The variable valve timing (VVTi) system.

[Henstepper]

I was reading known issues with the 2grfe engine and it mentions The variable valve timingsystem. from what i understand it uses a rubber hose and there was a bulletin about it by toyota which can be replaced with a metal pipe? I have an 09 model. some say it was replaced by toyota in 09 but others say not till 2010. how would i even know if mine needs doing? I put myVIN the recall but only the power window came up.

 

How can i tell if mine is metal or rubber? Pictures would help

[Rimsy]

Hi Steve,

I always think it's best to contact your local dealer, give them the rego/VIN and they can tell you if the recall has been done on your vehicle or is subject to any other recalls.

In response to your question, I do not know how to look to see if the recall has been done, even though I recently had the oil cooler pipe recall done on my Aurion.

[DanielFi]

Hi Steve and other people, when toyota did each recall on my 2010 touring, they put a silver sticker with numbers/letters on it, so I have two stickers on the inside door jam of the driver. First one was for the window master switch, that if had been altered could start a vehicle fire, and the oil coolant line from rubber to metal.

Steve the hose for your 2009 is when the bonnet is up on the drivers side of the cam covers, above and to the left of the engine. it goes from the cam cover down along out of sight along the firewall for as an oil feed to the vvti system, in yours it may be black plastic not silver alloy as in mine from factory. As toyota corrected the fault the year after your Aurion was produced.  Its late atm so I will attempt a picture tomorrow am. 

Correct me if I am mistaken guys..

[Tony Prodigy]

The two Achilles heals for the 2GR-FE were the VVTI oil feed line and the Oil cooler lines at the bottom of the engine. Both had the rubber segments in place where the metal should've been bent into a curve, but I think the engineers either got lazy or didn't have enough time to develop the correct part in time when they released that engine.

Thankfully Toyota did come back with the correct fix and so both theses items can be seen to be a full metal piece, and one that is not prone to premature failure.  By the time they released the 50 series Aurion, these two items had already been addressed, so no further recalls were necessary.

There are plenty of youtube videos on these two items.

Here's one for you. Another thing I learned watching this particular video was the fact that there is a screen filter in the supply side to the VVTI oil feed. Something I didn't realise until now. Now there's another reason to change your oil regularly if you don't want sludge to block the filter and restrict oil to the VVTI system. Go to 1:31 and you'll see it.

 

 

 

 

[DanielFi]

Well done Tony, some good precise information

[KAA]

As always Tony is the man, ty mate..not only information he is the stash king of everything Aurion and detail related LOL

KAA

[AurionX2]

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

[Tony Prodigy]

6 hours ago, AurionX2 said:

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

Stupid hey ? Why would they recall only the bottom oil cooler pipe and neglect to include the VVTI line ? Both suffer the same stupid design issue.

I guess they only did the VVTI recall in the U.S. because the Americans are a touchy bunch with thin skin who are very litigious and would've raised Hell to Toyota Head Office, so they caved for them and not for us.

It shouldn't be left to the goodwill of the dealer to fix the VVTI line with what the factory should've put there in the first place. The very thought of placing a rubber hose to circulate hot, high pressure oil should've been mooted straight off the bat. How ignorant and lazy of Toyota to inflict this upon their customers. 

I'm glad I didn't buy an early gen Aurion and have to deal with not only the oil lines but the sticky dash issue. Sheesh. What a total farce !

My rant for the day. 😬😜 

[KAA]

Good Rant Tony, Accurate and Correct in every detail, for America it is one rule for us here in OZ another..😱😱🦘🦘🦘🦘

Stay Safe Mate

KAA

[AurionX2]

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?

[campbeam]

1 hour ago, AurionX2 said:

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?

You have done well so far but you are on the losing side of that bet. It will happen. There was also a service bulletin back in 2008 or so where that rubber section was initially replaced with a higher grade rubber. If that was done there might be a sticker on the driver's door opening near the dashboard.

VVTi line in my Oct.2006 Aurion lasted just short of 10 years and 180,500kms; replaced 01.10.2016. Since doing that job, I have bought a few tools for working in tight places. Great learning experience but at the time it was highly frustrating.

First hint that I got that something was wrong was when the low oil pressure warning light briefly flashed one evening. Saturday morning I checked the dipstick, oil was very low on dipstick so refilled the engine oil. Also checked under the car and there were no tell tale signs of an engine leak. When I arrived at the girlfriends place, 15 kms later, I have a massive oil leak flowing down the driver's side of the engine. Fortunately, I had already done my research and preparation including having the parts already on hand.

Also after removing that VVTi line, I could not see the pin hole leak in that rubber section. So it is amazing how much oil flows out under pressure from just a pin hole leak.

[Hiro]

13 hours ago, campbeam said:

I could not see the pin hole leak in that rubber section. So it is amazing how much oil flows out under pressure from just a pin hole leak.

*sparkle sparkle

[Henstepper]

Just going back to this I had a look at my oil line and there is a bracket in the way. i can see metal going in but then i dont have good visibility without taking that bracket off that covers it i cant see the elbow part. im not a mechanic but i have booked my car in for a full spark plug and oil change service on monday. i have mentioned it to the mechanic and he said if it doesnt come up as a recall with your VIN then it shouldnt have that issue? im a bit dubious because my aurion had the window motor recall done but nothing about the oil line comes up on my vehicle.

[Tony Prodigy]

32 minutes ago, Henstepper said:

he said if it doesnt come up as a recall with your VIN then it shouldnt have that issue

If you have the full metal pipe then it's fine. If it's the rubber hose version, get rid of it asap as it will pop sooner or later. That's a critical component despite is not being a recall item. If you plan to keep the car long term, get the VVTI oil line done and same goes for the oil cooler line. Full metal piping trumps rubber sectioned piping.

 

[Tony Prodigy]

For a bit more continuity on this subject, I thought I'd add this video by AMD.

There's a few surprises in this one.

 

[Rimsy]

Does anyone know if you can just get a replacement for the rubber elbow on the VVTI oil line instead of replacing the whole part with a new metal one? My Aurion is already 16 years old and replacing the rubber elbow will probably make it outlast the car and I can easily do it myself. Toyota want over $160 just for the metal part and never got back to me with a quote for labour.

They already replaced the oil cooler line under recall.

Thanks.

[campbeam]

Your better option is to replace it with the full metal part. Is $60 a more attractive price?

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/332610542193?epid=671085460&hash=item4d71221a71:g:ryQAAOSwmTxfKgRR&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwA1E6FHClfkg14U6FtPji8RZVwb71N2HBvLGq9GQEx71UY%2FgHVxFlFWzAhcQXUmftk2a2zvaytKXp0ZzN7mHOcmw49peJhtLfyBuNDir2Kum%2FmUw6fvUUv8UdbASgmxxQ6o%2FNuCllphapGeCzaCdL%2FD7IGiEJq%2Fj5Kkh4YMnDxuXhGNuyv6JlYimITnlZmdhtyePEOSQb0GWsJIe5U8%2BIAyg4%2BUMUa65tcaFdbP5K2zZwFyXBGXQQ09brKLZo4WuAg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR7aw98CZYg

Hope that you have the necessary tools for operating in tight places. Replacing this oil line was a real PIA and took me most of the weekend, then afterwards I bought the tools that I wish that I had.

[Rimsy]

21 hours ago, campbeam said:

Your better option is to replace it with the full metal part. Is $60 a more attractive price?

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/332610542193?epid=671085460&hash=item4d71221a71:g:ryQAAOSwmTxfKgRR&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwA1E6FHClfkg14U6FtPji8RZVwb71N2HBvLGq9GQEx71UY%2FgHVxFlFWzAhcQXUmftk2a2zvaytKXp0ZzN7mHOcmw49peJhtLfyBuNDir2Kum%2FmUw6fvUUv8UdbASgmxxQ6o%2FNuCllphapGeCzaCdL%2FD7IGiEJq%2Fj5Kkh4YMnDxuXhGNuyv6JlYimITnlZmdhtyePEOSQb0GWsJIe5U8%2BIAyg4%2BUMUa65tcaFdbP5K2zZwFyXBGXQQ09brKLZo4WuAg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR7aw98CZYg

Hope that you have the necessary tools for operating in tight places. Replacing this oil line was a real PIA and took me most of the weekend, then afterwards I bought the tools that I wish that I had.

That's a good price, thanks Ashley. I know it's a better long term option, however I would prefer not to go through the pain of trying to replace the whole piece as it's a huge PITA. I'd prefer to just buy the old design and use the rubber elbow on my car which will last for many years, longer than the car will last.

I bit the bullet and just bought the full metal pipe. Wish me luck...

Edited June 18, 2023 by Rimsy

[campbeam]

11 hours ago, Rimsy said:

I bit the bullet and just bought the full metal pipe. Wish me luck...

Hope that you have a cordless 3/8 right angle impact wrench tool which will ease the frustration instead of using offset spanners or ordinary ratchets 1 or 2 clicks at a time.

 

[Rimsy]

So I finally got around to replacing the rear VVTi oil line today and oh boy, what a doozy. I've never seen such bad design before, and not just one or two things. But the whole reason I have to replace the line in the first place is due to bad design so I guess it all makes sense.

All up I reckon it took me about 6 hours. I lost a fair bit of time on the bolts for the plastic cover over the oil line. I didn't even bother trying to put the rear bolt back after as there's just no way I can do it without better tools as I can't get my hand in there. I also lost a heap of time as whoever replaced the power steering pump put a bolt back that doesn't fit right. After fighting with it for like an hour I finally figured out that it's not the right bolt so it won't screw in all the way. The proper bolt is about 5 inches long so there's no way you could confuse it with another one. Some people just don't give a F. I also see why a number of videos I watched basically removed all of the steering elements as it's almost impossible to torque the rear banjo bolt with all that in the way. Got there in the end though.

On a final note, the rubber part that came off was still very flexible and in good condition, probably didn't need to be replaced but you can't know that until you've already taken it off. Car has done 160,000km so far and should be good for another 100,000km now.

[Baxter190388]

My old SX6 had the line replaced but my SL still needs doing, I have the parts on the shelf I've just been procrastinating about getting it done. It's good to hear the rubber was still in decent condition, I'm hoping the same goes for mine so theres no rush lol. 
Wonder if it's any easier/harder to change on the TRD in comparison.

nicejob!

[Tony Prodigy]

10 hours ago, Rimsy said:

I also lost a heap of time as whoever replaced the power steering pump put a bolt back that doesn't fit right. After fighting with it for like an hour I finally figured out that it's not the right bolt so it won't screw in all the way. The proper bolt is about 5 inches long so there's no way you could confuse it with another one. Some people just don't give a F.

Glad it worked out ok for you Adam. At least you had a crack. 
There are some unenviable tasks on an Aurion and that is up there with those, so well done.

I suspect what usually happens when you come across misfitted bolts is that people don't pay attention when removing them and just assume they're all the same size. Not usually the case though.
One or more could be different by millimeters and it's imperative to put them back exactly otherwise you could create more work later..

I make notes as I go and carefully assess each item I remove, take photos even.
 

It's also weird how the rubber section is still pliable too. I wonder if those that had burst were still pliable or had hardened up causing them to split or is it possible for a pliable hose to simply split under high temp and pressure. It certainly is a ticking timebomb in anyone's language and I would've attended to this part long ago despite it still appearing to be in good condition. It can let go at any given time and the fact it has lasted this long is pure luck I reckon.

Unfortunately the VVTI rubber hose segment and the oil cooler lines was the result of Toyota rushing to bring the new 2GR-FE to market which is why I'd never buy the first series of a new model car. These will almost certainly have a few teething problems as we all know now.

Toyota fixed all the issues and vastly improved the Aurion overall with the 50 series. That's why I chose to pay a bit extra and get the 50. I've had virtually zero issues with mine except for maintenance items. Best car I've ever owned in terms of reliability.

 

 

Edited January 22 by Tony Prodigy

[Tony Prodigy]

8 hours ago, Baxter190388 said:

but my SL still needs doing, I have the parts on the shelf I've just been procrastinating about getting it done.

If I were you I'd get cracking. We'd prefer to see your next post read "Replaced my VVTI line" rather than "My VVTI line burst, engine lost oil pressure and left me stranded"

[Rimsy]

On 1/23/2024 at 4:46 AM, Tony Prodigy said:

Toyota fixed all the issues and vastly improved the Aurion overall with the 50 series. That's why I chose to pay a bit extra and get the 50. I've had virtually zero issues with mine except for maintenance items. Best car I've ever owned in terms of reliability.

In hindsight I probably should have got a 50 series, but I needed a cheap, reliable car to tow my box trailer and I wanted a V6. I love the engine even tho it's shoehorned into an engine bay not designed for it so it can be a pain to work on. I'll never get the timing cover leak fixed as it's just not worth it with it being an engine out job.

Thanks for your support Tony and Ashley for the advice on the doing to job.

[Tony Prodigy]

19 hours ago, Rimsy said:

In hindsight I probably should have got a 50 series, but I needed a cheap, reliable car to tow my box trailer and I wanted a V6. I love the engine even tho it's shoehorned into an engine bay not designed for it so it can be a pain to work on. I'll never get the timing cover leak fixed as it's just not worth it with it being an engine out job.

If it's just an oil weep with the odd drips and drops it's should be ok. It's just the thought of knowing it will leave you a small gift on your driveway or garage so you'd need to put a tray down. 

Engine out is a huge job and even though The Car Care Nut makes it look easy, it's anything but. There is a lot to do and that's just to get it out, then you have to re gasket/seal the engine, do the maintenance items that re "while you're in there", yes, it's probably not worth it if the resale value dictates.
Just drive it and do the maintenance it needs to keep it going and move it on when you need to.

19 hours ago, Rimsy said:

Thanks for your support Tony and Ashley for the advice

You are very welcome.

All the best mate