Avensis Oil Leaks

[AmitChouhan]

Hi All,

Has anyone got experience/tales to tell, etc on their Avensis leaking oil from the engine, but no sign from the obvious points, such as the sump, oil cap, etc.

Any ideas on what the problem might be. I've needed to add about 3 litres of oil in the past 3000 miles or so.

I've got the car scheduled for a garage visit next week, but was hoping to get some insight. I fear it might be costly!

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks Amit

[jamesholden]

Let me guess, I bet you've got a VVT-i one.

I've not heard of any troubles with the earlier 'tried-and-tested' engines that were around forever, but the VVT-i Avensis engines seem to have quite a few niggles, a few people on here have complained about excessive oil consumption etc.

Not sure what causes it though i'm afraid.

[AmitChouhan]

Sorry I should have been more specific. I'm afraid it's not the new VVTI engine. In fact, the last model before VVTI was introduced.

[jamesholden]

Crikey, well wherever the oil is going, it's unlikely that it's burning it then as the 3S-FE is a very dependable unit.

Sorry I can't be of more assitance.

[AmitChouhan]

I did take it to a garage, who said they could not find any leaks at all. The only logical conclusion it could draw was that it's burning/using oil.

Anyone got any thoughts as to what can be done to reduce this? :(

[gsmith99]

I know the answer.. it is burning oil, but very slightly not to notice any smoke, though on a clod start it can puff out blue smoke.

I'm reliably informed that after 50,000 miles this engine will use oil and they have identified the problem but don't want to announce it cos it would cost them £1,000's to recall.

It's down to the cylinder liners wearing.

They say that if the consumpsion is worse than 1 Litre per 1000 miles you may have a chance of a replacement engine, but the car could be off the road for up to 3 weeks while they take bore measurments and discuss it with Toyota.

My sump emptied within 6 months of a service.. I was horrified!

[macautos]

ya its burning oil in the block. As stated above it is the cylinder liners.Im over here in ireland and it is still not widely known but a lot of other lads on various forums are asking the same question. Losing oil and no obvious oil leak ? When i saw this i started dipping the oil regularly on my partners corolla vvti and i was very shocked .i had to top up regularly and she said the performance and fuel economy was really going down hill. Took it to the main dealer to find out the problem and they played dumb and said book it in and they'd have a look but i didnt . A friend of mine who works at another garage knows one of the guys at the toyota dealers and he ask him about it one weekend and he said that they are replacing the block on 2-3 vvti engines a week but are not informing the customers about it .they should all have been recalled but toyota kept it quiet

[gsmith99]

mmmm.. I now have a new T-Spirit with 2.0 VVTI fingers crossed they've solved this problem.. great car though.

[jamesholden]

Umm doesn't sound good, but ever since I have had my Avensis I must say that the quality of British built Toyota's have dissapointed me compared to the Japanese built ones we have had in the past and still have today.

I also have always been a bit dubious of these new VVT-i engines in the Avensis as they certainly don't sound as smooth from the outside as the earlier range of engines.

Hope they have sorted them out otherwise the brand could be tarnished as the VVT-i Avensis are getting increasingly common.

[gsmith99]

I love my T-Spirit.. it looks the dog's.. Black, 10 spoke 17" alloys, Auto/tiptronik, DvD sat nav, DvD, Leather, Oh! I love it and aern't they a big car too. Looks like an ambassadors car.

My door rubbers though don't seal the outside air very good though. I had them changed but no different.

what do you have?

[AmitChouhan]

Thank you to all of you for responding. I'm not sure whether to take comfort in this. ;)

Can I ask, from your experience, the best way of tackling this issue with Toyota. Clearly, they will play dumb and because I bought the car second-hand, they might try to apply some gotcha's.

I would appreciate some help with this matter.

Thank you all

Amit

[nezerr]

My cars in for 60k service in a few weeks, it’s used about a litre of oil since its 50k service, is this normal? If not what should my dealer be doing about it?

[AliJ]

My Avensis used 4.5 litres plus on 4000 miles, we called the dealer we bought it from , they insisted we do 1000 miles after filling it, this we nearly managed in just over a week. (Holiday driving). The oil had gone down considerably again on the dipstick. They took the car in and checked it out under warranty and have replaced something, no idea what but going to find out. Suspect its one of those hush hush engines then!!!! Got it back oils ok but Im not sure about the funny noises now!!!

[AmitChouhan]

On a semi-positive note, I have spoken with my local Toyota dealer and they have agreed to look at the problem. There was instant recognition that this issue exists, no trying to deny it. Let's see what happens.

They have requested all relevant documentation - e.g. service history details - regarding the cars.

Let see what happen....