Celica 190 Vvti Problems

[Eddiem]

Hello Guys.

My car is 2002 Celica 190 there is a small orange engine light illuminated on the dash and the VVTi is not operating I took the car to my local dealer and they ran a diagnostics test on the car and then informed me the problem appears to be an VVTi lift valve not operating.

Dealer quoted me a ball park figure of £650 - £700 :o to replace the valve seemed rather a large amount to replace such a small part have any of you had this problem and how did you resolve it.

The technician was very helpfull he advised me to service the car and flush the engine as they have had this problem before and it was caused by debris in the oil system caused by the vehicle not being serviced regularly.

The light on the dash was reset but by the time I had travelled the short distance home it had reappeared

My main question is would it be safe to drive the car at no more than 60mph or is there a chance of causing damage to the engine.

[T600]

Years ago my 190 had this problem for quite a while before I managed to persuade the garage to deal with it (under warranty because the car was only 2 years old at the time). I don't think driving the car will cause further damage providing you avoid high revs - i.e. stay below the point where lift tries to engage; but there's no guarantee of that. I wouldn't do that for long if you can avoid it though; you're paying insurance on a 190 and getting the performance of a 140 at best.

In my case the problem was quite a major one, but more recently lots of people have found that these symptoms are caused by worn lift bolts. These are very cheap to buy and very simple to replace. I'd recommend that you do a search on here for lift bolts (in Celica and Corolla sections) as you'll find a few good articles on exactly what you need to buy, and how you go about replacing them.

Of course the Toyota engineer's diagnostics may be right, and the problem could be more serious, but personally I'd try this as at worst case you'll have wasted a few quid on the parts.

Good luck.

[Scarlett Arrow]

I agree with T600, there's a very good chance a broken Lift Bolt is the problem. IIRC, Toyota call them Camshaft Bolts so they won't know what you're talking about if you refer to them as Lift Bolts. If you're prepared to drive to Notts., there's a company called Toyota Repairs & Development in Hucknall that would only charge you a fraction to replace them compared to a Toyota Main Dealer.

[T600]

I didn't know that was their name - everyone seems to refer to them as lift bolts on here, but yes, if you're talking to Toyota use the correct name or else they won't know what you mean. At least one thread on here has the part numbers, detailed pictures and torque settings etc.

+1 for Ian at TRD. He's done work on my cars before and I've always found him very good. Look out for Dawesy (Lee) from here if you visit TRD - he's usually not far away.

Saw Ian's GT4 on the road for the first time last week when I was passing his gaff; only ever seen it in the workshop and on the strip before. The grumpy bugger didn't return my wave though.

[Eddiem]

Thanks for the replies.

You have supplied me with another option to try and remedy this problem and probably save a large amount of cash in the proccess of doing so.

Going to flush the engine 2morrow and then another addative is going to be used which I have been told works wonders for the top end and if that fails then the next step will be to have the cam bolts checked out and replaced.

[ReaperGFX]

there is another guide somewhere on the internet that has detailed instructions on removing a snapped lift bolt aswell if you want to be on the safe side

[Eddiem]

Hello Guys.

Took my 190 to a very reliable mechanic 2day he gave the car a really good going over and thinks it is highly unlikely that the VVTi problem is caused by worn or broken bolts

Firstly the engine runs spot on without missing a beat

If there was any broken bolts that the engine would be noisy (Rattle)

Worn bolts it would be very Tappety.

The engine light was reset and the car was taken for a run at the point were the VVTi should have cut in nothing happened but the engine light came on again

If you or anybody you know has ever come accross this problem I would appreciate it if you would reply with as much detail as possible

So now I have to ask have any of you members ever needed to replace the VVTI lift control valve and just how big a job is it and are any special tools required.

[Eddiem]

I agree with T600, there's a very good chance a broken Lift Bolt is the problem. IIRC, Toyota call them Camshaft Bolts so they won't know what you're talking about if you refer to them as Lift Bolts. If you're prepared to drive to Notts., there's a company called Toyota Repairs & Development in Hucknall that would only charge you a fraction to replace them compared to a Toyota Main Dealer.

Hello.

Would appreciate it if you could supply contact details for Toyota Repairs and Developments would like to contact them and possibly pay them a visit.

[Scarlett Arrow]

Ian's Tel. No. is 01159 680666, but as already stated, he is more of a GT4 expert than Gen 7.

One guy who knows the Gen 7 Engines inside out is Rhys at Cardiff Road Garage in Mountain Ash. A yell search would bring up his No.

One thing you could do is ask the same questions on TOC!, the Forum is much busier than TOC. and you'll find the guys really helpful.

[Eddiem]

Ian's Tel. No. is 01159 680666, but as already stated, he is more of a GT4 expert than Gen 7.

One guy who knows the Gen 7 Engines inside out is Rhys at Cardiff Road Garage in Mountain Ash. A yell search would bring up his No.

One thing you could do is ask the same questions on TOC!, the Forum is much busier than TOC. and you'll find the guys really helpful.

Thanks for the reply ran a search for TOC! could not find anything if you have the address would appreciate it

[hawkerpaul]

Does the car acutually hit lift? (approx 6000 revs and above)

I wouldnt think broken lift bolts would cause the CEL to come on.

I would get and OBDII scanner to get the error code before forking out all that dosh.

By the way, if it IS in fact lift bolts, then they are about £1.50 a pair from Toyota.

Change lift bolts guide

[Eddiem]

Does the car acutually hit lift? (approx 6000 revs and above)

I wouldnt think broken lift bolts would cause the CEL to come on.

I would get and OBDII scanner to get the error code before forking out all that dosh.

By the way, if it IS in fact lift bolts, then they are about £1.50 a pair from Toyota.

Change lift bolts guide

Took the car to my local Toyota dealer last Thurs they ran Diagnostics on it and straight away informed me it is the OCV which works on oil pressure and rotates the cam when the engine reaches 6000rpm so the engine does have lift.

[Eddiem]

Does the car acutually hit lift? (approx 6000 revs and above)

I wouldnt think broken lift bolts would cause the CEL to come on.

I would get and OBDII scanner to get the error code before forking out all that dosh.

By the way, if it IS in fact lift bolts, then they are about £1.50 a pair from Toyota.

Change lift bolts guide

Hello.

No the car is not hitting the lift at all

[s9webb1993]

I have the same problem, the engine management light comes on the dash when I go past 6000 revs, I check the lift bolts and they were fine, which makes me belive that it is the lift valve/actuator, where aboiuts is the lift valve? is it where the lift bolts screw in?

[gazza1286]

If servicing has been neglected it's possible the oil filter on the lift OCV has become clogged. This is how to clean it. It's a bit fiddly - but will take less than an hour.

http://www.celicahobby.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/359434/vvti-fluid-control-valve-filter-gts-how-to-clean.html