Fuel sensor / dashboard issue

[Helmie]

I bought an old style 2012 Auris about 18 months ago, and fist noticed a problem about 5 months later.

About the only time I had let the fuel run low, I went from about 30 miles to go, to <10 and uncancellable repeat <10 miles get more fuel now type warnings, after 2 starts no more that 3 miles apart.  I was a bit surprised, but went to the nearest station at a Tesco (first time on Tesco fuel) and filled up.  I also select 98 fuel by mistake, but went ahead with it anyway.  Things then went wierd.

Firstly on restarting, the new fuel was not acknowledged and the <10 miles fill up now warning stayed on.  Then very slowly over the course of 30 minutes or so the the fuel went to normal level.  However from that point onwards for the next week, the dashboard would not shut down whenever I stopped.  It would always go into a weird reboot cycle of 1-5 seconds, where sometime just the background lighting would light, but sometimes it would stay on longer with various other lights coming and going with the occasional 'Check engine' warning and beep, etc.  None of the other power systems came on, the doors would lock and unlock normally etc.  It was just a pain in drawing attention to the car when left in public, and some drain to the Battery.

I never left the car unused for more than a couple of days, but it would continue to behave this that throughout the whole time it was left alone.  Once started up there do not appear to be any issues.

This continued for few days, and then stopped, either due to clearing whatever error it had or because the fuel level dropped.  It was fine for another 2 or 3 months, where I had been filling up at either a Shell or Morrisons, depending to the direction I took from my house.  Eventually, I ended up filling up at a Tesco again, this time with normal 95 fuel, and the same thing happened, I got the same behaviour until the fuel dropped a lot and I refilled elsewhere.

I put this down to a quirk, however this week it has finally reoccurred after 7 months or so, and not with Tesco fuel.  A couple of times this week I have shut down and left the dash lit, occasionally with a reboot type appearance, but apparently less aggressively, it was just some illumination of the dials and not quite the random flashing and bat**** crazy appearance previously.  Also this time it seems to turn itself off after a couple of hours.  When I filled up yesterday, it took 15 minutes or so for the fuel level to slowly advance up to full tank level and again there was illumination when i shut down.  This morning I cannot replicate it.

The fuel level and filling could be a red herring but it did seem like that system was the first and only other part to misbehave.

Is this known and relatively simple to fix?  I do not live very conveniently for any dealer, and had previously treated it as a minor annoyance, however if it becomes intermittent, then it could be more of an issue to trace and verify the cure.  

I saw a few post regarding similar things with Yaris but nobody ever answered very conclusively.

 

cheers,

H

 

 

[Mooly]

I've heard of a problem with the 'stop start' technology (control module ?) on the 1.33L causing some problem with the dash not shutting down correctly. I've not been able to find any more out about the issue though or how widespread it is.

What engine is yours ?

It all seems a coincidence that this has occurred at the point you were low on fuel though...

I say this often (and as an electronics engineer its a well known route to take)... try disconnecting the Battery for a few hours (or overnight) and see if it fixes the issue. If you do, then disconnect the negative terminal only and tuck it safely out of the way, and when you remake the connection do so smartly and decisively keeping downward pressure on the clamp as you gently tighten it back up. Do not overtighten.    

 

 

[Helmie]

Yes. I have the 1.33 engine.  If it starts happening again, I will try the Battery detachment, though I think I noticed on the Yaris discussion that someone tried it and it did not clear the problem.

If I have a long drive I can try Tesco again and see if this forces the issue, though I cannot really think why.  It did seem quite a cooinicdence.

 

cheers,

[Devon Aygo]

There is a TSB ( Technical service bulletin ) for dealers to fix this issue, it can affect any 1.33 Mk1 Auris as the car was out of production when the fix was introduced.

Bulletin reference:  BE-0070T-0514

Subject: Combination meter lights flashing after Ignition OFF  

Models: AURIS; URBAN CRUISER; VERSO-S; YARIS

Model codes: NRE150; NSP110; NSP120; NSP130; NSP90

DESCRIPTION OF PHENOMENON: Some customers may experience and report that the lights of their combination meter start to flash after the ignition is switched to OFF.

REPAIR PROCEDURE: Replace the ECO RUN Converter according to the Repair Manual ( note this is NOT the stop start ECU )

If your car is less than 5 years old with less 100,000 miles then this should be fixed under warranty so contact your dealer explain the issue then surprise them with the bulletin reference

[Helmie]

Thanks for that, I'll have a word with the nearest dealer and let you know what happens.

cheers,

H.

[Mooly]

Good luck :) and let us know how you get on if you have any further trouble.

(And thanks for the bulletin ref Devon Aygo)