Sr180 Advice Plz

[redeye666]

Hi,

I have a white SR180 have had it since new. I have a couple of problems but because I have no mechanical knowledge I don't know what is wrong. I have tried pointing them out to Toyota main dealers in the last 2 services when it still had some warranty, but they couldn't find anything wrong with it they said. My 50k service is just coming up so it's time to ask the question to them again, so I am here to see if anyone can help me diagnose what these faults are.

Right!!!

Bad flat spot In all gears anything under 1500rpm and when I put my foot down it kind of stutters / shudders until over 1500rpm for instance a hill when I got the car I would be easily be able to go up in fith gear at 35mph - 40mph, the car now will have to use 4th gear

The other problem is probably in every gear but you notice it in 4 th 5th and 6th the most as they are the longest gears. Say I'm at 50-6 0mph and I put my foot down I can hear this strange noise coming from the engine again until it gets to higer revs then it stops again

2nd gear I find really hard to get a smooth gear change and is making the car very tiresome and annoying to drive.

Thanks in advance to any help or advice you can give me.

[Uncle Buck]

First of all the crunchy change to 2nd gear in many of these 6 spd gearboxes (2.2 SR models) is typical. I asked Toyota to change the gearbox oil at the last service to a straight 75W low-viscosity oil & it helped bit. Problem not gone, but definitely better.

Second, the engine is not designed to pull hard at such low revs in high gears. Mine will pull like a train above 1500 rpm but not below that & I don't know anyone elses that does. Try using more revs or a lower gear, I never use 6th gear below 60 mph because it was designed for higher speed cruising - motorways & dual carriageways for example.

[redeye666]

looking through the forum at the rav section it looks like it could be "auxiliary belt and tensioners which are worn" as some rav4 owners are having the same problem. Funny how the main dealers never found this fault while it was under warranty

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/124526-weird-noise-from-rav4-t180/

Thanks for the tip about the oil I will give it a try on the next service.

[Phil_1985]

I had my aux belt and tensioner changed under warranty the other week for a different reason - I asked how much it would have been... about 160 for the tensioner and 49 for the belt - not sure on the labour cost!

[redeye666]

I have a funny feeling that Toyota wont change mine for free under warranty as my car is a 09 plate. Even though it has been doing this strange noise for 2.5 years

That's the problem I have found with Toyota, unless you know what you are talking about when it comes to cars they just fob you off and refuse to see any faults or problems. Like I said I am not mechanically minded, what I know about engines you could write on the back of a postage stamp, but I do know when my car does not feel right or has started to make a weird noise. To be fare it's not just my local either I have taken it to 3 different dealers and they all seem as bad.

[Parts-King]

If your car has a fault then it makes no sense for your dealer not to fix it, he is paid to fix it, not leave it! He cannot however just change parts willy nilly and sometimes faults do not manifest themselves right away. If you have a fault and you are convinced there is one, then you should be asking for your dealer to take a deeper look, leaving it for 2.5 years is not helpful. if 3 different dealers have not found a fault, is it really a fault???

Kingo

[redeye666]

I'm not saying every single Toyota main dealer is useless, of course not. However my experience with them is not a good one. We had two mini's before the Auris and I have to say found the BMW experience a whole lot better, or maybe we were lucky that the first one we used was good, so stayed with them. Toyota though unless you can say what is exactly wrong and what needs changing then they are happy to let things go that might have problems, they have driven my car when it's been serviced and looking at the mpg counter that I reset when taking it have given it a good ragging as well so would have heard the noise for sure. I would say that the noise is a fault and after a bit of research it looks like the auxiliary belt and tensioners are the reason. I can hear it so I would assume a qualified mechanic at main dealer should know this far better than me as they had been asked to look at it, same as I would say break squeal from new was also a fault I could even tell them that the breaks were making the noise but they still never fixed them in the lifespan of the set of discs and pads and the car was taken in at least 5 times for this inc services.

The last two times it went for a service I asked my partner to take it as she was home, but I even spoke to the Toyota Service guy from Tunbridge wells over the phone after he said he could find no fault and my partner said you better speak to my boyfriend on the phone because he is adamant there is a fault. The fault "auxiliary belt and tensioners" by the looks of it. He really did not want to know.

Here's betting if I ask them this time they will find it now it's out of warranty.

Toyota make ok cars but for me my next car will not be a Toyota purely on my experience at the main dealers.

[Parts-King]

Here's betting if I ask them this time they will find it now it's out of warranty.

.

That's why I say you should never leave it for 2 or 3 or 5 years or whatever to get it sorted out, your warranty period is exactly what it is, not 3 years plus a month or a year. You should work with your dealer face to face, test drive the car with them, demonstrate the issue, sometimes a noise is difficult to diagnose, but going away and leaving it til the next service will never get it fixed which is what a lot of people do and then say "ive had this fault from new" You need to be persistant and work with them and have it done WITHIN the warranty period

Kingo

[redeye666]

I also have to go to work, so unless I'm will to take a week off or longer and doggedly pursue the issue day after day with still no guarantee of them fixing it what do you do?. Time for most people is an issue, Toyota are supposed to be the experts they work on the cars day in day out so also know all the common problems. It's more a case of how determined you are to get it fixed. This to me is not good customer service. I also didn't leave the fault for 5 years I repeatedly asked them to check it each time. I am not a car mechanic so could not tell them what was wrong just that it was making a strange noise under load. In the end I did what they wanted just gave up.

Ok so even if we go with your theory about the auxiliary belt and tensioners not being an easy fault to find - What have you got to say you about the brakes then? that was a blatant fault that they never fixed either.

[Parts-King]

I also have to go to work, so unless I'm will to take a week off or longer and doggedly pursue the issue day after day with still no guarantee of them fixing it what do you do?

Of course it is, but nobody is suggesting you take a week off, have you never discussed leaving it with them? having the use of a loan car? getting the car collected? There are all sorts of options available, not leaving it until it's out of warranty

I have no idea why your brakes were never sorted, there is a well documented cause for that

Kingo

[redeye666]

If they say it has no fault and are not interested in even finding one and never even did the work on the well documented brake squeal after 5 attempts, how on earth do you expect me to get them to take the car and give me a loaner on the basis they are saying nothing is wrong?

Maybe you should try taking a car to a Toyota main dealer as just a Mr Joe Blogs and you might understand the service from my perspective.

I haven't come on here to criticize main dealers and this is now turning into a rant thread, rather than an advice thread. The main reason I now wanted to know what the fault was, is I plan on getting rid of the Toyota soonish and would like to get it sorted before I do. I think it's so easy to hear unless you are a Toyota mechanic that it might put a potential buyer off.

Hey unless you want to make me a good offer for it Mr parts king - she's all yours

[Parts-King]

I haven't come on here to criticize main dealers and this is now turning into a rant thread

It's you that's ranting! ;)

Hey unless you want to make me a good offer for it Mr parts king - she's all yours

Hey I'm parts-king............not sales-king

[redeye666]

I know it's me ranting that's what I'm saying.

Hey you could buy it and sell it all in parts :P