Last night, while driving my 1954 Willys to Harbor Freight to buy a foam-cannon for my pressure washer so I can prep our Pontiac Aztek for sale, I spotted a classic automotive breakdown. A vehicle was on the shoulder of the road with its front left wheel having detached from the chassis, and of course it was the 3rd-gen Toyota 4Runner — known by some as the 3Runner for obvious reasons.
I stopped to have a look, and to assure the rather frazzled owner that this isn’t a huge deal, and the’ll probably just need some new ball joints and a few brake parts, and they’ll be on their way. I can’t imagine it’ll cost more than $500, I told them.
Here you can see where the front suspension dragged on the road — there’s a little gray line on the road:
And here’s the carnage; look at how the knuckle separated from both ball joints!
This is a design flaw that has affected far too many 3Runners. Yes, it’s avoidable, and yes it can happen to other vehicles, but it happens way too often on 3rd Gen 4Runners. It pretty much never happens on Jeeps, but Jeeps have other issues.
The Jeep Cherokee XJ’s major flaw? The neutral safety switch tend to give up the ghost, as does the Crankshaft position sensor. XJs are also super under-cooled due to radiator packaging constraints, and once they overheat, there’s often a head-crack between the valves.
So for today’s Autopian Asks, I ask you: What are some examples of well-know weak-links in the auto world?
2000’s Chevy Cavalier electrical wiring, underhood 12 pin wiring connector mounted underneath the battery tray. Battery acid leak drips directly onto the wiring connector, gradually dissolving it so it doesn’t clasp together tightly enough. Resulting in total loss of headlights, windshield wipers, and front parking lights, leaving just the daytime running lights on. Seriously thin wire gauge used. Same with under dash wiring to the hvac fan relay, any kink in the wire will break eventually. Let’s not forget that cracking dash top caused by the assembly line tightening the mounting screws too tight.
2010-2015 Prius in Maine: Rust. UNDERCOAT everything!
At 200-250k plan on a head gasket. Not the end of the world just don’t have the dealer do it. And use FelPro HG and head bolts. then go another 500k.
I’ll give you four, one for every car in my fleet right now. Two were avoided in time, and two my cars have experienced.
Avoided:
My LTD Country Squire, and every Panther platform car from 79-91, has a little plastic bushing that connects the throttle cable linkage to a linkage that goes to the throttle valve transmission. If that little plastic bushing breaks, and you can’t see it as it’s under the EFi on the later cars, the transmission has no idea you’re accelerating and doesn’t move any fluid. It’ll kills the transmission in minutes, not miles!
I immediately jumped on replacing mine when I got the car only to find someone had already replaced it with a machined brass part!
Honda Elements rot out at the rear to the point where the rear trailing arms fall off. Canada got a recall for it, but the US market ones never did. You can find plenty of pictures online Elements with the rear wheels nearly falling off from it. The owners forum has been contacting congressmen over it trying to get a proper investigation done on it to force Honda into doing the recall here too. That was the #1 thing I looked at when buying my Element.
Experienced:
2nd Gen Honda Fits AC compressors fail at around 100K miles. Small compressor and a relatively pricey part. Had the compressor seize on me on the interstate. Cooked the belt but got it off the highway and to a gas station where I could at least chill out and wait for a tow truck.
Geo Tracker / Suzuki Sidekick: Like all electronics made around the late 80s and early 90s, the capacitors blow in the ECU and kill the truck. Luckily cap kits are cheap. Pulled the ECU while I was working on it as a preventative job to find mine had already blown and been replaced.
2003 Seville STS: Mine was after 2000 with the longer threads so the head gasket issue was greatly downplayed (albeit not eliminated like the 2004+ cars with the LS1-style bolts) so probably the TCC solenoid on the 4T80E. Mine never actually had any issues though. Dead reliable the entire time I owned it.
1994 Corvette LT1: Optispark, which I had to replace twice (first myself when it failed and I also replaced the water pump, then a few months later when that failed anyway while it was at a dealer). It was dead reliable for the next 5 years I owned it though.
1990 VW Golf Cabriolet: The diverter plate on the HVAC got stuck on defrost, and as I understood the dash needed to be yanked to fix it. No thanks, never bothered. I’m kind of reaching though because mine was extensively modified so I don’t really have a frame of reference because I never bothered to look up “normal” issues.
2016 Cadillac ATS4 V6: That 8 speed automatic is kind of shitty, but other than rough upshifts from 1 -> 2 when it was really cold I never had any *problems* with it on mine (as I shouldn’t because I bought it off lease).
2003 Porsche 911: Mine already had IMS and the RMS done before I bought it, but the perceived 100% failure rate of 3.6/3.8 Carreras (as well as 3.4 Caymans) due to bore scoring eventually made me decide I wasn’t comfortable owning it anymore. It also has a “common” issue where the oil filter cartridge has a wimpy spring design that can eventually fail and just allow oil to bypass the filter entirely. One day I’ll try again with a 997.2/987.2/981 so I don’t have to worry about any of that shit.
2005 Lotus Elise: The persistent engine overcooling and lack of a thermostat to control flow to the oil coolers has already been mentioned, but I’d also like to add the cobbled together attempt at OBD-II the car had for the first couple of years so that if your gauge cluster begins getting cracked solder joints (which manifests first as your fuel gauge gradually depleting to nothing before as all of your gauge dials fail) it will backfeed power from the OBD-II port into the ECU and fry the chip on it that controls the OBD-II interface. It could also do this at the first sign of gauge electrical issues, well before they actually started failing. Luckily the SMC is just one you can buy off Digikey for a few bucks if you know how to solder surface mount stuff; and I used it as an excuse to completely dump the analog gauge cluster
2011 Jaguar XK-R: Other than some timing chain tensioner issues (which you have to ignore for a long time after it presents before it causes actual damage) and some plastic cooling parts, these are generally considered pretty reliable from the launch of the 5.0 engine. There’s a special place in hell for whoever designed the TPMS setup on these cars, though. On a tech level it’s worse than the one in my Corvette (and *way* behind that of the Cadillac from 8 years prior) and it constantly throws errors and faults and warnings based on absolutely nothing.
The IMS bearing in the 996 and early 997s have got to be some of the most talked about car issues on the internet…
1988 Corolla Alltrac 4wd Wagon.
Rear brake drums might go a little out of round after 300,000kms.
Thats all I got.
I drive a Sienna, a Nissan cargo van, and an X3, and even I know, the Porsche’s IMS thingy is a known issue for the fried egg Porsches. (And I also know it’s called pour-shuh).
No it is Parshh. Ask Stef
Is there any source on where this pronounciation comes from?
After years and years of digesting automotive content in (mostly) English it still confuses me how weird some names are pronounced in the US.
The e on the end of a German word is pronounced ‘uh’. In America an e on the end is typically silent.
Depends on an accept, really but in most cases it’s closer to “e” as in “shed”.
I’ve learned German way too long, believe me…
E on the end is really more like the a at the end of ‘idea’ and unstressed – so slightly different than how an American might want to say ‘uh’. Think danke, strasse, leise.
There! “Unstressed” was the word I was looking for earlier. Thank you. But yeah, it’s pretty much there.
Back before my German wasn’t so rusty I was told I have an Austrian accent so it might be all over the place in my case, lol.
Do Tundras suffer the same failure as a 3Runner? There was a Tundra near here for sale for only 1200 but it was missing a wheel in similar fashion.
80s 90s Dodge trucks. The paint.
They rust from the driprails down.
The first generation Lexus IS/Toyota Altezza and the second generation Lexus GS/Toyota Aristo have the exact same issue as the 4Runner. I believe the first gen Tundra might also fall under that too so it might just be a Toyota thing
Wait, I might be wrong, but wouldn’t Jeep KJ/KK’s do something similar to this 4runner, but with the upper ball joints?
“So for today’s Autopian Asks, I ask you: What are some examples of well-known weak-links in the auto world?”
*Looks nervously in mirror*
Jatco Xtronic CVT!
Jatco Xtronic CVT!
Jatco Xtronic CVT!
I thought that thing was essentially bulletproof. That’s why Nissan puts it on everything. They seriously wouldn’t have gone whole hog on a turd, right? /s
Careful you don’t offend Jatco Xtronic CVT. Bad things may happen.
I heard that he appears in your bathroom mirror if you post his name three times in the comment section.
“The Jeep Cherokee XJ’s major flaw? The neutral safety switch tend to give up the ghost, as does the Crankshaft position sensor. XJs are also super under-cooled due to radiator packaging constraints, and once they overheat, there’s often a head-crack between the valves.”
And the death wobble!
Owned one for 23 years and the only time I got death wobble was with really big, really shitty and worn out mud tires coupled with a worn out steering stabilizer.
I replaced the tires first and that cured the death wobble.
I had an AWD XJ of my own and despite it being bone stock (except for some god AWFUL polyurethane rear spring bushings) I experienced the death wobble a handful of times. After the first I replaced the stabilizer. It didn’t stop the wobble from returning. New Michelins didn’t help either. But like I said a handful of times over nearly a decade of ownership.
As far as non-frequent occurences go, from what I’ve been told, death will only happen to you once in your lifetime, so don’t make a big deal out of it
Same, had an XJ for around 5 years and only had the Wobble once on the highway after a decent sized bump I didn’t see. Now the overheating and cooling problems I experienced more times than I would like to remember.
I never had overheating problems per se. The heat soaked fuel rail causing rough starts on hot days could be annoying though. I got in the habit of cracking the hood at stops on trails to avoid it.
Owning a 2013 BMW with the N20 is like playing Russian Roulette with five cylinders loaded in a six shot revolver. If the Timing chain guides don’t fail, then the oil pump chain or mickey mouse flange or PVC or wheel speed sensors will.
2011 GTI besides the other VW issues has wheel speed sensors fail.
2018 VW Tiguan fuel injector electrical harness fails and engine goes into limp mode with a lots of shuddering and a max speed of about 25 MPH.
XD-XH Ford Falcons have such fragile exterior door handle mechanisms that repros are still being manufactured to this day, 26 years after the last car using these handles was built.
As a kid, more than once we’d have to scoot into the car from the ‘other’ side until dad got around to fixing the broken door handle…
US Market Toyota Matrix / Pontiac Vibe cars have this issue to an extreme rate too. I have more than once seen one locally with 0 out of 4 door handles. Amazon’s selling them in four packs for 20 dollars these days made out of the cheap black plastic.
Subaru owner here (head gaskets).and former Jeep owner (constant check engine light which you me was an immortal evap leak)
My old 1st gen Scion xB had a rear hatch door handle that can be easily ripped off from the mounting points.
That handle was just a flimsy flap of plastic which held the weight of the door when one would manually open or close it. The problem was so bad that Toyota issued a recall to have it replaced even after many years of ownership. Even the replacement broke as it wasn’t even redesigned or reinforced.
I ended up replacing it with an aftermarket unit with integrated steel mounting brackets. Thankfully that one worked.
Chrysler K-car wagons had a similar problem, there was a trim piece made to conceal the license plate light which looked for all the world like a handle, and worked as one too. For a while. Then it’d break leaving its inevitably rusty bracket behind.
Chrysler never had a fix and used the same piece on firstgen minivans.
Thought of a few more from some of my previous vehicles:
Toyota 3VZE 3.0 V6- Headgaskets. That’s what took mine out. Perfect truck, but the HG blew right before I was going off to college. Sold it for NOTHING. Still bitter. Sort of why I’m weary of the “Toyotas are bulletproof brooo” claim.
Ford MPFI- Not sure of the year ranges- The little cocksucker of an ignition control module mounted on the distributor. Mine started to go out in our ’90 F250 with the 5.8, which I correctly diagnosed, replaced with a part store one- same problem. Tried all sorts of other stuff including 2 new dizzys with modules, a warranty module, and just about every other spark related component. After giving up for a while, I tried one off a wrecked pickup in the junkyard. Bingo. Immediate fix. Parts store parts are TRASH.
Subaru 2.5 Headgaskets- I don’t need to elaborate on this, but my dads ’99 headgasket blew twice in the same exact spot on Stevens pass in Washington several years apart.
Honda V6 5 speed auto- Heard countless horror stories about these- and I almost never see any Odysseys on the road anymore, likely due to this transmission. Funnily enough, ours was perfect well over 200,000 miles in our 2000 Odyssey. Maintenance schedules yo.
Buick 3800- Intake gaskets and elbows. Bought a LeSabre for $100 for the Gambler 500. Needed both of em. Pretty easy job, hardest part was removing the rear spark plug boots.
Chrysler Era XJ- Pretty much anything made by Chrysler in these goes bad. My sister has a beautiful 2000 Cherokee with around 110K, and it’s needed tons of sensors, switches, etc replaced. Sweet rig though.
Audi B5 S4: Fucking everything
Rust.
– All japanese vehicles
Not here in California. I see plenty of non rusty old Japanese cars here.
That is why I’m not afraid of owning Mazdas in southern Arizona. Rust doesn’t exist here. Now, paint cooks off in no time, plastic and rubber dries out and cracks in record time, a/c parts are a consumable, and I’ve never had tires last more than 4 years before dry rotting( the ones on my semi started dry rotting in 2 years), but rust? Not gonna happen
How about the spaceships? They must be designed for dry heat.
You know, the desert does funny things to spaceships. My buddy was flying through New Mexico a few decades back, and got hit by lightning in one of those desert thunderstorms. Shorted out his ship and crashed it in some ranchers pasture. Mine, I keep in climate controled underground storage up in Nevada. I get free parking as long as I let the Air Force peek under the hood once in a while.
I hope you didn’t use the free parking at the Nevada Test Site. If you did you might want to have it looked over by your mechanic before you take it out for a ride.
Na. Next door. Besides, radiation doesn’t bother me that much. Found out the hard way that humans don’t like it much, and the shielding on my ships reactor is… inadequate. That poor CIA agent i gave a ride didn’t make it long. But I consider it a security feature. The folks at s4 are too scared to fire it up and take it for a ride.
Kinda makes one wonder how humans are ever supposed to colonize Mars when they can barely handle the radiation during the trip over.
Or perhaps that’s the plan? The lizard people already have a base there and the human Mars colony is just food delivery?
Well, my California 280Z is proof of the contrary.
You’d think an island nation would think a little harder about salt+ moisture
I know right?
I think most Japanese owners sell their cars well before rust becomes an issue.
I think the punishing tax code for vehicles in Japan is just the government hiding the fact that all of those cars are converting into Elemental Tracy at blistering speeds
/tinfoil
IIRC older Ford MPFI systems (5.0L, 3.8L, 3.0L) needed regular cleaning of the throttle body and EGR circuit to idle well. The pintle valves on the IAC plugged with carbon, a quick spray and wipe with carb cleaner and you were good to go for another 6 months.
Ford IAC’s went bad constantly, or got stuck with carbon as you said. Same symptoms weather it was a lowly 1.9 CVH Escorts/Focuses or a 6.8 V10. Vehicle would drive great, but if it was colder out, they would stall at stops.
Even early 2000s Fords did this. The only thing that solved it was when they went with electronic throttle.
Had a ’99 WJ Grand Cherokee with a 4.0L. The cooling fan ‘relay’ was tucked under the passenger side headlight. When I bought mine someone had already taken a hole saw to the bumper cover for access. I burned through 3 or 4 over my 11 years of ownership, finally just installing an aftermarket Hayden thermostat and finally a toggle on the dash.
It also needed a transmission rebuild at 125k.
The thermostat on a Land Rover Discovery, they’re not great at regulating temperature. And the overflow tank is part of the system so it’s pressurized, but the cap is shit so you’ll have to replace the whole tank. And to bleed the system requires you to crack a tiny plastic bleeder screw open and run the thing while the front wheels are about 3ft higher than the rears. And the head gaskets are a wear item, every 60kmi. And sometimes the cylinder head liners slip because the tooling for the engines was like 50 years old when the got around to putting them in the Discos so the tolerances were pretty far off and the liners were required. And the abs control module is made of aluminum and it’s incredibly easy to cross thread the brake lines when you have to replace it, and you’ll have to replace it because it’s shit and it’ll make your Disco throw the “The Amigos” codes (abs, traction control, hill decent control) so none of that will work. Except it could be one of the abs sensors that threw the codes and are embedded into the wheel bearings. And and…
Part of that is still true on LR3’s/Disco3’s as well. The cooling system is more finicky to bleed vs other SUVs. Just experienced this a month ago when I did a new radiator, water pump, bottle, thermostat housing, and every single coolant hose under the hood.
At least LR4’s/Disco4’s do you the courtesy of blowing up the engine faster so you don’t need to fix it, you just scrap the car.
I sold it because it pissed me off with all of this. And don’t I already want another one.
Yeah, I’m in the right place.
Spoken like a true Land Rover enthusiast. It’s a masochistic club.
With that being said, Disco3/LR3’s with the 4.4L V8 are great. Not as cool looking as Disco I/II’s, less capable in some ways, more capable in others, but surprisingly long-lived if maintained.
Jeep TJ Dana 35 rear axles with c-clips. They break easily with oversized tires and the whole axle shaft and wheel slide out.
Dodge 5.2/5.9 Magnum V8 gas engine intake plenum gaskets.
I have an ’05 MDX with the ‘glass’ 5speed auto. No issues at 178000 miles. I have changed the fluid and installed an external cooler. I rarely tow and don’t beat on it.
I drove a friend’s Accord with the same transmission mid-failure, it had a really hard time getting from 2nd to 3rd.