AurionX2

Manual or auto? If CVT, maybe that's the nature of the beast. I noticed similar behaviour on a 2016 CVT Pulsar I drove for 3-4 days a couple of years back. How long you had the Corolla for? Have you driven other 2014-2016 Corollas to draw some comparison?

Sounds like it's 4 to 5th gear? Can you replicate it reliably once the engine has warmed up? Does it feel like it flares up, do you see the rpms going up swiftly by 200-300 before it engages the next gear? These POS transmissions can be very temperamental when cold and the lack of service (sealed for life, NOT) won't do any good. Ks done and service history are important here, as Tony said.

Hahaha I love that funnel! On the oil change: I gave up on draining the oil from the filter casing a while ago, I skip this step, just unscrew and drop the casing in the drain pan carefully so I don't get burnt 🙂 No mess, no environmental disaster caused and no animals killed or harmed during the process. Need to take a shortcut here and there, it's my upbringing.

On my 2008 I have Denso FK20HR11 and on my wife's 2013 NGK DILFR6D11, these go on sale at Repco every so often. The Denso ones are from Toyota.

My 2008 Aurion, approaching 200k on the odo, is still on the plugs swapped in at the 90k service, no issues. Check out toyotanation forum, in the US they're apparently serviced at 120k miles which is, what, 200k kms?

Sounds like me :)))

That's exactly right, this was my mistake: not removing the fans shroud, I've only tilted it forward after disconnecting the coolant hoses as much as I could thinking I've got enough room to work there. Lesson learned, do it by the book, even if it may take a bit longer, to avoid unexpected costs. In my case was the A/C regas 🙂

Replacing the alternator is a *BIG* job on the Aurion, need to drop the coolant, the bloody thing is squeezed behind the radiator, an A/C line is in the way, when I did mine I thought I could get away without removing the front completely and it was a mistake, it cost me an aircon regas cause I had to disconnect that line. Then there's poor access to one of the bolts that's right behind the wheel well and I needed two deep sockets of different length to work on that b4$tard. Wouldn't do it again unless I end up stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Ditto, check the alternator, 2008 is not the best of years for Aurion alternators and water pumps, ask me how I know :D Oh and welcome to the forum :)

Good stuff Tony. But maaaan, how did you get that filter housing look so clean? That's crazy, I could drink from it! Hmm, having an unfiltered Cooper's ale from a 2GR-FE filter housing through a genuine Toyota filter, that got me thinking... Which reminds me at my last oil change I forgot to pour some new oil in the housing before installing it *hand tight*. My wrist'o'meter displayed 22.8Nm, so I'm in the ballpark :P

Man, what a mess. It's SCA fault, you took the car there to install the HU and they turned it into paperweight. A big one rather, still a paperweight. They should fix it and cover all costs, with or without the invaluable help of their mate Andy.

And let's not forget Bunnings with their Valvoline Maxlife ATF, $34.95 for the 4l bottle. Really tempting for the next service.

Ah, that damn bolt never ending story :)) When servicing my Aurions it *appeared* that I had just a little more room to access the bolt on the 2013 compare to the 2008. Or was it because I did the 2008 first and my expectations and the fact that I got off the mark with the right tool made the job easier on the 2013?

Good stuff there, precise, right tools, well documented, congratulations. One thing: if I remember correctly the 200ml fluid top-up is done after finishing the fluid level check, during the flush is irrelevant because you'll follow up with the level check anyway. I wonder if their engineers have initially miscalculated the amount of fluid that should be used and corrected it later. L.E. See Ash post right after my 2008 transmission service post:

That's how I've done mine, with the funnel attached to the bonnet strut 🙂

Sounds like shift flare, possibly low on fluid. When does is happen more often, when cold or at normal running temp? First thing first, check for obvious signs of fluid loss. One word of caution: try to find a reputable, trustworthy Toyota service centre, they're not all the same. Besides, it's anyone's guess whether you'll be able to replicate the flare when driving the car with a service technician around the block or not.

Nice of Penrite, though you'll refill through the wheel well and may have to extend the funnel with some 1/2" hose. I couldn't use the extensible funnel I have for refilling the U660E, just not enough room. Let us know how you did it.

Sounds like good fun Tony 🙂 Just crossed my mind, something I noticed when I did mine. I might have mentioned it when I documented my work here, but here it is: when doing the 1l in /1l out flush don't wait 'til the fluid pouring out of the hose in the measuring gets to the 1l mark, but turn the engine off when it gets to around 800-850ml, give or take. After turning the engine off there'll always be some residual fluid flow, you need to account for that. It's not critical to be dead on, just around the ballpark because you'll be doing the fluid level check after the flush. You will, won't you? :)))

Yep, that's the one, sits between the strainer and the valve body. Yeah, look, after replacing 3.2l during the pan drop, then flushing 6l or thereabouts the fluid looked ok and I should have probably called it a day, but I just decided to flush 2 more litres for my piece of mind and fight my ocd. It's not the kind of service I'm doing monthly so I thought, what the hell, it's taking the whole day anyway so I might as well do it properly 🙂

Yeah, full service for both, documented here somewhere. Pan drop and cleaned properly, filter, o-ring and gasket change, then flushed through the cooler return line, 1 liter out, 1 in, rinse and repeat 'til it came out the hose brand new. From memory needed 10-11l all up for each car. On the 2008 I followed up 2 years and 42k later with a drain & fill.

Changed it around 60k mark (from memory) on my wife's 2013 and there's no noticeable difference between Penrite ATF-LV and the original fluid. Now sitting around 78k and still shifting perfectly fine. On my 2008 the transmission service, using the same fluid, has actually improved the shifting, most likely because it was still on the original fluid at the time. So based on my 2 vehicles sample set with 100% success rate, I'd say you can't really go wrong with Penrite LV. But 42k and 4yo is perhaps too early, especially if you know the car didn't cop significant abuse.

Yep, that's the one I bought. Early ones were having issues, iirc Denso have 2 different part codes for this alternator, they've changed the code in 2008 and the revised version is the supposedly better one. My Aurion was built in 12/2007

Tony, the alternator went on my 2008 Aurion. Should it die on my wife's 2013 car I'd get HER to do the replacement job, can't wait to see her struggling with undoing the lower bolt behind the wheel well with 2 different socket of different lengths and 3 ratchets! The alternator is aftermarket, bought for just under $300 from Auto8 in Wangaratta, Vic. Came with 5 years warranty, should hopefully last at least double that 🙂

It was the alternator, replaced it and everything is back to normal now. But the replacement job is an Absolute Royal PITA. Hopefully I'll never, ever have to do it again. We chose not to remove the fans assembly, only disconnected the upper coolant hoses and pulled the radiator forward as much as we could. Big mistake, by doing this we really struggled with the lack of space around the alternator and I also had to disconnect the A/C line underneath to be able to access the bracket that supports it. At least now I have good charge, more than 5litres of new coolant and a freshly regassed aircon system ($120 additional expense).

I have the xav-ax5000, very good unit.