Reliability of 2.4L engine?

How reliable is Gen 5 2.4L engine?

I hear some reports of head gasket failure if overheating occurs. Is this a more common problem than the old 2.2L?

I understand that 2.4L uses aluminum heads to decrease the weight but does it introduce realibility issues long-term?

How well does 2.4L work long term, has anyone put 100-200K miles on it without issues?

I've got 86k with no issues. I know there are others with much more. The engine is reliable.

It's very reliable. That's why I purchased my Camry with the 2.4. Having an aluminum head on an aluminum block is actually better and more durable than having a cast iron head. The aluminum head doesn't create any problems at all.

Head gasket failure with overheating is common on nearly every engine. Overheating can ruin just about every part of the engine. Common sense usually will keep any damage from occuring.

TRD is correct - aluminum on iron is awful. Ask anyone with the old Datsun Z or older Mercedes cars with 4/6 cyl motors made in the 80s/early 90s.

Overheating will deep-6 any motor.

I have a 2.4 in an '04 Tacoma baseline. Good motor.

They do have steel sleeves though, right? Would hate to think of what might happen with hard anodize.

very reliable....we had a trade in 02 camry LE 4cyl with 210k miles and it still ran as smoothly and quietly as my 03 SE 4cyl with just shy of 50K
you treat it well and it will treat you well.
the aluminum block/aluminum head 2az 2.4 is a tough engine

TRD is correct - aluminum on iron is awful. Maybe on some cars, but Toyota used the iron block/aluminum head configuration in 10s of millions of engines, going way back to the early 70's with bulletproof reliability.

You have to go back a long way and look fairly hard to find a series of engines from Toyota that were not reliable.

2az ftw

They do have steel sleeves though, right? Would hate to think of what might happen with hard anodize.

Yep.

You have to go back a long way and look fairly hard to find a series of engines from Toyota that were not reliable.

You don't have to go far at all. Mid-90s - V-6 motors blowing head gaskets right and left. In this same period there was also an engine oil-sludging problem. Millions of engines affected.

In the old days, Toyota was great.

Today there are 3 American cars that have a higher J. D. Powers rating than Toyota(#6) and Honda(#5).

Once known as the Rising Sun....getting to be the Sinking Sun.

I have 150K miles on my 04 2.4 everything is still orginal. I need to do the spark plugs soon. The only time it has missed a beat is when the battery die and I needed a jump.

Reason for my inquiry is scary threads like this. It appears there is mounting evidence 2.4L can develop head gasket problems. Not sure if overheating is involved or if it happens arbitrarily.

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=203973

Reason for my inquiry is scary threads like this. It appears there is mounting evidence 2.4L can develop head gasket problems. Not sure if overheating is involved or if it happens arbitrarily.

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=203973

Don't be scared. The majority of the time that an engine has problems like that prematurely are because it wasn't properly maintained.

If you take care of your car and do the proper maintenance at the proper intervals with the proper products, you should be just fine.

2.4 is the best, descent power and good gas savings.

I just got a 2002 2.4L 5 speed.
I am fairly paranoid about maintaince and use Mobil 1 every 3-4K miles, and watch my temp. gauge as well as flush the coolant often enough.

There is very little you can do to maintain the engine otherwise. Oil + coolant flush. Am I missing anything? I was under the impression they were experiencing issues even while doing these things.

One trick when buying a used car is hitting the gas while parked in neutral and having someone watch the exhaust... you shouldn't see any white smoke come out of it. If it does, it needs major engine work (like in cases above)

I just got a 2002 2.4L 5 speed.
I am fairly paranoid about maintaince and use Mobil 1 every 3-4K miles, and watch my temp. gauge as well as flush the coolant often enough.

There is very little you can do to maintain the engine otherwise. Oil + coolant flush. Am I missing anything? I was under the impression they were experiencing issues even while doing these things.

One trick when buying a used car is hitting the gas while parked in neutral and having someone watch the exhaust... you shouldn't see any white smoke come out of it. If it does, it needs major engine work (like in cases above)

You're overly paranoid.

Relax and enjoy your car.

Besides, I doubt you will be abusing this engine.

I just got a 2002 2.4L 5 speed.
I am fairly paranoid about maintaince and use Mobil 1 every 3-4K miles, and watch my temp. gauge as well as flush the coolant often enough.

There is very little you can do to maintain the engine otherwise. Oil + coolant flush. Am I missing anything? I was under the impression they were experiencing issues even while doing these things.

One trick when buying a used car is hitting the gas while parked in neutral and having someone watch the exhaust... you shouldn't see any white smoke come out of it. If it does, it needs major engine work (like in cases above)

:) im all about mobil 1 5w30 synthetic
i also reccomend using oem toyota red coolant, oem toyota filters, NGK or denso spark plugs and toyota trans fluid....if you take care of your engien itll last you a long time

mobil 1 5w30 synthetic


Good stuff, chimart has it on sale for $20 per can.

TRD is correct - aluminum on iron is awful. Ask anyone with the old Datsun Z or older Mercedes cars with 4/6 cyl motors made in the 80s/early 90s.

Overheating will deep-6 any motor.

I have a 2.4 in an '04 Tacoma baseline. Good motor.

The 2.4 in your Tacoma is a different engine than the 2.4 used in Camrys. The Tacoma 2.4 is the 2RZ-FE which is an iron block with an aluminum head. The 2AZ-FE found in Camrys is aluminum block and head.

I hear some reports of head gasket failure if overheating occurs. Is this a more common problem than the old 2.2L?


Any engine you can find is going to have issues if you overheat it badly enough. I blew up the engine on my 1985 Nissan 200sx by overheating from what i think must have been a stuck thermostat. I pulled the head and a piston was BROKEN and the cylinder ruined. The remains were no good even for a core! (That little mistake cost me over $1000 to fix.)

If anything Toyota builds a better 4 cylinder engine than almost anybody else. I know, i work for a fleet and we have cars and trucks from almost anybody you could name. The toyotas are better than any of the others by far.

I guess the answer to your question is maintain the cooling system and keep an eye on the gauge once in a while, just like you would on any other car. And just don't do what i did, if your gauge ever says your engine is too hot, STOP THE CAR NOW and dont restart it except for testing until you find what made it overheat! (in my case for example, if id just shut off the engine and waited a while to cool, and removed the thermostat and drove without it to get home - i probably could have saved myself all that money!)

If anything Toyota builds a better 4 cylinder engine than almost anybody else. I know, i work for a fleet and we have cars and trucks from almost anybody you could name. The toyotas are better than any of the others by far

I just got a 2002 2.4L Camry.
This is good to hear, but we shall see... I am crazy about preventive maintenance and always flush coolants, change oil, use synthetics as much as possible... it costs pennies compared to the cost of the vehicle.

I can say these engines are pretty reliable, as my dad's '03 I4 has about 120K miles and he only replaces the oil every 5K, and we havent had a single problem with the car other then tires, brakes, oil changes, etc.