[PWScottIV]

Has anyone had problems with TRD not backing their warrantee for items such as superchargers? I have a 2004 Toyota Tacoma (XtraCab, 4x4, Manual Transmission, Supercharger, 7th Injector Kit) and I haven't done any non-TRD mods. I've now had my Catylitic Converter melt down 3 times, which TRD paid to have replaced. Even though TRD agrees that I haven't done anything wrong, now they're saying that I either have to get my supercharger removed or It'll void my Toyota factory warrantee. So, basically neither TRD nor Toyota want to find out what's really wrong with my truck. I've spoken with one guy in particular at TRD and a specially trained Toyota Technician who flew here to inspect my truck (who's names I'll leave out of this post), and both of them recommended (off the record, of course) for me to bore the caylitic out and use an O2 sensor simulator. Is it me, or is this really weird? Can someone lend some advice? Thanks

 

[DCabTaco]

Has anyone had problems with TRD not backing their warrantee for items such as superchargers? I have a 2004 Toyota Tacoma (XtraCab, 4x4, Manual Transmission, Supercharger, 7th Injector Kit) and I haven't done any non-TRD mods. I've now had my Catylitic Converter melt down 3 times, which TRD paid to have replaced. Even though TRD agrees that I haven't done anything wrong, now they're saying that I either have to get my supercharger removed or It'll void my Toyota factory warrantee. So, basically neither TRD nor Toyota want to find out what's really wrong with my truck. I've spoken with one guy in particular at TRD and a specially trained Toyota Technician who flew here to inspect my truck (who's names I'll leave out of this post), and both of them recommended (off the record, of course) for me to bore the caylitic out and use an O2 sensor simulator. Is it me, or is this really weird? Can someone lend some advice? Thanks

I've heard about this before. TRD and Toyota don't have the best rep when it comes to warrantee claims. All I can say is don't let down. You the consumer didn't do anything wrong and keep going up the chain. Keep very good records of all your purchases and services. That will give you a good leg to stand on and they will have to honor the warrantee. The higher you go the more(quicker) the response.

 

[Beave]

I've also had catalytic meltdowns on my '02 Double Cab. Although I don't have any big mods like the supercharger etc. These burn-outs happened once at 54k and again at 72k. I figured it was my non-TRD Cat-Back, and thus removed it after the 72k incident. Maybe I'm wrong?? Anybody else dealing with this catalytic nightmare??

I have the 100k warranty, so hopefully the next time it happens, I'll be under warranty still!!

I can't believe the rep told you that!! How shady is that?! Whats REALLY going on here??

Beave

 

[REDMARLIN WITH SOUL]

TRD Warranty problems

Has anyone had problems with TRD not backing their warrantee for items such as superchargers? I have a 2004 Toyota Tacoma (XtraCab, 4x4, Manual Transmission, Supercharger, 7th Injector Kit) and I haven't done any non-TRD mods. I've now had my Catylitic Converter melt down 3 times, which TRD paid to have replaced. Even though TRD agrees that I haven't done anything wrong, now they're saying that I either have to get my supercharger removed or It'll void my Toyota factory warrantee. So, basically neither TRD nor Toyota want to find out what's really wrong with my truck. I've spoken with one guy in particular at TRD and a specially trained Toyota Technician who flew here to inspect my truck (who's names I'll leave out of this post), and both of them recommended (off the record, of course) for me to bore the caylitic out and use an O2 sensor simulator. Is it me, or is this really weird? Can someone lend some advice? Thanks

Look under post "V-6 Modification" TRDOLMAN in reply to my quote. Dave says, "sooner or later your cats will clog..." Like "DCAB" says do not give up. Pen is much mightier than the sword. Write to BBB (Better Business Bureau) and if that does not work ask BBB for phone number of Attorney General of that state where TRD or Toyota is located. Trust me, they (TRD ot Toyota) will bend to the presssure. They do not want to be on the list of Attorney General of having a disgruntled customer under a warranty factor. YOU on the other hand have to put in some time and effort to straighten this out. I had a problem with "North-west off Road company" and I went through all the channels and wound up with Attorney General. I got a $50 refund AND the satisfaction of knowing I was correct. When my letters to OFF-ROAD (Never deal with them) only produced a screw you responce I went onward. My advise to you is stand by your convictions and do not wither. Good Luck. Richie

 

[mycirus]

How do you know when they fail? What is the symtom?

 

[wisctaco04]

Has anyone had problems with TRD not backing their warrantee for items such as superchargers? I have a 2004 Toyota Tacoma (XtraCab, 4x4, Manual Transmission, Supercharger, 7th Injector Kit) and I haven't done any non-TRD mods. I've now had my Catylitic Converter melt down 3 times, which TRD paid to have replaced. Even though TRD agrees that I haven't done anything wrong, now they're saying that I either have to get my supercharger removed or It'll void my Toyota factory warrantee. So, basically neither TRD nor Toyota want to find out what's really wrong with my truck. I've spoken with one guy in particular at TRD and a specially trained Toyota Technician who flew here to inspect my truck (who's names I'll leave out of this post), and both of them recommended (off the record, of course) for me to bore the caylitic out and use an O2 sensor simulator. Is it me, or is this really weird? Can someone lend some advice? Thanks

You do know that the 7th Kit from TRD is not helping the cat at all, right? Make them put a new one on and do the upgrade from URD and you wont run so rich and melt em. There are others before you who solved the cat issue with a proper tune. Hell, you even get more HP. Or you can waste alot of time dealing with am issue that will keep rearing it's ugly head no many how many times they replace it.

 

[Super Doody]

Has anyone had problems with TRD not backing their warrantee for items such as superchargers? I have a 2004 Toyota Tacoma (XtraCab, 4x4, Manual Transmission, Supercharger, 7th Injector Kit) and I haven't done any non-TRD mods. I've now had my Catylitic Converter melt down 3 times, which TRD paid to have replaced. Even though TRD agrees that I haven't done anything wrong, now they're saying that I either have to get my supercharger removed or It'll void my Toyota factory warrantee. So, basically neither TRD nor Toyota want to find out what's really wrong with my truck. I've spoken with one guy in particular at TRD and a specially trained Toyota Technician who flew here to inspect my truck (who's names I'll leave out of this post), and both of them recommended (off the record, of course) for me to bore the caylitic out and use an O2 sensor simulator. Is it me, or is this really weird? Can someone lend some advice? Thanks

Unforuntately thats just the way it is. You pretty much have to choose between taking off your SC or upgrade to the URD Kit or 7th Injector with URD AIC. If you are really worried about warranty issues just get rid of the SC. If you like tinkering with your truck and want more power go with the fuel mods. We all take a chance with warranties issues when we upgrade. Good luck.

BTW: If they asking you to remove your SC and you still have warranty on it in, you should ask them for some compensation. What the hell are you going to do with a SC you bought and can't use? Tell them they have the responsiblity to make it work for you. If you want to fight this, best of luck. I wish i can talk to them for you. I rip them a new one.

 

[TRDOLMAN]

You do know that the 7th Kit from TRD is not helping the cat at all, right? Make them put a new one on and do the upgrade from URD and you wont run so rich and melt em. There are others before you who solved the cat issue with a proper tune. Hell, you even get more HP. Or you can waste alot of time dealing with am issue that will keep rearing it's ugly head no many how many times they replace it.

He's right. TRD will never "fix" your 7th to not ruin your cats. You have a few choices. Get the URD AIC to tune the flow through the 7th. Or rip the 7th out and do the URD fuel kit. Or rip the cats out, put in a test pipe and an O2 sim. I put the AIC on and it will be damned hard to clog or melt down my cats with them in the garage attic.

Dave

 

[Gadget]

Who at TRD have you been speaking to?

I have heard of this before. I have spoken to more then one guy that had the melting cat problem with the 7th injector kit from TRD. They like to tell people that unless they remove the TRD branded covered under warraty parts that their warranty will be voided. I am dying to know who at TRD is telling people this.

The next time you speak to them, ask them if they will let URD fix their problem for them and let it still be covered under warranty.

 

[ocmike]

Has anyone had problems with TRD not backing their warrantee for items such as superchargers? I have a 2004 Toyota Tacoma (XtraCab, 4x4, Manual Transmission, Supercharger, 7th Injector Kit) and I haven't done any non-TRD mods. I've now had my Catylitic Converter melt down 3 times, which TRD paid to have replaced. Even though TRD agrees that I haven't done anything wrong, now they're saying that I either have to get my supercharger removed or It'll void my Toyota factory warrantee. So, basically neither TRD nor Toyota want to find out what's really wrong with my truck. I've spoken with one guy in particular at TRD and a specially trained Toyota Technician who flew here to inspect my truck (who's names I'll leave out of this post), and both of them recommended (off the record, of course) for me to bore the caylitic out and use an O2 sensor simulator. Is it me, or is this really weird? Can someone lend some advice? Thanks

It doesn't surprise me, I found out that Huntington Beach Toyota won't warranty or work on any TRD item. The work was concerning the headers, so I called toyota corp. customer service number and complained and needless to say HB toyota was calling me within a few hours. But instead of going back to them for the 4th time I ended up going to Tustin Toyota and they took care of the problem in about an hour. So if you continue to run into problems from the dealer call toyota's main customer service number and bitch.

 

[REDMARLIN WITH SOUL]

7th and cat....Interesting

You do know that the 7th Kit from TRD is not helping the cat at all, right? Make them put a new one on and do the upgrade from URD and you wont run so rich and melt em. There are others before you who solved the cat issue with a proper tune. Hell, you even get more HP. Or you can waste alot of time dealing with am issue that will keep rearing it's ugly head no many how many times they replace it.

(1) Would you please explain what "The proper tune" entails. I have Denso Iridium IK 20 plugs, headers, cat-back.

(2) I had 7th installed @ 10 days ago. How long before (generally speaking) problems begin?

(3) What are the "signs" of the cat clogging?

(4) Will long distance driving at Interstate speeds be a helpful or negative thing. Thank You Rich

 

[PWScottIV]

The interesting thing is that this was a problem BEFORE AND after I installed the 7th Injector Kit. When the cat melts down, the 02 Sensor sends #s to the ECU that make it look like the exhaust gasses aren't being cleaned properly, so the air-fuel mix is adjusted accordingly. Eventually, the mix becomes so far out of whack that the engine doesn't have enough power to move the truck.

When the cats are beginning to melt, there are subtle losses in power that within 5-15 minutes of driving, make the truck essentially undrivable. Then when stopped the idle is very erratic, swinging back and forth from 1500rpm to 3500rpm.

If you look inside the cat at the damaged media (a ceramic matrix of thousands of small square "tubes"), it is definitely melted on the engine side of the exhaust, the other side seems to be relatively undamaged.

Although I can't be sure if this has anything to do directly with the cat meltdowns, there is a really weird behavior that my truck is exhibiting that could possibly be the cause. When I am at high RPMs for an extended period (maybe over 30sec) and then I go to accelerate, many times my truck momentarily stalls for about a second or less. This is occasionally violent enough to lock the drive wheels momentarily. Then, for about 5-10 seconds the available power tapers up from about 50% to full power. A good example would be when I'm getting ready to pass someone(therefore I'm running at high rpms), I wait until I get a chance to pass and then floor it. Has anyone ever experienced this before?????? I also street race frequently, but oddly enough this never happens then, as I'm never sitting at high-rpms for very long. My hypothesis is that this happens when the ECU is switching from the long-term fuel trim mode to the short-term mode, and it can't adapt quick enough to the huge demand for fuel or air. I'm not a mechanic though, so I really don't know.


As far as the guy at TRD that recommended the cat-boring, I don't want to get him in trouble or anything, however, the asshole at TRD that told me I couldn't have my supercharger anymore was the TRD Western Regional Sales Rep (Rick I think, and yes, this guy is truly an asshole). I was able to have that decision overturned by someone higher up at TRD, basically if I agreed to bore my cat out and use an 02 sensor simulator. Of course they didn’t say "if you do this, we won't take your supercharger off", they said I had one last chance and if anything else happens, you'll have to have it removed. They did offer to pay for the removal and reimburse me for the cost of the supercharger, but what kind of fix is that?!?!

I'd use the URD fixes, but I don't want to jepordize my warantee... Is there anything I can do that they won't notice or that I can remove easily for services?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Gadget]

I just don't understand how they can threaten you like that. It is your truck and the TRD products you purchased came with a warranty. I just do not understand how they can tell you that you will have to remove a part they sold you that is advertised as not to void the warranty. This whole thing is like one of those Jib-Jab cartoons. Maybe Flipper is working for TRD now or something.

Anyway, if you like the supercharger I hope you can find a way to keep it on your truck. Maybe a lawyer can tell you if they can legally tell you such a thing. My guess is that they can not. If there is some way we can help you out with this let us know.

 

[REDMARLIN WITH SOUL]

Scott, Cannot help you with your problem, but if you post often enough someone with the answers will see it. If your post gets too "Old" members seem to bypass it. I wonder if you have a "different" cat that has to be installed in Ca. for pollution problems (?) After reading a few posts re: 7th I am concerned about mine. I drive long distances couple of times a year at Interstate speeds and do not want to be sitting on the side of the road waiting for AAA. I sent an email to [email protected] BUT it was returned as undeliverable. Have an 02 Pre-Runner with S/C, 7th, headers cat-bck and air filter. Never had (18 months) problem with S/C and only pinging 3 or 4 times in all that time. Rich

 

[PWScottIV]

Contacting Toyota probably won't help very much, as TRD and Toyota aren't directly connected. Yeah, sounds pretty fucked up right? So, it's just specualtion, but I'm pretty sure that Toyota and TRD are separated to legaly "insulate" themselves. TRD has had alot of problems within the last years and the relationship between Toyota and TRD is becoming more strained day by day, at least that's the story I get from people who've been dealing with TRD for a while now. Contacting TRD won't do a whole lot either. However, if you talk to the right person, you might be able to get them to admit that if they have several instances of the same problem happen on on the same vehicle, their response is to force the owner to remove it or they'll remove the factory warrantee. You won't get them to admit that there's anything wrong with their products. It's scary, but I think part of the problem is that they honestly don't even beleive that there's anything wrong with them. I honestly don't think that there's anything different about the cats in the CA Tacomas and other Tacomas. You really don't have a whole lot to fear if you're just calmly driving along the highway. I drive very aggressively, and I spend a lot of time near redline, so I'm probably alot more likely to discover a problem than most drivers, especially typical Tacoma drivers... I mean most people who drive insanely fast usually buy sports cars, right?

 

[TuRD03]

I also wonder if Toyota has had a less than reputable/reliable company/country making the catalytic convertors for their vehicles. Check out spyderchat.com there have been so many spyders (I think 6 pages of posts) that have had the cat converters just melt and destroy the engines. The cat plugs and the intense back pressure damages the oil control rings and leads to a complete short block rebuild/cat replacement. I traded my spyder back to the dealer when I too started having problems with it.

 

[wisctaco04]

The interesting thing is that this was a problem BEFORE AND after I installed the 7th Injector Kit. When the cat melts down, the 02 Sensor sends #s to the ECU that make it look like the exhaust gasses aren't being cleaned properly, so the air-fuel mix is adjusted accordingly. Eventually, the mix becomes so far out of whack that the engine doesn't have enough power to move the truck.

Although I can't be sure if this has anything to do directly with the cat meltdowns, there is a really weird behavior....... I also street race frequently, but oddly enough this never happens then, as I'm never sitting at high-rpms for very long. My hypothesis is that this happens when the ECU is switching from the long-term fuel trim mode to the short-term mode, and it can't adapt quick enough to the huge demand for fuel or air. I'm not a mechanic though, so I really don't know.

Thanks for the help!

Have you thought it could be your driving habbits? Hitting the rev limiter is gonna be hard on the ECU's fuel monitoring. You are going from one extreme to the other really quick. I'm not being a smart ass as I like to mess with the little rice grinders as well but I try to keep in mind the limits of the V6. It is a truck suprisingly enough.
What are your AFRs at WOT, cruising, and idle? How are your trim values? Have you been able to watch it go into open loop then back to closed and have the trim values fluctuate?. Since it did this before the idiots at TRD should recognize the fact that it is some thing wrong with it from the start. Just a though...take off the SC'er, get your $ back...keep roasting cats untill they declare it a lemon and give you a new one then you can start over with a "normal" truck. I do feel for ya though, there is nothing like an unknown problem with a vehicle.

 

[PWScottIV]

I honestly don't think the problem is directly related to my driving habits, as I was able to melt down my cat in less than a week once. In my opinion, and TRD's opinion too for that matter, driving habits shouldnt be able to create that sort of failure in that short of time. I won't argue the fact that my driving habits might accelerate or accentuate a pre-existing problem though, as I'm obviously putting much greater demands my engine. I only very rarely actually hit the rev-limiter, but I do frequently get up within 500rpm of it. My contact at TRD says he's sure it's something wrong with my truck in particular, but Toyota doesn't know how or want to figure out what's truly going on. They'd just rather take the supercharger off and forget about it. But if I knew that I wouldnt be able to have the TRD add-ons on my truck I wouldn't of even purchaced it in the first place.

 

[wisctaco04]

I agree with ya there. Hopefully they can fix the issue or just replace it all together. Good luck and keep us posted.