What 17 owners told NHTSA about the 2011 Toyota Sequoia

On [XXX] while driving our 2011 Toyota Sequoia 4x4 Limited (5.7 iforce non flex fuel) my wife was preparing to stop at a traffic light. Completely unexpected and with no warning, the vehicle started bucking, the engine began making a knocking noise and numerous dashboard lights started flashing. It immediately stalled while attempting to stop, thus, causing a very dangerous situation, losing total control of the brakes and steering, nearly causing a collision with the vehicle in front of her. The vehicle had to be towed from the middle of the road, while in heavy traffic. Eventually it was diagnosed (at my mechanics shop) and determined to be a broken valve spring in cylinder #7. This caused the valve to drop into the cylinder bore, making contact with the piston, known as "catastrophic failure on an 'interference' engine"..I later learned that these DEFECTIVE ($5) valve springs, are used in my meticulously maintained 5.7 Toyota motor,...THE SAME PART NUMBER UNDER RECALL IN SEVERAL LEXUS VEHICLES!! Being that I constantly maintained this vehicle and it being in overall excellent condition, I determined it was less expensive to have the engine replaced over repaired. I spent over $4600 in a used motor with 88k miles, and $5400 in labor for the replacement.. total cost of over $10,000 for a $5 defective part that was only recalled on the Lexus vehicles. I kept the original engine in case I can (eventually) have Toyota Corp do an inspection on it and get some kind of compensation on this dangerous, avoidable, selective vehicle recall. No luck thus far but have pictures, invoices and all documents on this situation that I can provide when requested. I am having difficulty downloading these documents to this site. Thank you very much. [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11578821

TOYOTA HAS A FAULTY DESIGN ON 5.7 LITER SEQUOIAS AND TUNDRAS WHERE THE ENGINE CAMSHAFT TOWER SEALANT LEAKS OIL TOWARDS THE CABIN. SINCE THE ENGINE IS TILTED BACK, THE ENGINE OIL IS DIRECTED TO A HEAT SHIELD AND THEN DIRECTLY TO THE EXHAUST PIPE. UPON REACHING THE EXHAUST IT CAUSES SMOKE. THE SMOKE WILL ENTER INTO THE CABIN CAUSING ENGINE FUMES WHICH OCCUR WHEN DRIVING OR PARKED UNTIL THE ENGINE COOLS. THE ENGINE COULD HAVE CAUGHT FIRE, BASED ON THE AMOUNT OF SMOKE THAT CAME OUT. UPON FURTHER RESEARCH, THIS ISSUE HAS CAUSED FIRES. EVIDENCE OF THIS PROBLEM IS READILY AVAILABLE SEARCHING "TOYOTA TUNDRA CAM LEAK FIRE", FURTHERMORE, CHANGE.ORG PETITION HAS OVER 5,178 SIGNATURES REQUESTING THE RECALL. THIS ISSUE HAS OCCURRED IN VEHICLES FROM 1,000 MILES AND UP. TOYOTA NOW USES A DIFFERENT SEALANT TO PREVENT THIS LEAKING, SO THEY MUST HAVE RECOGNIZED THE ISSUE BUT HAVE REMAINED SILENT. UPON CONTACTING TOYOTA, THE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE STATED THAT HE "HAD NEVER HEARD OF THIS PROBLEM". THE DEALERSHIP THAT IS FIXING THIS HAS A NUMBER OF EXPERIENCED MECHANICS THAT DO SEE THIS OFTEN. IT IS UNSAFE TO DRIVE WITH THIS CONDITION AND THE COST TO REPAIR IS OVER $3,000!

NHTSA ODI 11319081