AurionX2

Testament for how well designed and built are these 2GR-FE engines.

Thanks everyone for chipping in, appreciate it 🙂 Tony, we moved from Melbourne at the end of 2021. Matt, thanks for the heads-up on the meeting, but since I don't have facebook I might have to ask my wife to join the group, we'll see, in the end she's driving an Aurion so she has a duty of care in this respect 🙂 Ashley, I've done 2 flushes by now and dropped the pan 3 times to clean it up. All up would have been around 28 or so litres of ATF Even after the latest flush. I was tempted tbh to replace the filter again, but not anymore. Oh and before I forget: I'm a big fan of Car Care Nut, so knowledgeable and honest, have you watch the video when he bought his wife a new car? Priceless 🙂 Peter, that's sort of where it's heading, let me explain it. In the meantime I added the 2nd instant shudder fix tube through the refill hole which, after a few hundred kms of combined suburban and freeway driving, didn't seem to fix anything at all. However, today while driving around western suburbs checking wreckers & what not, I noticed the check VSC, engine light and ABS lights all went out. Plugged the ODB tool, erased the C1201 and P0990 errors (now I'm 100% sure C1201 was triggered by P0990) and, after probably a dozen of so stop / starts the error hasn't come back on. Fingers crossed the valve body is still good overall! Now, how does the car drive? Apart from the shudder under load and slight lurching when accelerating sometimes, it performs exceptionally well haha! Very responsive when accelerating, smooths shifts, no flare, no overheating, it all seems to be pointing to the torque converter going. I've also changed my driving habits, I spend most time in sport mode now: start from 3rd gear and shift up & down as required, trying to keep the engine in a rpm range that doesn't trigger the shudder. I think I'll try a stall speed test tomorrow as documented in the U660E manual, see the screenshot. Speaking of torque converters, here's a great video: The most difficult part is to find a shop that will want to put in a replacement transmission, or only the torque converter, without charging an arm and a leg. Most places I tried are simply not interested in the job, they're prolly doing well with standard service and the odd trans cooler installation. Is this a Queensland thing? Ever since we moved we've seen so many occasions when you're asking for quotes (plumbing, electrical, concreting etc) and it's incredibly difficult to get anything done, as if everyone is sitting on a pile of cash and just can't be bothered! Different to Melbourne and vastly different to my overseas place of birth 🤣 If I get the transmission sorted I'm tempted to keep it, everything else works on it as it should and it burns no oil, quite remarkable for an engine approaching 200000kms. Will keep you updated with the progress

Long time no see, posting from sunny Brissie now 🙂 This was posted on TN earlier. Here it goes: 2007 Aurion SX, 195000kms, bought private 5 months ago at 187000k as a beater. 3rd Aurion in the family, cause the other 2 are still going strong. All good except for shot rear shocks (todo) and a slight transmission shudder that mostly happened in 5th or 6th gear under load at low-ish speeds. Until one day when the temp went up suddenly in city traffic, unlucky: thermostat went and when I got home (after letting the car cool down and topping up with distilled water) I saw some weird gunk when I took the rad cap off. When I disconnected the return transmission line lo and behold, some dark brown milky stuff came out. Replaced the radiator, thermostat (pita to take the housing off), rad hoses (the heater core ones are fine, skipped them for now), drive belt, then went for the complete trans service with pan drop, filter & gasket and flush using Valvoline Maxlife, then fluid level check. Bloody milkshake, it took 19 litres to get most of that crap out. Anyway, after all that the shudder didn't go away, if anything it got worse(?), plus some P0990 pending code, along with Check VSC, check engine and ABS/TC lights startede to come on. Blamed the fluid (up until now I've only used Penrite ATF LV, Aussie made to WS spec in the other 2 cars, but too expensive post-covid) so I said: ok, will go genuine Toyota WS. So just did another pan drop today plus flush using the Toyota stuff, 12 litres all up. Took the opportunity to change the dog bone (almost shot) and the 2 side mounts (trans side was shot, the other one felt ok). The drain fluid was still looking a teeny tiny bit like strawberry milkshake after maybe less than 200km all suburban short drives, wtf? So here I am: fresh Toyota WS fluid, the shudder is still there and now I have C1201 and P0990. Thing is, I might have missed C1201 code in during previous reads because I wasn't looking for engine codes, only transmission related. Drive experience after the 2nd flush: I can't tell the car feels better with Toyota fluid, the shudder is still there even after adding Lubegard instant shudder fix snake oil in there, will try tomorrow with the 2nd tube. However, this time around there's a slight change in behaviour: the car now actually holds 6th speed under load at 60-65km/h (but it still shudders!), while before it was bouncing between 6th-5th-6th-5th continuously. Really annoying this gear hunt... And the question: what to do about the C1201 and P0990, short of finding a reputable specialist in my area that can work his magic? Is C1201 rather generic and it'll go away if P0990 goes away? Or are they separate issues? Other than the issues above, the car drives exceptionally well ta-daa!

For the last maybe 5-6 oil changes I've settled on Valvoline VO84 from Bunnings, $15 purchased in store. Can't really go wrong with Bunnings, can you? 🙂 Oh wait...

Couldn't have said it better, Tony :)))) Well, my 2008 Aurion vvti pi$$ poor P.O.S. rubber oil line is holding up well, 212.000+kms, 14 years and counting. Taking bets, eh?

Afaict the VVTi oil line is not a recall item in Aust, only the oil cooler line.

I have a Sony XAV-AX5000 in my 2008 Aurion installed with the fascia kit and harness from https://aerpro.com/vehicles/toyota/toyota-aurion-2006-2011. Autobarn sells these.

Sorry, missed your post, since moving to Ipswich it apparently takes a while to find the TOC forum in my bookmarks, everything happens slower here in Qld :)) It was done back in Melbourne at Nunawading Toyota. I might find the email exchange I had with them back then if interested.

@Lykiuwelcome to the Aurion owners club, although it's not a happy meeting at all 😞 Try to call few Toyota dealers, explain them the issue and, if it's the Vvti oil line, you might find one of them willing to come to the party. My 2008 had its oil line replaced at a local dealer free of charge, before experiencing any leak thankfully. Just bear in mind there are 2 hoses, they only replace the lower one, the upper hose isn't a recall item even though there were cases when the upper rubber hoes burst and made a big mess. If you have the energy keep pressing them, best of luck.

If doing mostly city driving 14l/100kms isn't out of ordinary, we average 11-13 around Melbourne eastern suburbs, the average speed and length of trips plays a huge factor.

Steve, there can be so many reasons for all those codes. Can you tell if the car's ever ended up with the bonnet under water? Guess you don't know much about the car's service history? Before jumping to conclusions, take it to you mechanic for a thorough service that'll include engine oil/filter, air filter, throttle body & MAF sensor cleaning, brakes (sticky caliper pistons can cause excessive fuel usage). I wouldn't fret about the spark plugs too much if it's still on originals, in the US they service them at 120k miles, so the 90k kms service in Australia looks like plain institutionalized rip-off. But it's not unheard on an ignition coil to fail. In your case the car's older than 10 years so you should be doing the fuel filter as well. Few things to look into unfortunately, let us know how you go. Good luck, if serviced well the Aurion is a great car to own, we've got 2 in the family and so far they didn't disappoint 🙂

That CL9 Accord is pretty much my all time favourite sedan.

My wife is actually a pretty calm driver, she was just unlucky on the day :) Yeah, so true, the Sonata was harsher and just as thirsty as the Aurion around town and slightly thirstier on long drives, guess the substandard 2.4l engine and 4 speed gearbox played a role. But boy, still miss that interior, really had a Honda/Acura feeling 🙂

'tis dat the Japanese for "nope, can't do, not safe Leh San"? 🤣

Owned a 2007 Sonata NF 2.4 litre for almost 10 years and nearly 190.000km, the most trouble free car I've ever had in my life. Great build quality and unbelievably reliable. Until one day when my wife heard a loud bang while driving it and then the car suddenly lost power, then the engine started to sound like it spat a rod or something, sounding worse than any 1950 unmaintained diesel tractor started on a -25 degrees Celsius Christmas day :)) She managed to somehow drive it home and few days later the thing went to the wreckers (the car, not my lovely better half!), the engine was done, rebuilding it would cost more than the car's value at the time and selling it as parts would have taken years. It kind of started to give some early signs of failures around 160k mark with pinging / knocking some times and the oil level would drop towards min mark on the dipstick after 6-7000k. Lessons learned? - Don't put 91 unleaded in that engine, should have used 95 all along. - Don't trust the stealership for servicing, they'd put whatever crappy drum mineral oil they had in stock every 15k kms oil change, as per the service schedule. At the 135k service the dipstick already had some dark brown varnish on it where the min/max marks were. The car should have been services every 10k max with quality full synthetic. The car could have easily lasted past 300k mark if I had these 2 covered, but I left it to the pros at the time and it showed. Blessing in disguise, my wife now drives the 2013 Aurion we bought after the Sonata went, better car overall, but we still remember how well built the Sonata was and the interior finishing quality, well above Camry/Aurion. Even since I've decided I won't trust the monkeys at the stealerships and their extended service schedules which will only set your car up for failure. I'll be doing my own oil/filter changes at shorter intervals for as long as I'll be able to do so.

Impressive, especially that clogged oil pickup screen. Well done. If the oil pan looked that bad can't even think of what's under the valve covers. Could be well worth doing few more short oil & filter changes every 500km or so and running the engine flush through the engine at idle for 15 minutes before turning the engine off and dumping the oil. That 20 series V6 is a really impressive engine, I doubt the 2GR-FE on the Aurion could handle that much sludge 🙂

For Blackvue chase the Autobarn sales, every so often they have 30% off all audio, that's how I got mine.

Some moron tailgating everyone but himself on the Eastern Freeway few years back made me install a 750 2CH on one car and 750 1CH on the other. I got the 2CH one hardwired with Power Magic Pro to use the parking mode feature, but I had to give up on it after 1 year or so because the battery went flat twice, the reason turned out to be a dying alternator 🙂 Solid hardware, neither has missed a beat and they're still using the Samsung SD cards purchased initially. Had the 2CH one twice shutting itself down out of the blue, symptom of SD card writing failures. After formatting the card the problem went away. They recommend to format the card monthly or so.

Sorry, but I still don't understand: the photo in your first post on this page, is it the most recent one? To me the fluid level looks normal, if the car was parked on level ground when you took it.

Ben, what makes you think it's not at the right level?

Both our Aurions make this buzz/clank sound in the conditions described. Sometimes more noticeable, sometimes less. Never saw it as an issue, don't get why some people are sooo fussed about it. It's also documented in the owner manual, page 127, Traction Control System, verbatim: "You may hear a sound in the engine compartment for a few seconds when the engine is started or just after the vehicle begins to move. This means that the traction control system is in self-check mode, but does not indicate a malfunction." NOT AN ISSUE!!! L.E. After revisiting the topic, no wonder people are panicking about it, when even the Toyota stealership people are confusing ABS with TC, despite of the note in the manual (who the hell reads that thing, anyway?)

My 19yo, now on his red PS, is driving our GSV40 and I know he'll have very little trouble with the car, thankfully its 2 big flaws - water pump and alternator - have both been addressed already -:) But I'm sure he'd swap it for a VF GTS in the blink of an eye. I know I would!

As Tony said, the 2 magnets are there to collect the shavings. When I've first dropped the pan on each of my 2 Aurions (2008 and 2013) the mags were completely covered in that very fine powder. No big deal, both are still shifting very well, the 2008 one has recently passed the 200000kms milestone and doesn't show any signs it needs a break. You're spot on, they need some TLC and I know if I take care of them they'll take care of us as well.

Yeah look, they're not exactly complete rubbish these U660E, but they have some design faults which may cause issues in normal use if not serviced. For example the fact that they used weak casing material that is known to cause excessive wear around a bearing due to not being able to withstand the engine torque is notorious. They're not exactly built to be thrashed, you know, floored from the lights 🙂 https://www.toyotanation.com/threads/2007-v6-camry-transmission-slipping.809650/#post-7252186 https://gearsmagazine.com/magazine/toyotas-aging-front-wheel-drive-six-speeds-common-issues-with-the-u660e-and-u760e-transmissions/ If serviced properly and not abused they surely can outlast the rest of the car. If -:)

How I'm doing it: after placing the drain pan under the casing and loosening it I start to undo it slowly while applying upward pressure against the thread, this way there's very little, if any, oil dripping past the o-ring. Then once it came off completely (you can feel the characteristic thread click) I swiftly pull it off and away turning it upside down. Once the oil deluge stops I carefully place the casing in the drain pan. Not messy at all. Rubber gloves strongly recommended 🙂