D4d Hesitation And Power

[toyotavensis]

I have an '05 Avensis T3S D4D with 125000 miles on the clock. I had a 1.25 Fiesta Zetec petrol so I had no idea what to expect when driving a Toyota turbo diesel. My personal experience is that I had more pep with a Fiesta or an '07 diesel Transit van that I hired recently.

It is quite hard to get the Avensis to move from standstill without stalling it. I have to slip the clutch more than in any other vehicle I have driven in order to avoid the revs dying away. If you don't touch the accelerator the car moves away quite calmly at 800 to 900 rpm. There's quite a rush of acceleration at about 1800-1900 revs in any gear and it will potter along in fifth just over 30 miles an hour.

I have spent a lot of time reading about EGR valves, VSVs, variable vane actuators on this brilliant site and had a lot of fun locating them. Moving the variable vane actuator by hand (engine off) seems to give an improved acceleration when driving later but there are unexpected bursts of power when driving with the accelerator held steady (by foot) in the 2000-3000 rpm range. Sucking (yuk) on the vacuum pipe from the e-VRV does move the actuator. VRV impedence measures 12.2 ohms but it's nearer 9 not 20 degrees C today. I have not had any yellow engine lights on the dash or drastic loss of power when driving so ignoring SCVs for the moment and I'm not aware of clouds of smoke behind me when driving. MPG around 58 on long runs, 63 on a memorable trip from Devon last August.

So, is this normal Avensis? Should I do a rolling road analysis? I probably should have the EGR valve cleaned as it's not a service item (car has full Toyota service - cam belt just replaced). Any thoughts anyone?

[cmia]

Do it this first..

EGR clean.

Fuel Filter.. replace with genuine one.

report back once you have done the above

[toyotavensis]

Thanks. Will try that. It's also booked in for diagnostics on Friday. Garage has a Snap-On reader but not dealer level access. Will let you know.

[toyotavensis]

Diagnostics on Friday did not give any error codes which is good in a way. It was checked with a Snap On reader (Solus?) but the garage don't have dealer level access to codes. The fuel filter was changed at the end of November according to the Toyota paperwork. Next operation is cleaning the EGR valve and should have that sorted in the coming week.

Has anyone used 10k Boost and with what results?

[cmia]

Diagnostics on Friday did not give any error codes which is good in a way. It was checked with a Snap On reader (Solus?) but the garage don't have dealer level access to codes. The fuel filter was changed at the end of November according to the Toyota paperwork. Next operation is cleaning the EGR valve and should have that sorted in the coming week.

Has anyone used 10k Boost and with what results?

did you try what I asked you to do ?

[toyotavensis]

This morning I undid the two 12mm nuts and one 12mm bolt to remove the EGR valve and had a look at it. The surfaces were mildly coated with carbon on the inside but not blocked. The stainless steel gasket appears to be in good condition.

The valve was shut when disconnected. Is the valve supposed to have a gas tight seal when at rest? It would be very hard to clean the valve seat. I have cleaned inside by scraping the deposits off.

Ohm meter readings are 19.6 ohm for all four terminals. Can you actuate the valve when it's off the car?

When I have more time I'll put up the photos.

[cmia]

This morning I undid the two 12mm nuts and one 12mm bolt to remove the EGR valve and had a look at it. The surfaces were mildly coated with carbon on the inside but not blocked. The stainless steel gasket appears to be in good condition.

The valve was shut when disconnected. Is the valve supposed to have a gas tight seal when at rest? It would be very hard to clean the valve seat. I have cleaned inside by scraping the deposits off.

Ohm meter readings are 19.6 ohm for all four terminals. Can you actuate the valve when it's off the car?

When I have more time I'll put up the photos.

soak the valve is diesel fuel and clean with toothbrush

did u change the filter ?

[toyotavensis]

Cmia, thanks for supplying the prompts, really appreciate your help.

I'm slowly working my way to the fuel filter although it should have been replaced during the service 3000 miles ago - I will verify this with the garage.

When I've done that (could be some days yet) I'll have some diesel that I can soak the EGR unit in!

[toyotavensis]

As promised some earlier, I've created an album! These are the photos of removing the EGR valve. I'll put the name here when I can find it.

It's called 1CD-FTV EGR valve and it's in the general members' gallery