Toyota Problems

A noise or vibration that is engine speed dependent is usually associated with the driveline, while a similar problem that occurs at a particular road speed is more often a problem with a wheel or suspension component. The main exception to that is the differential which is part of the driveline but determines the vehicle’s speed, so can contribute a speed-dependent noise or vibration, too.

Beyond that, you could be looking at a fault with a wheel bearing, a deformed tyre, bent rim, worn suspension bush, bent axle or suspension arm or pretty much anything else. A rolling-road dynamometer (kind of like a treadmill for cars) might be one way of achieving the problem speed while a mechanic looks and listens on.

A lack of drive in an automatic gearbox can be down to a number of things. Most commonly, it’s internal wear inside the transmission or torque converter that is not transferring drive from one component to the next. This can be caused by broken or loose vanes in the torque converter, a failed transmission pump, a faulty valve body, worn clutches and bands or a mechanical failure of the gearsets. And more.

Any of these things will require a transmission specialist to assess and repair, but before you do that, check the level of the fluid in the transmission. Low transmission fluid can easily cause this very problem and a top up may restore drive to the vehicle. Then, of course, your job is to find the source of the leak, because the transmission is a sealed system and should not require top-ups outside of regular servicing. But it might just get you back on the road in meantime.

Torque converters have been known to seize and, if that’s the case, it could stall the engine because there’s no slip to allow the engine to idle while the car is stationary. You need to have this checked by a transmission specialist who may have seen this very thing before. Either way, the vehicle won’t be going anywhere under its own power.

Even if the gearbox itself had frozen solid, the torque converter should still allow enough slip to let the engine idle. So that’s definitely where to start the investigation.

The Corolla of this vintage has a fine reputation as a vehicle unlikely to fail in such a spectacular way. Assuming, as you say, the servicing has been by the book and the car has not been abused, used to tow massive loads, or operated as a rally car, then the suspicion is that the crankshaft of this particular example may have contained a casting or material fault from day one. This wouldn’t be visible to the people who assembled the engine, but could lead to such a failure after a period of time.

I’d be inclined to talk to Toyota Australia’s customer service department to see if there’s any financial or mechanical help on offer to repair your vehicle. Even though your vehicle is out of warranty, you might find Toyota will be as horrified as you at such a major failure at such low kilometres and will do something about it. Assuming that a manufacturing flaw is, indeed, the cause of the failure.

If you don’t get anywhere but wish to pursue it, an independent examination by an appropriate engineer might be able to pin-point the cause of the failure, at which point you might have another bargaining chip. Certainly a broken crankshaft at 62,000km is neither normal nor acceptable.

The petrol V6 engine in an FJ Cruiser is a fairly conventional piece of equipment and shouldn’t represent too much of a problem for a mechanic with decent experience. Poor starting can be caused by any number of things but will usually come down to a fault with either the ignition or fuel system.

An engine that takes two attempts to start can often be suffering from poor fuel pressure, so a check of the pump and filters would be a good place to start. But a slack ignition system can also cause the same symptoms. If the problem is a relatively new one, it’s possible that you might have unwittingly bought a tankful of old or contaminated fuel. Start with the basics, including a mechanic that knows their way around this engine.

This is actually more common than you think and affects lots of different makes and models. Service station fuel pumps are designed to shut off once the tank is full (to avoid over-filling by the customer). They do that by detecting any splash-back up, or pressure build-up in, the throat of the fuel filler. In most cases, this splash-back or pressure wave is caused by the fuel level being so full, the fuel being pumped in has nowhere else to go. And so the fuel pump shuts off.

But for some reason, some cars are just harder to fill with some pumps than others. Whether it’s the path the filler neck takes to the tank to even the pressure produced by the fuel pump, it’s just one of those things, apparently.

The best way to get around it (and avoid having the fuel pump click off annoyingly 20 times every fill-up) is to be a bit tactical with the pump nozzle. Instead of pushing it all the way into the filler neck, withdraw it slightly. The other technique is to twist the fuel nozzle, say, 90 degrees so that it sprays directly on to a different part of the filler neck. The other thing you can try is to not pull the trigger on the fuel pump all the way. By modulating the trigger slightly, you might find that the fuel now enters the filler neck at a rate more agreeable to the pump.

If the car won’t accelerate beyond 40km/h, it could be because it has gone into limp-home mode in order to protect itself from further damage. If so, that’s possibly because there’s a major problem somewhere in the driveline. But the chainsaw noise is pretty worrying, too, and suggests that something is rubbing on something else that shouldn’t be.

The best advice is to not drive the car any farther until it’s been checked by a mechanic. Continuing to drive it risks doing more damage to whatever is already wrong with it.

Even though the Toyota Avalon wasn’t particularly big seller, there were still plenty of them made, so second-hand parts shouldn’t be a problem. The best bet is probably to take the broken handle to a parts recycler (we used to call them wrecking yards) and find an Avalon that is being broken up and recycled. That way, you’ll have a pretty good chance of finding a replacement handle that actually fits as well as one in the correct colour to match the rest of your car’s interior.

There are specialist Toyota wreckers (sorry, recyclers) in Perth and surrounds, but even generic wrecking yards are likely to have the odd Avalon lying around ready to donate its door handle. Toyota was also very good at sharing parts between models. So while you’re scratching around the wrecking yard, check to see if the inside door handle from, say, a Toyota Camry or Aurion or similar is interchangeable with your broken one.

The absolute best advice here is to not drive the vehicle any farther and take it straight to the Toyota dealership from which you bought it. This could be anything from a minor to a major problem, but any brand-new car that is not shifting gears smoothly and silently is a cause for concern.

The mechanics might try to convince you that this is something all Klugers do, but don’t be afraid to question that. In fact, since it’s a dealership, get them to take you for a ride in another Kluger of the same specification to see if it makes the same noises. If you’re still not happy and not getting anywhere at dealer level, try Toyota Australia’s customer service department.

The eight-speed automatic in the Kluger is a well known quantity and doesn’t seem to have any inherent weaknesses. Which means anything odd like a vibration or noise needs to be checked out before any further damage is done.