GSV40R

Hey There , resetting the ecu may be a short term fix. if it is still under warranty i would check with your dealer to get an updated auto ecu.There is also a procedure to add an extra 200ml of Ws auto oil as well. i had replaced mine and it fixed the shift issue 95%. from memory there was an issue found where some vehicles left the factory without the transmission feedback values entered into the ecu via the IT2 , so the toyota tech dept asks dealers to check that values have been set in the ecu. if they have and they are having flaring issues an ecu replacement will help. now for the audio unit , i have seen a few where the lcd display just drops out and then comes back on for now reason, this is a contact issue in the unit internal plugs , simply fixed by fitting a new floater unit. i have had a couple of fujitsu units just have to sound output on radio on , cd playback is ok - yet again another internal fault (floater unit replacement). 1 customer had this same issue after a flat battery ????? who knows why ?. so replaced the unit. hope this helps

It's good to get good feedback as you normally here more about bad experiences. And yes I do work for them , I've been there 22 years. Cheers

if a dealer has an on car machiner (lathe) it should be cheap. $40 - 60 a pair. if they have to remove the rotors and sublet them then it becomes dearer. the is a minimum spec on rotor runout and thickness (obviously) so if there aren't any deep grooves on lips on the edge of the rotor then they normally won't need machining. But in a dealers deffence if you were charged for labour , pads and machining the job is done and done right the first time. if you chose not to have the rotors machined and your brakes became very noisey afterwards and then they needed machining i bet you as the owner would not be prepared to pay for another lot of labour and the machining on top of that again. it is a catch 22 situation. as far as replacement the dealer where i work will give the option for genuine or non genuine replacement rotors where needed as there can be a huge difference in price, but seeing the aurion and camry are ozzie built the rotors probably come from the same factory and the non gen units. as far as a japanese vehicle goes the rotor quality is better but sometime 3 times the price.. there is a reason that the corolla built in south africa stopped coming into australia , front pads and rotors at 25 -30k christ thats worse than a daewoo lanos or a holden astra (fr rotors made from cheese)

heres my thoughts , out on a limb and not knowing all of the facts. the steering intermediate shaft was revised and the revised part was used in production in late 2009. so if the shaft was replaced before the revised part it may have had further issues. i had my intermediate shaft replaced on my 2006 zr6 3 months ago under warranty at the dealership where i work(26k klms mind you). i would say that we have not replaced a rack for noise issues. only a couple of camrys for rack oil leak issues. so if you now have the revised steering intermediate shaft fitted (the part number did superceed) you shouldn't have any more issues. i test drive dozens of vehicles per week and the worst feeling aurions and camrys are more noticeable at slow speeds ,corning and braking or accelerating. the same feeloing has been found in rav 4s and some klugers as well.

camry and aurion suffer from the same issue , where the drain tubes fall off the sunroof unit. There are 4 drains , 1 on each corner and the fix is to refit and put clamps on them this time(yes you have to drop the roof lining to access these drain tubes) i can't be definite on the avalon as i never have had one apart but i would be certain there wouldn't be too much of a difference

Hi , i work at a dealership for toyota and lexus. we recently had a brand new grande kluger in and parts dept supplied an ipod kit to fit, so they thought. It did not suit the genuine sat nav unit. i rang fujitsu ten technical and asked about the possibilities of such an install with no such luck , according to them. So the owner has a $60k vehicle and can't plug in an ipod WTF. i know there is a way of creating an aux connection which requires modification and hence voiding warranty , just like the aurion ipod connection i did on my own zr6. But unfortunately the only way to successfully connect an ipod was to purchase a component lexus supplies and it was $799 retail for the rx range. the same as shown in the links above , so until a cheaper alternative springs up the sat nav owners are stuck atm. cheers Tim

Good question Unique,when a vehicle is driven by the front wheels rather than having a Diff as such it has what is commonly known as a Trans Axle (Differential and Transmission COMBINED )Going by the hand book for the Aurion it holds a total of 6.5 litres of WS (world standard) Automatic Transmission fluid,with only a mention of replacement at 90,000km (Additional service)otherwise its only an inspection at every 45000km unless its used for towing etc then the inspection periods are almost halved.They are a sealed unit and have no dipstick,but then again unless its leaking the fluid is not going to dissappear or drop in level. If anyone else can shine more information on this matter I too would be interested. you are correct about the transaxle incorporating the one oil level. some earlier camry autos did have a separate oil level for the diff side and a lot of mechanics did not know this. Hence the old sv21 autos were bullet proof , until the pinion seal leaked and the diff lost oil. so if the mech/tech was not aware of this , goodbye complete transaxle (auto's dont fair well with floating metal particles) so if you have your auto oil replaced it will also include the diff in the case of the u660e transaxle. The way to check the auto oil level is complicated and really can only be done with an IT2 , the trans oil is at a specific temp and after running thru a feqw nominated shift positions and holding your mouth right you can remove the overflow plug to see if the level is correct.

^^^^ if you have any issues with the dealer stating they don't know anything about it ???? tell them to refer to their service bulletins.

Just use blu tac and stick your phone on the dash between the speedo and steering wheel. If you rev your car up to the red section a few times your ECU will recognise this and may set the profile to near max. This means the gears change at a high rpm. Thanks mate, I thought about this myself and thought I was crazy thinking blu taccing it As stated about the auto ecu's , they are adaptive. if mum and dad drive like grand pa's and then son takes it for a burn i bet mum and dad notice a difference in the auto characteristics . Unique . does your auto flare only when cold and is it around 50-60 kph going from 3rd to 4th ???. if so and its under warranty there is a revised auto ecu available (re-flashed software). These autos are very hi tech. when an ecu is replaced there is a large number of compensation codes that are entered into the new ecu , these codes are written on the auto case from factory. if the auto is flaring the toyota it2 can be connected and a snap shot can be taken to see the issue. i tried all sorts to alleviate my flaring issues from added extra 200ml WS auto oil to even asking for a new auto and this ecu fixed it up 95% when i replaced my ecu and was a guinea pig for the tech guys i was told that the ecu may take weeks to respond and a couple of thousand klms , so 10 min's is not enough

As the others said , they are blanking grommets from the tie done points. There are many reasons for them not to be fitted, the 2 main ones are 1. lazy PD staff or apprentice , 2. the vehicle may have been a dealer swap. dealers often swap out vehicles between each other , for many reasons. The receiving dealer may be charged for a PD already done in the swap and guess what , no-one checked to see if it actually had a PD and not just a 30 sec sticker fitment hence the plugs not being installed

of late i have noticed a few brake switches showing up faulty. Brake lights still work ok but the vsc and maybe eng lights go off. Brake light switch open circuit , replace switch and clear codes and all is ok

A lot of the dash rattles in Aurion and to some degree camry are a lot worse in the colder months. As unique has used the "wedge" method to stop the rattle in his , it is only a bandaide repair. The dash retaining clips that have been revised need to be replaced. in some cases the clips have been glued in place and extra foam tape added to the top lip of the bulkhead (fire wall) area. if it rattles when cold and stops with pressure on the dash it maybe a candidate for a "dashectomy" lol , remove dash and replace clips ,add foam tape and generally check anything that might rattle

i have seen this plenty of times on both avalon models mcx10 and camry sxv mcv20 series. If the technician removes the strut assy and leaves the abs sensors in place letting the lower suspension arms dangle (on fr and rr) the abs sensor wiring becomes stretched and throws a code. Even local mechanics have come in asking the exact same quest and our reply is did you undo the sensors and not stretch the cables ?. get the codes checked and determine which ones are throwing the code , see if they will erase and if not its time for new sensors , not cheap and i don't want to point any fingers i haven't seen an abs module damaged by having a faulty sensor or wiring. was the abs sensor new ? or a quality wreckers supplied one ?

Just to give a perspective from a person who has dealt with toyota extended warranties. Toyota Extracare warranty if worth it. If you purchase a new vehicle and purchase the extended warranty then ( out to 5yrs or 150klms ??) it is cheaper for the policy> if you buy the vehicle 2ndhand and purchase the extracare then it will be dearer, the closer your vehicle's factory warranty is to running out the dearer the extended policy will be. i have dealt with dealer extended warranties and most can be classed as useless, (buy this car and get 3yr omega warranty ,blurb on windscreen ????lol). any major mechanical failure the policy will pay up to $1000 per single claim , wont pay for gaskets on an engine rebuild... The Extra care policy is in my opinion 90% of factory warranty. You can get an axle seal replacement to a sump reseal. The dealers who sell the policies are monitored to see how many claims are made , not to try and reduce claims but to see they are utilized. in most dealerships if you purchased an extracare warranty elsewhere the service department may not know so you as the owner will need to tell them, the really good service departments will check the rego no to see if there is a policy on that vehicle and then make claims as needed. as a service department it is good work as you can in some cases get a better labour rate doing extracare repairs than you dealer warranty rate , it is treated as a trade repair not warranty. I've used the extracare avenue in many cases to get the factory to pay for out of warranty repairs where you get a percentage from toyota and extracare pays the difference , the customer is happy as he has not paid for anything and seen a return on his policy. as far as claiming thru extracare the dealer quotes a repair and gets an authority , it is simple and they aren't a push over at extracare but are very fair.my dealership offer an inspection for free as the warranty is about to expire, this also occurs on extracare policies if known, so if anything is required we can repair it before it runs out. A policy with extracare to my knowledge is transferable , if you bought a car and it has extracare documentation or you purchased from a friend or family member you can pay a small fee to have it transferred to yourself. Now this is to the best of my knowledge and certain things may have changed in the recent past but the extracare policy is the best extended warranty for your vehicle, even if a ford or holden is bought thru a toyota dealership a policy cant be put on those as well. so being the meat in the sandwich on the firing line where customer satisfaction is paramount i would not hesitate to suggest an extracare policy is worth it , make sure you keep your service history up to date, that is 1 stipulation when making a claim , does the vehicle have a good service history ?. in closing , i dont work for toyota extracare or get anything out of this , this is my experience. i did purchase a vehicle years ago (vdv10 vienta csx) , it had a policy from the original owner. i was going to the goldcoast for a holiday and decided to service the camry before leaving , changed the auto and diff oils (60000klms) and i found a few pieces of metal in the oil, 5cent piece size. in those days the warranty for 2yrs 50klms. dropped the auto out and investigated , it was a thrust washer from the spider gears in the diff , completely came apart. put a claim into extracare , and they paid. now that was trouble free motoring on my 3000klm round trip holiday. cheers Tim

i have yet to see a toyota in australia that UNDER reads. They all OVER read. the speed signal sent from the ecu to the speedo unit can be read the the IT2 and in most cases it is within 1 or 2 klms to a gps. The speedo unit is adjustable by the manufacturer (flexdrive i think). If you have an issue that the vehicle is slower than the actual speedo reading , then your local dealer has a form it can send of the the manufacturer and get a replacement unit that is closer to the correct speed (if it is still within warranty). Note these vehicles are built in victoria , dont quote me , but the government's wipe off 5kph campaign has sway vehicle manufacturers to errr on the conservative side , not that hey will admit it though. as stated earlier there is an Adr that states speedo inaccuracies , but if the vehicle is "standard" ( without 20inch rims)i doubt you will see a toyota speedo under read .

Here , here , i dont know how many times a customer at the counter gets angry with me when a problem is not fixed. i do my best to resolve the issue , i didn't attempt the repair and i certainly didnt build the vehicle. but a truer word has never been spoken , the dash rattles are fixed with a revised clip (product/manufacturer change) ,steering spline intermediate shaft issue - revised part (different process or manufacturer of part) centre console box breakage (revised box part,material different)and so on, most cases these parts are not made by toyota.it is hard for a dealer to rectify everything in a day and for the minutes they drive your car to the hours you live in it, admittedly there some questionable service dept's out there. customer service should be paramount. So the dealers cut corners in some cases due to lack of payment from the manufacturer,warranty times very low. please understand a service department would find it hard to make money on warranty alone but there has to be a balance. give your dealer a chance , if your in a metro area you have choices - go down the road. i have customers travel 150 klms to get satisfaction but you cant please everyone all of the time. i love my aurion with its warranty repairs done whats the alternative a holden dunnydoor or a fraud foulcan , i think not - get to see those in the w/shop too ,and you think aurion issues are a problem ??????????????????????????

aahhh front wheel hit gutter at 110kph whilst wheel was turned, i guess he was chasing his tale at that point and the rear came around to whack the gutter too. didn't you see the camry drift videos , lol

i didn't read all of the posts , but i go ahead anyways. Have you have the dash rattle repair done by the dealer ??. As posted in other areas there is a revised clip that holds the crash pad to the bulkhead (firewall). some people also put a layer of foam to contact the dash aswell. the guys that do the rattles at my work have found loose screws in the dash as well. on the bottom side of the dash the vents for air flow are screwed to the dash and all screws are tightened whilst the dash is out. we even go as far as maneuvering wiring looms as they all seem to creak so moving them around and helping them settle a bit works. on the left side were you indicate is the rattle there all of the time? or worse when cold. sometimes if you pressure the dash above the cluster the noise can change. It could be a wire to the air bag loose or come away, they have little plastic alligator type retaining clips hold some wires and maybe one of those is loose. if you haven't had the dash seen to as your local dealer to look into it. hopefully its still under warranty. p.s 1 other common thing is the rattle from the centre vents , i know not related to your issue , but some vents pre aug 08 can really get a rattling buzz up with the fan on. there is a revised set of centre vents to stop that problem. cheers Tim

what drugs are they on over there. no let me guess , at the next service they want warranty on wheel alignment issues due to premature tyre wear ...... hahahahahaha

there is a customer satisfaction exercise (cse) for aurion console boxes. if you remove all the contents of your console and look down at the rear of the base there are 2 bolts that bolt it to the floor. all of the hard plastic around it may be broken. The repair is to replace that lower part of the console as it comes in a kit from toyota. It is regarded as an environmental stress crack of the plastic. The steel bracket on the floor that it bolts to has to be cleaned and a couple of plastic stick on pads are placed on the steel and plastic box to insulate the box from the steel bracket. if yours is out of warranty , ask your local dealer to approach on your behalf for some outside of warranty assistance. even if they pay for parts it is 1 hour allowable for that job. as far as the t-bar lights either a globe is blown of the globe is not located in the lamp. this can be checked at the time of the console repair too. cheers Tim

i would suggest straight to a toyota dealer as if it is from a used car yard they aren't going to want to spend any money on it ????. they will refer you to a dealer as toyota will cover the repairs if its a warrant-able concern , ie steering shaft intermediate shaft

it is a lot easy for a tech to diagnose better when he/she gets the full information. I have a steering knock as well. If it is the intermediate shaft spline issue this is how i would explain my feeling of it. my car is at a standstill and if i just take off i can feel a slight clunk, it is worse if i slightly turn the steering and either apply the brake or accelerate off. This can be felt in varying degrees. i first noticed it when driving into my garage. i have a steep driveway and i park on it waiting for the roller door to open, when i drive forward and the front wheels go over the concrete change to the garage flat floor if feel the clunk there, it can be felt thru the steering and even to a slight degree through the brake pedal. if you have a clunk in the steering rack and the inner rack end or the rack preload is out of adjustment , you can feel a clunk in the steering if turning the left and right whilst stationary . and lastly some people complain of a clunk in the front end. more like when traveling over bumps and corrugations a knocking sound from the suspension may be heard. so the more detail given will help in a better diagnosis , and i will admit that toyota issued a bulletin at the end of 2008 to let dealers know of a change in production of the intermediate shaft.with a photo showing how to distinguish the new from the old. It was not necessarily a service hint but a fact that might help in diagnosing and repairing this issue. now 18mths down the track it is more common and more dealers are experiencing it. i probably test drive 15 to 20 different cars a day and found the intermediate shaft clunk on several camry's and aurions that the owners themselves never complained about it. as i experienced it on my own car i look for it in others.i have re-test driven vehicles after techs had done wheel alignments and found the problem they did not pick up on. i had 1 guy complain at the counter and i knew straight away ,so i roadtested with the owner and his was the worse i had felt. it was 2 months out of warranty but we got toyota to pay for it. these shafts are currently on back order and if yours has the issue be prepared to have to wait a while 4 -6 weeks, mines due in this week and im on holidays , doh. i hope this helps. cheers Tim

You picked a fine time to leave me , loose wheel ....... yep gotta say there must be a recall for that. "excuse me Mr Toyota but my r/h side wheels fell off "???? It was only a 20cm high piece of concrete , but 7 klms long weighing a total of 27 tonnes. lol i've seen a hilux kun26 driving down the hume highway at 110klm and hit something in the road it was foggy and the driver didn't see it but It was a wheel from a truck,it hit the crossmember under the engine. It bent everything upwards and hit the tunnel. That car was written off. time to hit that truck manufacturer up for manufacturing defects....... post up some more pics. did the rear wheel shear all the wheel studs off , or is the centre of the rim smashed out and left it behind on the hub ??

the aurion engine 2GRFE fits into many different vehicles, rav ,tarago kluger , lexus as well. so the rocker covers may have other sensors ,coil packs or even an extra earth . So the area with nothing on or in it would be normal.

Thats because they go so fast toyota didn't want the caps falling off ???? lol i knew i had seen that bulletin , its just a trim removal tool being used. There are other brands now that are a softer material (not hard clear plastic like ones pictured) . Beta tools offer a set of trim removal tools that work just great edit : just read my post , whens the sites time going to reset to the correct non daylight saving time ??????? lol