Builds mcgaskins' 2013 build thread - Palladium (1 Viewer)

[04UZJ100]

Quick little detour from the fun part of the build and adventures. I noticed about 45 seconds after a cold start, there was a very loud intermittent ticking sound that lasted about 3 minutes then stopped. After lots of research, mostly on the Tundra forums, I found it was likely the left hand side timing chain tensioner. The good news is the part is pretty cheap - the bad news is the labor is very expensive, and there are a lot of "while you're in there" parts to change. I purchased a third party warranty when I first acquired the vehicle, but like most aftermarket warranties the fine print is a huge buzzkill. It ended up only covering less than half the total cost of the repair, but it was better than nothing I suppose. My share of the cost plus the cost of the warranty ended up being nearly what the total repair bill was, so the way I looked at it was any additional repairs covered by the warranty would pay for the warranty. That logic sounded great until the next repair occurred, and of course the fine print got me yet again. I'll share more about that repair along with the story of what happened.

Here is a video of the sound the engine would make upon startup:



Also here is a list of all the parts that were replaced along with list prices and how much labor was. Not a cheap repair, but in the five 200s I've owned, this is the only one that required the service.

Man that is dissappointing. Is the truck back to 100%? No more issues?

 

[mcgaskins]

Man that is dissappointing. Is the truck back to 100%? No more issues?

When I got it back, I honestly couldn't believe how quiet and smooth it ran. I was skeptical the work would be done properly because in theory they don't see many 200s, but the reality is this failure is so common on the Tundras and Sequoias they know exactly what they're doing. The truck has run exceptionally well under all circumstances including some long distance overlanding.

That actually leads to the other mechanical issue I experienced. I've seen may have had to replace the evap canister, but I've never had an issue until I did a ~175 mile off road trip from Colorado into Utah fully loaded with 4 adults (5 packed in for stretches) and ~400 pounds of gear and front/rear ac blasting the whole time. A few days after the trip, I got my first CEL which was the evap canister. And of course, the warranty explicitly did not cover emissions equipment, so I paid about $1k installed at the dealer to get it fixed. It's annoying, but neither this nor the timing chain tensioner issues were things that would strand someone or even affect performance.

Here's a pic from that trip (and a hint on why it's taken so long to update this thread)

 

[gentimmy]

When I got it back, I honestly couldn't believe how quiet and smooth it ran. I was skeptical the work would be done properly because in theory they don't see many 200s, but the reality is this failure is so common on the Tundras and Sequoias they know exactly what they're doing. The truck has run exceptionally well under all circumstances including some long distance overlanding.

That actually leads to the other mechanical issue I experienced. I've seen may have had to replace the evap canister, but I've never had an issue until I did a ~175 mile off road trip from Colorado into Utah fully loaded with 4 adults (5 packed in for stretches) and ~400 pounds of gear and front/rear ac blasting the whole time. A few days after the trip, I got my first CEL which was the evap canister. And of course, the warranty explicitly did not cover emissions equipment, so I paid about $1k installed at the dealer to get it fixed. It's annoying, but neither this nor the timing chain tensioner issues were things that would strand someone or even affect performance.

Here's a pic from that trip (and a hint on why it's taken so long to update this thread)

The Rivians are the reason it took so long to update I'm guess? Damn 'em all...

 

[a200]

Man that is dissappointing. Is the truck back to 100%? No more issues?

I appreciate you posting the details. I love "while your in there jobs". This is very helpful to see what an emergency fund for a 200 should be.