So are we to assume that all GX 550's produced after 4/10/2024 (if I recall the cutoff correctly) have the new bearing? or are some of us still driving around with the old bearing and no recall?
2024 GX Engine Recall?
- Thread starter cartermatthews
- Start date
Yes, my understanding is that Tahara build cars after the cutoff from 25V-767 were produced with new #1 main bearing design.
Also note that the bench testing Toyota describes in the new (26V-320) RMISC was performed on the old bearing, not the new, improved one. They are describing the nature / progression of the failure, and why the engines need to be recalled. Not why the improved bearing is the fix. I understand it as additional evidence of why the failure is binary - if the debris either adheres to the bearing or it doesn't. Once the debris adheres though, it doesn't matter if more is introduced or not, the bearing and the engine will fail all the same. They don't say if they've done similar study on the new bearing, and what were the results. Although, presumably, they've done exactly that, and the test showed that the new bearing is resilient enough to resist debris adhesion in the first place. Otherwise why would they replace the bearing and issue the long block replacement as the remedy?
Also note that the bench testing Toyota describes in the new (26V-320) RMISC was performed on the old bearing, not the new, improved one. They are describing the nature / progression of the failure, and why the engines need to be recalled. Not why the improved bearing is the fix. I understand it as additional evidence of why the failure is binary - if the debris either adheres to the bearing or it doesn't. Once the debris adheres though, it doesn't matter if more is introduced or not, the bearing and the engine will fail all the same. They don't say if they've done similar study on the new bearing, and what were the results. Although, presumably, they've done exactly that, and the test showed that the new bearing is resilient enough to resist debris adhesion in the first place. Otherwise why would they replace the bearing and issue the long block replacement as the remedy?
Makes sense now for me. Swarf is in the engine. Most mechanical oil pumps have an attached screen for huge debris, but would let Swarf through. #1 main bearing journal is the start of the oil circulation path through most engines feeding oil through the crank main & rod bearing before pushing through rest of engine.
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On my 24 Lux + build date Apr 24 I was not included on the recall, hoping I have the improved #1 main bearing. I have changed my oil at 600, 1500, 5100, 10 k(dealer) 13.5k and 16.5 k. I have a trip from wa state to San Diego coming up, wanted fresh oil for the trip. Hoping all the oil changes kept the amount of swarf low. Keeping my fingers crossed.
I wonder why Toyota doesn’t start telling new owners to do a first oil change at 1K miles? I asked Lexus’s to change mine at the 5K service. They asked me why and I told them I was old school and was also a bit concerned about the engine recall. Seems like a common sense way to be sure swarf gets removed as soon as possible after manufacturing.
I agree, I went with 600 miles as that was the end of the initial break in period. Toyota should have recommended that, but it is what it is. I won’t go past 5k on oil changes anyway.
I watch a lot of The Motor Oil Geek on you tube along with the car care nut. Lots of good info.
I did my first oil change around 1K-1.5K kms, then 5K kms but IMO I don't think it'll help the with the debris/swarf. I feel like it's a binary issue, either your engine will fine or you're cooked regardless of how early and frequently you change your oil.
I do feel like the recommended oil change intervals are way too long though. I don't drive enough so I change my oil every 6 months roughly 5K kms/3K miles. DIY it pretty easy on the GX so I do every other oil change at home and go to the dealer for the recommended intervals to keep everything logged for warranty purposes.
Yeah, I agree (so does Toyota btw
). While changing the break-in oil may be a good advice in general, here it doesn't matter. The debris Toyota is fighting with sits somewhere in the engine casting, not in the oil. It's not loose particles floating in the oil from day one that an early oil change would flush out. It's trapped in the metal structure, not suspended in the lubricant. It releases gradually under operation as oil flow and vibration dislodge it over time, which is why failures occur at varying mileages rather than immediately.
An early oil change removes whatever has already made it into the oil sump, but that's the debris that has already traveled through the system and did not adhere to the main bearing. Debris that already passed through without adhering either got caught by the oil filter or was too small to cause adhesion in the first place — it's not coming back either way. The debris that matters is the piece still sitting in a gallery or passage that hasn't moved yet, and that piece doesn't care whether you changed the oil at 500 miles or 5,000 miles.
Great explanation Bart. So that Swarf in the V35A is more pronounced due to the manufacturing/tooling issue that was identified and corrected after those early builds or is it due to the main bearing? Why aren’t other Toyota engines suffering the same swarf/bearing issue? Sorry, just hopeful this is truly something that has been sufficiently rectified by Toyota.
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BART nailed it. Virtually every engine has some finite amount of debris from manufacturing. Some remains in oil journals & can work loose, while some is static or from initial break in of moving parts & works its way by oil circulation to the oil sump. Debris is just settling through the oil. The oil pump screen is for larger concerns, & in circulation on engines I’ve been around (that have full circulation), the oil filter is right after. #1 main crank journal is the next stop for oil circulation being pushed through crank to main & rod bearings. #1 Journal also deals w/ high torque & harmonics w/ a harmonic balancer mounted close to it. Aluminum head & block engines have a tendency to have debris in pan, but hard to see, & changing both oil & filter is critical to clean oil. Not every bit of oil comes out on a drain w/ design of our oil pan. If you’re concerned you can use a vacuum extractor & go through oil dipstick & possibly it will pull a bit more of the last remaining dirty oil. Several manufacturers over the years have had similar problems with cooling system passages w/ casting sand & Swarf to the point of having to replace radiators. Bottom line for me, @ $10 I’m always changing the oil filter every 5K miles.
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This would be helpful
Honestly I don't know why V35A specifically. I don't think anybody does, except (hopefully
) Toyota.My best guess is that Toyota developed the machining process for a geometrically complex new engine, validated it against debris thresholds from prior programs, and both plants executing that same process faithfully still produced debris of a size and character that exceeded what the original bearing could tolerate. Process improvements reduced it but couldn't fully eliminate it, which is probably why the bearing design ultimately had to change too — raise the tolerance threshold to meet the real-world debris environment this specific block geometry produces at scale.
The "underspecified bearing" theory seems less likely to me. Toyota has been building high specific torque turbocharged engines for a long time — 2JZ, various turbo diesels, etc. Their bearing supplier relationship (almost certainly Daido Metal) spans decades. These aren't people who miscalculate bearing load specs. Bearing specifications go through extensive validation during development — if the margin was wrong for the expected load, you'd expect it to show up in durability testing, not after tens of thousands of vehicles are in the field.
I do not, my car is still @ the dealership
I would bet it's not an "underspecified" bearing, knowing Toyota, but maybe a bearing with materials that were more cutting edge. I believe, from my non-insider research, manufacturers have been playing around with bearing surface coatings lately, especially to handle stop-start events in high-torque engines with thinner and thinner oil. I wouldn't be surprised if Toyota & their supplier were playing around with a new formulation of bearing metallurgy or coating that provided lower friction and greater resistance to metal-to-metal contact.Honestly I don't know why V35A specifically. I don't think anybody does, except (hopefully
My best guess is that Toyota developed the machining process for a geometrically complex new engine, validated it against debris thresholds from prior programs, and both plants executing that same process faithfully still produced debris of a size and character that exceeded what the original bearing could tolerate. Process improvements reduced it but couldn't fully eliminate it, which is probably why the bearing design ultimately had to change too — raise the tolerance threshold to meet the real-world debris environment this specific block geometry produces at scale.
The "underspecified bearing" theory seems less likely to me. Toyota has been building high specific torque turbocharged engines for a long time — 2JZ, various turbo diesels, etc. Their bearing supplier relationship (almost certainly Daido Metal) spans decades. These aren't people who miscalculate bearing load specs. Bearing specifications go through extensive validation during development — if the margin was wrong for the expected load, you'd expect it to show up in durability testing, not after tens of thousands of vehicles are in the field.
Some coatings & metallurgy are more susceptible to damage from particulates than others, and Toyota may have initially spec'd a bearing that was more susceptible to the type of damage caused by chunks of machining swarf.
I do love my GX and have a ticket with Lexus but I didn't initiate it until a couple weeks ago so I have to wait another 60 days pertaining to Lemon law. I am curious about the buy back. What would we be getting back, just what is owed or will we recover out 25K down payment as well? Do they just give current market value?
It’s okay, just provide me with the last 5 digits of your VIN number. I should be able to estimate when it was built from that.I do not, my car is still @ the dealership
For example, my GX’s last 5 VIN digits are “57217”, this means it was the 57,217th GX550 produced globally. Based on that, mine was built in June 2025.
02234
This is from the AU recall site, it has the VIN range for recalls in AU but implies that the VIN ranges are global.
It looks like production mid-September 2024 up to #22899 are recalled. Mine was built in Nov 2024 with an engine build date in July 2024, no recall notice in the Lexus app.
Okay, yours is definitely a very early production unit, probably built around the 1st quarter of 2024.
Just for reference, based on what I’ve found online , a GX550 with the VIN sequence “20620” (indicating the 20,620th unit produced) had a recorded build date of August 2024. Refer to this link and scroll down where you can see the VIN tag on the car- Used 2024 Lexus GX 550 Overtrail+ For Sale (Sold) | Autobyzack Inc Stock #R5020620
So if yours is in the 2,000th unit range (02234), it very much suggests that your engine was built much earlier and likely still uses the older bearing design.
@JULESWTX.
Read here. Texas Lemon Law | TxDMV.gov
We got back 100% of our purchase price (vehicle, registration fees, sales tax, interest). Ours had less than 5K miles and Lexus waived the usage deduction they were entitled to keep.
So we got back every single cent. And turned around and bought an RX350h to replace the RX500h. I made my case directly as it was straight forward and did not engage a lemon law layer. Lexus handled my lemon law case well and to my satisfaction (as evidenced by our replacement RX purchase and then my GX purchase).
Read here. Texas Lemon Law | TxDMV.gov
We got back 100% of our purchase price (vehicle, registration fees, sales tax, interest). Ours had less than 5K miles and Lexus waived the usage deduction they were entitled to keep.
So we got back every single cent. And turned around and bought an RX350h to replace the RX500h. I made my case directly as it was straight forward and did not engage a lemon law layer. Lexus handled my lemon law case well and to my satisfaction (as evidenced by our replacement RX purchase and then my GX purchase).
📷 Lexus GX 550 Random Images
📷 Lexus GX 550 Random Images
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