In a written reply to our inquiry asking for further clarification on the number of 5.7-liter engines potentially impacted by the camshaft issue, Toyota spokesperson Mike Michels tells PickupTruck.com, "The casting defect was found very early and immediately corrected. Because the heart of the Toyota production system is the continuous flow "just in time" method, there is no such thing as a "batch" of engines. In general the same holds true for suppliers, who keep very small inventories. So the advantage is that problems are quickly found, countermeasures taken rapidly and there aren't large quantities of potentially defective parts in the system.
As a result only a very few production engines were effected from the
earliest production. No, this absolutely will not impact all 30,000 5.7
liter engines sold to date. It will be a very small number. 20 units
represents less than 0.06 percent of vehicles sold. We are confident that very few customers will experience the problem but pending the on going analysis it is not possible to give a precise number."

For Tundra customers who might be impacted by a faulty camshaft, Michels added the following, "As mentioned in the story, rather than replacing the camshaft, many customers whose engines have a broken camshaft are receiving a new engine, via airfreight to the dealer. Feedback from customers indicates that this exceeds their expectations.

Two side notes:

1.) I'd like to thank Mr. Michels for his very rapid response back to us during this Memorial Day holiday.

2.) I also corrected a typo, where I mistakenly said Toyota will pay the costs to replace the entire engine of any new Tundra with a failed crankshaft. It should have said 'camshaft'. I regret the error.

- Mike



*********

The launch of the all new 2007 Tundra full size pickup continues to go anything but smoothly for Toyota. Automotive News is reporting on a string of twenty recent camshaft failures in Tundras equipped with popular i-Force 5.7-liter DOHC V8 motors. Toyota is trying to determine how many of the 30,000 engines built so far might be affected by, "...a metallurgical defect in the casting," according to Toyota spokesperson Mike Michels in the story. The company is blaming the defect on the camshaft's supplier and says it has been corrected.

A camshaft is a metal rod with lobes, or cams, that spin and push open an engine's intake and exhaust valves to let the air/fuel mixture into the engine and the exhaust out during combustion. Double overhead cam motors, like the 5.7-liter V8, use four cams - two per head - to allow for better gas flow and more power.

Toyota will pay the costs to replace the entire engine of any new Tundra with a failed camshaft.

This bad news for Toyota follows surprising and disappointing four star safety ratings in government crash tests, unexpected incentive pricing to kick start sales of regular cab Tundras, and at least $430 million in cost overruns building the Tundra's new Texas manufacturing plant.