Bought A T180 Now I'm Scared To Death

[Grey Wolf]

Hi All,

I've recently bought a 2007 Auris T180 with 73k since then all I read on here is major doom and gloom, has anyone got a T180 they haven't had expensive issues with? I'm now cacking my pants its gonna fail miserably and cost more than the car is worth to fix it, please tell me someone has had a reliable one of these?

[FROSTYBALLS]

Out of 988 T180's first registered in the UK, at the end of the second quarter of 2015 there were still 914 taxed (and 6 SORN) - 92.5% presumably still being used.

People tend to visit forums when they have problems, so one tends to be aware of the bad news rather than the good. Yes the 2AD engine has had issues, and the forum wouldn't be doing members any favours by not pointing out the possible issues.

If you're concerned, a Toyota dealer may be able to check from the car's service history whether yours has had an issue with the head gasket or similar, and whether the engine has had any remedial work done.

[Grey Wolf]

Hi, Yes your right forums usually point out the bad bits, it seems to me that most of these problems are due to carbon build up perhaps due to driving style and environment and the engine being unable to get rid of the carbon as well as really needs to?

Do you think by keeping the egr valve super clean or even blanking it off this could be improved massively? Also finding the right driving method to ensure the car goes into DPF regen as often as required would also help? Not exactly sure how this could be ensured but I must be able to do something to help, the car is great, the power is so usable and you dont have to rev the crap out of it to get the power like you do in a petrol car, yes the MPG isnt amazing but its reasonable given the power and acceleration. Also has anyone sucessfully removed the DPF using an emulator? Does anyone change the oil more frquently than the service interval suggests? Infact any tips on keeping this thing as clean as possible might prolong the agony between major faults or even prevent them all together - your help is very much appriciated

[TomdeGuerre]

There’s lots of posts on here about the benefits / disadvantages of blanking off the EGR valve, I think your best chance is with the non-DPF engines like yours but opinions are always divided. You’re right about the best driving method, driving a modern turbo diesel too gently is not good for it, they benefit from at least occasional full bore stuff. I've never owned a T180 but there's others on here who have and can give you better advice.

Maybe you want to look at using a fuel additive like Redex, Wynn’s or Archoil to keep the engine clean (although fuel additives are a can of worms).

Archoil AR6800 is one manufacturer who tells you to experiment with your own vehicle to find the best amount to use. They recommend ball park figures of 50ml for 50 litres of fuel up to a maximum of 100ml per 50 litres of fuel.

But they encourage you to find the best mix for your own vehicle ie start with 25ml and slowly increase the dosage eg by 10ml per tankful while you monitor performance and fuel consumption. Continue to increase the dosage until you find performance and consumption starts to decrease and then revert back to previous dosage. Makes absolute sense to me if you’re the type to pay such attention.

http://www.powerenhancer.co.uk/archoil-ar6800-diesel-full-power-cetane-booster.html

[Grey Wolf]

Hi thanks for the advice, I'm pretty sure it does have a DPF unfortunately :( I wonder has anyone had high mileage from their T180 with the original DPF still fitted and working as advertised?

[dervdave]

Sell it !

[Grey Wolf]

I don't want to sell it if its actually possible to run one of these without issues, its a great car in every other respect!

[lzsteve]

I have a 09 Sr180 with the same engine, done 85K. No problems except for crap fuel economy (37mpg). I clean the EGR valve every six months.

However I don't use supermarket diesel and I always drive at least 20 miles including a good thrash at 3000 rpm for a couple of minutes. It also gets a 100 mile run at least every month on the motorway. Yes this 2.2 diesel engine can be prone to carbon bulid up which can cause problems with head gasket but if you do the mileage, thrash it occasionally and change the oil every 6K then you should be ok, assuming the previous owner hasn't just used it as a run around.

You should see the DPF regenerating (cloud af smoke out of the rear and fuel economy read out suddenly drops). This is a good sign and proves your DPF is not clogged or blocked.

You can add snake oil as above if you like but I prefer good quality diesel.Pay attention to your water level and oil level.

Hope that helps

[Grey Wolf]

Yes thanks it does, I'm now realising that the major fail cars are in the minority, I just have to hope the car I have bought has not been an around town car and isnt too blocked up with carbon, I will be doing the EGR soon to try and get an idea of the general carbon buildup in this engine and the try my best to reverse the process as much as possible, I can vary my route to work and include dual carriage way to thrash it a bit, run it on Shell vpower and change the oil every 6k.

What products do you think might strip carbon off the pistons? assuming theres carbon there that is!

[Clamjouster]

I've got an 07 plate T180 that I've had for about two years from 66000 miles to its current 103000 miles.

No issues with it whatsoever with regards to the headgasket or DPF but I really must remove the EGR valve and give it a good clean soon. Fuel economy is pretty poor averaging around 37 mpg although that can go up to about 45 mpg on a good run.

Agree with what others here have mentioned with regards to giving it some stick once in a while.

If you get one you'll find it makes quite a capable warm hatch and the fact no one has a clue what it is makes it a bit of a Q car. Also it's a very good tow vehicle.

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[TomdeGuerre]

So what fuel do you use? and do you use any additives?