Help diagnosing Toyota Estima engine trouble

The discussion seems to have identified the probable cause of the oil spray but I am still concerned about your reported loss of power. As K303 has suggested, fuel filter is a likely cause and if it has not been changed within a decent interval I would suggest a replacement anyway.

Also check the air filter. If this is clogged it will result in loss of power and black smoke. A clogged filter is not always obvious to the eye.

Cheers, powerguy, they are all on the OH's shopping list for tomorrow, and we're going to leave the car off the road till they're replaced, just to be on the safe side.

As for the mess in the engine compartment. Is that sort of steam-clean job OK for the home mechanic, or is it best leeft for a professional?

Andrea
Oxford

I've done car engine bays fine myself with grease remover. Supercheap auto has a good range, I use the export aussie stuff, get the litre bottle and a squeeze gun bottle rather than the aerosol cans, it's a HELL of a lot cheaper. or try the orange diluant which you mix up with water. One is solvent based and dissolves oil and petroleum deposits, the other is detergent based. I prefer the solvent ones as they work faster with less scrub needed. for a film of fresh oil the solvent ones are simply spray on and rinse off.

Never use high pressure cleaners such as a waterblaster or a steam cleaner under a bonnet unless you know the engine well and know where to avoid, a gentle hose over with a garden hand nozzle on spray is all they should have, high pressure can force water between seals into places where it's bad to have it, such as a fuse or relay box, distributors on petrols, melted fuse boxes are no fun

I've been re-reading the first few posts... just to confirm, in switching down to 2nd gear going up some hills, is that over a route where you would normally use a higher gear (power loss, normal hills) or is it over a new stretch of road up steeper grades than you usually frequent, such as the Hope saddle on SH6 between Nelson and Murchison (normal power, steeper hills)?

Kiwi303;222920 wrote: I've been re-reading the first few posts... just to confirm, in switching down to 2nd gear going up some hills, is that over a route where you would normally use a higher gear (power loss, normal hills) or is it over a new stretch of road up steeper grades than you usually frequent, such as the Hope saddle on SH6 between Nelson and Murchison (normal power, steeper hills)?

I have NEVER done Otira Gorge (and will probably never use it again!!!) before, and I've never had to downshift like that before to get up the hills. I've also never driven such steep roads before. The road between Nelson and Murchison was a piece of cake by comparison, and the only time I had to downshift to 2nd was coming up behind a milk tanker chugging up the hill on that saddle you mentioned. That was fun. Not. There was no place for the driver to turn out safely to allow the 40+ cars behind him to pass.

I don't usually lose power going up normal hills, did fine all through Lewis Pass and on through to Nelson.

Andrea
Oxford

Quote from my old trucking boss ;Well what do you jockeys think you got all those gears for to play wirh:) there were other flowery words in there. This was when we said our rigs were too slow or had to go down gears to climb hillsLOL

well, it sounds like there's nothing much wrong then if you're still going over the familiar ground in the familiar gears, and it's just a new cliff face that required the new gear, then It's just be glad the worry highlighted the importance of regular checks

change the filters and clean things up and be happy

I am VERY relieved, this has been quite educational, and OH spent an hour pulling things apart last evening to be able to get at the correct part numbers (and then spent another hour getting the oil off himself, because we couldn't find the hand-cleaner. He even managed to dye 1/3 of his greying head black!

Cheers
Andrea
Oxford

Andrea dish washor even clothes wash stuff is just as good as hand cleaner we se it all the time Gave up on hand stuff as kept running out:D

Andrea;222844 wrote: OK, dumb question now, as I have had very little to do with caring for a diesel vehicle during my lifetime with cars... what is "regular" servicing for a diesel vehicle other than the oil/fuel filter/air filter changes and wheel alignment, and what are the best intervals for an older (16 years) vehicle? We also get whatever needs doing for passing a warrent, obviously, tyres, brakes, etc...

I just spotted one question that nobody has answered yet, so here goes...

The Service Interval for newer Diesel-engined vehicles is longer than for older ones, as you would expect.

For example, our 2006 Hilux is 10,000km between oil and filter changes, whereas older ones were 7,500km or even 5,000km. The level of emission standards which a vehicle is certified to also seems to have something to do with it. Our Hilux is Euro IV compliant, which means that what comes out of the exhaust smells almost sweet, rather than offensive as older Diesels did, or acrid as Petrol engines do.

Interestingly, Toyota insisted that we brought the vehicle in for servicing every 7,500km while it was under warranty, whereas the recommended service interval is 10,000km according to our mechanic's vehicle database. I guess you can't blame Toyota for sponging a little extra money out of us during the past 2 years while we have owned the vehicle, but now that the 3-year new-car warranty period is over, we will revert back to 10,000km service intervals.

In your case Andrea, I would say no less frequently than 7,500km would be essential, and if you want to prolong your Estima's engine life, it may pay to change the oil and filters every 5,000km. Our local mechanic recently charged $240 to do this at the same time as replacing the air filter. If you do it yourself, the price should be around $140 + GST for the oil and both filters. If you drive on unsealed roads at all, you will find the air filter gets clogged quite quickly. Our mechanic said that it was all choked up and he sounded a little surprised by that. Then again, if he'd seen some of the roads we've been on lately, it would have been no surprise

Hopefully the above info. will give you some idea anyway.

Cheers,
Grant.

Thanks again, everyone. OH went to supercheap Monday and got everything he needed for a total of $160 (air, fuel and oil filters and oil and hand cleaner). Last time we had the oil changed which was a little more than 5000kms ago (but the time before that was far too long), we had it done at the local garage, and I was shocked at the cost.

2 of the main roads into our place are shingle, 3kms long or so, so yes, the air filters are likely to be a mess.

Thanks, Grant, for your recent reply as well, really helps!

Cheers
Andrea
Oxford