sporthatch141

Spotted Black Stivo (Stock) **8 IFA travelling up High St, Toowong 8:50AM

:( Pi55ed. Had the clutch adjustment done with the interim service... Gear box still notchy. Don't know whether its fixed the jamming issues though - haven't driven it enough ! Apparently had every man and his dog looking at it... the technician, the foreman and a guy from head office. Sure did test drive the car .... appears they did about 300KM over a week and a bit.... Back she goes !

Black stivo .... stock?? Rego TOM 5XX . Travelling down Corro Dr (Brisvegas) 7:20PM.

Awesome... Got something to aspire to now :)

Spotted White Corrolla (ASCENT??) with a nice set of mags and some TRD logos on the quarter panels, rego SAM xxx travelling towards the City 2:45 pm ish. Nice looking ride.

I'm not mechanically minded and too some this may appear a stupid question. I was having smoke and decided to start the car. After about 10 minutes I noticed the occasional white wisp of smoke coming out the exhaust. I have been having performance issues with the car and thought that's strange and looked at the exhaust and noticed what I thought was fuel sitting collecting in the exhaust tip lip. I ran my finger around the lip and it was wet. It was odourless in smell and when I put my finger further into the exhaust It was wet also. I have seen cars (old and new) especially when they first start up have a white vapour emitting from the exhaust. I assume that fuel contains some vapour and as the car heats up it emits in the occasional wisp of white smoke. Is this correct? I know it rained today and originally thought that the moisture may have collected today but the car was parked completely under cover. Is this normal?? Could it perhaps be something more sinister in light of my performance issues? e.g head gasket etc

I'm really sorry to hear that mate..... was it a write off?

IDLE O.K ... Once a week (at least) I have a situation where the car sudenly starts to idle strangely (car is stationary). Idle suddenly starts to fluctuate between 100 - 1000 rpm, up and down. Sometimes it does it with the AC on othertimes when the AC is off. The fuel gauge is over 3/4 of a tank full. Anyone had this and had it explained by the boys at Toyota? I have been noticing that the car seems to be more and more sluggish. Oil/Water levels are nominal -- the car has done 15000k's. Frustratingly the boys at South Side Toyota Tested the ECU and all was normal. I obviously indicated that performance issues can be caused by more than just the ECU but they said there appeard to be nothing obvious. TEMPERATURE GAUGE The temperature gauge of the car (when it is warmed up) sits at between 8 and nine bars (includes counting the bar where the letter C sits). Obviously wheather and environment play a part. Can QLD drivers let me know where the average temperature gauge sits when their car is warm please? Any advice or info would be appreciated guys and gals...

Spotted Stock Black Sportivo heading down Hight St at Toowong at around 2:30Pm.

Any Bris Sportivo owners (with gearbox issues) had the adjustment performed by South Side Toyota?

I use around 1/2 a litre. I don't drive the car too hard though.

Nope.... wasn't me !

' Yep I think I am beginning to lose faith in the SST boys. I get the impression that the majority of the service guys have not even driven a sportivo..... Their "technical guys" also seem to have a tendancy to tow the Toyota company line in relation to issues with the Sportivo. They are always polite though but methinks one more chance.

Windnoise (according to Toyota) has two possible causes 1. Bad rubber seals 2. Noise from the front is caused by the side mirrors. (Noise at the back can be referred from the from side mirrors apparently). I suggest you request they replace the seals. Toyota just did it for me - but I had to take a techi for a drive to demonstrate the problem. Now the seals on the front seem to be a problem but Toyota say its the side mirrors. I wonder what that does to the 0.3 drag coefficient.

Thanks for the feedback. I assume you are saying your leather is not stretched or rippled - how many km's have you done? Are you indicating that you had a chattery gearbox pre the selector change? Cheers SportHatch141

Just had my 10K service and the selector cable fix. I also raised a number of concerns with the car and requested Toyota investigate/resolve or explain the problems being experienced. Where to begin..... (They had my car for 3 days) 1. Selector fix .... hmm the car was great to drive for about 100K, changing gears was incredibly smooth (low and high revs) and the annoying vibration was gone ! When I say changing gears was smooth .... I mean that gear selection was more precise when a gear was engaged there was no discernable sensation on the gear change i.e you could feel on the change as the gear was engaged. BUT After 100K the vibration was still gone but you could feel as the gears engaged ie not as smooth. It should be noted at lower revs (2000-3000RPM) the engaging of gears was still smooth. I suspect initially the smooth engagement of gears was a result of everything being greased etc. I did find it difficult to change into 6th coming onto the freeway though. As noted by others I definitely would not suggest that this is a fix all 2. Chattering Gearbox Some of you may remember that I raised and issue where a noise could be heard above engine idle when the clutch was engaged. Disengaging the clutch made the noise go away. South Side Toyota rang Toyota Australia who advised them that ALL sportivos made this noise and it was a characteristic of the car. Strange it did not make the noise at 1000,5000,7000KM. Can anyone confirm Toyotas opinion? 3. Stretched Leather Drivers seat base replaced again. South Side Toyota agreed that the wrinkling was unsightly but that all leather stretches. The said that all seats (especially the drivers seat) would experience a degree of rippling. Anyone got a sporty thats done 5000KM where the leather is not wrinkled or rippled? 4. Performance issues - Power loss when hot. They put the car on the IT (computer) to check for bad codes from the ECU and air/fuel mixtures etc. They could find nothing wrong... but didn't look at anything bar the ECU - go figure, I mean the power drop could be caused by something other than the ECU. BUT HERE'S THE CORKER. A TECHNICAL GUY (SUIT) FOUND IT STRANGE THAT POST THE ECU THE CAR PERFORMED BETTER. HE INDICATED THAT THE CAR WAS ORIGINIALLY PUTING OUT 141+KW BUT WITH THE ECU/AIR FILTER CHANGE THAT DROPPED TO 138KW (FOR A STOCK STIVO). HE DIDN'T THINK THE TORQUE HOLE WOULD DISAPPEAR OR IMPROVE. Comments... I'm confused. Did anyone Dyno a stock stivo post the ecu change and were the figures better? There are other issues but I'll wait till I've got more info, SPH141

O.K went to book the car in for its 10,000KM service and asked about the gear selector fix. The sportys a Feb 2004 build and the guy told me that cars from and past this build cycle do not need a new gear knob (which I believe is heavier) and only require the fix to cables etc. He had a technical memo from Toyota with a breakdown of the tasks required. Anyone with a sporty from this (or past) this build date who have had the work done, verify this? Appreciate it, G

Keith What dates are available to book the car in for its 10,000KM Service? As discussed I was hoping to get the following issues investigated/explained/resolved: 1. Gear selector cable field fix. Two vehicle reports have been logged by SST with Toyota Aus about the car. The gentleman who handles all your warranty work (Wooly I believe his name is?) is aware of the field fix and has printed out the technical details and put it on your desk. I think the car is a February 2004 build. Apparently for cars of this period the gear knob is not replaced -- can I get someone to please ensure I have the right one 2. Leather on drivers seat. The leather was restiched (at the 1000KM service) due to the leather being stretched. Keith indicated that the seat would have been replaced but I was under the impression it was repaired. The location of the initial problem with the leather was where your butt sits. The problem also now appears to be with the side of the seat as well. Please note that I do not drag my selft across the seat when entering or exiting the vehicle. I am aware that some sportivo's have no problems with their leather on the seat bases (a few do) so I assume it is some form of fault with the seat base or cushion. I do not want to have to replace the leather (and I'm sure Toyota doesn't want to either) every 1000KM, so I hope there is a fix for this. 3. Power issues. Post the ECU/Air filter change over the car was quieter and it seemed the torque hole that existed between 3-6000RMP pretty much disappeared. Over the last month or so the cars performance seems to have reduced and the torque hole appears to have returned although sometimes the car responds as expected i.e correctly. Can I please get the car road tested by Toyota Service, and placed on the IT to ensure that there are no error reports from the ECU or that the car is not suffering any fuel delivery or fuel/air mixture issues. I religiously use CALTEX VORTEX. Forgive me for a stupid request but can I get someone to ensure the ECU is the correct one please? 4. Clutch/Gearbox. Periodically I have problems changing at low/high revs (low:0-200RPM high: 2-6000RPM). It seems to be worse when the engine is cold but certainly occurs (when engine is warm) when entering freeway onramps etc. In relation to the clutch when the engine is warm (car stationary) with the clutch engaged (i.e foot not depressing the clutch pedal) a noise can be heard. When the clutch is disengaged (foot depressing pedal) the noise diappears. The noise is more evident when the engine is loaded i.e lights turned on, which I assume changes the balance etc of the motor. The sportivo While it appears not all sportivos I have driven have this problem, the gear jamming/sticking problem has been reported to Toyota by a number of sportivo owners. To Replicate: Warm up the car (engine temp midway), taking it for a drive (assumes the headlights are on). Bring the car to a stop and engage the clutch (i.e foot off clutch pedal). I suggest you leave the radio and aircon off although the noise is occassionally evident over the aircon etc. Disengage the clutch (foot on clutch pedal). You should hear the noise disappear. **NOTE** The car did not start this behaviour until 7000KM+. The noise can be louder or softer - I don't know why. I have driven other sportivos (who have done more KM's) that do not have this noise. 5. Grinding noise when decelerating. This noise is hard to explain but is more noticeable when decelerating. It is a noise above the engine (diff/gearbox ????). The car did not make this noise until 6000KM+. Apparently Totoyota has had some success with resolving this by replacing clutches. There's also been references to the pretensioner belt? I have driven other sportivos (who have done more KM's) that do not have this noise. 6. Knocking noise. When the car has been driven then stopped and left sitting for 20 minutes and then restarted there is a ticking/knocking noise evident. The noise appears to be coming the passengers side, somewhere behind the front wheel i.e lower motor/gearbox. The noise disappears or becomes fainter when the accelerater is pressed ( and then released) and or when the engine warms up. It's like and oil pressure noise (ie when you have low oil pressure), the light on the dash relating to oil pressure is not lit and engine oil levels are nominal. The car commenced doing this in the last month or so. I have driven other sportivos (who have done more KM's) that do not have this noise. Cheers G

Its a scraping, grinding noise. Cars I've had in the past where the throw out bearing is the problem usually make the whistling noise until the clutch is depressed.

Thanks mate... appreciate it.

Stock Stivo 490KM/Tank - Hard Driving 668KM/Tank - Early morning, freeway driving (no traffic) 6th gear everywhere possible.

Just out of interest where is the light? My manuals at my parents in WA (silly place for it I know since the car's in QLD). I haven't let the fuel go down to near empty yet.

Some of you may remember a previous post I discussed clutch/gearbox noises emanating from my car but when I pushed the clutch in the problem went away. I was in at Toyota and mentioned it the other night and they said that I should take it in and get it looked at but that car behaviours that were intermittent were hard to deal with. I seem to be able to reproduce the noise reasonably consistently now... sometimes the noise is loud and very noticeable, sometimes not. Can anyone who has had any work performed on their clutch or gearbox, list the symptons, cause and fix please? An indication of how long it took Toyota to rectify the problem i.e number of visits to the service centre would be appreciated. Cheers.

The stivos done just over 8,500K in 6 months. Now after driving for a while I notice that the gearbox (I assume that's what it is) is making a noise... The noise is hard to describe but imagine a clothes dryer, running a cycle and that would be close. When I push the clutch pedal to the floor the noise goes away. The problem is not evident when I first start driving and perhaps is heat related i.e. when things heat up it starts making the noise. The reason I notice it is because when I am stopped at traffic lights the car is in neutral and my foot is off the clutch. Anyone had a simialar problem/had the problem addressed by Toyota. By the bye South Side Toyota (QLD) has no memo's in relation to the gear cable/selector problem. I will call Toyota Care and see what the go is... Anyway I am off to South Side Toyota now to get the car checked out (10:30PM) to have the car put up on the hoist. A bucket came off the back of a ute and went underneath the car -- doesn't appear to be any damage to the spoiler etc. but the bucket was under the car (it was quite large) for about 100M and I want to make sure there's no other damage ! :(

Yeah perhaps it is normal (the dimming) but my parents toyotas don't have the dimming when they use their power windows..... I would have thought the power windows would not have sucked that much power....specially when the motor is running?????