Avensis Newbie With Some Questions

[noddydog]

Hi everyone. I recently brought a 1999 Avensis GS from a Toyota dealer in the Midlands. The car has done a geniune 18K (previously retired owner) and is in superb condition. There are a few things I would like to ask though;

1) The steering has a whining noise coming from the engine when you turn the wheel in either directions. It get's worse towards full lock and the engine idle speed increases. Is this normal?

2) I noticed a slight juddering when braking on the motoway so I took it into a Toyota dealer in London today. They skimmed the discs under warranty. Is this a common fault and am I likely to incur it again?

3) I can't work out exactly how the alarm is triggered. I know it works off of the doors, but does it also have any form of motion detector?

4) The dealer did not supply an owners manual and I am having a job working some things out, eg RDS/radio features. Is there a manual download available anywhere? Also are there any neat little tricks/features that I need a manual to know about, eg closes all windows/sunroof at once, etc?

5) When I brought the car I was aware that it was the pre VVTi engine. Is there really such a big difference between my older engine and the newer VVTi in terms of performance and economy?

6) Around 75mph in 5th the engine seems to suddenly deliver a surge of power (injection?). Is there a knack to driving this car in terms of getting that surge in other gears?

7) Are there any common faults on the model I have brought that I can avoid with extra care/ regular checking?

Thanks in advance to anyone who answers some or all of these. Much appreciated

[Fat Slob]

Hi, I think the steering whine may be normal, some cars have an increased whine as you approach full lock, if you're worried ask the dealer about it. The discs do seem to be a problem, it probably wont occur again, but personally I would change to a softer after market pad anyway.

As regard the 1.8 pre VVti engine, I think its pretty much bullet proof, and has been well proven in the Carina E suffering none of the oil problems. Pretty sure the surge you are getting is associated with the lean burn characteristics of the engine, and nothing to worry about, like Honda VTEC engines it may seem to hesitate and surge occasionally, especially noticeable on the motorway, probably just the price you pay for great fuel economy. As regards the other questions I cant really comment as its an earlier model than mine. Good luck with it though, its a great car. :D

[Redwine]

If it was me, 18k and one owner, as long as oil and all levels are ok I would take it for a long motorway thrash to blow any cobwebs out the engine. Sometimes low mileage cars need a bit of a workout to get back to their best. Just a thought :P

[noddydog]

I'm doing a 400 mile trip over the next 2 days so I'll give it a bit of a blast. Thanks.

[silverarrow]

low miles are not good for any engine how many oil changes has the car had ???

i am aware that the brake judder has re occured on many toyotas a skim is not a fix but a temp repair

my old carina e had the noise on the steering as well

please read honest john in the daily telegraph re low miles on a car

engine wear occurs on a cold start

[noddydog]

I understand your perspective, however the car has been regularly serviced + I have the impression (from threads on this forum) that the pre VVTi engines are fairly bullet proof. ;)

[sjrainsford]

Yeah, it should give you no problems. They're a nice engine, decent balance of power and economy for a petrol.

The do tend to give a little suge of power when switching from lean burn to normal burn mode. This normally happens when cruising if you apply a little more pressure to the accelerator, and will generally happen at the same time as the ECON lamp going out on the dashboard. If you haven't got one of these, then the bulb may have gone.

No little tricks like auto close windows etc i'm afraid, except the drivers window having the one touch up/ down facility.

If there's anything you need to know, just ask and i'll try and remember what it did. That's one car that I miss really.

[noddydog]

I'm doing a 400 mile trip over the next 2 days so I'll give it a bit of a blast. Thanks.

←

The trip went very well. I was suprised how the car seems to have more power in 5th at 3000rpm then in the lower gears.

Only two minor problems. A couple of times when I used the rear wiper it paused half way through the sweep for a brief second (it was not on intermittent).

Also at the end of the journey the steering wheel inside the cabin was squeeking very slightly. It was rignt at the top of the column and sounded like a poor fit where two facia panels were rubbing together (a sort of rubber against rubber sound, if that makes sense). It dissapeared when I dropped the wheel down a little and this morning (with wheel in top position) it had gone. It might be related to heat/expansion.

[noddydog]

I've had a few days to read through most of the threads on this forum (yep I don't have a life!). I've noticed that quite a few times people have asked if there is a link for the 97-03 owners manual. I guess there isn't since no one has posted one. Is there any one out there that feels kind hearted enough to scan in the main pages and posting them as Jpeg's or a PDF on here or on their own site. I know it's a big ask, but you will make quite a few people very happy! Myself included.

[sjrainsford]

Hi there again.

The rear wiper is a common problem with these. It can be fixed by the average diy mechanic in about an hour. If you want to know how, have a look at the workshop section there is a tip in there how to fix it. It may be a few pages back now, as I wrote it when I had my Avensis.

The squeaky steering can be caused by the rubber gaitor where the steering shaft from the wheel goes through the bulkhead (by the clutch and brake pedals).

[noddydog]

Thanks Stuart. I found the thread and had a good look. Very useful. I think I will either get Toyota to do it under warranty or have a go myself when I have a spare hour or so.

I guess the warranty option is best in case I bust it. However it's not so bad right now (only pauses once when first switched on) and I just know that if I take it in they will say 'sorry guv can't find the problem!' (stereotype mode off). Hopefully it will get much worse quite quickly and solve the whole problem.

Thanks again.

[Steve84]

Hi everyone. I recently brought a 1999 Avensis GS from a Toyota dealer in the Midlands. The car has done a geniune 18K (previously retired owner) and is in superb condition. There are a few things I would like to ask though;

1) The steering has a whining noise coming from the engine when you turn the wheel in either directions. It get's worse towards full lock and the engine idle speed increases. Is this normal?

This is the norm my dads had several racks and columbs, pumps etc non fixed it.

2) I noticed a slight juddering when braking on the motoway so I took it into a Toyota dealer in London today. They skimmed the discs under warranty. Is this a common fault and am I likely to incur it again? Yes the may well go again this is a common problem on the avensis.

3) I can't work out exactly how the alarm is triggered. I know it works off of the doors, but does it also have any form of motion detector? Has far as i know its got microwave interior protection.

4) The dealer did not supply an owners manual and I am having a job working some things out, eg RDS/radio features. Is there a manual download available anywhere? Also are there any neat little tricks/features that I need a manual to know about, eg closes all windows/sunroof at once, etc?

5) When I brought the car I was aware that it was the pre VVTi engine. Is there really such a big difference between my older engine and the newer VVTi in terms of performance and economy?

lean burn engines are bullet proof. They are slower than the vvt-i but my dad got 50mpg out of his on a trip to the coast his vvt-i only does about 45mpg The vvt-i has better in gear pick up but in my opion and my dads is more vocal.

6) Around 75mph in 5th the engine seems to suddenly deliver a surge of power (injection?). Is there a knack to driving this car in terms of getting that surge in other gears?

That would be about 3700 rpm i think thats summat to do with the mixture setting the lean burn mode changes see the little geen econ light on your dashboard right hand side bottom corner. You may find it goes out thats normal.

7) Are there any common faults on the model I have brought that I can avoid with extra care/ regular checking?

Apart from keeping your levels up the car will give you hundreds of thousends of happy miles.

My dads owned both types of avensis and i've used his experience to give my answers. All cars will have little fault hear and there but the mark 1 avensis is a safe and sold car. The engine, gearbox and electrics are all proven from the carina.

[robynfali]

I own a 99 avensis also, and yeah, do get a whine when it goes full lock either way, i dont pay too much attention to it, but always listen to see if its changed/got worse or anything