Problems · by component
2018 Toyota Tacoma fuel/propulsion system problems
42 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2018 Toyota Tacoma cite fuel/propulsion system, 20% of all 209 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
42
20% of all complaints
Crashes
0
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
Reported by owners
What owners say about the fuel/propulsion system
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“2018 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD Double Cab, 3.5L V6 (2GR-FKS). At about 87,000 miles the check engine light came on with code P11EC, Cylinder 1 Air-Fuel Ratio Imbalance (Port). Cylinder 1 failed compression. Leakdown and coolant tests had passed earlier; borescope did not show heavy scoring. The Toyota dealer said replacing the direct injectors would fix compression (quote about $4,499). After the dealer injector repair, cylinder 1 was still 124 psi (spec about 142-180 psi), so it did not fix compression. The dealer then quoted $11,778 for a short block (+$500 incidentals) and $14,238 for an engine assembly that was not new (about 45,000 miles on the replacement discussed); adding injectors again put the short-block path at about $16,278. I was steered toward buying a new truck and had the injector work reversed because it did not fix what they said it would. Toyota Brand Engagement Center reviewed the case, called the dealer, took VINs for other Toyotas, and denied goodwill; no recall or TSB. An independent shop later pulled the engine and found the cylinder 1 exhaust valves leaking badly; cylinder wall still looked good. Machine shop valve job, new rings, injectors…”
“The fuel pump as stopped working the vehicle will not start and the 4x4 is showing that it is not working. The vehicle is available for inspection. Thankfully this happened while the vehicle was sitting over night but we had driven it the evening before it just stopped running. the Fuel system could have failed while we were driving anywhere. It has not been inspected by anyone else. it is sitting in our driveway and my husband has done a lot of trouble shooting as to what could be wrong and all arrows point to the fuel pump. there have been no check engine light or nothing this came out of nowhere.”
“On June 26, 2025, around 9:30 AM, I was driving my Tacoma on the highway at approximately 70 mph when the truck suddenly lost power. I was in the center lane and nearly got hit as I tried to exit the highway. After exiting, the engine warning light came on, and the truck eventually stalled. I was able to restart it with limited power and drove it to a nearby shop. The shop's diagnosis revealed several warning codes, and the fuel pressure was found to be only 14 psi. They recommended replacing the low-pressure fuel pump. After researching known fuel pump issues, I had the truck towed to a local Toyota dealership. The dealership confirmed the codes but couldn’t replicate the low-pressure reading after driving for about 30 miles. Because of this, they stated that it didn’t qualify for the extended recall offered by Toyota. Toyota refused to replace the pump, arguing that the recall had already been performed in 2020 and that the low pressure reading came from a non-Toyota repair shop. My response was: how can they be sure that the pump replaced under the recall wasn’t faulty as well? No answer In the end, I had no choice but to cover the repair costs myself.…”
“Vehicle stalling on freeway and almost crashed multiple times and dealership is saying they already fixed the recall on my truck but still doing same thing as reports say”
“When accelerating on highway check engine light started flashing and engine running rough. Pulled over and stopped vehicle turned off ignition. Restarted vehicle and light was out no longer running rough. Toyota dealer checked computer, cylinder #2 misfired 47 times & cylinder #3 misfired 3 times. They said they could not find what had created this problem and still charged me for engine diagnostics.”
“The vehicle every time I fuel either does start afterwards or it would start and drive for about 3-6 minutes then it will stall. The very first time it happened was on the highway which I didn’t know why my car had stall but now that it has done it right at the fuel pump and also more often than not. I tried using other gas stations just to rule out bad fue but it has been like this for the past 6 month. I have taken it to Toyota MCDONOUGH in Georgia and they could not give a diagnostic because the check engine light does not stays on and they said they can’t replicate the problem.”
Showing 6 of 42 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 3, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.