Unofficial - CEL/SL/Idle Issue List for FR-S/BRZ Owners

[@Art_Mighty]

Originally Posted by speedy racer

My FRS has been disabled since 8/31/12 which qualifies as a lemon now. I feel a little better about this CEL issue, now I got the upper hand. After replacing VVTI parts, I have been promised ECU twice and still waiting. I have lost confidence with SOA in finding solid fix and my patience has about reach the limt. If compensation is not to my liking or car is not 100% right, I will excersize lemon law.

As much as its been talked about I don't think anyone has actually gone thru with it yet on this or any forum. Would you look for a new FRS or for Toyota to buy you out of the car?

How long have you been waiting for an ECU?

[Martin Donnon]

The VVTi issue is with machine swarf in the VVTi actuators, they were not cleaned properly during manufacturing, they need replacing. Take that from someone who has had theirs pulled down after generating a P0016 to find the root cause of the problem. Good luck trying to fix this issue with a reflash

[Boost_Junkie]

Originally Posted by Martin Donnon

The VVTi issue is with machine swarf in the VVTi actuators, they were not cleaned properly during manufacturing, they need replacing. Take that from someone who has had theirs pulled down after generating a P0016 to find the root cause of the problem. Good luck trying to fix this issue with a reflash

Riiiight, pics?

[gdi2290]

reflash failed they called and told me it was all fixed... I went in my car adjusted my mirrors waited for the engine to warm up then as soon as I shifted to Drive the Check engine light came on... needless to say they're ordering a new ECU and I'll be calling subaru tomorrow.


PS: thought it was funny If you type in "Subaru BRZ Check Engine Light" into Google Images mines the 5th and 6th image

[@Art_Mighty]

Originally Posted by Martin Donnon

The VVTi issue is with machine swarf in the VVTi actuators, they were not cleaned properly during manufacturing, they need replacing. Take that from someone who has had theirs pulled down after generating a P0016 to find the root cause of the problem. Good luck trying to fix this issue with a reflash

Your the only other person I've run into with a P0016 code. That would make sense as Toyota insisted on the parts replacement with mine after they analyzed the recordings from the ECU.

[Rob_g]

Originally Posted by Those Meddling Kids

I honestly think the root cause of this issue will end up being low oil pressure. The reflash is most likely expanding the tolerances at which the error codes will be thrown. That's why most of the cars being reflashed are still having poor idle quality but no new CEL. If the car does not have enough oil pressure going to the OCV's and the cam gears the system will not operate properly. The hypothesis of oil passages being blocked or inadequate seems like a very logical explanation for the problem. This is why I'm hoping that my car gets lemon lawed or a very long warranty applied. I don't want to have to pay for Subaru's screwups down the road.

Well the hypothesis does sound interesting. What is also interesting is that there are a few people who reported the CEL right after an oil change.

Rob

[HATED1]

Originally Posted by Rob_g

Well the hypothesis does sound interesting. What is also interesting is that there are a few people who reported the CEL right after an oil change.

Rob

right on the money!

[Alienate]

Got a call from my service adviser at Scion today. He got a call from Toyota that they were going to "connect their computer to my computer and transfer some new code" They did so, and then they drove it for 50 miles with NO Problems. Told me to come pick it up. I did and put about 30 more miles on it. All SEEMS fine. The idle is very steady at 650 rpms. NO HUNTING.

This was great news as I was told earlier that a new ECU was not coming until Nov 1st.

So I called my SOA rep "LISA" to close out the case. She not in, I got Greg instead. He took all my data and seemed aware of this new data streaming fix. He told me that Lisa would call the dealer tomorrow to verify the job as complete and would then call me to finalize and talk about the "Scion Good Will Extended Warranty.

I had the car 11 days before it went into the shop. It sat there 22 days.
I will update more after some LISA TALK.

[JohnS_Rosamond]

Though I have no evidence to provide, I think the following:
It was postulated that only about 15% of all cars sold actually had problems. If it was oil pressure resalted it would have effected more cars. If it were bad oil pumps, the cars effected would be clustered within a small VIN range.

The Aussie who stated that he thought it was cam actuators that hadn't been cleaned well makes more sense. It might not be an easily seen defect, so bad parts were put into the factor stream. Debris that comes out of these actuators could get caught in small oil passages, etc. Further, in their hurry to get unhappy customers out the door (and back on the street) it may be that some of the defective units (still boxed up) were sent back out.

This might explain why Toyota / Subaru hasn't really been forthcoming about what is really going on. Who would want to admit that they goofed not once, but twice? Just my thoughts.

[jduffy]

Originally Posted by Marrk

How about a little Reality Principle with your paranoia? You might find the change both useful and stimulating.

Fear-mongering isn't helping this thread. Let's stick to fact-based statements as much as possible.

Agreed.

Oh and in that vein someone says:

"It was postulated that only about 15% of all cars sold actually had problems." Really, 15%? That's a lot of units failing.

You take the numbers to be sold in the US for Subaru and Toyota it's 16,000. 15% of that is 2,400. The list here contains 129 instances of failure.

So, what you're telling me then is that roughly 2,271 people do not know how to use the internet.

You know this being America, I almost buy that!

[JohnS_Rosamond]

jduffy, you're using my words against me.

I was not trying to say that there was no problem. Nor was I trying to say that the stated problems were insignificant. In fact I feel great empathy for those who have had to wait for weeks without their car while Toypta and Subaru decided to tell owners nothing.

I was simply trying to say that if this was an oil pressure related failure, the rate (in my mind) would have been significantly higher.

[Those Meddling Kids]

By low oil pressure I don't necessarily mean the whole system is low on oil pressure. What I meant to say is that there is a problem with oil getting to the cam control system. So low in the system itself- things like clogged actuators, improperly sized oil galleys, etc. Look at the screens in the AVCS cam bolts from the early DBW turbo cars. Many of those cars have experienced turbo failures. When I see similar codes to this in an STI for example it usually is related to clogged lines or low oil which stems from improper maintenance. Many of these cars experience a bearing failure shortly after they start throwing cam control codes.

[cyrus]

Just a quick update for others:

The dealer stated a reflash will not fix the issue. They have ordered a new ECU and have no idea when it's coming in as the computer simply says processing. They estimate hopefully 3 to 4 days, but they really have no idea. I'm not sure if the ECU is on backorder or if it's readily available.

They had to contact a corporate tech to take a look at the ecu dump before making any moves on correcting the issue.

[nomuken]

all fixed