Toyota's Billion-Dollar Recall Excuse Is Falling Apart, One Torn-Down Engine At A Time

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Toyota’s reputation for reliability has taken a hit in recent months as the company faces multiple recalls of its new twin‑turbo V6 engine, used in the Tundra pickup and several SUVs. Officially, Toyota has blamed manufacturing debris left in oil passages for the failures.

But a recent teardown by independent mechanic and YouTube creator Eric Berg, known for his “I Do Cars” channel, raises serious questions about whether debris is really the culprit.

Eric Berg finally obtained one of the failed engines. Getting his hands on one was no easy task since Toyota requires dealers to return defective cores. His detailed teardown revealed several troubling signs:

• Early wear: At just 38,000 miles, cam lobes already showed marks, and oil buildup with metallic debris was visible in the cylinder head.
• Timing chain gear damage: An idler gear was unusually stiff, with its bearing packed with large debris.
• Main bearing failure: Two of the four main bearings were “spun,” meaning their surfaces rotated out of place, a classic sign of oil contamination.
• Rod bearings intact: Surprisingly, the rod bearings—supposedly the most vulnerable to debris—showed no visible damage.
• Contradiction: Berg argued that if debris were truly the cause, both rod and main bearings should have been affected since they share oil channels.

Berg’s central claim is that the official debris narrative doesn’t match the physical evidence. He points out that, upon examining the components, there was no evidence of debris damage on the camshafts, caps, or towers, areas that should have shown clear signs if contamination were the real culprit. Even more telling, the rod bearings, which are typically the first to fail when oil passages are blocked or contaminated, were in good condition.

Instead, the only parts that showed catastrophic wear were the main bearings, which had spun out of place. That pattern of damage suggests something more fundamental than random debris. Berg’s blunt conclusion, “There is something wrong with these engines,” challenges Toyota’s debris narrative and raises doubts about whether the company has truly identified the root cause of the failures.

While Toyota has not yet responded directly to Berg’s teardown, the company continues to maintain that debris is the root cause, insisting that engine replacements resolve the issue. This teardown implies that customers get new engines but little clarity on whether the underlying problem has been fully addressed.

The broader implications of Toyota’s engine troubles extend far beyond the immediate recall. Financially, the scale of the problem is staggering. Replacing hundreds of thousands of engines is an enormously expensive undertaking. The costs could easily run into billions of dollars. For a company that has built its reputation on efficiency and reliability, such a financial hit is significant.

Equally damaging is the impact on Toyota’s brand image. For decades, the automaker has marketed itself as the gold standard in durability and dependability, a company whose vehicles are trusted to last for years with minimal issues. A recall of this magnitude threatens to undermine that narrative and raises uncomfortable questions about whether Toyota can still claim to be the benchmark for reliability in the industry.

Consumer trust is another casualty. Even though Toyota is replacing the engines under warranty, Berg’s revelation can leave drivers worrying about whether the new units are truly free of deeper flaws. Even with a replacement engine, if the root cause is not fully understood or addressed, owners may remain fearful of their vehicles experiencing similar failures down the line. That kind of doubt erodes confidence, and once shaken, trust is difficult to rebuild.

In a sense, the recall isn’t just a Toyota problem, but a reminder to the entire industry of the risks that come with pushing technology forward without fully accounting for durability in real-world conditions. Modern turbocharged engines are designed to blend performance and efficiency, but they also introduce new complexities and potential vulnerabilities compared to simpler, naturally aspirated designs. While it’s true that recalls aren’t unusual for high‑volume manufacturers, the scale and severity here stand out.