- #298 of 353
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VVT Oil Line Failures
by popsavalon
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May 15, 2009 (8:13 pm)
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There seems to be a lot of posts on various sites about total loss of engine oil from the variable valve timing oil supply line failures on Toyota Avalons. The usual result of this would be catastrophic engine failure.
Does this problem include 2007 and later engines? What is Toyota doing to redesign, replace, etc. these oil lines to prevent the problem from happening?
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- #299 of 353
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VVTi oil line failure on Avalons
by popsavalon
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May 17, 2009 (6:32 am)
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There are a lot of posts on the net about failure of the VVTi oil line on 2GR-FE (all late model Toyota V-6s) engines. A burst rubber hose leads to loss of engine oil immediately and possible catastrophic engine failure. Toyota dealers seem to be having problems getting replacement parts due to scope of problem. What is the magnitude of leaks/failures being experienced by fellow Avalon owners?
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- #300 of 353
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Re: VVTi oil line failure on Avalons [popsavalon]
by sbman
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May 17, 2009 (11:01 am)
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Replying to: popsavalon (May 17, 2009 6:32 am)
See my earlier post. 06 Touring with 35 k, about 1 quart on my garage floor and oil trail down driveway one morning without notice. Towed in and dealer fixed that day under warranty. I might be tempted to go ahead and replace line and not be stranded somewhere and/or damage engine. Oil will also be all over your engine compartment & rails and tough to get it all removed.
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- #301 of 353
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Re: VVTi oil line failure on Avalons [popsavalon]
by bdp92883
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Jun 02, 2009 (8:54 am)
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Replying to: popsavalon (May 17, 2009 6:32 am)
I saw your post about the VVTi issue and wanted to comment. I experienced this problem last year in my 2007 Avalon XLS. It was a complete disaster getting this issue taken care of and unfortunately, I don't think the drama is over yet. The dealership tried to say that while the hose burst and all of the oil drained out of my engine within what seemed like seconds, that the engine damage the car sustained was my fault and that until I could produce service records backing up my claim that I properly maintained the car, they would not be responsible for any of the damage done short of replacing the hose. I ended up having to go through Toyota Corporate just to get someone to take me seriously. The dealership ended up tearing apart my engine and at one point were prepared to replace the entire short block. Engineers from Toyota were dispatched to the dealership and they ended up taking a different course of action. They made some repairs to the valves but I'm now experiencing a TON of lifter noise. The car sounds like an expensive piece of junk. The last time I had it in for service, I asked the manager about the noise. He said Avalons were notorious for having noisy lifters and that there was nothing he could do about it. I totally disagree. It wasn't until all of the oil drained out of my car at 70 mph that the engine started making noise. Needless to say, I'm taking it back to a different dealer and if I am forced to open another case with Toyota Corporate then that's what I will do. I will say that Toyota Corporate admitted that this is a known problem but has been unwilling to actually recall these hoses. Thank goodness my car was still under warranty but I feel bad for those that are not. I hope this information is somewhat helpful.
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- #302 of 353
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Re: VVTi oil line failure on Avalons [bdp92883]
by tfelton
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Jun 02, 2009 (9:42 am)
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Replying to: bdp92883 (Jun 02, 2009 8:54 am)
I'm curious, is there an 'improved' hose that they use after the original one breaks or do they just put a new hose on of the same quality? If there is an improved hose would it be worth having it replaced even if you had to pay the cost since the work would not be under warranty?
I have an '08 Avalon with 25,000 miles on it and we're just about to go on two trips which should add about 7,000 miles.
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- #303 of 353
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Re: VVTi oil line failure on Avalons [tfelton]
by popsavalon
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Jun 03, 2009 (11:44 am)
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Replying to: tfelton (Jun 02, 2009 9:42 am)
The best information I can get is that there is no improved hose ("real fix") available. Toyota seems to be unwilling to acknowledge a major problem at this point. I asked my dealer's service manager about the whole issue, he said "we have only seen a few minor leaks and replaced the hose, never seen a catastropic failure that drained all the engine oil in a matter of minutes". There are numerous posts on several Toyota sites that verify this is exactly what happened.
I, too, am planning summer trips (07 Avalon with 26000 mi.) and I have MAJOR concern about this problem. If my engine loses all the oil at speed on an interstate somewhere, I don't think a new hose is going to repair the damage to the motor.
I am going to take copies of internet posts back to my dealer and see how they respond. The engine in question (2GR-FE) is used in all Toyota V-6 applications for the past few years, so this issue will only grow in magnatude!
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- #304 of 353
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Re: VVTi oil line failure on Avalons [tfelton]
by bdp92883
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Jun 03, 2009 (1:07 pm)
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Replying to: tfelton (Jun 02, 2009 9:42 am)
I'm not sure about the new hose being "improved" or not. It's just terrible that Toyota isn't acknowledging the problem. I had my car at the dealer today and asked the service writer if he's experienced a lot of these hose failures. He said no, but I'm not sure as to the accuracy of this statement. I've seen more posts on the internet about it now then when it happened to me back in Oct 2008. The only thing I can guess is that the people that are calling and pitching a fit to corporate are the ones getting the work done under warranty. My case manager at the time told me that because it's considered part of the drivetrain, it's covered up to 5yrs or 60K miles. I'm not sure if they are still going by that policy or not. I would call Toyota and ask. In fact, they may be willing to fix it now instead of waiting until it breaks.
I know for a fact that this hose breakage caused a whole lot more than a small leak. When I pulled the car off of the freeway my car was covered in oil. The engine compartment looked like nothing I've ever seen before. There was oil halfway up the sides of the car all the way around. I have a white car - it's rather obvious that when that high pressure hose burst, the oil came out of that hose very fast. And by the looks of it, most of the oil had emptied out. This is why Toyota was forced to fix a whole lot more on my car than just a simple hose. And no matter what Toyota is saying, I have the work orders from the dealership to prove it.
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- #305 of 353
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Re: VVTi oil line failure on Avalons [popsavalon]
by tfelton
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Jun 03, 2009 (1:35 pm)
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Replying to: popsavalon (Jun 03, 2009 11:44 am)
I'm just guessing right now but I assume that for Toyota to acknowledge a major problem there has to be x% of failures of this part. Maybe that hasn't happened yet and a recall, or fix of all the hoses in use, would be costlier than what they are spending on repairing the individual problems as they happen. It's too bad there isn't some way to inspect the part.
I guess all you can do is keep your fingers crossed. My other Toyota with a V6 has 214,000+ miles on it so I hope I can do the same again this time around.
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- #306 of 353
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Oil Line failure - I got lucky!
by ri_tom
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Jun 16, 2009 (6:02 am)
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I have a 2006 avalon with 46,000 miles. Bought it used about 4 months ago. I drive 750 mi/week - almost all on interstate at 75-80 mph.
Drove to mall yesterday on lunch hour. came back after 30 minutes and saw river of oil running from under car. moved it to another parking space and watched - you could see the oil dripping. drove slowly half mile to gas station and put in 3 qts. drove slowly to Toyota service - about 4 mi. Left a BIG puddle in the service lane after 5 minutes!
Their diagnosis: Vehicle is leaking oil form Bank one VVTI oil line. There is a TSB -EG064-05. Replaced the VVTI oil feed line, timing chain cover and oil pipe sub-assembly.
I asked the service writer if there would have been any warning if I was cruising down the road at 75. He said no - just a wrecked engine. If you don't have an extended warranty you better get one.
Got the shuttle to the office, picked up at end of day and drove home. Just a minor inconvenience compared to the stories I see here. Just can't believe the lack of instrumentation on the car. My last was a 98 Aurora, died at 207k mi with head gasket leak. It had the engine monitoring for everything. Saved me twice from being stranded with alternator failures. I thought Toyota was know for their quality and service!
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- #307 of 353
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Re: Oil Line failure - I got lucky! [ri_tom]
by tfelton
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Jun 16, 2009 (8:40 am)
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Replying to: ri_tom (Jun 16, 2009 6:02 am)
What did the TSB-EG064-05 say?
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