campbeam
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Interesting that you are using a Full Synthetic in your transmission. Which product are you using? I read about issues being caused by flush of the auto trans. I believe it is when they use certain machines with a reverse flush process. There is a DIY flush process which I have used where you remove the return line, fill transmission, run engine briefly and repeat until old fluid is fully removed. Yes, I am a bit into overkill and preventative maintenance. It would be very different if I was having to pay a mechanic. Currently, all is well with nice smooth gear changes so I am leaving it alone. Still procrastinating about fitting a transmission cooler so should do that next. I blow out the cobwebs on road trips. I am reaping the benefits from all this overkill maintenance. Drivetrain is great and driving like a new car after replacing the struts. All is good again after having to replace the water pump.
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Just had a look at the Penrite Lube guide. Difference in recommended ATF and refill capacity between your Avalon and an Aurion. 3 years or 50,000 km sounds a good preventative measure. Instead of doing a full flush of the ATF, I have been doing regular 6 monthly pan drains over the past 5 years. I bought my Aurion with 165K on the odometer and I am sure that it was the original ATF. Finally satisfied with the overall condition of the ATF and performance of the transmission. Now progressing to annual pan drains. Apart from the regular changes of the ATF, I do not abuse/thrash the transmission so not expecting any major issues. Very rarely am I doing a fast launch from a stationary or rolling start. Others are faster from the traffic lights but I either pass them further down the road or catch up to them waiting at the next set of traffic lights. More into cruising and driving defensively with the benefit of no expensive repair bills.
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I did not know this and it makes so much sense particularly for medium and larger vehicles. CVT for cruising along and fuel efficiency then physical gears for launching and acceleration. Combination should certainly prolong the life of the transmission which is a big concern for the CVT only transmissions. One can only hope that these transmissions when avaiable in Toyotas can be retrofitted to earlier models.
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Looks like you are going to have some interesting times ahead swapping out units then probably again if the new unit fails. Best to start looking around for a decent name brand unit and hope it comes on special at EOFY or next Xmas sale. Easy to give advice when it is other person's money, time and effort. 😁
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Welcome to the Forum. As you would have found out changing the spark plugs is not simple. I assume that you would have selected and used long life iridium plugs. If you look at previous posts for changing the ATF in the U660E transmission, Toyota refers to it as a strainer rather than a filter. I have dropped the transmission pan and changed the filter on my Aurion but did not do this on my standby project Aurion. I anticipate that you are looking after the engine with regular oil and filter changes. Plenty of posts about this topic on the Forum. Look forward to seeing your intended post on changing the stereo. Interested to hear which head unit you have selected.
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What a marketing disaster!!! This is worse than those Takata airbags deploying on their own in certain vehicles such that owners advised to stop driving and have the vehicle towed to a dealership for repair. My long term plan has been to wear out my 2 Aurions which will probably take me 30 years. Maybe by then I will need an autonomous electric [Toyota] vehicle so I can keep my driving license privileges.
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For complaints, looks like you will have to contact IAG who acquired Motorserve from NRMA. https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/au/news/breaking-news/iag-acquires-nrmas-motorserve-business-192193.aspx As the saying goes, Once bitten twice shy or another one Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. I am a slow learner so I have been bitten twice a few times but have eventually wised up. Suggest that you send them an email including a lot of details so that they can investigate. Consider ending with an open ended statement suggesting that they remedy this situation of an unethical upselling of an unnecessary service. Await their response and if not satisfied then leave a review for their business on Google or Facebook etc. i also read a lot of posts on Quora.com so it is a common practice in the USA for these quick oil change places to upsell services and even blatantly lie to unsuspecting customers. Plenty of stories of parts needing to be replaced e.g. brake pads, air filters etc but the customer had only replaced them a few weeks ago. If you are not DIY, get the Toyota dealer or a decent local mechanic to do the additional 6mth oil and filter change.
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I have been doing the same with my Aurion. It is so easy using a plastic hand pump to extract the fluid from the reservoir. A good use for those empty hand/body wash bottles.
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Camry 2.4L was notorious for oil consumption. Beyond a certain level of oil consumption, Toyota was replacing the piston and rings. After looking at a few different YouTube videos, I am currently thinking that the oil ring has got blocked due to oils being used and the extended oil change interval. The Car Nut did a YouTube video which clearly explains the various stages of increased oil consumption in Toyota engines. Frequent oil changes is the preventative measure. Also use the recommended oil viscosity for your engine. I have revised my level of importance on the oil specification as a criteria for selecting oil. Forgotten which full synthetic oil [maybe Nulon] that was previously on special but only had a SL oil specification. Apparently this was due to level of zinc which exceeded the level to meet the SN oil specification. Also oil manufacturers have to pay to get the latest oil specification for each of their different oils. Not surprising if a product can meet the latest specification. Whereas another product has been tested and being marketed on that basis.
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Recommended oils are slightly different between the Aurion 40 series and Aurion 50. Later 2GR engines used newer manufacturing processes and materials for closer tolerances and to improve fuel efficiency. 2GRs are known to be more prone to sludge. It has been put down to modern engine design and small oil galleries. Engine really needs high quality oil and regular oil changes to prevent sludge build up. The "screw up" is a recommended oil change interval of 15K kms or 12 months. Lot to be said for the old school approach of regular oil changes every 5K or 6 months if you are a long term owner or a used car buyer. As for the lower tension rings, I think this is a recent development for later engines manufactured since 2014 [?]
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Welcome to the Forum. Good idea to use the search functionality and also do a Google search. This will help you to refine your question or provide you with the answer. Look forward to seeing your future posts.
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Your 1st post is a very memorable one and very relevant to all owners with a diesel engine. I very much doubt if you will get any compensation except possibly an eBay refund assuming that you can "prove" that the injectors were counterfeits. You are very much reliant upon eBay providing the seller's details so that they can be legally identified. Given that you are 8K out of pocket, Small Claims Tribunal will most likely not be applicable, so you will have to engage solicitors etc. To get any legal redress, you are going to have to prove beyond any doubt that the injectors were the direct cause of the engine damage. Unfortunately, it is very easy to offer so many counter arguments to establish a reasonable level of doubt e.g. injectors damaged during installation, related seals not replaced, contaminated fuel etc causing fuel injectors to fail.
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Good to hear from you particularly the feedback on 0W-40 oil in your 1MZ-FE engine. I was wondering whether the 0W viscosity was a bit too low for your engine. Anyway, I bought some 0W-40 engine oil [5 litre containers] when it was on special and yet to use. Most likely will use 5 litres of the 0W-40 and add a litre of 10W-40 or 15W-40 in my 2GR-FE engine. Because I do a lot of short distance driving, I have been doing very frequent oil changes to keep on desludging the engine. Finally making progress after 5 years and refining my overkill oil change procedure. If you go back through recent posts, you will find a YouTube video presented by The Car Nut about engine oil and filters. if you have not seen it before, then very worthwhile looking at his series of videos.
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In recent years, I have been keeping an eye on Hyundai and Kia as benchmarks to Toyota. Just when I think that they are worthwhile considering as an alternative, I then find out about a major/significant recall. Still yet to have my bubble burst on the Kia Stinger. The other great surprise is that China based suppliers are now no.4 in the Australian market. Guess it all helps with competition but I will stick with proven quality vehicle manufacturers. In the meantime, I will be giving my Aurion ["mechanical girlfriend"] and the backup project Aurion lots of TLC while I await the arrival of practical, affordable electric cars in 2035.
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I have kept this electric rattle gun on my eBay watchlist. Noticed that it is further reduced to $69 so bought another one. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/UNIMAC-12V-Impact-Wrench-Rattle-Gun-Wheel-Nut-Remover-1-2-Electric-Car-Volt/142618032122
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Serpentine Belt and Belt Dressing
campbeam replied to Tony Prodigy's topic in Aurion / TRD Aurion Club
Looks like the 40 Series Aurion 2006-2011 use the 7PK2090 length belt. I would anticipate this is because the power steering pump is driven by the serpentine belt instead of being electric. -
Recommend that you have your car serviced at a Toyota dealer while it is still in the warranty period. Definitely continue with oil changes every 6 months. This will make using oil flushes redundant for your new vehicle. Main reason for doing this is because Toyota releases Service Bulletins to address known problems/issues.
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You are doing the right thing with oil changes every 6 months. Keep doing this and the engine will not give you any trouble with oil consumption due to the oil rings getting clogged up. With short trips, oil is hardly getting up to operating temperature to get rid of contaminants e.g moisture build up etc. Not surprising that your fuel consumption is not the best since you are only doing short trips. Nothing like a road trip to get better fuel consumption figures.
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Attached Aurion Towbar Fitting instructions includes a template for cutting the rear bumper. Aurion_Towbar_Fitting_Instructions.pdf.PdfCompressor-894150.pdf
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You will need to remove the inside door panel. Have a look at some more YouTube videos.
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Big disclaimer that I am not an automatic transmission specialist. Have a good read of the article of the U660E transmission from page 10 on. https://gearsmagazine.com/resources/issues/6f8d1_2013-1_all nbg.pdf You will need to have a full flush/change of the old transmission fluid then replaced with correct ATF. Correct scan tool will confirm any error codes specifically relating to those solenoids that have failed. Maybe the new ATF will help to unblock any stuck switches or else they will need to be replaced.
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No experience but these calculators should be useful. Looks like you are going to have fender clearance issues. Tyre shop should be able to confirm. https://www.wheel-size.com/calc/?wheel1=255-70-15X7ET45&wheel2=265-65-17X7.5ET45&fcl=50mm&wcl=30mm&scl=50mm&sr=0mm https://tiresize.com/comparison/
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I just did a Google search for the various error codes with following results. https://www.autoblog.com/2016/09/15/p0990-obd-ii-trouble-code-transmission-fluid-pressure-sensor-sw/ https://www.engine-codes.com/p2757.html http://p1660.enginetroublecode.com/toyota-aurion As a starting point, I would be looking for any transmission fluid leaks which would explain a possible low transmission fluid level. Most certainly get the transmission fluid level checked and also a change of the automatic transmission fluid. Hopefully this will the solution.
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Are you running the vehicle with minimum fuel in the tank? What are the error codes?
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Very much inclined to agree. Not sure that CouchPotato is DIY so probably paying a mechanic to do the oil and filter change. Cost effective option would be to check the oil level after 500 kms then top up to full mark on the dipstick with diesel, if applicable. I expect that only 200ml of diesel will be required, Repeat every 500-1000 kms until oil becomes dark in colour and do another oil and filter change, Main thing will be not to overfill the engine.
