I ahve an old corolla (L-reg) and at some point in the not too dustant future am thinking of trading up for a much newer avensis or corolla.
I have heard of oil consumption problems with the new VVTi engines.
My old corolla has done 125,000 miles, doesn't seem to use any between services, same story with my 2.0i GT celica.
Does anyone have any hard technical knowledge about what engines in which cars this affects ?
What is the cause of the problem - is it premature bore or ring wear, I am assuming therefore the only method of rectification is a new block/rings ?
From what I can make out there are 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0i versions, and in the avensis a rare 2.4 also
Are these all essentailly the same engine design with just a change in stroke/bore ?
(My celica and corolla engines look extremely similar)
From what I can see they sound good engines - chain driven, with some (all ??) direct petrol injection.
If they are affected by oil-consumption does this mean the cat/lambda sensor are also at risk of premature failure due to the oil burning ?
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 17/11/2007 at 12:04
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I was looking ointo this a while back because I was considering a new shape Celica, and the general opinion among owners seems to be that it's caused by bore wear, it's well known by Toyota, and they quietly extended warranties up to 100,000 miles/7 years on affected engines rather than issuing a recall. I gather that a lot of dealers are less than forthcoming about this though, and you will need to make sure the car's history is spot on and shows regular oil changes before they'll look. Their threshold for taking it seriously seems to be 1.2 litres per 1000 miles, which is ludicrous, but I've been told that they expect the engines to use up to three quarters of a litre per thousand anyway which I still think is silly. I was also wondering how steadily decreasing oil levels would affect the performance given that the timing is based on oil pressure.
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engine with filter takes 3.7 litres so if you forget to check after 3700 miles you have no oil left in the sump at 1 litre per 1000 miles then?
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was also wondering how steadily decreasing oil levels would affect the performance given that the timing is based on oil pressure.
Kuang, can you explain a little more about your timing/oil pressure note?
My 2005 Corolla handbook lists 5w 30 as preferred oil but also lists acceptable alternatives up to 20w 50; how does the ECU allow for the different viscosities and hence pressures? I Presume it is the valve timing affected as the VVTi system operates, or is ignition also affected?
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I'm not sure as I'm far from an expert on engines, but am just going on owners club comments - the higher cam profile in the first VVT-i engines was triggered by an actuator acted on by oil pressure, and I think something similar happens on the later VVTL-i ones too, only the switchover is ECU controlled.
www.billzilla.org/vvtvtec.htm
I was also told by a Celica owner that Toyota recommended 10w40 for the engines that tend to drink it.
Bellboy - wasn't 3.7 the capacity for the 1.6 alone? I thought the 1.8 and 2.0 took 4.2, and when the engines were part rebuilt under warranty that was increased by another half a litre.
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curious as to what the alleged issue is with the bores and rings. surely its not a fancy bore coating is it?
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Found an interesting link here:
toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=44...5
It suggests that the problem is down to oil thinning resulting from blow-by gases, which would suggest at least some small degree of bore wear if not enough account for the whole problem.
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With Oil consumption at that sort of rate oil changes are hardly necessary! OK change the filter, but the oil is effectively changed every 4000 miles so why bother?
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pmh (was peter)
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There are so many messages on those bulletin boards it is hard to decipher what the actual cause is.....
Are the replacement blocks people ave been getting under warranty of a modified design, or will people simply suffer the same problem all over again after another 50,000 miles ?
Most people seem to have either 1.6 or 1.8 engines
Is the 2.0 another design, or just that it is less popular ?
What about the 2.4 engine on the top-spec avensis ? Is this again a differnet engine or just too small a sample siz eot know if it is affected ?
I am suprised that bore-wear is aproblem as previous engines don't seem to suffer this and onewould have thought they'd got something simple like design/manufacturing of bores sorted after all these years.
nterestingly do the D-4D diesel engines have any probs with oil consumption/ring wear - how different is hte design of the short block on these compared to a petrol engine ?
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On the HJ website at: www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm?md=394& there is a comment by HJ to the effect that this high oil consumption is a well known problem, so can I ask HJ himself if he has any further information as to cause?
As a side issue I have personally had a 1.0 litre VVTi engine snap its timing chain, the day after a recall to change the tensioner!
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But the trouble with that is that only the low viscosity part of the oil escapes first. All of the thick stuff and the oil breakdown products and the particulates remain in the engine or the sump. At some point they will cause serious blockage. Makes me glad that I own and Alfa - it has never needed topping between services. Ever.
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My alfa has a wee appetite for oil - put in 1 litre over last 4500 miles. not complaining though as it is something that all car owners should check at least fortnightly IMHO. Just that most nowadays don't bother. Surprised at toyota though . . . . . . . . . .
For the Alfa I am told 10W60 synthetic cures the problem. Could it perhaps be the same foro the Toyota
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 18/11/2007 at 14:57
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Were these run in on fully synth too? Anyone know for sure what the factory-fill was?
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I can comment on my own experience here. I owned a 2002 (52) Avensis 1.8 vvt-i. At around 50K miles (this is the usual mileage that things may happen with this problem) oil consumption started to rise. Half a litre every 500 miles. My local dealer had the car in, topped the oil up and asked me to come back 500 miles later. The oil had dropped around a third on the dipstick. They immediately submitted a warranty claim to Toyota on my behalf and a few weeks later a brand new engine was fitted.
Exemplary service! Yes, the problem hardly instils confidence in the engine but there is an unpublicised extended warranty on this engine as mentioned above. I too had read elsewhere that some dealers were less than helpful but mine was superb.
The problem is mainly limited to vvt-i 1.6 and 1.8 up to about 2003. There are rare stories of similar problems since. I can understand caution when considering this engine but I assume Toyota sorted it a while ago. By the way, a FSH is a precondition of warranty work. My Toyota was five years old when the work was carried out so don't worry too much about age.
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SWMBO bought a 96 Paseo that was 18 month's old with 23k on clock and fully stamped book but that meant nothing - it soon became apparent it was using oil sometimes at rate of max to min in a month - numerous trips back to Toyota dealer came up with nothing except assurances that 1ltr per 1k miles was within spec - all the time she had it I kept a weekly check on oil level and sometimes it hit min and sometimes never used any in the month only to loose ltr in following week - she changed it at around 50k and in all that time it never missed a beat or did I ever see smoke from exhaust or smell it.
- it was a 1.6 engine but not sure if it was a VVtI
Her X reg 1.3 VVtI Yaris never uses any oil between oil changes
Dave
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Hi I have been having problems with oil consumption for approx. 15 months and I have just found out from reading this forum that Toyota have extended the warranty because of this. Can Surrey_Scientist please tell me what the dealers name and area is that replaced his engine. I have contacted my local Toyota dealer about this and they have asked if I have a full service history that has used genuine Toyta parts and have asked me to bring in the car in so they can top the oil up and after 500 miles return the car to test
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Your vehicle doesn't even need a complete service history, even with a partial history will get you the job done at a vastly reduced cost to yourself, even a history with more gaps than stamps will be more or less covered, it's on a sort of sliding scale, so don't accept that it needs a full one with all the i's dotted, if they refuse ask to phonr Toyota GB customer relations in their reception area, that should do the trick! Toyota's warranty on affected engines is actually very good , I can't think of any other manufacturer (hyundai poss?) would warranty an engine for 120'000 miles / 7 years!
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Hi, I have an D4D 2.0 07 Auris. It has suddenly started to drink oil for fun. I have just clocked 25,000 and have had it serviced once and it is due for a second. Just to let you know I am just about to put my 3rd litre of oil in. To me this under cover work from Toyota is a little hard to swallow, so I will not be buying a Toyota again. Does anyone know if Lexus have the same problem? Being the Toyota posh range.
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