2009 Avensis 2.0 D4D No power low down

[19mick87]

Hi

Can anybody please let me know if this is normal.

This is my 1st Avensis coming from a 03 passat tdi 130 and also the wife has a 2006 passat 1.9tdi 105 bhp.

Basically i want to know is it normal for the car to have no pull below say 1800 rpm, for example if Im driving on the motorway in 6th gear around 1500 rpm and decide to overtake a car, when I floor it not a lot happens until around the 2000 rpm mark.

Compared to my old passat and my wifes which has less power than the Avensis, they both pull strong in any gear and any revs and would overtake with ease whereas the avensis I always have to drop down a gear.

The car is going back to the dealer on Monday under warranty with a few problems one of them being a noisey turbo making a siren like noise especially when cold, Im thinking this may be why its not pulling great low down but when above 2000 rpm its pulls great.

Any suggestions would be great thanks as I dont want to tell the dealer that its down on power if its not and its just the way the avensis drives.

[Heidfirst]

Iirc the turbo only really cuts in from ~1800rpm. On the (related design) 2.2 the max torque is between 2,000 & 2,800 rpm.

However, without driving your car & another identical car known to be in fine fettle I don't think that anybody here can say whether yours is down on power - something might be sooted up or it may just deliver/be geared differently from your VWs.

[19mick87]

The turbo kicking in at 1800 would make sense in the vws they come in a lot earlier so probably me just getting used to driving a new car. But it does feel like a major flat spot especially when in higher gears.

Thanks for youre input

[calamara]

3 hours ago, 19mick87 said:

Hi

Can anybody please let me know if this is normal.

This is my 1st Avensis coming from a 03 passat tdi 130 and also the wife has a 2006 passat 1.9tdi 105 bhp.

Basically i want to know is it normal for the car to have no pull below say 1800 rpm, for example if Im driving on the motorway in 6th gear around 1500 rpm and decide to overtake a car, when I floor it not a lot happens until around the 2000 rpm mark.

Compared to my old passat and my wifes which has less power than the Avensis, they both pull strong in any gear and any revs and would overtake with ease whereas the avensis I always have to drop down a gear.

The car is going back to the dealer on Monday under warranty with a few problems one of them being a noisey turbo making a siren like noise especially when cold, Im thinking this may be why its not pulling great low down but when above 2000 rpm its pulls great.

Any suggestions would be great thanks as I dont want to tell the dealer that its down on power if its not and its just the way the avensis drives.

Hi Mick, I think maybe you are changing up the gearbox too soon....6th gear/1500rpm is to slow for 6th,  I have had 2x2.0d4d's. and try to keep the revs between 2500-2850rpm, I would never go into 6th below 75mph.

cheers.

[19mick87]

Thanks for the advice.

Sounds like ill have to change up my driving style so. Was so used to having low down torque in the other car so would always be in a high gear as qyick as I could.

Out of interest what average mpg should I be getting Calamara?

[Heidfirst]

does your car not have the gear change indicator arrows?

Not sure if the gearing differs on the 2.0 from the 2.2 but 2000rpm will give you a  genuine (as opposed to indicated) 70mph in the 2.2. Even in a 2.2 1500rpm is too low to expect instant rapid acceleration but the car will happily cruise at that rpm. Much lower than that (e.g. 1250rpm) & the car will suggest that you change down.

[19mick87]

Yup it has the shift lights. But even when they are not indicating to drop down a gear sometimes I have to if I need to overtake.

Judging by the replies its just the way the car delivers its power and nothing out of the norm so im happy with that.

[Heidfirst]

sometimes the car will happily cruise at an rpm but if you put extra load (hill/overtake etc.) that will then trigger the shift down light. Similarly at certain rpms/gear if you are cruising then go downhill or are accelerating hard but then back off you'll instantly get a shift up light.  Most of the time I don't change up before 2000rpm in the 2.2.

HonetJohn's RealMPG suggests ~48mpg overall for a 2009 2.0D manual transmission but it's variable according to your driving style & journey profile.

[19mick87]

48 mpg overall? Im get 39 max and I dont have a heavy foot.

I drove for 1 hour 30 mins on the motorway at 70 mph and the best I got was 50 mpg. I was expecting to get mid to high 50's at least.

[alan333]

I owned one for a while, and averaged about 50mpg driving quite serenely most of the time.

[calamara]

9 hours ago, 19mick87 said:

Thanks for the advice.

Sounds like ill have to change up my driving style so. Was so used to having low down torque in the other car so would always be in a high gear as qyick as I could.

Out of interest what average mpg should I be getting Calamara?

Hi Mick, on average you should get about upper 40----lower50

before you do anything else, make sure the egr valve is clean, there's plenty of info on here how to do it,

check your airfilter

dont use supermarket fuel, I use Shell or bp.

cheers.

[19mick87]

Wow im not getting any way near that!!!

Car was only bought from a Toyota main dealer 2 weeks ago and received a full service Ive looked myself and oil is brand new as are the filters.

Im guessing ill have a look at the egr valve and see if its coked up.

Would that cause that much difference in mpg though and surely the car would have other side effects aswell?

[Russd4d]

How accurate is the mpg display because i did a 105 mile run yesterday on a mix of dual carraigeway and b roads, now i am an old git and given up my heavy foot days but i did manage to get 74.1 mpg on the display, I have a photo of 73.3mpg, Compared to my C5 auto diesel that's double what i am getting out of the Citroen, Happy days.

[19mick87]

74.1 mpg 😮😮 Wow I could only dream of that. Im not sure how accurate the display is but I havent got more than 400 miles out of a full tank yet. Maybe I should check my egr valve and see if its coked up..

[Heidfirst]

1 minute ago, 19mick87 said:

74.1 mpg 😮😮 Wow I could only dream of that. Im not sure how accurate the display is but I havent got more than 400 miles out of a full tank yet. 

Different car, different engine & probably a less accurate computer.

How are you measuring your mpg? The computer range counts down to "reserve" rather than to empty (typical Toyota caution) & you will probably still have ~9-10 litres of fuel when it says that you have 0 miles range left.

Mpg will vary according to driving style & mix, properly inflated tyres etc. etc.

[19mick87]

1 minute ago, Heidfirst said:

Different car, different engine & probably a less accurate computer.

How are you measuring your mpg? The computer range counts down to "reserve" rather than to empty (typical Toyota caution) & you will probably still have ~9-10 litres of fuel when it says that you have 0 miles range left.

Mpg will vary according to driving style & mix, properly inflated tyres etc. etc.

Funny you should say that about the reserve ive only managed to get 48 litres max into the tank when filling from empty and its supposed to be a 60 litre tank so that explains that.

Im using the trip computer havent done the pen and paper method yet.

Havent driven the car hard at all just every now and then ill give her a blast to keep the dpf in check.

[Heidfirst]

depending upon exact date of manufacture your car may not have a DPF. Think it was added June 2010 for the 2.0D - there is a post by Devon Aygo (a Toyota dealer service/warranty employee) somewhere that explains for the T27.

 

[yossarian247]

Interestingly we have recently moved from having two VW TDI PDs in the family to an Avensis 2.0 D-4D and I've noticed the same as the 19mick87. The VWs were quite happy in 6th at 50 MPH, whereas in the Avensis 6th gear is very much a 'motorway cruising' gear. Try changing to 6th at 50 in the Avensis and the engine would feel very laboured, with the dash display showing 'shift down'. I  think its partly due to the different characteristics of a PD versus a common rail engine (even VW common rail owners often complain that they feel gutless compared to the older PD engines), and also the Avensis seems higher geared than diesels I've owned previously.

[19mick87]

8 minutes ago, yossarian247 said:

Interestingly we have recently moved from having two VW TDI PDs in the family to an Avensis 2.0 D-4D and I've noticed the same as the 19mick87. The VWs were quite happy in 6th at 50 MPH, whereas in the Avensis 6th gear is very much a 'motorway cruising' gear. Try changing to 6th at 50 in the Avensis and the engine would feel very laboured, with the dash display showing 'shift down'. I  think its partly due to the different characteristics of a PD versus a common rail engine (even VW common rail owners often complain that they feel gutless compared to the older PD engines), and also the Avensis seems much higher geared than diesels I've owned previously.

Great to hear the opinion of another who has had the same cars as myself. So its just the way that the car delivers its power thats different and nothing wrong with the car.

[yossarian247]

5 minutes ago, 19mick87 said:

Great to hear the opinion of another who has had the same cars as myself. So its just the way that the car delivers its power thats different and nothing wrong with the car.

I think so yes. With the old VW 1.9 PDs the torque really 'hit you in the back'!, even from quite low revs, whereas common rail diesels are supposed to have more linear power delivery and need higher revs, more like a petrol.

 

The siren noise you describe does need checking out though, as the turbo on ours is virtually silent.

[19mick87]

4 minutes ago, yossarian247 said:

I think so yes. With the old VW 1.9 PDs the torque really 'hit you in the back'!, even from quite low revs, whereas common rail diesels are supposed to have more linear power delivery and need higher revs, more like a petrol.

 

The siren noise you describe does need checking out though, as the turbo on ours is virtually silent.

Yeah thats just what i was used to I suppose instant torque. Haveing said that the Avensis seems to rev harder and doesnt die off like the passats but then again you didnt need to rev them to get peak torque.

As for the turbo the car is going back to main dealer on Monday to get looked at aswell as a crack in the door below the door restraining strap. Apparently its a common problem.

[Artiom]

I think it is more to do with the personal driving style and perception of car's behavior.

On my Avensis 2005 I try to stay in range of 1800-2200rpm to get the optimal torque, though it drives and accelerates fine even on 1400rpm. However when I need maximum power I push it to 2800-3300rpm. This is a 1CD-FTV 2.0 D4D engine.

On my second car (Auris 2007 with shift indicators), engine's behavior is slightly different - usually I try to stay in 1200-1800rpm range, but can go to 3200-4000rpm if need maximum acceleration. This is a 2AD-FHV 2.2 D4D engine. It was really unusual to drive it initially after I got used to Avensis.

In the end, you can always shift down on manual gearboxes (or engage "kick-down" on automatic ones) if you need more power to overtake another transport.

[Heidfirst]

2 hours ago, 19mick87 said:

aswell as a crack in the door below the door restraining strap. Apparently its a common

problem.

it's not common but nor is it unheard of.

[revband]

Both my front doors were replaced in guarantee for this problem and the doors and check straps were modified in I think 2012 because of this problem.

[19mick87]

Update.

Right so have left my car in with main dealer and got a 2016 avensis sol courtesy car 😁.

Mechanic reckons the turbo noise is normal in the Avensis but im not convinced that the car should sound like a siren but hopefully they at least look at the turbo and see whats causing it.

Ill update when I get the car back.