Major Oil Leak Problem

[neemz]

Hi Guys, i'm a 1st time poster, but have pretty much been reading this forum ever since i got my Aurion Nov last year.

This is not what i would have liked for my 1st post to be but here goes.

I'm going to need all the help i can get with this one.

Back story - I bought a 2nd hand 2007 Aurion Prodigy at 93,000kms in November 2010 ex company car and i'm 2nd owner.

The last service done by Toyota was 90,000 kms before i bought the car. I had it put straight into the mechanic to do service at 93,000kms when i bought it and once again when i reached 100,000kms. Was given all clear on both occasions. I am out of the 3yr/100k warranty.

It is now at 102,000kms.

Just about 1 hr ago i was driving back home, when all of a sudden an error came on my dashboard. It said oil pressure low. Then it started to change to "check VSC". All other things on dash like oil temp etc was fine. I was about 1km from home so i drove slowly noticing a slight burning smell coming from my bonnet. I got home safetly, popped the bonnet to have a look.

To my utter suprise, there was a major oil leak of somekind under the bonnet. It sprayed oil everywhere. nearly everything on the left side of engine was covered in oil. Now i'm no mechanic or technical person but i have read somewhere in this forum that this was a known problem to do with some kind of hose or pin or rubber thingo that could cause such a catastrophic oil leakage.

I don't know what to do now. I'm out of warranty, and i figure i can't drive the car any further so i need to tow it somewhere to get it checked. I'm probably going to call NRMA roadside to tow it, but i don't know where to tow it to, Toyota service? or my local mechanic? I know from the looks of things this is going to be an expensive job. Do i call up my insurance company? Will they handle this situation? I've never been in this type of situation before. Any help guys would be much appreciated for a newb like me.

I mean the car just kind of shat itself while i was driving. I don't think this is an everday occurance. I am worried now at the expense it is going to take to fix this thing. Please help.

Edited May 27, 2011 by neemz

[Silver-Aurion]

If the dealer was too lazy to check if the VVTI oil line has been replaced or not they should get an ***** kicking because it looks like you have been the second person on this forum to become victimised of this hose burst.

More reading here:

[neemz]

well that's the thing i've never put it into Toyota. It was serviced all at toyota before i bought it. But i bought it when it was already out of the 3yr warranty. Car was i think a 08/2007 model, i bought in 11/2010.

I've taken it to non toyota local mechanic for my 1st and 2nd services. Now i'm kicking my head. I don't know what to do...

[Silver-Aurion]

Shouldn't matter I'm guessing. It was serviced at Toyota all before so they should have checked if the vehicle had any outstanding CSE.

You should take it back to Toyota as changing the hose was their problem. (The hose gets replaced for free under the recall/CSE even if you don't have warranty)

[neemz]

well i'm hoping you are right and put my pain at ease. I will call nrma and tow it straight to toyota first thing in the morning. hope they will fix it free and also clean up the mess that is the oii spraying all over the engine and under bonnet.

[Silver-Aurion]

It will be 100% free mate. I'm sure of that if your car has an outstanding CSE.

Goodluck and let us all know how it goes.

[neemz]

Thanks mate, i will let you all know how it goes tomorrow. And please everyone if you have the rubber hose, get it done before its too late. A small price to pay to prevent this from happening. And here are the pics.

Top views

Up close, i can make out the rubber hose thingo amongst there somewhere

[DJKOR]

No need to quote reply each other guys when you are replying to the entire post above you. You only end up repeating yourselves numerous times. I've cleaned that up.

Anyways, bugger to hear this happen to you. It goes to show how defective the part really was.

I'm a little stuck here though because the hose on the TRD is fairly different to the normal Aurion and there has not been a replacement rubber section as far as I'm aware. Should be interesting.

[neemz]

Hi guys, here's an update on the issue.

Got the car towed to a Toyota service centre this morning. They immediately recognized the problem which is 100% vvti oil line issue. They said that it was unusual that they didnt pick this up beforehand but I explained to them that since I've bought the car I have not taken it to Toyota for a check up but my own mechanic.

So bottom line is they will replace the hose with the metal

one free of charge as it was under a recall. Also fix any

other issue that could have risen due to the oil leakage I had and clean my engine bay of all the oil spattered everywhere. Should be done and ready to be picked up on Monday afternoon. I will keep all you guys updated when I do pick it up on Monday and tell of any other issues I have.

Thanks once again for your input super aurion it really helped me when I was talking to the Toyota rep. At least I appeared to know what I was talking about.

[Silver-Aurion]

Great news mate, it's good to see the dealer is taking responsibility for it. Pleasure to help out, anytime :D

[neemz]

Ok guys got my car back today. Toyota rep said they replaced the oil line and cleaned up the engine. Everything is back to normal now.

They said because I traveled a short distance to my home and towed it straight to them, there was no damage done to the engine and the oil leakage was minimum.

As I drove it back home I didn't notice anything but a smooth ride just like before it happened. I also checked under the bonnet and it is now clean and spotless.

So I am now worry free and have this forum to thank.

Once again I urge all aurion owners (2006-2009) to go and do this replacement if you've got the old oil line and prevent the hassles that I went through. See you alln on the road :)

[Silver-Aurion]

Great to see everything turned out in the end. Good luck and happy Aurion motoring :)

[Buff Hamster]

It should be recommended that if you buy any used car with the 2GR-FE engine from a dealer that you ask them to replace the VVT-i oil line before pickup. That's why i did for a peace of mind.

[Vijith555]

Glad to see you got the oil line replaced and cleaned up by Toyota.

This is something I need to check up on too..because I am not sure if the Toyota dealer I picked the car up from did this for me or not. Is there an easy way to find out that they have done this recall on my car? Like any visual tags? I am tempted to go to Toyota sometime and have them check it if its something I cant identify..just to be on the safe side..

[Silver-Aurion]

Glad to see you got the oil line replaced and cleaned up by Toyota.

This is something I need to check up on too..because I am not sure if the Toyota dealer I picked the car up from did this for me or not. Is there an easy way to find out that they have done this recall on my car? Like any visual tags? I am tempted to go to Toyota sometime and have them check it if its something I cant identify..just to be on the safe side..

Yes you can tell if the hose has been replaced. If you read the link I gave you, you will get your answer. To put it simple, if your hose is either full metal or has a yellow dash of paint on the plastic hose it's the new revised part. Check the thread for more info and pics.

[neemz]

Ok maybe I have concluded too quickly. I had enough time today to go over the other thread linked by silver aurion on the top just to know what the actual oil line looks like.

I popped my bonnet to see if Toyota had actually replaced mine with a metal one but I am 100% certain that they replaced mine with the same rubber oil line (just a brand new one).

I don't know what I should do, bring it back to them and demand them to fit the metal one or leave it as is.

Well they did fix the problem and clean my engine I'm just worried when the time comes for me to do another 70k on this car the same thing will happen again. I'm not one to complain much but this is not future proofing to say the least. Do we know 100% that this recall means they "must" put a metal hose for replacement or are we just assuming?

[DJKOR]

As part of the replacement routine, they swapped the old rubber hose out with a new 'revised' rubber hose. Changing over to the metal pipe was not a requirement.

[neemz]

Well I'll leave well enough alone then. I'm not sure if this new revised rubber hose will instill confidence, but I guess I could ask my mechanic to get the metal one and install it if it's picking at me. I know it'll cost for the parts + labor.

Thanks for letting me know djkor. There is no way, looking at your thread that I could ever do the change myself lol. Just looks too hard.

[Buff Hamster]

I tried to get the full metal pipe last year but the dealer i bought my from said they don't have them anymore. So i got the rubber pipe with yellow paint on it. 14000km on it so far and no problems, yet.

[Silver-Aurion]

Well I'll leave well enough alone then. I'm not sure if this new revised rubber hose will instill confidence, but I guess I could ask my mechanic to get the metal one and install it if it's picking at me. I know it'll cost for the parts + labor.

Thanks for letting me know djkor. There is no way, looking at your thread that I could ever do the change myself lol. Just looks too hard.

Like I said earlier in this thread and djkor pointed out, this hose is a revised part which means the original hose was obviously defective. I'm sure what ever manufacturing fault the original hose had it was fixed in the revised part. So you have nothing to worry about. We are all running the revised plastic hose and no ones had any problems.

[Vijith555]

Yes you can tell if the hose has been replaced. If you read the link I gave you, you will get your answer. To put it simple, if your hose is either full metal or has a yellow dash of paint on the plastic hose it's the new revised part. Check the thread for more info and pics.

Thanks mate I will look up on that when I get home and see what these guys have done :)

[julian040859]

Just thought there should be a link to this thread or merged, different oil leak area but a common problem with rubber hose blow out. see

[RadioManBigJohnAU]

Hi Guys,

I'm new the the club, I am a little worried. I have just bought a Toyota Aurion Sportivo SX and from memory I don't think the VVTI oil line has been changed to the new type under recall, the car has 105,600 K's on it now. Would anyone know if this would still be fixed free of charge now that the car is 10 years old and over the warranty time.

Cheers.

[campbeam]

I contacted Toyota Australia a few months ago and was told No for the rear VVT-i line. However, if leaking, replacement of the oil cooler rubber hose component [located near the oil filter cartridge] is covered by an extended customer service [not a recall].

My 2006 Aurion ATX sprung a pin hole leak in the rubber hose of that rear VVT-i line a few weeks ago at 180,500 km. Massive oil leak as described. Fortunately, I had previously purchased the parts. Very frustrating job as per tutorial on this forum. Previous post on another thread mentioned $600. My vehicle had the original rubber hose and it was hardened in the curved section. 

I am guessing that if the rubber hose section had been replaced by Toyota and a sticker placed on the vehicle, then Toyota might do a replacement with the full metal line. Also I think Toyota has a 10 year timeline for extended customer service items. 

 

[KAA]

Thanks for the update mate..I Totally agree..

I keep watching the hoses..well what you can see of them..good old big piece of Cardboard under there every now and then to spot any drops..so far nothing..Fingers Toes etc crossed

KAA