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I actually went on a long trip this weekend and what I found was the car is just plane terrible at tracking straight. Any crown in the road sends it off to the left or the right. To go straight requires the wheel to be constantly cocked to compensate. I initially thought it was a pull, but now I think it just tracks bad. Changing from the left to right lane is almost impossible to do smoothly since the wheel needs to go from being cocked one way to the other.
I'm not certain whether this is an Avalon thing or a poor alignment thing.
I drive our Avvy on trips from the Boston area to Delaware every 3 - 4 months - it's like on rails for 350 miles. It's so comfortable I usually only stop once or twice and get 29 - 30 mpg for 65 mph trips. Even in rain or slippery conditions, it always is easy to control and gives me a lot of confidence.
You need to have your alignment and tires checked. I think that 15" are a bit small for a car this size.
I have a 2002 XLS with over 71,000 miles on it. My lease ends Oct. '05. I would like to lease a 2005 in October but don't want to take a hit for the mileage.
Has anybody had an experience where the dealer waived the excess mileage if you leased a new Toyota?
she still gets blinded by the sun with the visor down.
the thermostat stuck in the closed position,the engine overheated causing the frost plugs to pop.At the same time,the heater core started leaking.It leaked outside,which we could see, BUT what we couldn't see was that the floor of the car ,underneath the rugs,was filling up with coolant.The engine was steaming under the hood.We sure knew this was a problem,but it was far worse than we ever could have thought.
In order to replace the $17 frost plugs,the engine had to be tilted and many things moved around. {WHY ON EARTH IS THE CAR MADE THIS WAY?]
But that's not the worst!!!
In order to replace the heater core,,the whole dashboard was taken out ,also the airbags.
Again ,we ask, WHY IS THE CAR MADE THAT WAY?
Two thousand dollars is a lot after having the car only 18 months.
The interesting thing is that we spoke to many Toyota repair men,and some newspaper car journalists,and ALL said this NEVER happens with a Toyota car of this age.We already knew that,as we have been buying the brand since 1973,always keeping them for many years and passing them on to our sons with complete confidence.right now we have a 95 Camry which has had no trouble of consequence ,and a 1992 forerunner which our son still drives in the Michigan winter,and which still looks good.We have always looked after our cars and we know what to expect of Toyota. UNTIL NOW
One repair man told us that the Avalon is the one toyota that does not have a pan under the heater core to guide any coolant leak outside the car.Is that true? If so,,We think it is a bad design flaw. Our car rugs have been sodden.We keep putting whole rolls of thick paper towel which sops up green coolant.Now we think it's almost dry,but we are now faced with maybe having to replace the rugs [expensive,no doubt]
One of our main problems is that we don't know if we can trust this car any more.Or Toyota. After 30 years we feel BETRAYED
Has anyone else experienced this?
By the way, most thermostats these days are designed to usually fail open, but I suppose even then, every once in a while one could fail closed, and this is a much more serious failure mode.
I don't own an Avalon, by the way, but I have experienced thermostat failures in both modes in my nearly 40 years of driving. If it fails closed, you need to take immediate action by pulling off and shutting down your engine.
But what about the questions we asked?
Did you have a faulty radiator cap as well?
All in all, a very strange situation, in my opinion.
So in order for this to happen:
* the radiator cap had to fail to release fluid when its preset pressure level was reached
* the temperature guage had to fail to indicate an over temperature problem
* the temperature warning light had to fail
* then the pressure got so high that the freeze plugs blew out
* and the heater core gave out flooding your vehicle with green liquid that couldn't be seen?
...ummmm. Not so sure that I'm with you on all of this.
While all this was happening in a massive surge of steam and pressure... the radiator and heater hoses and clamps all held fast and did not leak or split. Perhaps it's a new type of clamp and synthetic fiber. Hmmmmm.......strange.
The replacement engine only lasted abou 30K and it was dying when we got rid of the car.
It had a blown head gasket too and "air"/engine gases got into the coolant fluid. The air bubble would circulate around driving the temperature guage crazy. Plus the fluid level in the overflow tank went up and down.
I'd say that the probability of a car developing an engine overheating problem that would blow the freeze plugs without the radiator cap releasing it's pressure or the hoses/clamps is approximately zero. And all with no warning. Right.
Guess: The cooling system was not properly maintained and/or wrong coolant. Trash plugs up the heater core in places and the engine block passages in places. Shut off the hot engine and you get super-hot spots. If the thermostat is also partially blocked by trash, keeping the radiator cap from really doing its job, POW!
Other ideas are welcome.....
I think the poster would have learned that their '$2000' repair was because there was trash blocking the engine coolant passages, heater core and thermostat. A dealer or mechanic would be curious as to how the 'trash' got in there.
After all someone would have had to have stuffed it down the radiator cap to get it in there.
Was this a St. Paddy's day post ...
It's just a guess... but for this event to happen, and for the radiator cap to be of no help, as you mentioned, something had to block the entire cooling system at multiple points and keep it blocked as the pressure built up.
I think if you checked the Avalon V6 out you'd find that it is a DOHC engine - like Ferrari, Jaguar and Lotus.
DOHC engines don't have 'valve lifters' like push rod engines from Ford or Chevy, since the cam directly actuates the intake and exhaust valves.
You must be thinking of some other kind of manufacturer besides Toyota.
The poster that made the valve lifter post was 'hermanagerman' not moi.
Hermanagerman just became active on the 3/18.
Are false or fake posts on a board like this also called spam? I am not savvy in all of the post terminology?
rgds
"...found lifter bucket no good (the bucket is worn excessively where the valve hits the bucket)" Presumably he should have called this "follower" rather than lifter.
In any case, it sounds too me like there is an oil circulation problem. Just replacing the part may not have been a sufficient fix. Comments?
The Avvy has 52K and is ready for new shocks.
What is best for a lady and her Avalon. Should we get OEM or Tokico's?
How about costs?
Thanks in advice
Footie
The ones for an Avalon are Gas shocks. What would there be to leak?
We have a 00 Avvy XLS with 53,000 on it and my wife is complaining about rougher ride and louder ker-thunks.
Thanks
I think you could have replaced them when the car was brand new and felt an improvement in ride and handling, although a stiffer ride.
I do not think you will be disappointed with the TokicoHP's. Leave the wheels and tires the same size. If you still would like more performance without affecting ride quality all that much, than Energy Suspension makes sway bars bushings for the front and rear, that make a remarkable difference as well in cornering. Their is a slight hint of more tranmission of vibration in the cabin but it is negligible. Lastly, the tires can be plus ONE sized but this is a recurring expense, and the least attractive. The TokicoHP's are the ticket.
abfisch
Any suggestions on what is wrong and how to fixit? Car has 53K (and we love it btw).
I saw the dealer change the programming to make the door not lock on moving from P to D when I bought the car and I think he opened the drivers door during the procedure.
Does anyone have the procedure that will work for my 2000 XLS ?
As to the locks, there is a TSB with the instructions that I have at home, can post tonight when I get back. They are different than the ones in post #2969 in that they only have an "On" and "Off" state, not the 4 different ones like in the 2003 manual. If you want to spend $10 and a few hours downloading pdf's, you can get all the TSB's, Repair Manual, etc. etc. at http://www.techinfo.toyota.com. I found it to be worth it already.
Usually between the information that can be accessed from this page Maintenance Schedules, Recalls, and Technical Service Bulletins as well as the helpful contributions of a couple of mechanic members in our Technical Service Bulletins discussion, we can produce all the information here, all for the most reasonable price of your membership in our Forums!
But anything you can contribute is very welcome - thanks! And maybe there are things we can help you with as well.
Have fun in our Forums!
/Technical Service Bulletins/ post #410
It's great to be able to get answers.
0patience, "Technical Service Bulletins" #410, 1 May 2005 4:00 pm
Glad we're able to help, teezedd!
Love the Avalon! I'm getting between 25-29 MPG on my commute, mix of hwy, city. Can't beat that! Replaced the blown JBL subwoofer in the rear deck with a cheap ie 8" sub, and it seems to work good. Better than none at all. I think I paid less than $20, and spend an hour removing the back seat to put it in. Also changed the cabin AC air filter, and what a difference in smell that made! It was pretty gunked up. Again, filter for $16 on ebay, less than 45 min to install (while herding kids).
Rob
Any ideas before I throw myself to the wolves?
Are you referring to the TSB covering ELECTRICAL EL009-00 in the May 1 post by "0patience" ? See link Above in #3037
I know that it is critical to follow the procedure exactly.
If that doesn't work for you I will post what I did before I saw the post.
Now that I have it disabled I don't want to mess with it again to try the TSB
TeeZedd
Rob
I tried the TSB and I was able to enable and disable the locks with the instructions.
You do need to keep the door open while doing this procedure until after the 10 seconds at the end.
Before the TSB was posted I tried this procedure and it also worked.
I don't know if the last step had anything to do with the success.
To disable the 2000 Avalon auto lock feature:
With ignition switch on, open the closed driver's door.
Turn ignition switch off and remove the key.
Insert/remove key 5 times within 10 seconds. Do not turn the key on!
Press the unlock side of the door lock switch 5 times within 10 seconds.
Insert key and turn on/off 2 times without starting the engine.
About 10 seconds after completing the above the auto lock is disabled.
To enable it you do the same thing, only hit the lock side of the switch.
Good luck. Teezedd
thanks in advance!
Turns out (or so they said) that the steering angle sensor was not putting out a signal. This led the VSC system to declare itself inoperative and turn on the dash lights.
The fix was over $600 and covered by our Toyota Platinum extended warranty.
We haven't had the steady burning engine check light.
Thanks
Thanks