Toyota Tundra 2000

cmbaker

I want to buy a 2000 Tundra. Currently have a 1988 toyota 4x2 with 295,000 miles. Running great although bed looks like a rusty sardine can. I dont pull anything so all I think I need is the v6 engine. Has anybody heard of any problems with this engine? Anybody own a Tundra with the V-6 manual transmissionthat can give me a report on theirs out there? I would appreciate any feedback, thanks.

t100todd

Justed relocated from Oklahoma to Ohio and now have 4800 miles on my Tundra. I did pull a 12 foot U-Haul trailer on the 1100 mile trip and had no problems towing at all. The U-Haul was completely full too! I had no problem doing 70-80 MPH! The only trouble I did notice was when going through the Ozarks in Missouri the hills sometimes ate my lunch but pulling a 12 foot trailor is never easy going through steep hills! I did see a beautiful green jade Tundra and as he passed me he gave me the thumbs up! This has happened with all Tundra owners that I've seen OR who have seen me in my Tundra! Thats pretty cool!

As far as problems ... I did have the vibration in the center console but ever since I switched from Dunlop tires to Michelin tires ... I have had smooth sailing all the way! the sound system is average at best and the clock position is not in the best spot! The mileage could be better but what do you expect from a V-8?!

My only real complaint now is that the Keyless entry does not work very well! I have to be within 50 feet for the thing to work! I believe that this can be resolved very easily by adjusting the sensor in the keypad!

Good luck!
Todd~~~

eusasc

Now that the children have gone to bed, we can discuss things rationally. I towed a trailer and some motorcycles that weighed probably somewhere around 4500 pounds. The truck had no problem, speeds around 75 to 80. The gas milage came out around 11 MPG. Anyway, the one thing I was thinking I need is some air shocks to level out the riding height. I'd like to get a set that have an on board compressor. Anybody got any suggestions?

tp4unc

You may find some info in topic #891 regarding load leveling. Seems like I read a few posts about such things there. Isn't it nice to have our Topic back?!

kiriln

I have a black Tundra V8/access cab/TRD/ABS/…
Every piece of this is real and trust me I am very sorry that it happened to me. I tell this story (tell) to all of you guys to help you draw your conclusions about this new truck and make up your minds approaching it.

This whole thing happened Thursday the week of 09/13/99. We were for a week of vacation in Utah, visiting some of the national parks. After 5 days of great time and beautiful scenery we were supposed to drive the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands NP. We headed out on the trail around 2:45 in the afternoon with about 45 miles ahead of us to our campsite. With all my honesty the truck was doing great on this rough terrain. It was handling rocks, mud, steep climbs and the kind pretty well. The engine performance also is very nice. So after about 5 hours we landed at the campsite – Murphy B, shut the truck down and started preparing for the night. After probably 15 to 30 minutes ‘cause of the strong wind I decided to position the truck behind the tent so I could tie the tent to it.
And it happened … the darn thing would not start. The engine was turning over OK but it wouldn’t start. Being out of all the possible places at the worst one, in the middle of the dessert, stranded with your brand new truck (2500 miles) I nearly cried. Imagine how I felt with my wife and my 15 months old baby. I looked at the manual for any clues, tried the procedures for flooded engine (almost impossible), checked for any loose wires or hoses but everything looked OK (it was dark by the time). The whole night I was tossing and turning around thinking of how in the world we were going to get out of this place. If we had to walk out of there it was 6 miles to the canyon rim traversing sheer cliff walls.
The morning came. I looked for loose wires again, checked all the fuses, made sure the fuel line was not broken – everything seemed OK. And the thing would not start. Luckily enough we found some people camping next to us that had a phone. After numerous attempts (the signal was real low) I managed to get a towing agency’s number from a guy from the Toyota Customer Service Line. Believe me you don’t wanna see your truck get towed out of that place. It almost broke my heart watching it. It cost us $1950 to get towed to Moab, Utah and took around 13 hours. The next day (Saturday) for additional $300 we got to the Toyota dealership in Grand Junction, Colorado. The guys at the service department of Western slope Toyota were real nice. With a scan tool they found out that there was no fuel pressure, energized the fuel pump with this tool and the truck started right back on. And it starts every time since. The bad part is that they could not figure out why it failed. They were guessing that the fuel pump relay was the problem but nothing positive. We were told that there is a chance that this could happen again any time we try to start the truck. So on Saturday afternoon we grove to Salt Lake city and stayed close to Carl Malone Toyota in case we had to resort for help again. We drove all the way to California on Sunday without even shutting the car down. Imagine if this happened again in the middle of Nevada.
Now the “fun” part. The truck was 3 days in the shop at Folsom Lake Toyota supposedly to get fixed. Even after the company rep looked at it they keep saying the truck was flawless?!?! I asked for the relay to get replaced and they did that – changed three relays that had something to do with the fuel pump.
Now, I am a computer guy and had those situations when a customer states there was a problem somewhere but we cannot reproduce it – may be one time data problem, maybe different environment or god knows what but this doesn’t mean that our programs are bugless. May be this is one time situation which I doubt, may be it takes a little shaking for this to happen, may be it’s my computer chips or this bug is everywhere, just waiting for the right time to show up (Utah desert). It just freaks me out. I will be using the truck in this kind of places. That’s why I paid my $30000.
I understand that Toyota is a great company with great customer service (they will pay for the towing) and this is version 1.0 of this truck and probably that story will not change my attitude but still … there is a problem.

Since I can’t figure out what to do in this situation I would appreciate any input.

artp

I've heard air shocks are bad because they put too much stress on the shock mounts. A better option may be air bags that sit on the leaf springs.

I pulled my boat (75 lbs. tongue weight) and hauled a bunch of camping stuff and noticed my bed sagged about two or three inches, and yes I distributed the heavy items toward the cab. Seemed to sag more than my Dakota did. I don't have the TRD package.

eoster

Unfortunately computer chips are a part of the age we live in. Any brand of vehicle could give you the same or worse. I think that when after market diagnostic tools come along I may get one. If you ever have a similar problem try disconnecting the battery for a short amount of time. I don't know for sure that it will help but it did with a Chrysler I had.

rwellbaum2

Please keep us updated on any future trouble with your fuel pump/relay. I like Toyota's but won't stick my head in the sand on potential problems. Sometimes the relay can be fine while the wires leading to the relay or the relay recepticle cause problems. Thanks again for your posting. I'm glad to see some real information of use to Tundra owners.

jray38

If you are going off road with ANY truck, take a cell phone.

z71bill

This is the worst type of problem - one the goes way, and can not be repeated. I would rather have what ever is messed up just plain break so it could be fixed. The cell phone idea is a good one when you go out in the middle of nowhere.

tundradude

I have one of those v6 manuals, and I have seen the recall on the head gaskets. The problem should be fixed and by chance it is not, Toyota will fix it free anyway. Even you tow anything, the v6 can do it too. I bought the new Tundra to tow a camping trailer. I had a T100, and a regular Toyota truck before that. I testdrove an automatic v8 before I bought my V6 and it is nice if you do not like shifting gears. However, i like having gears for any situation I may encounter on the road towing or not. I could really go in my T100 stories, where people liked to hit me.

lchase1

Has anyone noticed that the Tundra's headlights seem dim? Any solution ? Thanks.

tundradude

and that time we had a flood where the T1100 was submerged from the side mirrors down...

tundradude

The headlights seen dim in comparsion to the T100, especially in overcast weather. I guess thats why they have fog lights as an option.

tundradude

Maybe those headlights are dim because the Tundra is farther above the ground, expecially with the 265 tires.

yotracy4

Does anyone know if there is any extras costs for buying a Tundra out of state?

pcheng

No. You may be responsible for paying sales tax when you register the vechile. Most dealers will help you get all the forms in order or just get everything done for you regardless of which state you live in.

chuttie

Does anyone have info on the security system option that Toyota offers for about $300? How does it work--what does it disable if anything. Thanks

pcheng

The RS3000 system is a simple door pin and shatter guard. It has a two button remote (I have one button that operates my 98 Camary and the other for my Tundra). The remote will lock and un-lock your doors.

The alarm goes off if you open a door, or when the shatter guard senses a window breaking (haven't tested this part yet). The system is suppose to disable the ignition if the alarm goes off. The ignition is enabled when the alarm is turned off by a remote or by the ignition key.

I've had other aftermarket alarms (Cliford, Ungo, Viper) and this one seems adequate. It doesn't have a lot of the other features of the other alarms, but I find that I really didn't have a use for a motion detector and other stuff.

The good thing about the alarm (from my experience with the Camry) is that there are very few false alarms. On the other hand, I don't know how many TRUE alarms there were that scared a would be thief away.

samirpowar

Did Toyota pick up the tab for the towing bill and all the breakdown related expenses?

kiriln

The company rep approved the towing bill (haven't got the check yet). The folks at Toyota said they'll look into the motel charges (still waiting for my credit card statement).

pcheng

Sounds like (at least) the factory is standing up. Please keep us posted on whether come through. I was a little hesitant on buying a first year model, but I've owned a few Toyota's and believe in the quality.

The engine may be similar to the Lexus 470, but don't kid yourself, it is different. Bore and Stroke may be the same, but I wonder how many other parts are different. Besides having a cast iron block, this engine was designed to run on regular gas so it will have a different compression ratio (probably different pistons, wrist pins, connecting rods and crank). It is also designed to have more torque (probably different camshafts and port design). This is only speculation because I don't know all the specs of the Land Cruiser.

Hope Toyota is stand up about it (for my Tundra's sake too). Like the previous post says, I too am a software developer and understand the complexity of getting something perfect the first time (or even consistantly). I know my pride in my work comes with the fact that my customers know if something does go wrong, I will fix it and take care of them.

mvela

I purchased the tow package on my limited initially, but when I got it the dealer said it was missed during port install. The dealer then had an after market hitch and wiring harness installed, can you believe the installers put in a spliced in harness vs. the plug in type from factory. When I found out they put in this crap I called them to rectify this issue. I had to speak with the sales manager before anything got resolved. I then left my truck with them for two days to install the port hitch, which they never got. They called me back a few days later and told me they got in a limited with hitch that they could swap out. Moral of this story...
1. Limiteds do come with hitches, port installed.
2. Don't send you wife to get a hitch installed.
3. Don't Buy from Garry McKinney in Fort Worth, There sales team will take your money and treat you like a cheap tramp... I will NEVER GO BACK. Tell Your Friends :-{

john217

This is my first post, hope I'm doing it right. Am interested in a Tundra V6 automatic, but I read a post about head gasket problems. Could someone let me know what the situation is concerning this, and also what are your impressions of this engine in general. I think it would have all the power I would need because I don't tow (just yard work/handyman stuff).

Thanks for your time,

John

powercat

I had a 97 T-100 and it seems to me like my Tundras headlights are brighter and go farther than those of the T-100. I know they are a different design, they reflect off of the back, but they still seem brighter, maybe I'm dim, anybody else agree?
(about the brighter headlamps I mean ; )

Tim

artp

I have 4500 miles on my Tundra (access cab, v8, 4wd). I checked the gas mileage at the last fill-up and got 16.5 mpg.

Hardly any freeway driving, mostly mountain highway driving. 50 Miles of the trip included a very steep mountain road with many steep elevation gains and hairpin corners, I was in a serious hurry and drove the truck pretty hard. I expected to get poor mileage on this tank as I “got on it” lots of times.

This is in sharp contrast to one of the first tanks where I “babied” the truck and got 14.5 mpg.

This was Northern California gas that has many “smog” fighting additives and MTBE which decreases overall BTU.

My Tundra is not “the perfect” truck but I am VERY pleased with it, and would do it over again. I don’t think there is any such thing as a “truck for the one percenters”.

About the engine difference between the Tundra and Landcruiser:

I HEARD (don't know if it's true) that the only difference is the Tundra engine has a much longer intake manifold, similar to a "high rise" style manifold. This is supposed to provide more low end torque.

Can anyone explain to me the difference between horsepower and torque? Is horsepower the ability to keep something in motion and torque the ability to accelerate? I think I know that HP is just plain energy while torque is a "twisting power". Any further explanation would be appreciated.

quadrunner500

Torque = a twisting moment, Force X Radius
Hp = time rate of doing work, Torque X RPM.

Your explanation was right on!

powercat

I also heard that they are the same engine except that the Tundra engine is tuned to produce about 15 more horse power.

lchase1

I never owned a T-100,I traded a Ford-150 Lariat 4x4 Supercab for my Tundra.The Tundra lights seem dim in comparison.Any thoughts?

tp4unc

www.connect.ab.ca/~barachj/car-dic.htm

More junk than you'll ever need to know.

danbodan

I had a 97T100 and I think my Tundra is brighter also. Are you guys cleaning the dirt off the lens cover? Isn't there a bigger alternater included in one of those option packages? I think I got that one?

danbodan

If your Tundra fails for the same problem 3 times, isn't there a lemon law so you can return it. I think they just extended the period for 18 months. I don't like to hear about Tundra problems, Ford people will have a field day with us.

bslo33

But, here in eastern PA there are only $30K V8 access cabs. Real nice, but according to my dealer only 17 regular cabs are allocated to this area of the country for all of November and December. I want to place a factory order for a reg cab V6 auto SR5, but I'm being told the factory isn't making them yet and delivery is in February (if then).

I love my Camry and tried hard to buy Toyota, but it looks like I'm about 6-8 months too early. Big time bummer!

Looks like I'm being pushed into a F150....

Bob in PA

artp

Is it true then that horsepower is the ability to keep a load in motion, as in keep your truck and load going up a hill... And torque is the ability to accelerate?

rphron

I just bought my Tundra last week at that Karl "The Mailman" Malone Toyota dealership (in Utah) and have almost 500 miles on it. My first real controlled mileage report is 16 MPG, 14 Gallons and 224 miles. That is with about 75% freeway and 25% city. Hope this improves when the break-in period is over. Using 88 octane

z71bill

Sounds like you lost your virginity at the Toyota dealership. The only thing that stopped me from doing the same thing on my first new car purchase was I really could not afford to make the payment after the deal changed. I did not want to walk out and leave the car of my dreams but had no choice.... I learned a lesson that day - half way out to my crappy old car the salesman ran up to me and agreed to sell it at the original agreed to price.. I drove off happy... and smarter - the buyer always has the power to say no and walk away.

Good luck with your truck - consider the extra you paid part of your education expense.

quadrunner500

To "keep a load in motion", it takes constant torque to overcome friction, road resistance, wind, etc. But it also takes some rpm to have motion. Since horsepower = Torque X RPM, the vehicle in motion has both.

For acceleration, you need a positive change in torque. But since for all speeds above zero you also must have rpm, horsepower describes acceleration too. In fact, since horsepower includes terms for both torque and rpm, if you know any two you can solve for the third.

In a more subjective sense, torque gives you an instantaneous acceleration, but it takes horsepower to maintain it. A small elevator in an office building can accelerate at the same rate as one that serves a skyscraper. But the one in the skyscraper maintains that rate of acceleration longer, to a higher final velocity, and thus requires more horsepower for the same torque.

artp

Your description makes much sense, thanks.

-Art

kuz1

I owned a 96 SR5 V6 T100 and had the head gasket changed at Toyota's expense. While I was at the dealers getting my Tundra I wondered back to the shop entrance and asked the mechanic about the head gasket problems they had on the V6's and he said I believe 1998 and up were the "new head gaskets" and there still changing 98 and below at Toyotas expense. So it seams to me there shouldn't be any more questions on the subject for the new Tundra's V6 head gasket. I've got a LTD TRD 4x4 V8 with just over a 1k mile on her and love it. The lights seam fine to me. I did hear of some other guys replacing them with a after market blue 90/100 watt light. Sorry don't know the results.

BK from PA

kuz1

Sorry 97 and below!

edr3

For those of you interested in the 3.4L V6, I'm (still)driving a '97 4Runner - leased in May of '97. I recently received a letter from Toyota on the headgasket "recall" and after a bit of research by my local (and somewhat trusted) Dealer, they said my VIN checked out okay. It had been built after a new headgasket design was implemented by Toyota. I tow a large Coleman camp trailer here in Colorado and push the truck heading up the mountain slopes (I easily maintain 70+ until the very top @ 11,000 feet). It runs great and has never missed a beat. I think Toyota's learned their lesson.
Best of luck with your Tundras gentlemen, and I hope to join you next May when my lease runs out!

pcheng

Sorry to hear about your experience.

For those of you out there; a little advise.
-NO is the most powerful word in an negotiation.
-He HAS to sell the truck a lot more than you NEED to buy it.
-The long he doesn't sell the truck, the more money he loses, the longer you don't buy the truck, the more money you save.
-And finally, for every perfect truck that you HAVE TO HAVE, Toyota will make 1000's more EXACTLY like that one.

Keep these points in mind when you go negotiate a deal.

hall2

just wondering if anyone change their own oil on the Tundra? I like to do it myself and use Castrol Syntec synthetic but afraid it might void warranty since it is the first generation truck, alot of things can go wrong. Not that it may relate to the oil change itself. Any suggestions?

tuck4

Has anyone tried to get a snowplow for their Tundra yet?
If so what manufacture?

Thanks.

pcheng

I doubt if synthetic oil will void your warranty: it won't hurt or harm your engine. About the only thing it will void you of is $$ in your wallet.

Synthetic oil is over kill, much like buying high octane gas if your truck/car doesn't need it. Synthetic oil does protect your engine better in extreme operation. Under normal use (including light towing and daily commuting) the difference is very minimal. The benefit of synthetic comes in when your engine is running hot and hard (in the top 80% of engine performance regularly). In other words unless you are running your engine in top gear at near redline in hot or high altitude environment, or weigh your truck down so that you have to almost floor it to get it moving, or just floor the throttle from every stop sign and stop light, the extra cost of synthetic oil is probably not worth the gain you get in the engines longevity.

I know, some people will say it's cheap insurance, but if that's the case, why don't you fill up with the most expensive gas all the time (to prevent pinging), or pay a detailer $100 a month for a hand rub wax to protect the finish, why don't you always buy the extended warranty at Circut City. There's a lot of things that pay extra for, but your decision is usually based on your perceived benefit.

One last thing ... don't forget to check the oil level after you change the oil. I think the manual was a bit optimistic in saying 6 to 6.5 quarts. It's more like 7. Even if you take your truck to a shop (or even dealer), take 30 seconds and check your oil level before you pull out. I've found that most places just assume engines take either 4 or 6 quarts.

My $0.02

cwirth

pcheng is correct about the oil capacity. I had my two oil changes done at the dealership I purchased the truck and both times the oil level was at the mininum mark, even after I specifically told the service advisor the second time about my first oil change experience.

The manuals are incorrect and the service personnel must not be well advised as to the correct oil quantity. I think that the oil capacity maybe be closer to 7.5 quarts. I sure would like to know exactly what it is.

artp

I debated whether to use conventional or synthetic oil and arrived at the idea to use Castrol Syntec Blend, a blend of synthetic and conventional oil. It's reasonably priced and offers extra protection. I paid about $2.20 per quart, since I change my own oil it costs about the same as a "quick lube" type place, and I know it's done right.

I think what Pete said is true but for an extra $7 per oil change I have added piece of mind.

tuck4

Just got off the phone with a snowplow manufacture and was told that the front end of the Tundra was too light to support a plow therefore they were not going to make a system for the Tundra.

Anybody want to buy a slightly used Tundra?

quadrunner500

That's not something you want to do to a Tundra, is stick a plow on the front. I don't think they are recommending them on the Silverado 1/2 ton either. You need to find a limited duty, "second truck" costing less than the plow, for that task.

tuck4

I didn't buy the Tundra to plow snow, however I recently bought a business that requires that I have a plow. I thought about the second truck however if I buy a cheap one I will spend more time fixing the truck than plowing with it.
You are right I would hate to stick a plow on the front just as much as I would hate to sell. This truck has been great, I do not have one bad thing to say about it, the more I drive it the more I like it.