Won't Rev Over 3,000

[Hammer7]

Hi folks after 7 years of almost trouble-free service my 1998 Avensis 1.8 GS started behaving oddly yesterday. It won't rev over 3,000 in any gear, starts juddering and sometimes the yellow fuel light comes on when it does this (though it's full of petrol). I checked the HT leads and the connections look like new. Any ideas what may be causing this? It co-incided with the thaw from weeks of freezing weather. It's done 100,000 miles and I had the timing belt changed at 60,000.

[RAV4Len]

I would be looking at the air filter.....

Oh, and welcome :)

[Hammer7]

I would be looking at the air filter.....

Oh, and welcome :)

Thanks RAV4Len - I'll look at the air filter

I couldn't work out where you type in the new members say hello page or I wouldn't have stormed straight in with a request for help!

cheers

[Hammer7]

I checked the HT leads and plugs and they look brand new so I'm still stumped!

[Hammer7]

I checked the HT leads and plugs and they look brand new so I'm still stumped!

I took it to a place with diagnostic kit. It turned out to be the Crankshaft Position sensor. They replaced this and now it's fine. Wasn't expensive either

[Hammer7]

I took it to a place with diagnostic kit. It turned out to be the Crankshaft Position sensor. They replaced this and now it's fine. Wasn't expensive either

[RAV4Len]

I took it to a place with diagnostic kit. It turned out to be the Crankshaft Position sensor. They replaced this and now it's fine. Wasn't expensive either

Result then

[Druid Boy]

Wow! A new member who promptly sought expert advice and didn't start stripping the car and replacing everything and posting the whole saga on TOC. And it didn't cost much. Whatever next? Glad it is sorted and welcome to the madness!

[Konrad C]

I took it to a place with diagnostic kit. It turned out to be the Crankshaft Position sensor. They replaced this and now it's fine. Wasn't expensive either

Hammer7, Thanks for telling us your result. It is nice to know the end of the story.

I have the same car as you, and would have used the self diagnostics of the car. That is a nice feature of our early Avensis. Free diagnostics - read one of my earlier posts for details.

When you went to the local garage to get the car checked and fixed, how inexpensive was it?

The best thing is that the car is running well.

It sounds sad, but I have noticed quite a few 98 - 99 Avensis in good condition in my area of south east London, compared to similar Mondeos, Vectras, or 406s.

Once again thanks for telling us the result - I always do that on here.

[t-spiritpete]

I took it to a place with diagnostic kit. It turned out to be the Crankshaft Position sensor. They replaced this and now it's fine. Wasn't expensive either

Hammer7, Thanks for telling us your result. It is nice to know the end of the story.

I have the same car as you, and would have used the self diagnostics of the car. That is a nice feature of our early Avensis. Free diagnostics - read one of my earlier posts for details.

When you went to the local garage to get the car checked and fixed, how inexpensive was it?

The best thing is that the car is running well.

It sounds sad, but I have noticed quite a few 98 - 99 Avensis in good condition in my area of south east London, compared to similar Mondeos, Vectras, or 406s.

Once again thanks for telling us the result - I always do that on here.

Hi mate it's not sad at all, well to me anyway as I still look at the old Carina E and the early Avensis, two of the best cars ever made in my humble opinion and still going strong .... still being used by taxi drivers in my area.

Regards Pete.

[Konrad C]

I took it to a place with diagnostic kit. It turned out to be the Crankshaft Position sensor. They replaced this and now it's fine. Wasn't expensive either

Hammer7, Thanks for telling us your result. It is nice to know the end of the story.

I have the same car as you, and would have used the self diagnostics of the car. That is a nice feature of our early Avensis. Free diagnostics - read one of my earlier posts for details.

When you went to the local garage to get the car checked and fixed, how inexpensive was it?

The best thing is that the car is running well.

It sounds sad, but I have noticed quite a few 98 - 99 Avensis in good condition in my area of south east London, compared to similar Mondeos, Vectras, or 406s.

Once again thanks for telling us the result - I always do that on here.

Hi mate it's not sad at all, well to me anyway as I still look at the old Carina E and the early Avensis, two of the best cars ever made in my humble opinion and still going strong .... still being used by taxi drivers in my area.

Regards Pete.

Thanks Pete,

I like to think how good my '98 Avensis is and how the motoring press gave it a warm review, even though it had an amazing economy. Only Mitsubishi Carisma matched the Avensis at that time. All the other cars that were rated highly have seemed to have largely disappeared!

Another point. 3000 rpm is is a high point for most driving situations. Hammer7n must have found the fault whilst needing the extra revs. Yesterday I drove through his area, and know that there are a few hills. I do know that most people never rev that high unless on the motorway, so would never know there was a fault. Just my point of view.

Now to sort out my sticky gear change.

Kon

[Hammer7]

- certainly I wouldn't have even noticed in normal town use, I noticed the juddering only on the motorway. But it also developed a tendency to stall then refuse to restart when hot. I didn't even know it had a crankshaft position sensor! The place charged me half hour labour, new part and 20% VAT (thanks coalition) total about £120 pretty good I thought. Non-diagnostic garages had no idea what might be wrong with it.

How do you use diagnostics yourself Konrad C?

It is a great car as regards build quality I agree. Dull to drive though!

[Hammer7]

PS it jumps out of 5th gear when going uphill - anyone else experienced this?

[t-spiritpete]

I took it to a place with diagnostic kit. It turned out to be the Crankshaft Position sensor. They replaced this and now it's fine. Wasn't expensive either

Hammer7, Thanks for telling us your result. It is nice to know the end of the story.

I have the same car as you, and would have used the self diagnostics of the car. That is a nice feature of our early Avensis. Free diagnostics - read one of my earlier posts for details.

When you went to the local garage to get the car checked and fixed, how inexpensive was it?

The best thing is that the car is running well.

It sounds sad, but I have noticed quite a few 98 - 99 Avensis in good condition in my area of south east London, compared to similar Mondeos, Vectras, or 406s.

Once again thanks for telling us the result - I always do that on here.

Hi mate it's not sad at all, well to me anyway as I still look at the old Carina E and the early Avensis, two of the best cars ever made in my humble opinion and still going strong .... still being used by taxi drivers in my area.

Regards Pete.

Thanks Pete,

I like to think how good my '98 Avensis is and how the motoring press gave it a warm review, even though it had an amazing economy. Only Mitsubishi Carisma matched the Avensis at that time. All the other cars that were rated highly have seemed to have largely disappeared!

Another point. 3000 rpm is is a high point for most driving situations. Hammer7n must have found the fault whilst needing the extra revs. Yesterday I drove through his area, and know that there are a few hills. I do know that most people never rev that high unless on the motorway, so would never know there was a fault. Just my point of view.

Now to sort out my sticky gear change.

Kon

Hi again, guess what my wife has had for the last 12 yrs, trouble free and economical (maintained by myself) ..... a 1.6 Mitsubishi Carisma GLX and it still looks and drives like new so you are spot on!

Regards, Pete.

[Konrad C]

- certainly I wouldn't have even noticed in normal town use, I noticed the juddering only on the motorway. But it also developed a tendency to stall then refuse to restart when hot. I didn't even know it had a crankshaft position sensor! The place charged me half hour labour, new part and 20% VAT (thanks coalition) total about £120 pretty good I thought. Non-diagnostic garages had no idea what might be wrong with it.

How do you use diagnostics yourself Konrad C?

It is a great car as regards build quality I agree. Dull to drive though!

Hi Hammer7,

Answering your question on the self diagnostics, There is a diagnostic socket located in the fuse box behind the storage box by the driveers right knee. It is a horizontal white socket with 16 holes. With the ignition off place a paper clip in the 4th hole on the upper roow and 5th (hole 13) on the lower row.

Turn on the ingnition but don't start the car, and 3 lights start to flash - the EML, SRS Airbag, and the ABS. It is the sequence of flashes that tell you if the car has a fault detected.

So if the EML light flash twice quick break then once and after a longer break repeats it, the fault is the O2 or leanburn sensor fault.

You did not mention if the EML light came on! The crank sensor is monitored and should have been picked up as a fault by the ECU. Any faults are stored in the ECU until the system is cleared, by removing the EFI fuse in the engine bay or the Battery disconnected for at least a minute.

I have detailed this proceedure in my other posts.

Your gearbox problem could be anything, but again you need to check the forum. This is a general fault for any make of car, so google it. It may be the syncro? Another possibility is the engine mounts.

Somebody may have a better idea.

I find the car nice to drive. That dullness probably is the secret to it's strenghs - economy and reliabilty, plus when most the rivals are scrapped, the Avensis is still going.