How Many Toyota Tundra V6s Truly Suffered the Dreaded Turbocharger Wastegate Failure?
Toyota shocked the truck world when it tossed the Tundra’s naturally-aspirated V8 engine in favor of a twin-turbocharged V6 for the truck’s third generation. V8 traditionalists got to say, “I told you so,” when multiple brand new 2022 Tundras went into limp mode due to a bad turbocharger wastegate actuator. But how many V6 Tundras truly suffered a wastegate failure? The answer may be less than 100 failures out of almost 100,000 Tundras built in 2022. More importantly, no one has reported a wastegate failure since Toyota changed suppliers.
What are the symptoms of the wastegate on the Toyota Tundra?
Several owners of the 2022 Toyota Tundras with its turbocharged V6 reported their brand-new trucks went into limp mode. When they took their pickups to the dealer, they found the wastegate actuator on their turbochargers had failed and needed to be replaced.
A turbocharger uses a turbine to harness the pressure created by an internal combustion engine’s exhaust system. This turbine spins an air pump that compresses atmospheric air for the combustion cylinders. This compressed air contains more oxygen than regular air and produces more powerful combustions.
If too much pressure builds up in the turbocharger, an automated wastegate releases some of it. If the wastegate fails, the turbocharger may wear out prematurely. When Toyota Tundra wastegates failed, the trucks detected the problem and put the engine in limp mode to preserve it.
How many Toyota Tundras suffered a wastegate failure?
Approximately 40 owners of 2022 Toyota Tundras reported their turbocharger wastegates failing. This includes owners who posted the problem on Facebook, reported the problem to Toyota, or even reported it in an owners’ poll. There may be some unreported failures, but the total number is likely below 100.
It was the private site Tundra.com that documented every wastegate failure it could find. Its moderators even combed Facebook for posts by Tundra owners complaining of a wastegate failure. Tundra.com came up with 26 reports or rumors of wastegate failures. In addition, the Tundra Owners Group polled its 76,000 members to see if they had personally experienced a 2022 Tundra wastegate failure. Fourteen members responded that they had. Assuming there are no duplicates between these groups, that is 40 documented wastegate failures.
These numbers were compiled by Revere Overland–which also owns a 2022 Tundra–and reported on Youtube. Were there any additional wastegate failures that went completely under the radar? Perhaps a few. But considering that Toyota sold 94,429 Tundras in 2022, the problem was relatively rare.
Did Toyota fix its Tundra turbocharger wastegates?
When Toyota got reports of Tundra turbocharger wastegates it tore down several affected trucks to analyze the problem. Then it found a new supplier of turbocharger wastegates. No Tundra owners have reported a wastegate failure since this supplier fix.
Will turbocharged V6 Tundras prove as reliable as the older trucks with their naturally-aspirated V8s? Only time will tell. Revere Overland predicts that the turbochargers will be a wear item, one that you will have to replace eventually, considering how long the rest of a Toyota truck lasts. But considering the versatility of the new engine, a new turbocharger may prove to be a negligible cost.
