T27 CVT bearing failure?

[Brn]

Hi Toyota friends,

I have a 2010 T27 Estate 1.8 petrol with the CVT gearbox (K310 or K311?).

It is a UK car, I am the second owner, bought new from and still serviced by Steven Eagell, so full service history.

I had the car in the garage for MOT and service. But I have been hearing whining noises on and off since summer, which got more constant and louder over the past weeks.

The garage diagnosed bearing failure in the transmission. I have not found info about thos type of issue on the net.

Toyota quoted approx £6000 to fit a new transmission.

Have you guys heard of this type of failure?

[Brn]

Further thoughts.

Toyota does not repair, just fit new parts.

I think if it is indeed a bearing it must be the transmission output side. The engine runs fine, the transmission shifts, pulls just fine.

The noise happens when the wheels start turning and there is load on the driveline. The pitch goes up with speed. There is noise when accelerating and engine breaking, but not when "coasting".

Could it be a purely mechanical issue (I.e. a bearing or differential gearing), so less complicated than a CVT transmission.

The garage said it is safe to drive, but when questioned, they had no clue about what a full failure would look like. I am guessing the current issue maybe relatively easy to address but if left to degrade it will cause other major problems.

Can you recommend independent Toyota specialists  or CVT gearbox specialists around Bedfordshire?

[avensis_2018]

hi, i dont believe its from the CVT, i never saw or heard about toyota CVT that makes problems, the dealer can make a lot of money on that (6000 easy money dont be fxxx) so ...

it's not the CVT !

it could be stupid small thing like the wheel right/left braking bakalit or, bearings of one of the wheels anyway: 

change your dealer garage, go to other place, ask for service maintenance and on the way remind this as its a small unimportant issue that maybe they can see if they can quite this noise.

come back later and tell us what it was.

[Brn]

Initially I did think it was wheel bearing, but with that I would expect the noise change when loads change during cornering. And my issue doesn't seem to behave like that, so I am not sure.

[avensis_2018]

it can be also rubber from the steering wheel/stabilizing rubber. it can be also metal dust brakes cover that touch the wheel (move it with screw till it wont touch the wheel) you need just to see from where the noise coming  i would first do this and then take it to a ride ...

and again, don't touch the CVT !

 

[Brn]

3 hours ago, avensis_2018 said:

it can be also rubber from the steering wheel/stabilizing rubber. it can be also metal dust brakes cover that touch the wheel (move it with screw till it wont touch the wheel) you need just to see from where the noise coming  i would first do this and then take it to a ride ...

and again, don't touch the CVT !

 

Thanks for the hints. I'll check them.

I have found an independent Toyota garage with good reviews in Milton Keynes, ITS Autos. I'll try to get a quick second opinion on Tuesday.

[Brn]

Well... ITS Autos in Milton Keynes confirmed (after a test drive and external examination) it is a gearbox internal issue. They also strongly suspect a bearing failure. No leaks or damage visible.

They tried but didn't find refurbished gearbox of this type....

I am sad 🥺

I see 3 options out of this:

- find a used gearbox and fit that with all its risks

- find a place that can repair mine (one place in Kent said they could do it in December....)

- find another car

Buy I am open to suggestions

[Brn]

Does anyone know or where to find out if the 2.0l and the 1.8l Avensises had the same or different CVT gearboxes?

[avensis_2018]

same one.

its not the CVT issue.

go to other place, tell them to make small service maintenance (oil+filter) on the way tell them you have an small issue tell them to check it.

tell us what they say.

[TonyHSD]

What is the mileage and overall condition of the car?
 If me I will check and change the transmission fluid. If the bearings  are that bad there will be traces of metal contamination into the gear oil. Do that , put a new oil in and drive the car like that until totally fail. Then you decide either to swap with another transmission or scrap the car. 

[Brn]

I am sending the car to Re-Engineered Transmissions in Rayleigh, Essex to get it repaired. They said 5-6 years ago they have seen quite a few of these failures. This is my best option at the moment. With broken transmission it's worth nothing and i beleive I can still use it for 3-5 years once it is repaired.

[TonyHSD]

Good you found someone to help. 
Let us know after how car drives and how much cost, definitely will be interesting to others with similar cars. 👍

[Brn]

Hi,

I got the car back today with a significantly "thinner" bank account.

I drove it about 80 miles home, noise gone, car back to normal.

A rebuild kit and a refurbished valve body was fitted + fluids = £3000 for anyone interested.

Ross tried to save the valve body by flushing the metal particles, but it didn't work out.

The oil will need to be changed after 5 months/ 5000 miles.

All in (diagnostics, transport, repairs) was about £3500. I beleive I still got reasonable value for money considering the price of 3-4 year old cars.

I have asked if he has seen newer gen Toyotas with similar problems, by he has not. Nissans with CVTs however are weekly visitors. Plus Audis, Fords and other makes with auto and manual transmissions.

[Brn]

Hey Fellas,

6 months update:

The Avensis with the rebuilt transmission was due back for an aftercare oil change.

The week before the car started to make a grinding/whining noise. First started off faint, but got very loud over 2 days after about 60-70 miles, even at 20-30mph speeds.

I first suspected wheel bearing, but that was dismissed by me and a mechanic. Then I called RAC, who also dismissed wheel bearing and pointed towards differential. RAC towed the car to the transmission specialist, where I already had the appointment.

What the garage found was that the longer drive shaft was pushed to far into the differential and parts were touching, which was making the noise. They could not identify an obvious cause like any broken parts. They took the drive shaft out and put everything back together, tested it and all seems fine.

He wasn't sure about the reasons either why this could have happened. 

Have anyone heard of anything similar?

[TonyHSD]

Hm, 

this perhaps can happen after an accident or whoever worked on the car. 
If excess force been applied when installing the drive shafts the retaining clip could break or slide off and let the shaft seat in deeper or become lose and with turning and suspension load instead of moving the inner cv joint the whole assembly moved in too much and got stuck like that causing the following problems. That’s how I can explain to myself. 

[Brn]

On 5/19/2024 at 2:47 PM, TonyHSD said:

Hm, 

this perhaps can happen after an accident or whoever worked on the car. 
If excess force been applied when installing the drive shafts the retaining clip could break or slide off and let the shaft seat in deeper or become lose and with turning and suspension load instead of moving the inner cv joint the whole assembly moved in too much and got stuck like that causing the following problems. That’s how I can explain to myself. 

Thanks for the info.

It is a weird issue it seems. I have not found much info on the Web.

I didn't actually get charged for the fix, as the car was already booked for the transmission oil change (which is quite pricey...) and all they did was disassemble and reassemble.

The towing was done by RAC, but it cost me £76 to travel there to collect.

Could it have been an assembly error during the rebuild?