campbeam

Got some bad news for you. I may have had the occassional VVTi rattle upon start up. I have no direct experience or read about a grinding noise when the VVTi system is engaged at higher revs.The car is giving you a warning sign about the VVTi system. Ignore at your peril of an expensive repair at a later date when it fails badly. Best thing to do is get an experienced Toyota mechanic to check the VVTi system. This is going to involve removing the valve covers and checking the bolts on the VVTi system as a starting point. Another potential related issue could be oil sludge particles caught in the filter mesh screens of the VVTi system for the oil control valves. As for the previous owner's claim about getting a fuel economy of 9L/100kms, I would expect that was achieved from mostly highway driving with some urban driving. Lead foot/spirited driving will also impact your fuel economy. KAA must be more light footed and disciplined than myself to be achieving 9.7L/100 kms. I also do mostly short distance driving <10 km trips so my fuel economy is terrible compared to a road trip where I can achieve <8L/100 kms [at the speed limit and without too much overtaking].

What specific issue are you referring to? Personally, it took me a while to get used to having a foot brake instead of a hand brake. Now when I get in the girlfriend's Yaris which has a hand brake, the leg muscle memory goes into action looking for the non-existent foot brake. I have had no issues with using the foot brake mainly because I can apply extra force [if required] to disengage the foot brake. Others have reported that the foot brake is not holding the vehicle when on a slope but this would mainly be due to the rear hand brake shoes inside the rear rotors and/or the foot brake not being correctly adjusted. Yesterday I removed the rear rotors to check the foot brake shoes and cleaned away the brake dust. I thought about adjusting the foot brake shoes but did not. Afterwards, the foot brake was not working as effectively [presumably without the benefit of the brake dust for that extra bit of friction]. Made the effort today and went back and fully adjusted the rear brake shoes and the foot brake. Surprisingly, it spent 2 hours for the rear passenger side and ony 1/2 hour for the rear driver side. Adjusting the foot brake only took a matter of minutes with the aid of previous experience, a deep socket and a LED light.

I have given up trying to use the drain bung at the bottom of the oil filter cartridge housing. The housing rotates off first. Forgotten how many months ago, that I used an oil filter removal tool to hold the housing in place on the grass while I applied pressure to remove that drain bung. Ended up deciding that it was not worth the effort and just loosen the housing gradually and let the oil drip into a drain pan before fully removing the housing.

My thought was to get hold of a can of silicone spray and give the suspension bushes a good spray. The next target would be the rubber seating for the springs on the suspension strut. Something else to consider is the tyre pressure. Use the recommended tyre pressure as per the owner's manual for a more comfortable ride. Follow up question is whether the original size wheels are still fitted or have been changed to a larger size and tyres with a smaller sidewall height. This would contribute to a harder ride. If you have 205/55/16 tyres fitted, 215/60/16 tyres with a larger sidewall height should result in a more comfortable ride but you will have to consider to what extent this may impact handling and braking performance. Certainly something that you would want to discuss with a reputable tyre shop as to whether it is a viable option.

Fuel economy is at its worst for short trips. Until the engine and coolant warms up, the transmission operates more in the lower gears. Fuel economy for the Aurion is at its best for cruising on the highway. A bit hard when you are under travel restrictions due to COVID-19. In recent times, I have given up worrying about the fuel economy and more concentrate upon just enjoying the drive. The lead foot also plays havoc with the fuel economy. I may not be the fastest away from the traffic lights but I do overtake them further down the road. Also best to keep as much fuel in the tank to cool the fuel pump to hopefully extend its operating life.

To me that is a very subjective statement. You will have to be more specific. Is the current ride too hard/harsh or too soft/bouncy. Is it a situation where you feel that you want to improve the handling without having to replace the original struts and springs. What is the odometer reading and what is your driving style? Personally, I like to apex the corners and curves.

Welcome to the Forum. Absolutely guaranteed you would have accumulated a few worthwhile tales. It should be an interesting project to get this Hilux running again after sitting for 20 years. Looking forward to reading your future posts and what you had to do to get it running again.

https://blog.amsoil.com/how-engine-sludge-forms-and-how-to-prevent-it/ After the oil sludge has formed, then it can accumulate around the piston rings e.g. the oil control rings. Proven recommended solution is to have shorter oil change intervals. Drive short distance, apply a short oil change interval. Drive longer distances then a longer oil change interval can be applied.

There is another thread about the oil change interval. Your recent experience gives you an insight into how quickly oil sludge can start to appear with short distance driving. You may not have noticed but my latest oil change interval was only 1,110 kms. I did top up the engine oil with approx. 100mls of ATF which has a lot of detergent additives. Engine oil was dark colour and looked to be very contaminated. Also the inner creases of the oil filter cartridge had a very noticable amount of sludge particles. Got a few thoughts about whether to start another thread about desludging with before and after pictures of the engine oil. At the moment, the new engine oil is a clear transparent colour on the dipstick.

In previous years, I have done an annual return trip between Brisbane and Wagga Wagga with an oil change before and also upon return, Certainly previous thought about doing an oil change before the return journey. I will just have to pre-plan and make it happen. No excuses because I have a stockpile of engine oil that has to be used and lots of filter cartridges.

I did take a picture or 2 and maybe a few seconds of video. Saved to the TF card but I do not currently have a card reader. Picture was of very good quality [according to my imperfect vision]. Definitely worth having. Last night at 9PM, I shone my LED flashlight down the oil filler opening in the valve cover and could see sludge at the end of the camshaft. Good excuse to go for a few day trips.

I did use the inspection camera yesterday morning and somewhat surprised that there is oil sludge present. Engine oil is already looking a darker colour. This afternoon I looked at the oil filter cartridge and there was a fair bit of sludge particles caught in the filter material. End result is that I did another overkill oil change procedure at 231250 kms on the odometer. I used the next oil in line to be used from my accumulated engine oil hoard, Castrol Edge 5W-40 which is full synthetic with their Titanium FST. Soon find out how well it cleans the engine internals.

There were a number of options of which country to ship from. I selected China which was the cheapest. Total cost was USD 42.54

There will probably have to be another trilogy of extreme oil changes with multiple flushes before "Sludgy" is fully exorcised of oil sludge. The inspection camera is going to be very useful to better assess progress to the desired final deep cleanse like new result.

Recently purchased an inspection camera mainly to check for oil sludge in the engine. Having a dual lens camera is quite useful being able to have both a side view and a straight ahead view. I also opted for the 2 metre cable. The unit fits nicely in the hand, the 4.3" screen is a decent size and the built-in rechargable battery is a useful feature. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002350018686.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4dv94NHw P40 8mm Single Dual Lens Industrial Endoscope 1080P HD 4.3 " LCD Digital Inspection Camera WIth Hard wire for Car Engine Drain It came packaged in a cardboard box so will transfer it to a clear plastic lunch box.

0W will flow much faster and easier than 5W upon cold startup. This should potentially result in faster lubrication and reduced wear. As per usual, there are a few caveats in that the engine has to be designed presumably with tighter tolerances for the lower oil viscosity and that the oil molecules will be sufficient to prevent direct metat to metal contact. Ultimate guide for the recommended oil viscosity and oil specification is the vehicle's Owner's Manual. No direct experience [yet] with comparing the different viscosities. However, I recently noticed how diesel [viscosity of approx.2 and <3] flowed so much quicker than used 5W-30 engine oil.

John hit the nail on the head. Dealer/Distributor should have dealt with this disaster quietly, paid some extra a hush money and buried this from public view with a Non-Disclosure Agreement. Totally arrogant attitude has backfired badly with a legal ruling stating the poor build quality. General public can now make a more informed decision and boycott their brand. LDV Group is now owned by SAIC Motors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LDV_Group LDV have cut costs at the expense of fit for purpose quality and their vehicle has not lasted the warranty period. Additional Rust proofing of the vehicle has also obviously failed and not been worthwhile. After watching the video, I had to laugh at their now exposed deceptive marketing. Pretty pictures and alluring words to part fools from their money. https://www.ldvautomotive.com.au/vehicles/ldv-t60-dual-cab-ute/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjZOr2rao8wIVg6-WCh0KDwInEAAYAiAAEgLzjvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds It is a total embarassment for the LDV Group and SAIC Motors. I can only hope that there is more consumer action to impact their bottom line.

Certainly not a good idea to overfill the fuel tank. I refill before the fuel gauge is indicating half empty but I am mainly driving on the weekends. Most likely time for me to top up with a 20 litre jerrycan this weekend. Petrol price in Brisbane will fall maybe the following week after this long weekend.

Main oil recommendation is to use a quality known brand full synthetic oil with the oil viscosity suitable for your engine. I usually start by looking at the Lube Guides for your vehicle for Penrite and Nulon then Castrol and Shell. These brands are usually available at SuperCheap Auto, AutoBarn, Repco and other retailers. I usually buy on special whatever full synthetic oil is suitable for my vehicle.

😁😁 I have previously posted that the girlfriend has been saying to me for 3 years that I was hard headed before I finally agreed with her. This is the approach that I decided upon for my own reasons. Definitely recommend to others to remove the front valve cover and give it a thorough desludging. In frustration, I almost gave up a year ago and tried to remove the valve cover but later discovered that I had overlooked one bolt in the middle. It also does not help that most of my regular driving is less than 10kms so that is ideal conditions for more sludge build up on an ongoing basis. Now that I have an inspection camera, I will be able to get a better look into the valve cover. It looks totally clean from what I have seen with a flashlight throught the oil filler opening. Almost there and a few 2 hour highway drives will help to get the final result.

Definitely annoyed. Lots more attention planned. In the meantime, I have done a few tips and tricks under the engine cover to help the desludging. "Sludgy" is now behaving herself and I rewarded her with a brief Italian Tune Up. Inspection camera has just arrived [still unopened] so will get batteries to be ready to use when I next drop the engine oil.

In the past few weeks, I have driven about 860km with some decent trips where the engine oil has got up to operating temperature for a decent amount of time. Last weekend I added about 100ml of ATF to the engine oil as an aid to get rid of any remaining sludge and help to deep clean the engine internals. A few days later "Sludgy" very unexpectedly blew some smoke on startup. Her way of annoying me to get some more desludging attention. This morning, I had another 2 hour therapy session with myself and "Sludgy" flushing the engine with diesel and then flushing oil. Existing engine oil [used for 860km] looked quite dark in the change pan has been reused and is now quite clear on the dipstick. Existing oil filer cartridge and housing were cleaned using petrol then air dried. Overall, quite surprised at the amount of oil sludge particles that were present. Planning upon doing a follow up check in 3 weeks so may end up recycling oil from my project vehicles to temporarily replace the current engine oil before doing another full overkill oil change.

What I really appreciate of a road trip is when you have the open road/highway very much to yourself after a breakfast at sunrise. You can just relax and cruise at a comfortable pace. Recently got a reminder of how peaceful and relaxing it is for me with deserted suburban roads and that was an early Sunday morning before 6AM.

I had a quick look at the reported figures recently. NSW cases are trending down and VIC cases are trending up. Pressure is on to get the population fully vaccinated to whatever target figure [80-90%] then let the "new normal" begin. In QLD, the "tounge in cheek" prediction is that we will head into a lockdown within a week after the NRL Grand Final on 04.10.2021 . Apparently, the ticket requirements have just got changed to be 2 jabs so you can attend. Personally, I will be seeking a medical clearance to confirm when I it will be safe for my 1st jab. Certainly expecting to have to be fully vaccinated. In the meantime, I will be getting my Aurion fully road trip ready in the next month. I am more expecting the QLD border to be re-opened with NSW after the Xmas school holidays. Then I will be doing my usual interstate road trip but avoiding the Easter 2022 period. I will definitely have to be in cruise/defensive driving mode knowing that there will be a lot of pent up frustration being released on the highways. That will then result in a stepped up Police and speed camera presence offering those involuntary invitations to make a govt. contribution. Remember and Do Safe motoring. Keep out of the way of those potential Darwin Award candidates.

Counselling, what counselling?😁 Actually I find your acknowledged OCD quite inspiring which nicely offsets my tendencies to use quick workarounds. Better to do the job once and do it right then have to come back and do it all again. Also having the right specialised tools makes tasks so much easier and enjoyable instead of being a time wasting frustrating exercise. Good quality tools are worth the $$$.