Top High Mileage Issues 2007-Present Toyota Tundra Truck

Hey friends, it's Len here from 1A Auto. So today in the studio, I have a 2007 Toyota Tundra. I wanted to go over some of the top high mileage issues that you might come to find, so let's get started.

The first few things that I wanna talk about is your water pump, thermostat, and of course, the serpentine belt. All three of these things are pretty much interconnected on this truck, and of course, they're all very integral to the functionality of your truck. If you're having an issue with the water pump, typically it's gonna come down to a leak that comes along this pulley seal right here, or even some movement coming from this area. If you have movement, it's because on the backside here, or in between, there's supposed to be a bearing. So if this can wobble around, the bearings are worn out. Of course, if this can move around, you're also gonna get a leak around the seal. As for the thermostat itself, this is something that can technically break down over time. It has a little spring in there, and of course, it opens and closes with the heat of the coolant. So of course, every time it opens and closes, it's gonna eventually wear out. To replace this, you would just go ahead and take off the housing here that's located on the water pump, and then you can go ahead and remove the thermostat from it. Now the serpentine belt itself, to replace that, you're gonna wanna make sure that you pay attention to the belt routing. So that's gonna be located right up in here, and it goes over some pulleys, and under other pulleys. So you wanna make sure that you put it back on the original way that you removed it.

The next couple problems I wanna talk to you about involves oil leaks on these. Very commonly on your valve covers, which is up along here on both sides of your engine, you're gonna find they have oil seeping out along the gasket here, and it makes its way down along the side of the engine. When this happens, of course, as the oil makes its way along the side of the engine, it's also gonna make its way onto the exhaust manifolds. So you're gonna have a little bit of smoke coming up from underneath your hood inside the engine compartment, and you're gonna have like this weird smell in the air, especially after the engine gets warm. If you smell all this, more than likely it's because of an oil leak, and it's probably because of those valve cover gaskets.

The next thing I'm gonna talk about is the exhaust manifolds. We already kind of touched on it a little bit when we're talking about oil leaks, but if you look right inside the wheel well if you go ahead and remove the covering that's right here, you're gonna be able to find your metal exhaust manifolds right across here. What can commonly happen with these, well, technically they can crack, especially if they get heated up quite a bit, and then they cool down very fast like maybe you're splashing around some puddles or something like that. Other than that, the hardware that holds the manifold to the engine itself, once again, starts to rust, rot out, and of course, it'll break off. Once that happens, the manifold can pull away from the engine, and more than likely, you're gonna start hearing like a little bit of a ticking noise coming from this. And as it gets worse, it's gonna start going [vocalization], which of course, you know, there's a very big issue. Now, the reason why I wanna talk about this is because, of course, if you have an exhaust leak at your exhaust manifolds right up here, you might potentially have exhaust fumes making their way into the passenger compartment, which of course can make you very sick, or even give you bad headaches and some nausea.

Now since we're talking about exhaust, let's also talk about O2 sensors. You're gonna have 2 downstream O2 sensors, and then 2 upstream O2 sensors. The upstream O2 sensors are gonna be the ones that are further ahead on the exhaust, closer to where the manifold is. The downstream are gonna be after the catalytic converters. So I have an O2 sensor in my hand here. I know it's not the one for the truck, but it is something that I can show you. You're gonna notice on the bottom of this one, you have a whole bunch of little sensing holes. Essentially, this is gonna be right inside the exhaust pipe. So as the exhaust is getting blown by it, this is gonna be sensing the air-fuel mixture that's getting sent out through the actual exhaust itself. If it seems as though it's running a little bit too rich, like as if your engine's putting in too much fuel for the amount of air that's getting drawn in, this is gonna talk to the computer and say, "Hey, you need to lessen up on that gas a little bit, and give me a little bit more air." If these aren't functioning properly, well, of course, you're gonna have a running condition, and more than likely you're gonna have poor fuel economy overall.

To replace your O2 sensors, it's fairly simple. You're gonna have an electrical connector, you wanna disconnect that, follow it down to where it connects on to the exhaust pipe, and spray this down with some penetrant, let it sit for a minute. After that, just go ahead and turn this counterclockwise until it completely unscrews, grab your new O2 sensor, go ahead and put a little bit of copper Never-Seez just on the threaded area there, and then insert it in there and snug it up, reattach the wiring, and then, of course, clear your check engine light, and make sure the code doesn't reappear.

The next thing we're gonna talk about is wheel bearings. Behind every wheel, you're gonna have some bearings, and that's essentially what's gonna make it so your wheel can turn while still being held to the actual truck itself. In the front, they're actually gonna be mounted right here to the knuckle, and then of course it's gonna come out, and you're gonna be able to mount your rotor and your wheel to it. Now the bearings themselves, of course, as you're driving the truck, it's gonna be constantly turning. If your wheel bearings are going bad, typically you might hear a little bit of a humming noise coming from one of your wheels. and it might especially get a little bit louder depending on if you're turning or not. Typically, if you have a humming noise and you turn to the right, then you're gonna probably have an issue with your left front bearing. That's not always necessarily true, it's just something to keep in mind. Other than that, you might feel a shake, whether it's in the steering wheel when you go over a bump or something like that, you go ahead and jack up the front end, and you can take your wheel and do this in pretty much any direction. That essentially means that your wheel bearing has movement and it needs to be replaced. Aside from that, if your wheel bearing has that much movement, you might even hear a scraping noise. The scraping is gonna be because of the brakes themselves. As that bearing can move around, the rotor can also move around. And of course, if it starts moving around too much, it could potentially rub up against something. Now, commonly if you're gonna replace your wheel bearing, you don't necessarily need to do them as a pair, but I would always recommend a four-wheel alignment.

While we're still underneath the truck, let's talk about differential seal leaks. Essentially, if you have a four-wheel-drive truck, you're gonna have a front differential, you're gonna have a transfer case in the center, and then, of course, you're gonna have the rear differential all the way in the far rear. Now, these are common things to leak. What tends to happen is, of course, as the axles are spinning, or even the driveshafts are spinning, they're gonna wear into those seals, especially if you do a lot of off-roading type driving. So if you're off on a dirt road or anything like that, dirt and everything else makes its way in between the shaft and the seal, that's gonna go ahead and cause an issue with the seal, and you're gonna find that you have leakage. Now, if you have a differential or a gearbox seal leak, that's something that you're gonna wanna make sure you take care of ASAP. You definitely don't wanna go ahead and drive your truck with no fluid in the differential because, of course, that's gonna add friction, it's gonna add heat, and of course, it's more than likely gonna damage the gears that are located inside of any of your differentials.

And lastly, before I go ahead and let you go, I wanna talk about headlamp assemblies. Now, why are these kind of like a high mileage type of replacement? Well, because, of course, while you're driving your truck down the road, a lot of times you're gonna have some road debris that flies up. Whether you're driving behind big trucks, or even on the highway, a lot of times, things are gonna kick up such as sand, or muck, or any other type of debris. When that happens, it's gonna cause pitting that comes across your headlamp assemblies, and, of course, that's gonna cause a safety issue. For me personally, if I found that I had any pitting or any damage to my headlamp assemblies, I find that to be a safety issue, so I'm just gonna go ahead and replace them both as a pair.

Okay, friends, so that's pretty much what I've got for you. Maybe you've got one of these trucks with high mileage with some problems of its own. If you do and you wanna talk about it, leave it in the comment section below because I always love to hear from you. If you liked the video or maybe even learned a little something, go ahead and smash on that like button for me, it would mean the world. While you're at it, go ahead and subscribe, ring the bell, that way there you can be kept up with all of our latest content. Thanks.