How To Tell If The Engine Is Lean Burn?

[daavisz]

So I'm looking to buy an 2000 Avensis 1.6.

Mk 1 Avensis has two 1.6 versions- 99 hp lean burn and 110 hp unit.

How to tell which is which? The owner of the car said that he doesn't know.

Can I tell if its lean burn by just looking at the engine?

Thanks.

[Dmitriy]

So I'm looking to buy an 2000 Avensis 1.6.

Mk 1 Avensis has two 1.6 versions- 99 hp lean burn and 110 hp unit.

How to tell which is which? The owner of the car said that he doesn't know.

Can I tell if its lean burn by just looking at the engine?

Thanks.

Hi daavisz,

Avensis Mk1 11/1997-06/2000 have engine 4A-FE (99hp 1.6L non-VVTi)

Avensis Mk1 08/2000-02/2003 have engine 3ZZ-FE (109hp 1.6L VVTi)

You could google images of 4A-FE and 3ZZ-FE and just compare them with the engine

in that car.

I think the learn burn one would be 4A-FE out of these two if not both.

I know for sure 7A-FE (1.8L non-VVTi) that went into Mk1 11/97-06/00 is lean burn

as I used to have one of these.

HTH,

Dmitriy

[daavisz]

Ok, I got a bit messed up. I thought that Avensis had the exactly same engines as Carina E.

In turns out that there's two 4A-FE versions- 101 and 110 hp. Only lean burn engine is 7A-FE.

Carina E had two lean burn engines- 1.6 99hp and 1.8 107 hp.

[Dmitriy]

By the way do you know how many mpg the lean burn one adds? My 1ZZ-FE eats 38-40mpg, which is about the same I had with 7A-FE.

Are there any other benefits of the lean burn one?

[daavisz]

Benefits are that 7A-FE engine pulls really well from lower revs and it has a long fifth gear, great for quiet motorway cruising.

Also it doesn't suffer from oil burning as VVT-i engines.

[Konrad C]

I have checked every source available to me - Haynes manual, my hand book, the web, and there has only been one lean burn 4A-FE 1.6 engine in the Avensis, between 1997 - 2000. 4A-FE describes the 1.6 engine as lean-burn. 4A-GE is the more powerful non lean-burn version.

The 4A-GE was never used in the Avensis (In Europe and UK at least). Logically it would be in the same power rating of the 7A-FE, without the fuel economy.

The difference between the the 4A-FE and 4A-GE are the cylinder head is narrower on the FE, the GE cam belt drives both sprockets, whilst the FE only has one sprocket.

The injectors are very close to the inlet valves - they practically fire directly into the engine.

Also all engines carried over from the Carina had modifications for the Avensis application.

Obviously you knew the vvti engines from 2000 onwards.

Hope this helps.

[daavisz]

There's no connection between Avensis and 4A-GE. No point mentioning it.

Basically my question was, do 4A-FE 99hp version is lean burn.