VSC Off / TRC Off / Check Engine after 30min (2007 2.2 d-cat wagon)

[Stijnvr]

Hello,

I'm encountering some isses with my 2007 2.2 d-cat Avensis station wagon. 

After about 30min of driving on the highway my cruisecontrol wil turn off, and these 3 lights will turn on. Sometimes I also won't be able to accelerate, it seems like the engine jumps into a safety mode. If I turn off the car and start it again while driving, the cruise control will work again but the lights will stay on. Doing the turn off/on during driving also temporarily fixes the loss of power issue. When I return to my car after work, so it will have been off for about 8 hours, the lights are off again and won't turn on until about 30min of highway driving.

I bought this car about 2 weeks ago and this started happening about 3 days after purchase, so I don't know much of the history. 

Also the car makes a lot of squealing noises when making right turns or parking (also started 2 days or so after purchase, didn't hear this in the test drive). 

The main issue I want to fix right now is the warning lights and loss of power on the highway. Any idea on what causes this? Seems to me like a sensor error, maybe the car thinks its overheating? Temp gauge seems fine. Still need to take it to a garage to get it checked, but figured it would be nice to have some hints as to what the issue could be before they start trying to fix stuff / bill me on items that aren't the problem. 

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Stivino]

Often those lights coming on is associated with a blocked EGR valve.  I would take it off and have a look.

 

[Stijnvr]

18 minutes ago, Stivino said:

Often those lights coming on is associated with a blocked EGR valve.  I would take it off and have a look.

 

Thanks a lot! I found a EGR Valve cleaning guide on the forums for the Auris, but it should work the same on my Avensis. This is definitely something I can do myself so I'll try this out today. Will update if I find a lot of debris and if it helps. 

[Stijnvr]

Update:

I've noticed my engine turning off when standing still sometimes. When it happened yesterday, I wasn't able to quickly start it again, because it didn't respond to my throttle at all. Took about a minute of starting/stopping before I was able to drive off. 

This morning it happened when I had to stop at a roundabout. It accepted the throttle in the first try and I was able to drive away. 

I'm buying a ratchet set today to take off my EGR valve. The set I have doesn't have an extension piece so I wasn't able to get to 1 of the bolts. 

 

I re-torqued my lugnuts on my wheels. Some of them seemed WAY too tight. Took all my strength to loosen a few of them. The squealing in turns has gotten less but it's still there. Sounds like some metal pieces that are touching when I make turns. 

 

Even though I just bought the car (ugh I feel so scammed, the car seemed fine during test runs and the mechanics on site said it was all fine), I might just bite the bullet and get it looked at by a professional. Just seems so hard finding a trustworthy mechanic that doesn't add unneeded costs. Also don't quite like the idea of a potential 1000+ euro repair bill 2 weeks after purchase.

[Stivino]

Doesn't it have some warranty? 

[Stijnvr]

Just now, Stivino said:

Doesn't it have some warranty? 

I called them and they said they won't give warrenty but they'll take a look at the car for me. But they won't budge on any opening times and they only work on weekdays during my own work hours. Will have to sort some stuff with my employer that I can bring the car in for a checkup. Just don't really trust them to do a good job at this point. 

[Avensist03t25]

All d4d suffer from this problem new egrvalve required 

[Stijnvr]

4 hours ago, Avensist03t25 said:

All d4d suffer from this problem new egrvalve required 

Let’s hope the cleaning at least did a bit of good. Just cleaned it out, it was completely gunked up and clogged. After cleaning I let the engine run warm and then hit the throttle a bit. Left a black mark on the street under my exhaust. Will hit some high rpm moments on my way to work tomorrow to keep blowing it out. 
 

Going to clean the entire engine bay at some point, just need to find the time first 😅

 

Spoke to the shop I bought it from, and they’re offering to take a look at the car Friday to do some fixes. 

[Stivino]

You need to clean all that carbon out of there.  There are three holes, a big one in the centre and one in each back corner.  Be careful not to let it fall into the manifold.  I block the holes with rags and suck it out with a hoover.

There is nothing that will disolve that carbon so, forget brake or carburettor cleaner spray.

Have you got a picture of the EGR valve, too?

[Stijnvr]

3 minutes ago, Stivino said:

You need to clean all that carbon out of there.  There are three holes, a big one in the centre and one in each back corner.  Be careful not to let it fall into the manifold.  I block the holes with rags and suck it out with a hoover.

There is nothing that will disolve that carbon so, forget brake or carburettor cleaner spray.

Have you got a picture of the EGR valve, too?

Yeah this was the before picture, didn’t take an after. I cleaned it all out with a flathead screwdriver and a toothbrush. I didn’t block the holes but I scooped it out as much as I could. Also cleaned the EGR valve itself and the pipe connecting it. Cleaned the last bits with degreaser, rinsed it out, and let it dry. Made sure not to get the electrical part wet. 
 

Can’t see much in this picture but it’s the only one I took

[Avensist03t25]

Good job that job should sort out your problem this seems to be a design flaw with d4d engine from 2007 To present unfortunately. 

[Stijnvr]

1 minute ago, Avensist03t25 said:

Good job that job should sort out your problem this seems to be a design flaw with d4d engine from 2007 To present unfortunately. 

I haven’t gotten any more lights flashing since cleaning, but my engine still stalls at stoplights sometimes, and I have loss of power on the highway. The garage replaced some sort of power steering sensor and said if it happens again they’ll take another look at it. 
they also ordered parts to fix the noise when steering so here’s hoping it gets all patched up 🙂