Yaris Camshaft Problem

[Bibsta]

My daughter has a 54 plate 1.3 Yaris - engine management light came on. Toyota dealer has looked at it and thinks it might be the camshaft but is not sure. Car booked in for 2 days plus weekend so that they can strip it down - at £80 per hour, this sounds expensive. Any advice on what might be wrong?

[Devon Aygo]

What diagnostic fault code was found when the car was inspected?

[Bibsta]

Not sure right now but my daughter is going to speak to the Toyota garage to find out what fault code was found. Will reply with more details, if you can help. Seems that the garage are not sure what is wrong and are going to the engine apart! Bit drastic don't you think?

John

[Bibsta]

Fault code advised by Toyota is P1346 Bank 1 - does make sense? Have been told by another Toyota dealer that Bank 1 might be O2 sensor. Is this two faults? John

[Bibsta]

Having checked this out with the Toyota Dealer in Cheltenham - the fault code is P1346 Bank, the technician has said it is the camshaft sensor and has nothing to do with the oxygen sensor. Is a replacement camshaft sensor a difficult and expensive job? John

[Devon Aygo]

P1346 = VVT SENSOR ( CAMSHAFT POSITION SENSOR ) Circuit range/Performance problem, and is set when there is a deviation detected between the camshaft position and crankshaft position.

It is set because the timing chain has either jumped teeth or has stretched allowing a variation in engine timing or because there is a fault with either camshaft/crankshaft sensors, their wiring harness or a faulty engine ECU.

To confirm the fault the valve timing, sensor outputs, wiring harness continuity and Engine ECU operation needs to checked and confirmed to locate the cause of the warning light.

[Bibsta]

Lee,

Thanks for your reply - do you think this is an expensive job. I read on another Yaris Forum of similar problems and this Yaris owner said the fault was due to a stretched timing chain that got replaced and warning light went out - think he said that cost £170.

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forum/index.php?/topic/14630-engine-management-light/

John

[Madasafish]

The £170 is for a chain only. There is labour .. It's quite a big job. If you get a garage to do it.. expect £350-£400.

Or the chain tensioner may have failed?

[Bibsta]

Update on this saga - my daughter has a TOYOTA YARIS Colour Collection 1.3VVT-i - 05 Plate. The engine warning light came on (and is still on) so she she took to the Inchcape Toyota dealership in South Derbshire. They did a diagnostic and this showed fault code P1346 Bank 1 Camshaft sensor. They had the car for 2 days and couldn't pin point the actual fault. An estimate was prepared to replace the timing chain, 2x sensors (crank) and the Engine Management unit - 7.5 hours of labour + parts, this was quoted at £1691.06 inc. VAT.

The Toyota workshop do not seem to be able to identify exactly which component is causing the fault - the car is running fine with no rattles but with the warning light on. We wondered if just replacing the sensors might be the best option in the first place. This seems to be a relatively easy job to do, well according to a You Tube video it seems like it is, taking a matter of minutes?

Toyota have suggested that they take the car apart to investigate the issue - have quoted £165 (2 hour job) over 2 days. But this is not to carry out any repairs. Does anybody have any recommendations to this dilemma - the investigation work doesn't fix it and it seems a lot of money to Shell out.

Any help or guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks, John

[Perfection]

What ever you do don't take it to that garage. They don't know how to diagnose faults.

Have you tried to clear the fault by disconnecting the Battery for 30 minutes. It might be a glitch.

I wouldn't think it's the timing chain had stretched unless the car was driven in a very bad way.

More likely is the sensor fault, if the fault code is correctly interpreted then change the sensor not just every components that Inchape could think of.

[Bibsta]

Hi Perfection,

Thanks for your comment - but unfortunately things have moved on since your last posting.

Inchcape have had my daughter's Yaris in for 2 days now (Monday 29/9 and Tuesday 30/9/14), dismantled the engine and have ruled out any issues with the camshaft sensors and the timing chain. They have told us that a faulty ECU is the cause of the problem which is being replaced. In the original estimate Inchcape included in the their estimate (totalling £1619.06 inc. VAT) for replacing camshaft sensors and timing chain plus the ECU (Part No. Y89661-0D071) priced at £390.57 + VAT and reprogramming (Codes described as Y08826-80010 and 33E001 Y08826-00080/) for £67.86 + VAT.

Bearing in mind that the Yaris has been running smoothly, without any misfires, it seems odd that the fault with the dashboard malfunction light has been diagnosed to be the ECU.

The cost of this work started off at £1160, this got reduced to £1000 and then to a final price of £900. It all sounds very unusual to me.

The question I would like answering, if you are able to do so - what are the statistics for ECU faults that need them to be replaced. If as you suggested that by disconnecting the Battery for 30 minutes this might have cured the fault due to a potential system glitch. Incidentally the part has been ordered and will be replaced this week - the work (parts and labour) is fully guaranteed for 12 months which is some consolation. Is this incident worthy of getting Toyota involved?

Any thoughts on this saga?

Thanks, John

[Perfection]

I suspect the garage have tried find the fault by process of elimination. They should have checked the signal from he sensor without dismantling the engine to save the cost.

It is possible that the ecu is at fault. But very unusual and i would talk to Toyota Customer service to ask for any contribution to the cost.

Also ask for your old ecu back once you they have replaced with a new one.

[Parts-King]

It is possible that the ecu is at fault. But very unusual and i would talk to Toyota Customer service to ask for any contribution to the cost.

Also ask for your old ecu back once you they have replaced with a new one.

At 9 years old? ........good luck with that one!

[Perfection]

It's worth a try. I got 50% paid by Toyota when I got the ignitors replaced to my 7 years old RAV4.