Yaris d4d low power at high rpm, slow acceleration.

[Lemuel Ortolani]

Hi everyone. I bought a 2003 toyota yaris as my first car for cheap. I noticed it has a slow acceleration and wanted to take it to a mechanic but i am struggling with money right now and I don’t have a thrusted mechanic so I fear they will try to milk me if I go to one. Anyway My yaris is having a slow acceleration considering it has 73 hp and weights nothing. I notice it really struggles to get to high rpms and when it does it really doesn’t feel like it has more power which it should. I feel like the turbo is not working properly as I don’t hear it and the throttle response is very poor (Not much difference over 40-50% throttle). The check engine light is on. Could it just be limp mode? I bought it from a dealership that I thrust as my mother buys from him whenever she needs a car and always have been good cars. He said it came on when he turned it on to bring me it to because he used a car Jump Starter (The Battery has been changed). Obviously i will go to a mechanic as soon as I can but I wanted to know if anyone could have helped me here first even to know what problem I am facing. I have had the car for 2 weeks. Thanks 

[stantheman1]

The responsibility is with the dealership/garage you bought it from, take it back to them to sort free of charge.

[Lemuel Ortolani]

Yeah. I don’t think he will do anything about it since he only sells used cars and it’s not the typical dealership you could think of. The car is not under warranty.

[Catlover]

Did you not test drive before purchase?  Always advisable to do so, no matter whether main dealer, private sale, or the buy selling cars part time.

[Lemuel Ortolani]

5 minutes ago, Catlover said:

Did you not test drive before purchase?  Always advisable to do so, no matter whether main dealer, private sale, or the buy selling cars part time.

I did and it seemed fine to me. I just expected a little more power from it but nothing too bad. Also I didn’t see the check engine light when i test drove it

[stantheman1]

Consumer rights may be different to the UK's but in any case you need to find what code(s) the engine management light is illuminated for. What mileage has the vehicle covered and has it been serviced regularly? 

[Lemuel Ortolani]

2 minutes ago, stantheman1 said:

Consumer rights may be different to the UK's but in any case you need to find what code(s) the engine management light is illuminated for. What mileage has the vehicle covered and has it been serviced regularly? 

Maintenance has always been done at the right mileage. The car has almost 200k km which would be around 120k miles. I know they are a lot but the performance is too low even for the mileage. I can especially feel the loss of power going uphill. My friend has a 60hp car, almost same mileage and he dusts me. I even thought it could be the gasoil filter but want to make sure before changing it

[stantheman1]

Scan for fault codes and report back. Check egr valve, these tend to 'soot up' and restrict flow, also check dpf if it has one, injectors, turbo, binding brakes etc,etc,.but most importantly scan for fault codes.

Please let us know your findings.

[Catlover]

5 hours ago, stantheman1 said:

Scan for fault codes and report back. Check egr valve, these tend to 'soot up' and restrict flow, also check dpf if it has one, injectors, turbo, binding brakes etc,etc,.but most importantly scan for fault codes.

Please let us know your findings.

Fairly sure it does not have a dpf, I had a 2009 1.4 diesel and it didn’t. Think dpf came about 2010. With the high miles I suspect something clogged up with diesel soot a stantheman says.

[Madasafish]

Defintely NO dpf

 

The dealer has to repair the car as obviously fault was present when sold.

 

EML light causes?

One or more heater plugs failed.

Catalyst blocked

Pre  or post cat sensors faulty.

EGR valve jammed full of carbon..

 

Ask for your money back. It's a crock of.....

[Lemuel Ortolani]

I will go to a mechanic today and see what the codes for the problem are. Anyway I can’t ask for money back because even if he agrees I would lose a lot of money because i paid taxes on the car and they are 50 % of the price of the car. He can’t give me that back so they would be lost. I don’t think it’s a huge problem as the car runs pretty well apart from this issue, but of course time will tell.

[Lemuel Ortolani]

5 hours ago, Lemuel Ortolani said:

I will go to a mechanic today and see what the codes for the problem are. Anyway I can’t ask for money back because even if he agrees I would lose a lot of money because i paid taxes on the car and they are 50 % of the price of the car. He can’t give me that back so they would be lost. I don’t think it’s a huge problem as the car runs pretty well apart from this issue, but of course time will tell.

Ok so i went to a Mechanic shop and the owner said I can go tomorrow for a check. I will update once I know what the codes are. Thanks for the help btw

[stantheman1]

14 hours ago, Catlover said:

Fairly sure it does not have a dpf, I had a 2009 1.4 diesel and it didn’t. Think dpf came about 2010. With the high miles I suspect something clogged up with diesel soot a stantheman says.

I wasn't sure if it had a dpf or not as car was purchased outside of the UK and may have differing spec to the UK market.

[flash22]

I have been caught out by this, Toyota did have a pre dpf system from 2003 (D-CAT), iirc than was on the Avensis with the 2.0 and 2.2 tho, it still has a Cat and EGR

 

I would start by giving it a service and do the fuel filter

check all the intake hoses as a boost leak will kill the power then move on to the EGR

[stantheman1]

Pulling the codes will more than likely point him in the right direction but a good service wouldn't go amiss.

[Lemuel Ortolani]

42 minutes ago, flash22 said:

I world start by giving it a service and do the fuel filter

What do you mean by “giving it a service”? English isn’t my first language. Sorry and thanks for the advice.

[flash22]

Oil And Filter, Air filter and Fuel Filter if you don't know when it was last done

[Lemuel Ortolani]

The oil and filters (apart from fuel filter) have been changed a month ago and I checked the oil and the air filter today and they are both good. I will see about the fuel filter when i see what codes the car says and anyway i would have changed it before the end of this year so yeah. The problem is deeper than that but it is a start

[Lemuel Ortolani]

Ok so I checked the codes and they say the egr valve is obstructed. I can’t remember the exact code but I will try to clean the EGR.

There were also two other issues but the OBD didn’t say the codes for them. It just said the glow plugs had a problem and also a problem with the exhaust gas circulation. I cleared the Codes and went for a ride but didn’t feel any difference in power and after 10 miles give or take the check engine light showed up once again. I checked what the ECU detected and found only the one for the exhaust gas circulation. I don’t have any clue where it is being obstructed and don’t know what to do about it. The car doesn’t detect any problem when it goes under 2.5k rpm.

Do you guys have any recommendations for what should I use to clean the EGR? Also i think I will try to clean the MAF sensor. What should I use to clean that too?

[flash22]

Carb or parts cleaner and plenty of it, gloves and eye protection is a must

 

[Lemuel Ortolani]

Ok I’m happy to let you know that after cleaning the EGR valve and the MAF sensor (I used WD-40 for the EGR valve because the shop near my town didn’t have anything else and alcohol for the MAF) my car has significantly improved in power and it seems it doesn’t have huge problems anymore. I think there is still something that I could do but i will have to check again with the OBD as the light is still ON but it could just be because I still haven’t reset it after the cleaning. I can now clearly hear the turbo spooling at 2k and once i reach near 3k it starts pulling like a beast compared to what it was doing before. I think the WD-40 that I sprayed in the valve and all over the hoses that connect it to the engine melted (don’t know if this is the right word but bear with me) the soot away and I am happy with the results. Thank you so much for the help guys. 

[flash22]

Soot it just burnt particulates and oil, WD is a degreaser so it will break down the soot, brake or carb cleaner is a solvent so it actual dissolves the debris, cleans the surface and doesn't leave a residue like WD

[Lemuel Ortolani]

1 hour ago, flash22 said:

Soot it just burnt particulates and oil, WD is a degreaser so it will break down the soot, brake or carb cleaner is a solvent so it actual dissolves the debris, cleans the surface and doesn't leave a residue like WD

Well the shop didn’t have the carb. I will try to clean it better when I find the carb cleaner but for now I can’t do anything else besides what I have already done.

[bathtub tom]

5 hours ago, flash22 said:

WD is a degreaser

WD stands for Water Dispersal (formula No 40).

[flash22]

1 hour ago, bathtub tom said:

WD stands for Water Dispersal (formula No 40).

i'm aware of this fact it acts as a degreaser but has very little lubrication properties, like most things, it's not as good as it used to be