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Aaaagghhh. My poor Prius has been bumped in a car park. I was stationary and someone reversed into me. My insurance is sorting it thankfully, and I have a 1 year old hire car. It looks very nice actually, a top spec Avensis Diesel Auto saloon in a maroony colour. Its got all the toys. Its roomy and road noise is a little better supressed over the Prius. The seats seem ok and the boots big though difficult to access as a saloon. The kids like it. Well sort of. However my hilly urban commute is showing 22.8 mpg average on the cars tripmeter and by the amount of the stinky expensive stuff I have to keep putting in the tank I believe it. The car is showing a best mpg figure of 41 mpg (it has 30k on the clock) which seems fairly disastrous. Setting off is easy though as long as you have a gap that you could get a fully laden 38 tonner into. Simply floor the throttle and then spend the wait retuning the radio until the gearbox decides to wake up. Then the under bonnet clatter rises to a cacophony and eventually you start. The engine noise then sounds as though you are being very closely pursued by a 1985 post office van. Alternatively you can of course press the sport button and repeat the process. This still leaves time to flick between a few radio stations but follows this with some comedy wheelspin and traction control enhanced lurching. A third alternative is to put it in manual and use the steering wheel flappy paddles to try to tell the gearbox you'd like to proceed forwards now please. I must admit I had forgotten the feeling in an old-school auto when you come off the throttle. That odd feeling of no control, of the car simply running away freewheeling with the revs dropping back to idle speed, and the drive effectively disengaged. Its so last century, I find it hard to believe this car is (nicely) built by the same clever people that built my Prius and SWMBO's Auris HSD. Come back soon Dapple (the Prius's name-the kids named it after the colour (Dacuma)), we miss you a lot.

The attached image shows the location, standing at the RHS of the engine bay looking across to the LHS with the fuse/relay box cover removed. The image shows the terminal with the safety cover raised. The actual charging tab is to the left of the circled nut in this image. When standing in front of the fuse/relay box, as you would to attach your charger, the connection tab would be behind the circled nut. Prius Fuse/relay box with exposed jumpstart terminal. Two words of caution when jumpstarting the Prius: DO NOT connect the jumper leads with incorrect polarity.DO NOT have the donor car running.Doing either of these can cause £1,000+ of damage to the inverter in seconds. HTH.

The symptoms. The MPG is disgraceful this time last year we was averaging no less than 38mpg over a tank and around 42-45mpg when driven on a run with cruise control set at 70mph. Over Christmas we did approx 1500miles and have managed best on a run +4oc 31mpg driving with cruise control set at 70mph, when it was cold we was down to 21mpg and have now risen to around 30mpg driving like your gran going to church. These figures are a long way short of the figures that Toyota quote and of what we was achieving this time last year with similar temperatures, it may be worth noting the car makes a pinking sound at around 1800-2300rpm if you put your foot down and there is a small delay / flat spot in throttle response (not turbo lag) when you press the accelerator, I suspect this is the fly by wire throttle system but is it supposed to have a delay? How to clean, I did have to borrow a few pictures as I had cleaned mine by the time I made this thread. 1. Remove the engine cover, this just pulls up and unclips. 2. Now you can see the EGR Valve, you will need a 12mm socket, Ratchet and extension to remove this. 3. Remove these 2 x bolts 1st for the pipe above the EGR valve. 4. Now undo the other 4 x 12mm nuts and bolts from the EGR valve and unplug this from the wiring loom, this can now be removed. 5. This is now what you will find. Dirty manifold with 2 x blocked breathing holes. Dirty EGR valve with restricted air flow. 6. I cleaned these using an old toothbrush, small screw driver, carburettor cleaner, old cloth and a dyson cleaner to suck the muck out. Try to scrape and brush out the thick carbon then use the carburettor cleaner to clean the finish this off. Now once all this is cleaned out just simply refit, This took me a total of 15 minutes so I assure you this is very easy. The results This will vary for everyone but in my experience I did a 360mile round trip the next day with mainly cruise control set at 70mph, going there (more downhill) the roads where very very wet with poor visibility and approx 7oc and we averaged 41.1MPG by the time we got there. When we come home with mainly cruise control set at 70mph, slightly uphill most of the way the roads where dry and approx 3oc the average MPG had dropped to 40.0. When I filled up we got 37.4litres in the tank which I rounded up to 38 and worked out at 43MPG (I always brim the tank). This is now showing a big improvement / approx 20% for a 15minute job of cleaning the EGR valve. I will also note the slight flat spots in throttle response are a lot less than before. I would like to say a big thank you to cabcurtains for bringing the EGR valve to my attention and to twingo69 as I borrowed a few pictures from his thread to make this guide. UPDATE Ok it has been nearly 5 months and around 4k since I did this do this morning I thought I would check the EGR valve. To be honest the manifold was very very clean maybe a small less than 1mm coating of carbon and the EGR valve had a little more, I did clean this again while it was removed but in my opinion looking at what I seen today I would recommend cleaning this around every 12months or 10k. UPDATE Well over the next 12 months the MPG just continued to drop, Toyota claimed there was no problems with the car but by Feb 11 we could only manage 28-32MPG at best. I had also noticed the car had started to do a lot of DPF recycle burns and suspect the DPF was maybe on its way out, we had no warrenty left on the car so had a shop around and exchanged for a 5 month old 500 mile CRZ. What can I say but for sure the CRZ is one of the best cars we ever owned and was fantastic on fuel (49MPG average for every turn of the key over 9 months and 9000 miles) but due to the birth of Lewis we needed a bigger car so exchanged this for a CTR (FN2), I will say that so far over 7000 miles this has returned 29MPG for us which puts a quicker petrol car in the same area as the T180 when we traded this in. What never made sence was when we first bought the T180 we could get 40-44MPG no problem then at around 30'000 miles the MPG just started to drop while nothing really changed, we never found a cure for this or a fault but for sure this is problem and Toyota must know about this because they dropped the 2.2 and 2.0 Auris diesel cars and have now agreed to use BMW diesel engines from 2013. Why the worlds largest car manufacturer would need to use a BMW diesel engine is beyond me unless it shows they are struggling to get a modern diesel to be clean and efficient while being very driveable.

"I wonder if there is a place you can practice this sort of thing in your own car?" If you can wait a few weeks, there will be no need to practise .....

the Ctek device prevents wrong polarity...or at least it wont work if you connect neg and pos wrongly here are some pics of my set up

The new WLTP test hasn't yet been finalised but if you're really interested, you can find out more about it in the document at this link: http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/doc/2014/wp29grpe/GRPE-68-03e.pdf I carry out work on this and other related topics and my company has been involved in some of the technical discussions with car manufacturers and policymakers on the development of the replacement test. The new test will still be carried out on a rolling road (chassis dynamometer), but that isn't the source of the problems with the current test. The chassis dyno helps to ensure that each test is repeatable and reproducible for comparison purposes. The main problems with the current test are that the driving conditions used are completely unrepresentative of real-world conditions. For example, part of the current test includes an acceleration phase where the car has to be accelerated from 0 to 32 km/h in 12 seconds. Now, if you've ever tried to do this, it's actually very hard to accelerate that slowly in the real world (and this is part of the reason why hybrids do so well under the NEDC - all of that acceleration can be achieved using only the battery). The high speed section of the test consists of driving at 120 km/h (75 mph) for just 10 seconds! The test also includes a lot of idling time (much more than happens in the real world), which is another reason why hybrids do so well in the test (as do cars with stop/start technology). There are also many "flexibilities" (i.e. loopholes) that have been legally exploited by the manufacturers. for example, the weights used on the chassis dyno to represent the vehicle's mass and its impacts on driving resistance do not have to be exactly the same as the actual mass of the vehicle - they can be significantly lower! There are many other flexibilities of this nature. The new test will remove the flexibilities/loopholes currently available to manufacturers and will also be based on a much more realistic drive cycle, so it should give more representative fuel consumption figures. However, it can never be perfect as we all drive in slightly different ways.

From what I recollect, the agreement with BMW covered both the 1.6 and 2.0 litre diesel engines. Putting the 1.6 in the Verso I think took precedent, as compared to competitors in the European market, there was a hole in the Verso range (and there is no hybrid).

A possible explanation for that is that the VSC is trying to control/compensate for the complete loss of grip in the axle without winter tyres and the result is a bit of a mess...

The Avensis is reportedly being facelifted in 2015 - to include the BMW 1.6 and 2.0 litre diesel engines.

The idle control valve is located on the botton of the throttle, and will require removal of the throttle. Also bear in mind that the cooling system is also connected to the throttle, and these pipes will require clamping before removal.

Am update after disconnecting the window sensor and it's a huge result and I now have manual control over the wipers, it's like having a new car again:) The wipers are still squeaking but I am trying to adjust the angle which the blade wipes the screen but that hasn't been too successful, I can see that the PIAA wipers would indeed be the overall solution but they do come at a price.

Hi, Hard to tell because it can be because of many things. I would start with fuel filter replacement, easiest and cheapest way, stalling motor in free revs eliminates turbo, so it is air or fuel. If air, start with cleaning MAF and if handy enough try checking EGR, failure of both of them at the same time or seperatelly might be the case. If neither then fuel, but it can be more than you think, either filter, preasure in fuel rail, cloged up injectors ( wouldn't explaint driving off after couple restarts). In your case would start with fuel filter, air filter, MAF and EGR if neither, then diagnostics has to be done, if only error read will show the problem, then it is ok if not deeper diagnostics is required, this means for fuel injector compensation ratio, fuel preasure in rail, SCV valves and so on.

Don't assume that the TRC/VSC fault light is due to a fault with the TRC/VSC this can be caused by a faulty/dirty egr valve on the diesel engine, when the engine won't respond correctly to instructions from the ecu it goes into limp mode and will put the TRC light on so check the egr valve first. Pete.

Mobil 1 esp and Shell Helix Ultra Extra 5w-30 are both VW 507 00 spec (Will be replaced with 508 00) but with these types of C2 low ash oil the Total Base Numbers (Anti wear! Higher the number the better) is quite low @ around 7 compaired to "Normal" synthetics at well over 10. Now years ago it was deemed prudent to use an alkaline oil to combat the acidity produced when burning heavy oil (Diesel) in combustion! As the acid produced would affect the oil and have a negative affect on engine parts and reduce there working life. But with the onset of the full synthetic and Ester and double Ester oils that break down a lot slower than mineral and semi synthetic so drain periods could be extended. Having said that... I would quite happily leave oil in for 10k in a Petrol powered ride! But in a Diesel with these daft low ash oils for these DPF! No way... But that's just me! What you have to look at is how many of these "Modern" Diesels cover over 300k? I've not heard of any!... But how many older diesels found in the Peugeot/Citroen (PSA) group cars always cover 300k! I know this for a fact as my driving school cars always did... I rest my case me Lord. Lol :)

Did they clean the manifold out as well as changing the EGR valve if not then that could be the cause. If you don't get satisfaction from the dealer speak to or write to Toyota GB and then the fault will be logged with them in case of further disputes. Pete.

I do not want to get involved in this argument, I run my car on V power or standard fuel with a shot of Millers additive, however i work every day with 1100, cab drivers i do not know any who use super fuels, more common is Asda Tesco, Morrisons, or wherevers cheapest, the cabs have engines by Nissan, ford, VM (chrysler) Toyota, mercedes, and even BMC, cabs do 50,000 a year on average, My own 07 plate has done 243000, and has never had any ehgine part replaced, my other cab 04 reg has done 297000, but had its engine replaced at 245000 miles however it has its original pump and injectors, My mate has an early Toyota engine now aproaching 500,000 miles and had no major parts, so i am sorry, but there is nothing wrong with our fuel, maybe the problem is over pampering our cars, Charlie, i believe you once ran a fleet of Transits The ford duratorque engine is not a very good engine, my bet is you didn.t run them on super diesel, but I also bet you were not replacing them at 20/30/50k.. our engines have a fault which Toyota are kindly putting right for us and many thanks to them and i commend them, but it is NOT the quality of our fuel :( Stew Stew. Yes Your right I had a small fleet of diesel Transits and ran them all on supermarket diesel.. I have no doubt that most diesels will and do tolerate supermarket diesel and will do for several hundred thousand miles. Why ? Because they do not have the apparent design flaws that PERHAPS the 2AD engine has... As I've said above it is/was one very well informed persons opinion.. Could be rubbish .. Or perhaps He being a Top Toyota person knows something We don't ?? On My long trips south and back using Vpower diesel more than pays for itself by way of the much increased fuel economy. This is metered not guessed at so I will continue to use it despite refusing to believe the gains for many many Years !! Truth is I don't know Mate . I'm not arguing or supporting His opinion just voicing it on His behalf..... Again We could argue the toss for ever on this one but that's not why this thread was started.. It is interesting though and perhaps grounds for a separate thread ??

Yes it is the same engine.... Why some and not others ??? Well I had a very lengthy conversation with a very experienced service Manager over this very question..... He says.. Toyota's 2AD engine is not capable of tolerating the sometimes and often found very poor quality diesel fuels We have in the UK. In other country's where the fuel quality is better this problem We are encountering here in the UK is not or is very rarely experienced... So Those Who have used higher quality fuel like Shell V Power or BP Ultimate diesel for instance or have mostly fed their cars a diet of these higher quality fuels may never have a problem... But please bear in mind this is one Mans opinion and a subject We could argue the toss about all day.. He also pointed out that because of design weaknesses Toyota adopted the very generous engine replacement policy.. I now run My cars both the Rav4 and the Jaguar XF on the above mentioned high quality fuels......... Charlie.

I think that was the plan.. It has been mentioned a time or two before that it might be a way of answering one if not the most asked question on this Forum. I expect Don will see it later so We will see.. I may have made slight errors and will correct the text if anyone can add or correct what I have written. But best done by PM to keep this thread tidier ?? Charlie.

Edit 1st post so now has Dave's hosted pictures and the thread makes sense. Would like to also say thanks again to Dave. ive got a petrol auris myself,but have been following the threads on the EGR valve problems which is common to to all brands that have them,but notice that the EGR housing is described as a manifold.thats fair enough, but does anyone bother to check their INLET manifold for carbon build up.maybe not, as it it could be awkward to remove.but you can bet if the EGR housing is well coked up,then the INLET manifold will have its fair share. the EGR housing/manifold is not the ideal shape for easy gas flow as some other manufactures that are cylindrical. plus the casting inside the housing cant be described as very smooth,easely trapping any carbon.

How to clean, I did have to borrow a few pictures as I had cleaned mine by the time I made this thread. 1. Remove the engine cover, this just pulls up and unclips. 2. Now you can see the EGR Valve, you will need a 12mm socket, Ratchet and extension to remove this. 3. Remove these 2 x bolts 1st for the pipe above the EGR valve. 4. Now undo the other 4 x 12mm nuts and bolts from the EGR valve and unplug this from the wiring loom, this can now be removed. 5. This is now what you will find. Dirty manifold with 2 x blocked breathing holes. Dirty EGR valve with restricted air flow. 6. I cleaned these using an old toothbrush, small screw driver, carburettor cleaner, old cloth and a dyson cleaner to suck the muck out. Try to scrape and brush out the thick carbon then use the carburettor cleaner to clean the finish this off. Now once all this is cleaned out just simply refit, This took me a total of 15 minutes so I assure you this is very easy. The results This will vary for everyone but in my experience I did a 360mile round trip the next day with mainly cruise control set at 70mph, going there (more downhill) the roads where very very wet with poor visibility and approx 7oc and we averaged 41.1MPG by the time we got there. When we come home with mainly cruise control set at 70mph, slightly uphill most of the way the roads where dry and approx 3oc the average MPG had dropped to 40.0. When I filled up we got 37.4litres in the tank which I rounded up to 38 and worked out at 43MPG (I always brim the tank). This is now showing a big improvement / approx 20% for a 15minute job of cleaning the EGR valve. I will also note the slight flat spots in throttle response are a lot less than before. I would like to say a big thank you to cabcurtains for bringing the EGR valve to my attention and to twingo69 as I borrowed a few pictures from his thread to make this guide. This guide is only made possible thanks to Rick D4D who has allowed me to host his pics in order to keep this guide for others to use.

Thanks Dave, yes I know what you mean and will say the Honda forum I use is not as childish and to be fair I don't understand the issue. At the bottom right corner on every post there is a + and a - and if people click say - then the person who posted the comment gets a - mark to their reputation (see your profile), in the last week I have collected -17 and that went back up to -12 as I positive marked a few comments to try it out. Why have I collected so many negative marks in such a small space of time? its not rocket science is it that their is obviously childish users here. I was going to hang around a little as for sure our next car will be Jap so there is a 50% chance it will be Toyota depending what they make at the time and what we like / suits us but now I dont see the point.