Hello and welcome to the Car Carrier Note channel and welcome to the second generation Toyota Sequoia in a video style that we haven't done in a long time. We're going to talk about the common problems with this generation Sequoia because I think this generation Sequoia is a really good one to buy used and the newer generation got a little too expensive and lost some of the magic of this generation. The previous generation, while it is great, good examples are becoming harder to find. I think if you're shopping for a Sequoia, this should be on your radar.
But in today's video, we're going to discuss some of their very common problems and things that you can easily check to know if you're buying a good one or one that has every single common problem wrong with it right after this. Let's start with the engine category and the Sequoia can be had with three engines throughout as a super long run from 2008 all the way to 2022. The first engine option is actually the 2UZ-FE, one of the best engines ever made by Toyota and that only ran from 2008-2009. You find one of these that are not rusty and it's taken care of in good shape you can cannot make a mistake with these they are great engines however they do have a couple things few things first it's a timing belt engine so every 90,000 miles you're going to have to do a timing belt replacement which can get costly because it's a little bit involved the second thing with this engine is cover gaskets love to leak oil leaks I guess with age is something to be expected the third thing is which is a little bit more expensive and something you nearly need to watch for with the 2UZ exhaust manifold leaks so especially when it's cold you start you hear like a ticking noise and then as it warms up it starts to get less less and disappear sometimes it doesn't that's the exhaust manifold they love to crack and especially when you have a rusty one they'll get a lot worse and they're extremely expensive to replace so you got a Sequoia with the 2UZ that has the ticking noise when it's cold, investigate or avoid because they get pretty expensive. Now the next engine that actually replaced the 2UZ was the 1U-R-FE that came right around 2010 actually by 2012 it was gone from the Sequoia.
Not an engine I recommend because even though it's exactly the same as the 3UR, but this big behemoth could use a little bit more displacement, a few more horsepower there, but for all intents and purposes, the 1UR is exactly the same as the 3UR, which is the main engine really in Sequoia, and the one you're going to find in most of them, and also it has the same common problems, so let's dig into it. The 3UR-FE, or even the FBE, these had ethanol-enabled cars or ethanol compatible cars you can put the 85 in them flex fuel they call them the 5.7 v8 people mourned and wrote essays when toyota decided to ditch the v8 and go with the v6 twin turbo on the new model but you know what the truth is i was around when this engine first came out these engines do have a few quirks most people never talk about until you run into them they're great engines don't get me wrong but they do have a few things first thing is simple stuff Coolant leaks. The water pump is very common to go on this engine, similarly the 1UR, same thing.
Not really a big deal, seems a lot more intimidating to replace than it actually is. Labor is medium, not too much, but something you should check. You only can check these from the bottom, it's really difficult to see it from the top, so the best way is remove the skid plate, look all the way up, you'll actually see coolant underneath the water pump and that's how you know it.
Typically these are not the dripping kind because there is a big skid plate underneath. The second coolant leak, which is a little bit more serious and a little bit bigger, is the heat exchanger underneath the intake manifold. So there is basically a big cover that sits underneath the intake manifold and has a coolant valley. That loves to leak on these. And the way you know it, it's going to leak over the transmission, kind of underneath the truck.
But it seems like it's leaking coolant from the transmission. It's actually leaking all the way in the back, and it's making it sweat. way down a little bit difficult to check but you do want to check if you have this on a lift just look at the transmission you see and look kind of up into the engine bay you see any transmission you see any coolant crust that pink trails or whatever that is the plate leaking and there can get a little expensive and a little tricky to replace there now there are some oil leaks that are common on this couple of them especially as they get older and they get more miles on them the first one is cam tower leaks So basically the cylinder head on this engine is a two-piece cylinder head.
One piece has the valves and everything and the second piece actually has the cams themselves it's actually super simple to check that you just look between the wheel and the body at the very back of the engine and you'll see if you see oil there the cam tower is leaking a little bit of an involved job to do that and a little costly of course but if it's a very small leak perhaps use it to negotiate but until it is leaking actively on the exhaust manifold and you see the smoke when you drive it i wouldn't replace i wouldn't repair it yet the other thing that's common with these is front time and cover this is just the thing with toyota chain engines where the head meets the block meets the front timing cover that little area is very weak and some of them do leak now we're not talking the kind of leak that leaves giant puddles everywhere and you're constantly having to top it off with oil that is not that kind of leak even the cam tower is not but eventually they build up to be so much that you have smoke you have occasional drip here and there and people will want to fix them that is it's not a pressure leak make sure you know about that. The next thing about this engine which is actually becoming somewhat of a new problem developing, rattling or ticking sounds when they're cold and eventually goes away when they're warmer. There is a tendency for the timing chain tensioner on the driver's side to not pump up all the way.
So this is a ratcheting style timing chain tensioner. So it has a lock that locks it from going all the way in, by the same time that little bit of movement at the end, oil pressure pushes it forward and holds the guide. What's happening with these is on the driver's side only, for some reason only the driver's side starts backing out and getting stuck until oil gets thin enough. and it pushes it forward and it's gone.
It's very simple to detect. So when you start these engines, the fan will roar, and that's normal. Then eventually it'll quiet down. It's when it quiets down and it's like about to start warming up is when you start hearing that ticking sound.
You hear that? This is a very involved job. However, I do have to say one thing.
At least to my experience, there hasn't been evidence of that chain tensioner eventually causing the guide to break and we have all kinds of catastrophic failure. been evidence of that but we have seen cases where the thing rattles even when the car is warmed up that is something you need to know about and check these when they're cold every time you go to check out a used car sequoia or not you should check it when it's completely cold that sat for eight hours, start it up, listen to that engine, and check everything after that. This is very important. And folks, one more thing on this engine.
Even though the exhaust manifolds on this engine are a lot better than that of the 2UZ design-wise, they don't have a tendency of cracking and whatnot, but there is a few cases that we've seen that this may become a trend with this. Where it connects to the secondary air injection pipe, because this engine does have secondary air injection, we've seen cracks there that literally mimic... that off. the exhaust manifolds on the 2UZ.
So if you hear any ticking from this, that this feels like an exhaust tick and you hear or you smell exhaust fumes and then they go away, that actually could be, and that's very simple to detect actually. And speaking of secondary air injection, the early years in this, 2008, 2009, some 2010s and things got better afterwards, they had air injection problems. Little foam filter gets moisture on it, disintegrates and sends that debris. all over the system. This was super common with these.
Right around 2012, 2013, the fix was permanent from the factory. Some other cars got campaigned where they fixed them, but the thing is they got a software update. So with these cars, when you start them up, you're going to hear that pump running. Most people won't detect it though, but when it's warmed up and you shut it off, you'll hear a pump whirr, then come down. Some people think that is a problem.
That's actually normal for these. And you want to hear, that's the happy sound. That's the sound that the secondary air injection is working as it should. If you have a 2UZ though with the secondary air injection, you do want to look into that filter and removing it.
or at least replacing it with something else because it is a lot more common on the 2UZ than it is on this. But these, the early years, did have that issue. And you do not want to buy one with a check engine light that has secondary air injection codes because things get extremely expensive when you have a problem with the secondary air injection.
Let's talk about the transmission section. And the first question I have for you, wait, Sequoias have transmissions? From a mechanic.
These actually don't have a lot of transmission issues, hardly anything at all, but they actually had three transmission options, I don't know many people are actually not aware of that. When you have the 2UZ you actually have a 1.750 transmission which is just one of the toughest transmissions there is and then when you had the 1UR the 4.6 liter you actually had a 1.760 six-speed transmission very similar to 750 but it has one more gear and then if you have the 5.7 or three you are you actually have the AB60 that is the Tundra transmission very exactly the same folks on the Sequoia all these three transmissions they're excellent transmissions with the exception of a couple things that you really need to be aware of and they're kind of induced not problems by like from design the first one is rust these transmission pans and the bolts they rust so bad and it gets to a point where there is is nothing to drill into because it's so thin that the area where the bolts for the oil pan go that there's nothing to drill into and if you break these bolts now we have a major issue we're gonna have a continuous leak that people have gotten really crafty with C clamps and whatnot but be careful with the rusty ones with the transmission with service and the biggest other thing is especially the a750 and 760 when they get neglected with service they tend to develop a torque converter shutter That is one of their quirks. And you really want to service this transmission every 60,000 miles.
Change the fluid, drain and fill, original fluid, and we're good. You really will not have any issues with this transmission. They're super well made.
They rarely have issues. As long as you service them, though. You don't service them, they still last a long time, but not as long as they could have lasted if you just changed the fluid every 60,000 miles.
Let's talk about the chassis and the body of the Sequoia. Common problems. First thing is this rear glass that comes down. Now this glass, while it's a great feature, eventually you're going to have issues with it. And they're super common, even in non-rust areas, because water actually does make its way down the door and drain.
So there is a big regulator that helps this window come up and down. It gets rusty and eventually it breaks. And when it does, this window will come down and give you the biggest scare of your life. That's just how it goes with a Sequoia. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do to prevent it.
Basically, if you put rust protection stuff on it, it's going to interfere with the operation of the glass. So you really can't do anything about it. The main thing is when you're going to... to buy one test this window and don't test it once test it two three times if all of a sudden it comes off the track starts making weird noises that would be a negotiating point they are a little bit expensive to fix some of these regulators are expensive but it's doable usually the glass rarely breaks when even when it falls it's pretty strong glass and then the other thing on these the handle that opens the back loves to have like a little you melting down I don't know why it happens but it does and it makes it really difficult to open so if you put your hand on it and it has a weird like texture to it that's the melting stuff and this really goes to a lot of Toyota models in this era but If you see that, they're not super expensive, a little bit involved to replace, but another thing you want to check, and if it is like that, bring it up.
Maybe you'll get a few bucks off the price, so you can take care of it. You won't have issues with the back door. Now, the brakes. The Sequoia is, for lack of a better word, word a big behemoth very heavy very big and that's just how it is the brakes on it however are very small the front brakes you will go through a lot of front brakes and you'll always have vibrations when they get closer to the end of their life that's unfortunately one of their quirks the rear brakes they usually last a little longer but they have one other issue especially with the rusty lens rust gets behind the backing plate and it pushes it up like kind of bubbles it up when you go to place rotors they'll start scraping you have to take the rotor off kind of grind or push in the backing plate so it wouldn't contact the new rotor eventually even if you don't do anything eventually it'll go away on its own because the inside of the rotor will keep scraping until it grinds it down a little bit and that's it this is very common so when you go drive when you take sharp turns and you hear grinding in the back that's actually the backing plate especially if they just put new brakes on it Very simple to fix, but a little bit time consuming.
Not really expensive at all to take care of that. And the last thing is the suspension. The suspension generally in the Sequoia, super reliable. The struts, shocks, control arms, ball joints, they last a very long time. And these can come optioned with rear air suspension.
Most folks will shy away from air suspensions, but folks, this generation Sequoia has one of the most reliable air suspensions. I don't recall ever actually doing anything with the rear suspension on these. Eventually the airbags will fail and you have to replace them. But the good thing is you can replace them with springs because these did come with springs.
You can keep it OEM and switch. So don't shy away from the trucks just because it has rear air suspension. They're actually very reliable. And the rear suspension in this truck looks... very complicated, I mean it's so different than the Tundra that has just leaf springs, this thing has a lot of arms and all kinds of complications, but actually the rear suspension you're going to look at it, it looks super complicated and then 300,000 miles will pass and look exactly the same, nothing really goes bad in these in the back and that's the beauty of them, they're very reliable trucks folks.
And lastly, electrical common problems. Folks, the Sequoias don't have many electrical common problems. Actually, nothing at all.
But one thing is induced. See, this truck has a feature that is called... One touch start. When you have the physical key, you can actually put the key in, turn it, just bump it once, and it'll actually continue to crank until the engine starts.
That was actually a very cool feature at the time, now it's like completely redundant, but because of that, the ignition system and the starting system in this truck is a little bit more complicated than in your average car. So when you go install accessories or aftermarket remote starts, Inexperienced installers will cause all kinds of havocs because these have very skinny wires because all the keys doing is sending a signal it's not really the computer is engaging the starter not the key so improper install for remote starts will cause all kinds of problems here leading up to the truck not starting starting for a second and shutting off and all because of one tiny wire they love to tap into on the passenger side kick panel I see this a lot and this is very common on these. You want to make sure if you have remote start that it's installed properly and if you are installing a remote start on these make sure that the person installing them are familiar with this with this little thing that they have this little feature because it could really cause problems if you don't.
Folks this generation Sequoia they're really good trucks. If you buy a good one and you do your homework. Let's reiterate that to make sure these are the most important things. The first thing is the ideal years to start to avoid most of the common problems is 2013 and up. The earlier ones while they are great but these are the years that I see most of the common problems in 2013 up things got a lot better.
Now the most important thing that you need to know when you're buying one of these Sequoias is rust. If you can go out a little bit out of your way to find one in a non-rusty area, that is actually the best thing to do. Don't be afraid with miles on these, as long as they have been maintained, especially that transmission. Every 60,000 miles, you'd want to see some kind of record of fluid replacement.
Folks, these trucks, they're massive. They're terrible on gas. Gas mileage is not their thing.
No matter what you do, people will do all kinds of tuning and this and that. You will get horrible gas mileage with this truck because it's very heavy. It's very big. It has a massive engine. And that's just a perfect recipe for horrible gas mileage.
But these, initially, when you get in them and you look at their prices, it feels like a giant plastic interior that just doesn't inspire anybody. But that's exactly the point. This is not luxurious. This is not meant to wow you with the looks and impress your neighbors.
This is an honest to God car. Takes you from A to B and your large family or possibly carry a lot of things in the back very comfortably, very safely, and most importantly, very reliably. These things can be really reliable if you take care of them and you kind of know their quirks and take care of them when they first start. Folks. I hope this video is helpful and informative.
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Check out some of my other videos. And until the next video, folks, may the Lord bless you and keep you. And you have yourself a wonderful day.