Blue Smoke 2011 Avensis 2.0 Diesel

[Richard Mapperley]

I have read loads of articles and stickies on smoking diesels and there are many interesting articles and knowledgeable people out there. However, nothing beats a specific diagnosis about your own particular vehicle.

My nearly 3 year old Avensis is due for a 3 year service and I would be really grateful for something constructive to say to the service personnel to encourage them to look for a problem that probably won't be apparent when they service the car. I'll explain...

The blue smoke only occurs in a specific set of circumstances and even then seems to be dependant on another factor I haven't worked out yet. The car has done 29K miles, the blue smoke has been occurring more frequently over the last 5K miles. The blue smoke only occurs as the car is 3/4 of the way to being at normal running temperature and only occurs between 1800 and 2000RPM and only as you accelerate. It would appear that the recent warmer weather reduced the problem which up till the beginning of June was a daily occurrence. Now it is once a week. It only happens in the morning, that I have noticed, and the volume of blue smoke varies from a little puff to an embarrassingly large cloud that seems to cause following drivers to back off (although that could be my imagination!). The fuel consumption seems stuck at 46.6MPG and the oil level doesn't look as if has changed since the last service and is halfway between the upper and lower indicators on the dipstick. The car is not sluggish at all and is not driven short distances. 25 miles as a minimum distance and most of it on the motorway. It can occur in any gear although I don't tend to be watching behind me so much when in higher gears. Occasionally I have seen the blue smoke at other times but it is rare.

I am not a fast driver, but neither am I slow. I have tried hard acceleration and high revs to blow out any "stuff" and I get nothing, no black or blue smoke.

Of course when it is serviced it will be at normal temperature and won't display the problem. Please can someone tell me what I report to the service technician so that they at least look at the most likely problem areas.

Thanks.

[Mr.D]

Hi RIchard,

I'd recommend to take pictures or better video record the blue smoke cloud, the worse it looks, the more convincing it is for toyota. Otherwise proving something to toyota without reproducing it is hard thing to do. I would check oil cover and other signs for head gasket failure, although blue smoke shows burning oil, but there is a possibility as this problem on new model is not a common thing. There used to be a common problem in BMW petrol engines, when blue smoke occured and got worse over time, it was valve seat gasket.

Let us know how it goes for you.

[Awebb180]

are you sure its blue smoke and not white/greyish in colour, that would indicate injector/5th injector issue

Alex

[Chrisjsr40]

Hi,

Did you get to the bottom of your problem re the blue smoke, I have a 2011 avensis estate 2D with the same problem. Yet the garage is unsure what it is as the problem never seems to occur when it is in for a service.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Chrisjsr40]

What was the outcome of this problem as I have the same trouble. Mechanic can't seem to get to a solution.

[avensisd4d786]

there is a software update that might be needed.

have a look at this thread

'Also there is a repair bulletin regarding intermittent white smoke from the exhaust which requires a software update to cure.

Bulletin ref EG-0096T-1011'

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/166263-jan-2012-avensis-22-tr-d-4d-head-gasket-blown/

[avensis rob]

avensis d4d786 on the ball again!

what he DOESNT know about recalls and tech bulletins, aint worth knowing

[avensisd4d786]

Thanks mate

most of questions on here have been answered its just a matter of finding them.

[Richard Mapperley]

Toyota can't reproduce the problem (as expected) so they aren't interested. Getting video of a pretty random event going on behind you while you are driving is somewhat difficult! However, I do have a poor quality video that shows one of the smaller clouds of smoke. It does look grayish on the video. I have yet to show this to Toyota, but seeing this thread updated with further information has encouraged me to try again when I get some time to take it into the garage.

Thanks. I will let everyone know how I get on but it probably won't be for a few weeks.

[Mel Tinys Taxis]

I also agree with avensisd4d786.

This problem has been a nightmare for us but strangely only in the last few months and we have now had three out of four cars cured with the ECU update re the Fifth injector as for the forth hopefully it's also been fixed as we are just about to pick it up from our local Toyota Dealer.

The upgrade takes about half an hour and you may even be able to book a while you wait slot.

Hope this works for you.

Mel.

Tinys Taxis Ltd Hitchin

[Chrisjsr40]

Thanks Mel,

Will try this as it seems to be getting worse.

Chris

[cmia]

could be blow back from the turbo with some oil in the intercooler.

I can't see how the issue is fixed with an ecu flash.

[Richard Mapperley]

I asked the dealer to look up the information provided in this forum post, but apparently it didn't apply to my car. However, I had the ECU updated with the latest version during its 40K service in July 2015. Apart from one very slight puff of smoke 2 days after the service there has been nothing noticeable produced. This is both a blessing and a curse. It's great that I don't get embarrassing clouds of smoke, but I can't stop myself from glancing in the rear view mirror every damn time I accelerate. :-)

Thanks to everyone who contributed.

[Mel Tinys Taxis]

Re Smoking and Blocked D.P.F as System will not let me cut and paste I have attached a Word Document for additional information on this re my last six moths experience with 14 Toyota Avensis 2.0ltr D4D Estates.

Best regards,

Mel@tinystaxis.co.uk

[Mel Tinys Taxis]

Hi All,

I have a Word Document updating our experiences with this problem from September 2015 to 26 January 2016.

Being the same problem has reappeared on two of our Taxis since they had the ECU updates though I suspect more will follow as it took 8 & 11 months 25k-39k to reappear.

SORRY I HAVE NOT YET FOUND THE FINAL CURE but this forum and the word document will tell you where I am at now being we are starting to bypass the 5th Injectors and although not a proper cure it has at least STOPPED them smoking.

Just email me if you want a copy.

Best Regards,

Mel. Tinys Taxis Ltd Hitchin.

[mo]

I have avensis 2011 model its smoke when I move from give way or at lights. Its white/grey smoke been to Toyota dealers they pointed at EGR valve I have changed  EGR valve and serviced the car but smoke problem is not fixed. Any help please. I use the car for taxi service.

Edited March 31, 2016 by mo

[Mel Tinys Taxis]

Hi Mo, I use T27 2.0Ltr D4D as Taxis too, have you not read all the post above yours as I think you will find the answers in this forum if not email as I have more but too long to post here as I cannot Copy /  Paste and my Word Document is too long to re type . Have tried attaching it but not sure if I managed to.

mel@tinystaxis.co.uk

Best of Luck.

Mel.

 

1a Smoking Avensis 02 Sep 2015 -26 Jan 2016.docx

[mo]

Hi Mel Thank you for the docx. I will  try to sort the 5th injector. If you find proper cure please let me know. Thank you again.

[Mel Tinys Taxis]

Your welcome Mo I would suggest you work this way:-

1st Get the update done by a main Dealer on the ECU

2nd Try a secondhand 5th Injector from Breakers or eBay as a new one is a RIP OFF at around a £1,000

3rd Clamp off (a very small Hobby Clamp will suffice) or put a block in the fuel feed Hose to the 5th Injector, a piece of metal bar or a cut down bolt with a couple of hose clips will do this job

If none of these work then it could be a duff Injector or one of far too many other things so hope someone else can guide you and me on this as I now have one car that has started smoking AGAIN even AFTER all the above has been done, when or if we cure it I will post the result here as Toyota seem to be letting us ALL DOWN

Best Regards,

Mel

[TomdeGuerre]

kudos for all the work you've done Mel and the help you offer others. gotta ask though, is it not possible to convert your cars to a regular DPF set up? Since you have the 5th injector I take it you have the Toyota DPNR system. The replacement DPF system which Toyota adopted doesn't have a 5th injector, it gets the extra fuel supplied by the main cylinder injectors. I know there would be a cost involved but have you looked at the possibility? Or can it not be done?

[mo]

Thanks Mel I will try that from next week.

[Mel Tinys Taxis]

On ‎01‎/‎04‎/‎2016 at 8:31 PM, TomdeGuerre said:

kudos for all the work you've done Mel and the help you offer others. gotta ask though, is it not possible to convert your cars to a regular DPF set up? Since you have the 5th injector I take it you have the Toyota DPNR system. The replacement DPF system which Toyota adopted doesn't have a 5th injector, it gets the extra fuel supplied by the main cylinder injectors. I know there would be a cost involved but have you looked at the possibility? Or can it not be done?

Hi Tom de Guerre, Your points are interesting, I have vehicles ranging from 2010 to 2012 and all but four have suffered with the 5th injector smoking issues, two of them are early / late 2010 and do not have the 5th injector therefore do not suffer the problem the other two are 2012 do have the 5th injector and I assume it's only a matter of time before they start suffering too.

As for your idea of converting vehicles with 5th injectors back to the previous system of no 5th injector I very much doubt this would be possible and even if it was it's likely to be too costly to even consider, but I would be very interested to here Toyota's or Main Dealers comments on but don't know if I will ever get round to asking the question.

If anyone else willing to pursue this line naturally I would be VERY INTERESTED in Toyota's response.

All The Best,

Mel.

[Mel Tinys Taxis]

Hi Al,

 

If you have read the complete Forum link , then you will have pretty much everything I can suggest to date note particularly post 31st of March and 01st of April and the links in those post.

 

I would really recommend the the ECU update as it has cured most of our vehicles though as posted the problem has started to return on our cars hence the bypass or block 5th injector post as that is the last resort to date and really is a bugger it we don’t know what to do NOW so are bypassing  / blocking off the 5th injectors as just cannot have our cars running round looking like clapped out old Bangers plus on two oactions the Police have told us to take them off the road.

 

Sorry I can’t help any more and can only hope Toyota put a bit more effort into solving this fault or maybe it’s time we looked to changing Manufacturers though if you want to stick with the Avensis you wont be able to much longer as they have announced that they will not be replacing the current Avensis when production run ends.

 

Best Regards,

 

Mel.

[yossarian247]

Hi,

I had been under the impression that the 2.0 D4D engine doesn't have a fifth injector anyway. I thought it was just the 2.2 that had it, or is that not the case on later models?

[Mel Tinys Taxis]

Hi Yossarian,

I believe some early 2.0Ltr  D4D T27 to around late 2010 (60 Reg) did not have a 5th injector but I also believe most from early 2010 have the 5th injector anyway certainly all but one of mine have them fitted, sorry cannot comment on the 2.2 as I have none with this engine because I deliberately avoided them as I knew they had DPFs fitted so would not buy them, unfortunately at the time I was not aware that Toyota had started to fit DPFs to the 2010 on cars but would have still bought them as there was no Diesel alternative a fancied buying at that time.

Best regards,

Mel.