Auris exhaust

[ProfGlenn]

Hi.  I have had my 2010 Auris nearly 4 years.  The middle bracket for the exhaust has been missing for well over  year and the car has been fine.  Someone crashed into my rear a month or so ago and after a new bumper etc, when I drove the car away it started chugging and struggling and stank of rotten eggs.  I took it back to the Toyota garage and they could find nothing wrong and it hasn't happened since (two weeks ago).   Also over the past year the car gets noisier and noisier going over speed bumps - like a crunching or grating sound.  Could the missing bracket be the source of both problems?  A new exhaust is £1800 and I am not paying that!  Thanks very much if you can offer any advice.  Best, Glenn

[furtula]

Check if there is some restriction on the exhaust caused by the crash, also it might be hanging lower thus the grating sound on bumps.

Rotten eggs usually mean catalytic converter is on it's way out, but could also be a exhaust leak.

 

[Gerg]

This sounds like the exhaust has suffered internal damage from the rear impact. The lack (one of) the centre brackets will have made it slightly more shock-prone, perhaps, but I would think that shouldn't be an issue for you to consider. I think this should be chased up as part of the insurance claim; the symptoms you describe relate to immediately the accident and its repair.

As I understand it, the cat. is the first part of the expensive exhaust that you mention, and it only comes as one piece. If it gets replaced at least you will get the missing bracket restored.

As you probably know, the catalyst is a fine ceramic honeycomb that is wrapped in a protective heatproof mat. The impact could have caused it to crumble and partially block the exhaust flow, and make a crunching sound(?).

In this picture of an Auris hybrid exhaust, the cat. is at the far left of the picture, (which would be nearest the front of the car), fwiw. That's where the graunching noise would come from if the cat. were damaged.

I think that, from left to right, the exhaust bulges are: catalyst, heat recovery unit (for rapid engine warm up) and silencer enclosure, but I'm happy to be corrected.

[ProfGlenn]

Thanks very much Gerg and furtula.  I did drive it straight back to the garage.  The manager even drove it home and brought it in next day.  Bodyshop had another look and the service top technician looked and couldn't see anything amiss.  I agree though....if the exhaust has a support missing then maybe somehow the impact has made it clog and it has now managed to unclog itself.  I cannot understand why a new exhaust would be £1800!  The crunching has been for ages and may be the suspension but Toyota say it isn't.  However the chugging and revving after the repair was a one-off and was new.  it has not happened again.  So unfortunately they Toyota guys cannot diagnose something that now is not there and it seems overkill to replace the exhaust!  It's also worth mentioning that the rear impact was on the left away from the exhaust.  Bodyshop say they didn't have to touch the  exhaust.

 

[Gerg]

Ah, that is a clearer picture! The chugging and revving may just be related to engine ECU settings 'relearning' after the Battery was disconnected for the bodyshop repair.

The suspension graunching has similarly happened to our Auris. Silicone oil or grease to the lower suspension arm rubber  mounts seems to really help here and is an easy DIY job. There are some posts on here about this.

[ProfGlenn]

Thanks Gerg!  Really really helpful!  The engine revving and chugging has never happened after any other body repairs.  It was like how a car would behave when you pull the choke out, 30 years ago.  Really odd.  But the rotten egg smell to me said catalytic converter.  But Toyota say they can see nothing.  The rotten eggs haven't reappeared in the last two weeks either, and I would have expected them to if there was a problem in the exhaust system.  Or could it just appear every few hundred miles or something?

[Gerg]

I agree, rotten eggs is definitely from the cataytic converter. In terms of judging its condition, the catalyst could only be viewed by taking the exhaust system off and peering into the pipe, even then you could only view that end of the ceramic, but that should be enough to judge for damage. Or running an Mot style emission test or plugging in a diagnostic computer to monitor its efficiency in use. 

In terms of viewing the cat. on an Auris hybrid, well, this first picture is off a Mazda 6 that I owned, but the initial stage of the exhaust will be really similar. The ceramic, just visible as a honeycomb (just!), fills the pipe. The second picture is an aftermarket cross section just to show what's what. You can't get much idea of mechanical damage in situ. From your later post I don't think damage has happened here if there wasn't direct contact with the tailpipe. 

When/if your second bracket falls off (it's a known problem with the Auris), then it would be best to investigate a specialist welder to repair or fabricate a new exhaust hanger, it will almost certaiinly fail its MoT with both brackets missing, but just one is usually ok! (Maybe make enquiries in advance of it happening - how long do you expect to keep the car?) Car exhausts like this are made of low grade stainless steel (409 grade, I think), and contrary to what you might expect, they do corrode, just more slowly, especially on the welds.

Disconnecting the Battery during bodyshop repair is 'best practice', but maybe this doesn't get done with every repair? Recent Health and Safety regs. for hybrids mean that all sorts of 'hoops' have to be jumped through to do major repairs or dismantling on these cars, my friendly MoT tester informed me, due to the high voltage batteries and their cables. It depends on the severity of the repair, I guess.

[ProfGlenn]

Thanks Gerg.  I was intending to keep the car for as long as I can.  I paid for extended warranty for two years through to Jan 2020.  Just as well.  The horn is not working intermittently and has been in twice to be told it's fine....now I am getting a new horn.  

I think I have to hope that the chugging/revving/smell after the repair was a temporary blip and that the exhaust will now be fine....Toyota say they aren't allowed to weld to support it - it is a whole new exhaust or nothing!  If I am to pay £1800 then it would probably be time to change the car, which would be a pain as it has had a new rear twice and a new side and front!  

Thanks for all your help.

Glenn

[Gerg]

No problem!

Re: £1800 exhaust.  A local dealer to me is occasionaly asked price/availablity for this part but then recommends to prospective purchasers that they get it specialist repaired because of the cost. Apparently, those people don't come back to buy later, he says, so they are finding an alternative fix?

I think a dealer would be unwilling to repair the bracket because they would have to warrant the repair, and would then be liable for any later repair or, perhaps full, replacement at their cost. Safer for them just to replace it.

HTH

[ProfGlenn]

Thanks.  Ok found a hybrid garage that says they can weld it (if it comes to that) but it won't be guaranteed. 

Still worried though that there is something fundamentally wrong because if the one-off chugging and smell (which, I should have said), after switching the engine off when I drove back to the garage, never occurred again!  So when I told the garage "what have you done to my car - it isn't drivable", the bodyshop manager came out with me int he car and it was all fine!!

[Gerg]

Just a thought, when the car was at the garage, they may have started the car (several times, many times?) to manouvre it, or allow other cars to get past it, probably without allowing to warm up beyond its 'cold-start' phase before they turned it off again. Especially since they can't, say,  just leave it in neutral they need to move the car, can they? Almost as soon as the take it out of 'P' the engine will start! 

So this this would possibly cause the plugs to foul. A subsequent start (when you arrived?) would allow a complete warm-up, which has, in time, cleared the plugs and the attendant irregular running (the chugging?).

In addition, if the car was temporarily running badly (like you mentioned, "running on choke"), the cat. would have an unusual amount of unburnt fuel collected from the earlier (repeated?) cold-start operation but also from the misfiring itself. This could cause the cat. to smell (bad eggs and petrol) as it burns off during a proper warm up.

The above is less likely to happen in summer, but still a good possibilty.

If you 'start' the car and the engine runs, hybrid owner's experience on other forums suggests that is a good idea to use the car or let it warm up a bit before you turn it off again, otherwise the condensation and cold start fuel enrichment can make the next start up more difficult. I doubt most technicians have the time to allow this nicety.

If the above situation had done any lasting damage to plugs or cat. then an engine warning light would have shown on the dash days ago, as these systems are closely monitored, so as it hasn't, this shouldn't be a concern to you.

Just speculating, perhaps other posters will chime in.

[ProfGlenn]

Hi Gerg.  I did some reading before about plugs etc and everything you say does sound completely plausible!!

 

You know your stuff!

 

Thanks a lot.  This is honestly really helpful and reassuring!

 

Best

Glenn

[ProfGlenn]

Hi again. i've noticed a rattle since the bumper replacement and rear end repair. It's the passenger side light fitting cover!!  How do I get it to stop rattling?!

[FROSTYBALLS]

Moved to the Auris club. 

[furtula]

You mean the back light cluster? If you want to remove it, from inside the bumper, open the cover, you will get access to it, there should probably be 2 screws, unscrew them, remove the plastic wire connector, now it's held in place by plastic clips only. Give it a bit of a push, and it should come out, then you can inspect/fix it.

[ProfGlenn]

Thanks.  Took it back to the garage.  They are asking the insurer to pay for a whole new fitting!

[stevecrvn]

On 9/15/2018 at 12:56 PM, ProfGlenn said:

Thanks Gerg.  I was intending to keep the car for as long as I can.  I paid for extended warranty for two years through to Jan 2020.  Just as well.  The horn is not working intermittently and has been in twice to be told it's fine....now I am getting a new horn.  

I think I have to hope that the chugging/revving/smell after the repair was a temporary blip and that the exhaust will now be fine....Toyota say they aren't allowed to weld to support it - it is a whole new exhaust or nothing!  If I am to pay £1800 then it would probably be time to change the car, which would be a pain as it has had a new rear twice and a new side and front!  

Thanks for all your help.

Glenn

Glenn

I had a issue wit the horn on my 2010 Auris, it wasn't the horn it self but the pad in the steering wheel . It was changed under the extended Toyota warranty I purchased.

[TAuris]

On 9/15/2018 at 12:09 AM, ProfGlenn said:

Hi.  I have had my 2010 Auris nearly 4 years.  The middle bracket for the exhaust has been missing for well over  year and the car has been fine.  Someone crashed into my rear a month or so ago and after a new bumper etc, when I drove the car away it started chugging and struggling and stank of rotten eggs.  I took it back to the Toyota garage and they could find nothing wrong and it hasn't happened since (two weeks ago).   Also over the past year the car gets noisier and noisier going over speed bumps - like a crunching or grating sound.  Could the missing bracket be the source of both problems?  A new exhaust is £1800 and I am not paying that!  Thanks very much if you can offer any advice.  Best, Glenn

You can create your own hanger with three large jubilee clips. Wrap around the exhaust and loop the other two and thread through the rubber hanger.  I had same problem with a Nissan, it use to hit the road everytime it went over a speed hump.

[ProfGlenn]

Thanks.  I am still getting the occasional rotten egg smell.  Once after high revs.  Is it dangerous?  The car is due MOT and service on 22 December.  So they will check the emissions then?  But is it dangerous to get rotten eggs from time to time?

 

thanks

Glenn

[FROSTYBALLS]

Do you always use the same brand of petrol. As far as I'm aware the rotten eggs smell is traces of sulphur in petrol not being fully burnt, and gets converted to hydrogen sulphide (rotten egg smell). If so, may be worth trying another brand. 

[ProfGlenn]

Yeah always Tesco!  Not the momentum just the normal....

 

thanks.

Glenn