Rattle Noise
Hearing a noise in your car raises so many red flags. One can only wonder what went wrong with the vehicle.
And that’s pretty much the Toyota 5.7 engine. Weird noises are pretty common in this engine model.
But, it’s not all bad news for drivers. There’s a sound that this engine makes when starting up the car. This is a feature, and it’s the ABS self-check that causes the noise.
The noise will be within the first few seconds you start up the car. At this point, you might have also noticed this sound louder when the radio is off.
But if you genuinely suspect that there’s something wrong with the vehicle, you might want to trust your gut this time.
Perhaps, it is the primary chain tensioner. Most of the time, it is the driver-side one
This is a common issue found on the Toyota 5.7 engine. Still, this issue is a little bit strange as we’ve seen drivers express that the vehicle runs just fine before and after the rattling sound.
Nonetheless, you’ll have to replace it to fix the issue.
2. Engine is Overheating
You’re happily blasting your favorite songs, and all of a sudden, your car begins to overheat.
Like any reasonable person, you decided to pull over immediately. Shockingly enough, an abnormal amount of white smoke was coming from the car.
Well, you might have a damaged water pump. Here’s the thing, this water pump is responsible for supplying enough coolant.
When it is in great shape, it’ll allow the engine to maintain average temperatures.
But if it ever goes bad, your engine will start overheating like crazy. That is typically the easiest way to tell the water pump failed.
But there are also other methods to know that the water pump needs to go. That said, here are a couple of ways to determine that:
- If you look closely at the pump, you’ll probably find some nasty stuff on top of it. This is usually a sign that your water pump is coming to an end and must be replaced.
- If you’ve noticed a massive puddle of coolant underneath the vehicle, you might have a damaged water pump.
This might not seem like a big deal at first glance, but you should never drive with an overheating engine.
Instead, pull over as soon as possible and call a professional. Things could get pretty bad for you if you keep on driving that way.
However, if you’re confident that the water pump is not the problem, you might want to turn the heater on as there’s a high chance the coolant inside the system is not circulating through the engine.
After turning it on, the temperature should gradually drop.
3. Electrical issues
Your car probably stopped in the middle of nowhere, and you had to get a boost to get back home.
Now you’re just wondering what’s wrong with your vehicle. Well, you might have a bad alternator.
The alternator plays a critical role in any vehicle. It is responsible for charging the battery. Without it, you’re all done.
Luckily, it is not terribly expensive to fix. In fact, you might not need to replace the whole unit. You might have to replace the reasonably cheap brushes.
That said, here are some symptoms that might help you determine if the alternator died:
- Usually, when the alternator goes out of service, the headlights will barely put up any light. In fact, it might be hard to tell if they’re on or off.
- If your car is having a hard time starting up, you probably have a broken alternator.
If you’re hearing strange noises and have noticed all these symptoms, consider checking up on the alternator.
But you want to be careful here as it could also be the battery. If you don’t have the right tools, this might be hard to figure out.
So, take the vehicle to a professional. That way, you can have both the battery and the alternator adequately tested.
4. Low Coolant
Coolant has a simple but vital job: to send enough coolant to the engine to maintain the right temperature.
Without it, the engine would drastically overheat, and it wouldn’t be safe to drive that way.
Well, that’s a problem often found the Toyota 5.7 engine. Usually, this issue is related to the radiator. If you look closely, you’ll probably find a leak somewhere in the radiator.
It could be tiny to the point that the coolant disappears before making it to the floor. Still, this should be taken care of as soon as possible.
5. Misfire
Toyota 5.7 engine failure can happen for several reasons, so it’s hard to tell what could’ve gone wrong with your engine.
For example, you may have dirty fuel injectors. If they’re dirty, they could cause your truck to misfire. This is pretty common, and this could be your case.
But before getting the fuel injectors replaced, you should know that you could also have a vacuum leak.
You’ll have to pop the hood and carefully look for any vacuum leak.
If you’re interested, get a propane enrichment to find a leak. That’s the easiest way to determine if they got damaged.
Another issue that can cause the engine to misfire is spark plugs. If they went out of service, they would cause your vehicle to perform poorly.
It doesn’t matter if it’s just a spark plug. A single one can cause the engine to fail. So, watch out for that.
Finally, watch out for the timing belt. If there’s something wrong with it, the 5.7 engine will perform poorly.
In some cases, when the timing chain begins to fall apart, you might find small metal pieces inside the oil pan.
6. Low Oil Levels
If anything, the annoying cam tower leak was a massive problem for previous generations, and it seems to be one of the most common problems with Toyota 5.7 engine.
A quick Google search will bring up hundreds of complaints regarding this problem.
This is a little bit disappointing as you’d expect more from the legendary Japanese company. But It seems this time they failed to deliver their fantastic top-quality this time.
But what’s surprising about this problem is that owners of this engine experienced this issue as early as 10,000 miles which is pretty bad for a brand-new truck.
That’s not the kind of repair you would expect from a new truck.
This issue is super expensive, and if your truck is no longer under warranty, you’re pretty much out of luck.
You should know that the oil might never hit the driveway. So, it might be somewhat hard to spot the leak.
The reason this happens is that the oil hits the exhaust and then boils off.
So, it’ll never hit the ground. To correctly spot the leak, you’ll have to remove the flaps and then use your phone’s flashlight.
7. Exhaust Manifold Leak
So, you got in your car and then suddenly the engine is much louder. But whatever, you kind of went with it for some time.
But after a while, you couldn’t help but notice that the noise is much louder when accelerating.
One would think that this a transmission issue. But in fact, it’s most likely an exhaust manifold leak. As you might know, finding an exhaust leak can take several hours.
But to make things easier, follow these steps:
- In this case, you’ll have to start up the vehicle and find out where the sound is coming from. It could come from the back of the truck or the front. But if you can get underneath the vehicle and jack it up, it would be best to start off that way.
- So, go ahead and have the truck started. Head over to the exhaust and cover it. As you’re holding your hand against the exhaust, you should feel pressure coming out if. But if there’s no pressure, then you most likely have an exhaust leak.
- Now you have to follow down along the pipes to find the exhaust leak. This might take some time, but you’ll indeed find it.
Once you’ve located the leak, proceed to fix it. Fortunately, fixing a leak is super inexpensive.
You could fix it for as low as $15. If you want to know more about that, watch this video:
8. Sputtering Engine
Toyota 5.7 engine issues can truly be terrifying. This is the most important and expensive part of your vehicle.
So, at this point, you can only ask yourself why the engine is sputtering.
But engine sputtering is more common than you’d think, especially on the 5.7. But we got good news! Solving this issue could be as simple as refilling the gas tank.
However, if you’re determined that the gas tank does not need to be refilled, well, perhaps you’ve run into an expensive issue.
It could very well be the ECM module computer. Typically, when the computer goes bad, the car will not start, and you’ll get terrible fuel economy.
Other common symptoms could be engine stalling and misfiring.
You got two possible scenarios here. First, the ECM module computer could be completely dead, and you’ll have to get a new one.
Second, the dealer will have to flash the ECM to get rid of the stalling.
Upon further research, we’ve noticed that the second scenario seems to be the case for most drivers. So, you might not have to spend that much money on this fix.
Either way, you’re better off taking the car to the dealer just to make sure.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
We know how common Toyota 5.7 engine problems are. But we can’t really talk about it as a whole. As such, here are some common questions about it:
Is the Toyota 5.7 a good engine?
Yes, the Toyota 5.7 engine is truly a masterpiece. There’s a lot of information about it as well as hundreds of communities.
So, if you ever run into any significant problem, you’ll most likely be able to fix it on your own.
How many miles can a 5.7 tundra last?
If you go to any Toyota dealership, they’ll probably tell you that these trucks can last over 650,000 miles if you properly take care of them.
What problems do Toyota Tundras have?
From what we’ve gathered, the Tundra is a pretty solid truck. However, you might experience water pump failure along with a coolant leak.
Other than that, you’ll most likely not run into any significant issues.
Can a misfire ruin an engine?
Yes, a misfire can ruin the Toyota 5.7 engine and pretty much any other model. If you’ve run into a cylinder misfire, take the vehicle to the dealership as soon as possible.
Conclusion
There are just countless things that could’ve gone wrong with your engine.
But we’ve narrowed down the most common Toyota 5.7 engine problems so that you could easily find out what’s wrong with your vehicle.
The key to preventing most of these issues is to properly take good care of the car.
For example, if you follow your owner’s guide, you’ll get the most out of your truck.
That said, we genuinely hope this article helped you fix whichever issue you’ve run into.
