Check Engine, 4X4, Vsc Systems

[Kupari]

Hi,

What could be the reason for three warnings to appear simultaneously? I thought it was the normal "ice warning" beep today driving home from work but instead the info display showed check VSC system, then check 4x4 system and finally check engine system. The engine symbol also lit up.

Not a very good start to owning my first Toyota

Anyone know of diagnostic software so the fault memory could be read at home instead of taking it to the dealer. The car is not under warranty anymore so would rather diy as much as possible.

It is a 2006 D-Cat 177, ie. T180 in English.

Thanks,

Harri

[duncerduncs]

Hi,

What could be the reason for three warnings to appear simultaneously? I thought it was the normal "ice warning" beep today driving home from work but instead the info display showed check VSC system, then check 4x4 system and finally check engine system. The engine symbol also lit up.

Not a very good start to owning my first Toyota

Anyone know of diagnostic software so the fault memory could be read at home instead of taking it to the dealer. The car is not under warranty anymore so would rather diy as much as possible.

It is a 2006 D-Cat 177, ie. T180 in English.

Thanks,

Harri

Hi Harri

Sorry to hear about your problems, it sounds like you've got a blocked EGR valve.

If you use the search tool, you'll see that some D-CAT owners have suffered this fault. I'm pretty sure that anchorman has a thread showing you how to clean it.

You can buy readers from eBay that can read and clear fault codes.

Hope that helps :)

[mick1020]

Hi,

What could be the reason for three warnings to appear simultaneously? I thought it was the normal "ice warning" beep today driving home from work but instead the info display showed check VSC system, then check 4x4 system and finally check engine system. The engine symbol also lit up.

Not a very good start to owning my first Toyota

Anyone know of diagnostic software so the fault memory could be read at home instead of taking it to the dealer. The car is not under warranty anymore so would rather diy as much as possible.

It is a 2006 D-Cat 177, ie. T180 in English.

Thanks,

Harri

Hi Harri

Sorry to hear about your problems, it sounds like you've got a blocked EGR valve.

If you use the search tool, you'll see that some D-CAT owners have suffered this fault. I'm pretty sure that anchorman has a thread showing you how to clean it.

You can buy readers from eBay that can read and clear fault codes.

Hope that helps :)

Here is the said link http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=106241&pid=963988&mode=threaded&start=0#entry963988

[Kupari]

Hi Duncerduncs!

Thanks for that. EGR valves should be banned. The funny thing is that it seems as if there is nothing wrong with the car other than the warnings on the display. I would have thought a blocked EGR valve causes a loss of power and difficult starting. Also would a blocked EGR valve also have something to do with the check 4x4 and VSC thing? I was thinking maybe moisture has messed up the electrics somehow, though I always thought Jap cars were immune to that sort of thing.

Harri

[duncerduncs]

I think the car throws up the most dramatic warnings to ensure that you take it to a dealer!

I'd get the fault code checked ASAP just to make sure

[parky1968]

Sounds exactly like when our EGR went Pete Tong a few months back!! :censor: :ffs:

[bothwell_buyer]

Is this a common problem with 5 door RAVs?

[ratchet2112]

Hi had the same problem with my T180 last year, the three warnings you have quoted.

Phoned my dealer and took it in and they took the cylinder head off and cleaned all the "gunk" out which they stated is caused by dirty fuel such as supermarket fuels.

Two weeks later the same warning on the dashboard, took it back and they stated they should have changed some fuse when they had the cylinder head off.

One week later the same again, I reported being really ****** off at this stage, they told me the symptom of the problem was the catalytic converter which had failed.

The cost: all in all about £2500 including three and a half days work dropping the engine, by jesus!!!

Roll back to march 2009 and my dealer was asking wether I was keeping the car, and if I was extending my warranty.

Another waste of money I thought, but had a think about it after being told of all the electronics and kit on the T180.

Went with a 2 year warranty extention for £700

Thank god I made that decision, otherwise my rav would have been "left" at the dealers

Where on earth would I get £2500 for repairs from??

[Kupari]

A big thankyou to all of you! I cleaned the EGR valve today and like magic the engine, VSC and 4x4 systems were all cured. The sun is shining and the snow is melting so it looks like it is going to be a nice long Friday today.

Happy Easter to all you Toyota guys and gals!

Harri

[GreyRacer]

Correct me if I'm wrong here but I keep my EGR valve clean by booting the engine every hundred miles or so. Rev high in 2nd and 3rd. I think that one of the problems apart from cheap fuel, is diesel engines mainly cruising along at low revs causing build-up. My T180 never clogged up in 3 years and 35,000 miles by reving it and using Shell Extra and Shell V-Power at three tanks to two.

[anchorman]

Correct me if I'm wrong here but I keep my EGR valve clean by booting the engine every hundred miles or so. Rev high in 2nd and 3rd. I think that one of the problems apart from cheap fuel, is diesel engines mainly cruising along at low revs causing build-up. My T180 never clogged up in 3 years and 35,000 miles by reving it and using Shell Extra and Shell V-Power at three tanks to two.

You can do no harm by using good quality fuel but the EGR on your 2009 RAV is completely different than the one on your T180 - see item 3 here;

Intake and exhaust.pdf

As it is a butterfly it shouldn't give problems. I suspect it was the fuel rather than the "booting" that did the trick. Your oill consumption should be virtually nil on the XT-R which also helps.

[wardude]

I took my egr off my 06 T180. I cleaned the holes on the manifold which were totally clogged up, BUT is there some moving parts on the actual Egr valve only I couldent see any????

[anchorman]

Its just the plunger inside the aluminium bit. There is no real need to take the motor off the body.

[local hero]

Well if this EGR thingy needs cleaning so often why is it not done as part of major service? and why does it clog up anyway? my black cab chugs around Manchester + has had the EGR valve replaced once in 210,000 mls Stew

[anchorman]

I suppose its a combination of that design of valve (completely compatible with the 4.3 emission system in terms of its variability and control) and the unexpected oil consumption. They have hopefully addressed both now. The older 4.2 and your cab did not need to meet E4 Euro standards.

[Kupari]

Well yesterday's test drive of about 10km was obviously not long enough. The warnings are back today, all three of them. I suppose it will have to be taken to the dealer. Hopefully it is something less costly than with ratchet's RAV.

[anchorman]

Well yesterday's test drive of about 10km was obviously not long enough. The warnings are back today, all three of them. I suppose it will have to be taken to the dealer. Hopefully it is something less costly than with ratchet's RAV.

You can buy a code reader like this locally and read the code.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/U480-CAN-BUS-OBD-OBD2-ENGINE-SCANNER-TESTER-CODE-READER_W0QQitemZ220503151352QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Diagnostic_Tools_Equipment?hash=item33570312f8

It could well still be the EGR.

Cheers.

[duncerduncs]

Well yesterday's test drive of about 10km was obviously not long enough. The warnings are back today, all three of them. I suppose it will have to be taken to the dealer. Hopefully it is something less costly than with ratchet's RAV.

I may be completely wrong, but I'm pretty sure that you'll have to clear the fault code as it's stored by the ECU

[Kupari]

I got the fault code cleared by disconnecting the Battery for a couple of minutes. Not sure how long is enough but probably less than 2 mins. Reading some earlier posts, I discovered that blowing into the hoses from the pressure sensor had helped. Not sure if it is a good idea to put so much pressure into the hoses going into the DPF, but if it did no harm to others I might give it a go as the hoses are so easy to access.

[Kupari]

You can buy a code reader like this locally and read the code.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/U480-CAN-BUS-OBD-OBD2-ENGINE-SCANNER-TESTER-CODE-READER_W0QQitemZ220503151352QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Diagnostic_Tools_Equipment?hash=item33570312f8

It could well still be the EGR.

Cheers.

I saw that on eBay and was thinking of getting the fancier version. It seemed a bit expensive so I decided to bid on the OBD2 usb adapter (from Hong Kong). I was just outbid so no I can think about which one to get once more.

I did not clean the EGR that well so I will open it up again and do a better job with it. Might blow some air into the pressure sensor hoses as well unless someone thinks it is a bad idea..

Do you think it would be a good idea to spray some WD-40 into the valve if it is the valve itself which is sticking?

[anchorman]

It won't do any harm but don't leave it to soak.

[Steve-Jeep]

You can buy a code reader like this locally and read the code.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/U480-CAN-BUS-OBD-OBD2-ENGINE-SCANNER-TESTER-CODE-READER_W0QQitemZ220503151352QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Diagnostic_Tools_Equipment?hash=item33570312f8

It could well still be the EGR.

Cheers.

I saw that on eBay and was thinking of getting the fancier version. It seemed a bit expensive so I decided to bid on the OBD2 usb adapter (from Hong Kong). I was just outbid so no I can think about which one to get once more.

I did not clean the EGR that well so I will open it up again and do a better job with it. Might blow some air into the pressure sensor hoses as well unless someone thinks it is a bad idea..

Do you think it would be a good idea to spray some WD-40 into the valve if it is the valve itself which is sticking?

[Steve-Jeep]

I put up the post about blowing into the sensor hoses. I had the same dashboard warnings as you, and had cleaned out my EGR valve first.

I used a spare bit of tubing just to 'breathe' down each sensor hose and discovered that there was a blockage in one. I guess that the port at the bottom of the hose, where it enters the particulate filter area can get clogged-up. If that happens, the sensor cannot 'see' the expected differential pressure across the filter at various engine speeds and loadings, and this triggers the warnings.

I gave each hose a blast at 4-Bar pressure for about 15 seconds, and this did the trick. Of course, if there had been no apparent blockage when I first checked, I would not have used the air line to attempt to clear it.

I took a calculated risk and got away with it. :o The alternative might have been a large bill for a particulate filter.

This was just my solution - It might not be recommended by the OEM.

[Kupari]

Hi Steve,

Your post about the blocked hose was very helpful, thankyou for that. There was a similar post on the Auris forum as well so it seems like an effective fix for the problem. I have now driven 200km after re-cleaning the EGR and spraying some WD-40 into the valve moving bits + blowing compressed air (about 6 bar for 10 seconds each hose) into the particulate filter hoses. Looks like this has helped. Hopefully the light stays away for good now. It is probably best to include the procedure to my diy service schedule too. Dirty oil might be one cause for the clog-ups as well as the engine does use a 100-200ml of oil per 1000km so I think I will change the oil every 10k kms instead of the 15k recommended by Toyota. Also best use a motor oil which is especially meant for DPF-engines. Over here Liqui Moly Top Tec 4300 seems to be the best value for money. Mobil ESP is much dearer.

Regards

Harri

[Somnambulist]

Holy thread revival! I bought a 2006 T180 yesterday for my partner and had these three warning lights come on too. I read on another forum that if the fuel filler cap isn't on tight enough it can cause this, so I went outside and wound it up nice and tight. Sure enough, the lights went out. We'll see if this has actually fixed it but thought it was worth posting.