Jan 2012 Avensis 2.2 Tr D-4D Head Gasket Blown!

[Simy123]

Hi Guys,

I am looking for some advice please.

For the last 10 yrs I have been buying all my cars at auction. I usually buy 3 yrs old cars and then keep them until they're about 6 year old. Until today all the cars I've bought have always been great.

I bought this avensis yesterday , it drove through the auction absolutely fine, no smoke and the engine sounded fine, it is/was a very tidy although high mileage (1 owner taxi car 104500 miles). Even drove it home 5 miles and it seemed fine. Went out today and again it was fine until I got on the dual carriageway, after 6 miles or so there was a huge amount of smoke! Straight away I knew this was bad and thought it would be the head gasket.

This evening I managed to track down the previous owner and gave him a call to try and get the lowdown. He was very helpful in explaining the background. The car has a full independent garage service history and started smoking when it was 2 and a bit years old. He said he took it back to the Toyota dealership on numerous occasions, they tried to solve the problem at 91032 (12th May 2014) & 98185 (17th July 2014) but it didn't work and as soon as the car hit 100000 they weren't interested. The car has been off the road since Sept 2014 as he had to buy a replacement. ( I have receipts showing the Toyota dealer saw the car on 28/08/2014 at 103406)

The previous owner had been trying to get Toyota to put things right but gave up the fight.

Is there anything I can do? What is it going to cost me?

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks guys

Edit 19/02/2015 to add documents

Dealer history: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-U_0rdHTOMSSmk2X0tieXNhaFk/view?usp=sharing

Could all these problems have started as a result of the EGR failures in 2013?

PDF copy of the the services carried out: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-U_0rdHTOMSTFJCM1VYV1c0dmM/view?usp=sharing

[FROSTYBALLS]

There was a problem with earlier versions of these engines - see. http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/132178-charliefarlies-guide-to-the-toyota-2ad-diesel-engine-and-its-issues/

However, the problem was corrected in engines produced after February 2009.

As regards the Toyota new car warranty, for cars first registered after 1st June 2010, the warranty is for a period of five years or 100,000 miles, whichever occurs first. So your car is now outside the new car warranty on mileage.

If the car had a Toyota service history it might have been worth approaching Toyota regarding a goodwill contribution towards the cost of repairs, but as it has a service history outside of the Toyota dealer network, the chance of a goodwill contribution must be viewed as slim.

[Devon Aygo]

Has the fault been conformed as a failed h/gasket as the smoke could be the result of the car regenerating the Diesel particulate filter, something a car used as a taxi may have struggled to do previuosly.

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

[Heidfirst]

first. may I suggest that you have the engine coolant sniff tested to check if it is the hg? It could perhaps be an issue with the DPF.

oops, Devon aygo got there before me.

[Simy123]

Thanks Frosty, Devon & Heidfirst, I really appreciate your help.

I think it's confirmed as h/gasket but I don't know for sure, I will speak with Toyota in the morning. If it is the head I was hoping it was going to be covered under this 7 year extended warranty thing, gutted it's not the case :(

[Simy123]

I did look at the coolant and it looks totally clear. I pray it's the DPF

[ToyotaAuris]

Lets hope it is :P It is a high miler though so would expect problems if it was sold at auction. I never buy anything more than 80k from there, there bound to be faults here and there.

[Simy123]

Just been down to the independent garage which did the services. He said a lot of work had been done to the engine by Toyota but they never got to the route of the problem. He wondered if it could be something to do with the EGR and didn't think It would be the DPF as the smoke is white.

I went to Toyota as they were supposed to have fixed the problem 6000 miles ago (under a warranty claim). Turns out they have changed the EGR and Head. Here's a pdf of all the work they've done:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-U_0rdHTOMSSmk2X0tieXNhaFk/view?usp=sharing

Pdf copy of the the services carried out:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-U_0rdHTOMSTFJCM1VYV1c0dmM/view?usp=sharing

It would seem to me that they never got to the route of the problem when it was under warranty. The dealer indicated it would take 6 hours at £105 to strip the engine down to try and find the fault. I'm reluctant to do got this route when it's been tried before and didn't fix the problem.

Where do I go from here?

[FROSTYBALLS]

Don't think you have anywhere else to go.

Yes there has been a fair amount of warranty work done to the car presumably under the Toyota 5 year/100,000 mile new car warranty, but the car is now out of warranty, and was out of warranty when the previous owner last approached Toyota prior to September 2014.

Presumably the previous owner traded the car in or sold it through auction because of the issue, rather than getting it fixed. So unfortunately they've indirectly lumbered you.

How long ago did you buy the car, and have you any comeback against the auction?

[Simy123]

http://avontuning.co.uk/2013/03/toyota-2-2-d4d-dpf-removal-delete/

Just found this which gives me hope, I reading through it now. It says the DPF causes white smoke is that correct?

Bought the car 48 hours "sold as seen".

[FROSTYBALLS]

Where a DPF is fitted as standard, it has been part of the MOT since February 2014 to check that there is a DPF still in place. It is an MOT fail if it is found the DPF has been removed. So there is a risk to getting the DPF removed.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Suppose you need to consider whether it is worth getting the car repaired or whether it needs to go (this latter choice is probably the one the previous owner made).

[ToyotaAuris]

Which auction did you buy the car from? There are some ways to put the car back in that I could tell you of.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Which auction did you buy the car from? There are some ways to put the car back in that I could tell you of.

Would suggest that is done via personal messenger.

[Simy123]

Sh*t or bust! I've decided to recheck the oil level and coolant this morning and then go for and hour motorway drive to see it solves the problem. Hope I don't make this worst. Fingers crossed.

[Simy123]

Still have the same problem unfortunately.

If stay under 40 and keep the revs below 2000ish then it drives fine, I drove through town with lots of stop starting and it was fine for over 15 miles (40 mins). It didn't overheat the temp stayed in the middle all the time.

I then tested driving at higher revs and as soon as I hit the 2500-3000 mark I get smoke everywhere, a lot of it! It's white looking to me I guess possibly steam (I'm no expert). If I then slow down and drop the revs back below 2000ish the smoke stops after a couple of minutes.

Somebody has suggested I may have a problem with the water cooled EGR but this is supposed to have been fixed I think from looking at the invoice in my earlier post. It was suggested that I try sticking some "Steel Seal" in the cooling system to see if it fixes the problem. What do you think?

A few other people have said I should go to see a solicitor as the problem is the same as what the dealer was supposed to have fixed at 91000 & 98000 miles under warranty (see attachement in op). They believe the fact that the cars has now done 104000 is irrelevant, as it's a continuation of a preexisting problem which has not been fixed properly under the warranty. Interesting thought...

[Heidfirst]

Did it lose coolant on the run? Are there signs of coolant splattering around the expansion bottle? Can you have the coolant sniff tested to confirm hg failure?

This isn't a D-CAT, is it?

I'll yield to Devon Aygo as he is a tech/warranty bod for a Toyota dealer & will know the latest but looking at the invoices 2 things strike me as odd.

1) the dealer rebuilt your engine with new pistons etc.. This is a later engine where Toyota has supposedly fixed this issue but for the earlier engines (>Feb 2009) Toyota had gone over to supplying complete (minus ancillaries etc.) refurb. exchange engines as dealer rebuilds had had a few issues.

2) this is unrelated but they used 75w90 gear oil - we understood from Devon Aygo that they are meant to use straight 75W.

As for the lawyer bit I suppose that it is worth talking to CAB but it strikes me that you bought the car "as seen" at auction so your contract & grievance would exist with the auction house & not Toyota/Toyota dealer. I can see lots of potential twists & turns though given the history.

[Simy123]

On the V5c it says it's a TR D-4D, 2231cc, CO2 150 G/KM first registered 30/01/2012

Rechecked levels today, I've done 115 miles now and I can't tell if the coolant has gone dow, if it has it's a very small amount, therefore I'm not going to bother with steel seal.

I'm not 100% certain but I think the oil may have gone down, I'm going to keep monitoring. The smoke looks white not blue to me, though I do think it smells oilly. I'm now reading up on PCV valves, any road in this?

The video below was taken after a 15 mile drive, it had just started smoking before I stopped. The temp gauge was just above half way.

Sorry about the dodgy filming https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-U_0rdHTOMSZTV3N19NRENiVHM/view?usp=sharing

(although in bits the smoke looks blue on film it was white)

[ToyotaAuris]

What does the smoke smell like? Smell of petrol? Smells like gas? Sweet smell or no smell at all?

Also to check if cars a oil burner or is burning oil start car engine, get it up to normal temperature and pull out oil dipstick (if oil starts spitting out then leave this test) and smell the tube, if it smells like a burning smell its a oil burner. You will smell slight burning from that area but if its excessive then theres a problem.

[Simy123]

Thanks buddy. I would say it smells like oil. I will carry out the rest of your checks tomorrow.

I've just stated to read some worrying stuff on how Toyota carry out business in the states and view their warranty obligations. Maybe this is just in the states. I will report more one I've read the full article http://www.toyota-lawsuit.com/class-action-lawsuit/

[Heidfirst]

bear in mind that website has a bias (because they stood to make money by acting for litigants, indeed drumming it up) & is skewed accordingly. Also note that it hasn't been updated since the settlement.

So, for a little balance also read http://www.edmunds.com/car-safety/for-toyota-owners-unintended-acceleration-lawsuit-settlement.html

& https://toyotaelsettlement.com/Home/FAQ

NTSB investigations found that some people had unapproved mats trapped under pedals, some had failed to attempt to brake (incl. that there were a few definite attempts to defraud once the whole class action started). http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703834604575364871534435744

Toyota (at least in the UK) are the best volume manufacturer at standing behind their warranty.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Audi almost destroyed their business in the US when the Audi 5000 (a version of the 1982-91 Audi 100/200) had unintended acceleration problems in the 1980's, by Audi blaming it on 'driver error'.

A class action lawsuit that was filed in 1987 was still unsettled in 2010 - which shows how protracted the Ameican legal system can be. To bring things to an end it is fairly common for companies to settle out of court - as Toyota did with their 'supposed' unintended acceleration cases. Extract from Wikipedia:

Audi 5000

During model years 1982-1987, Audi issued a series of recalls of Audi 5000 models associated with reported incidents of sudden unintended acceleration linked to six deaths and 700 accidents. At the time, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was investigating 50 car models from 20 manufacturers for sudden surges of power.

60 minutes aired a report titled "Out of Control" on November 23, 1986, featuring interviews with six people who had sued Audi after reporting unintended acceleration, including footage of an Audi 5000 ostensibly displaying a surge of acceleration while the brake pedal was depressed. Subsequent investigation revealed that 60 Minutes had not disclosed they had engineered the vehicle's behaviour — fitting a canister of compressed air on the passenger-side floor, linked via a hose to a hole drilled into the transmission — the arrangement executed by one of the experts who had testified on behalf of a plaintiff in a then pending lawsuit against Audi's parent company.

Audi contended, prior to findings by outside investigators that the problems were caused by driver error, specifically pedal misapplication. Subsequently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) concluded that the majority of unintended acceleration cases, including all the ones that prompted the 60 Minutes report, were caused by driver error such as confusion of pedals. CBS did not acknowledge the test results of involved government agencies, but did acknowledge the similar results of another study.

With the series of recall campaigns, Audi made several modifications; the first adjusted the distance between the brake and accelerator pedal on automatic-transmission models. Later repairs, of 250,000 cars dating back to 1978, added a device requiring the driver to press the brake pedal before shifting out of park. As a byproduct of sudden unintended acceleration, vehicles now include gear stick patterns and brake interlock mechanisms to prevent inadvertent gear selection.

Audi’s U.S. sales, which had reached 74,061 in 1985, dropped to 12,283 in 1991 and remained level for three years — with resale values falling dramatically. Audi subsequently offered increased warranty protection and renamed the affected models — with the 5000 becoming the 100 and 200 in 1989. The company only reached the same level of U.S. sales again by model year 2000.

As of early 2010, a class-action lawsuit filed in 1987 by about 7,500 Audi 5000-model owners remains unsettled and is currently contested in county court in Chicago after appeals at the Illinois state and U.S. federal levels. The plaintiffs in this lawsuit charge that on account of the sudden acceleration controversy, Audis had lost resale value.

[Devon Aygo]

On the V5c it says it's a TR D-4D, 2231cc, CO2 150 G/KM first registered 30/01/2012

Rechecked levels today, I've done 115 miles now and I can't tell if the coolant has gone dow, if it has it's a very small amount, therefore I'm not going to bother with steel seal.

I'm not 100% certain but I think the oil may have gone down, I'm going to keep monitoring. The smoke looks white not blue to me, though I do think it smells oilly. I'm now reading up on PCV valves, any road in this?

The video below was taken after a 15 mile drive, it had just started smoking before I stopped. The temp gauge was just above half way.

Sorry about the dodgy filming https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-U_0rdHTOMSZTV3N19NRENiVHM/view?usp=sharing

(although in bits the smoke looks blue on film it was white)

White smoke smelling oily is most likely to be fuel that has failed to burn correctly whilst the car is trying to regenerate the diesel particulate filter, as I have mentioned earlier there is a software update from Toyota that may help as white intermittent white smoke has been noted before and new software was designed to stop the issue.

It is also possible that the DPF is clogged and the car is struggling to clear the filter, having covered over 100k the filter will not be at its optimum, do you have service receipts? Can you confirm that the car has had at least 10 services all using the correct C2 specification oil? if not then the DPF is quite possibly shot and no matter how much the car tries it cannot clear the filter, failed regen will result in white exhaust smoke.

[Simy123]

Thanks, I 'm trying to find a local independent toyota diesel specialist to look at it.

I've got a pit in my garage and just took a look underneath. I think there's diesel? everywhere.

Look like it's leaking where I'm pointing to with the pencil and the white arrow in the last picture.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-U_0rdHTOMSSHFVZ1ZEQnhKczQ/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-U_0rdHTOMSUzRocmgtcExUMHM/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-U_0rdHTOMSb25MWThtYUI4cUk/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-U_0rdHTOMSVnhLR2xuYlN2cVU/view?usp=sharing

Thanks for all the advice guys.

[Simy123]

On further inspection, on tick over diesel is pouring out of the top end of the fuel filter, to be specific at the bottom of the green bolt.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-U_0rdHTOMSZTI4ZlMwalktNXc/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-U_0rdHTOMSVnhLR2xuYlN2cVU/view?usp=sharing