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

[darnbry]

I'm having the same issues as everyone cel and sl light on plus the shaking of engine and misfire while in idle mode. My question is has anyone got any compensation for this ? And how did you get it?

[@Art_Mighty]

Originally Posted by Marrk

I, for one, would be grateful if someone could explain-clarify how break-in would affect the valve in question. I am not at odds with this statement. I am just a little vague about how that works.

My belife is that the tolerances inside the cam gears are actually a little TOO tight for some of them function properly. It goes to this concept of tolerances "stacking up" inside the cam gear (this was mentioned in Toyota's official communication). Inside these things there are basically a bunch of parts. If each one of them is a little on the large side then all of them together won't move too well...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWZmc9Xx6mg&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]BorgWarner Variable Cam Timing (Mid Position Lock) - YouTube[/ame]

...in a way I really appreciate that this could even be a problem because it means that the engineers who worked on the cam gears are designing the tolerances for ware. As our motors get older these delicate and expensive assemblies will continue to function as intended.

So to your question; the harder the break-in the looser the tolerances become?

[switchlanez]

Most people with this issue aren't seeing damaged engine components right? I remember one guy had mechanical damage but I think that was an anomaly which caused people to freak out thinking CEL=damaged mechanical parts automatically. Typically, the CEL triggers the engine to run in limp mode to safeguard things from getting damaged. The CEL issue is already a small minority and having damaged parts is probably a tiny minority of the already small minority. Any car make/model is bound to see a few failures like that even if it is late in the model run/not a first year model.

[@Art_Mighty]

Originally Posted by switchlanez

Most people with this issue aren't seeing damaged engine components right? I remember one guy had mechanical damage but I think that was an anomaly which caused people to freak out thinking CEL=damaged mechanical parts automatically. Typically, the CEL triggers the engine to run in limp mode to safeguard things from getting damaged. The CEL issue is already a small minority and having damaged parts is probably a tiny minority of the already small minority. Any car make/model is bound to see a few failures like that even if it is late in the model run/not a first year model.

On this forum I think there have only been three or four catastrophic engine failures. I think all of them happened immediatly after a cam gear replacement so they're probably the product of improperly setting the timing leading to valves comming into contact with valves and/or pistons.

[AsianStyle]

Decided to do a quick search and here is what I found in this thread:

Problems with hard break in:
ftc~brz - "Hey art, I hit 7200 rpm a few times today and here's what my car learned...now I have cel/idle/slp and a new one...."

Boost Junkie - "I did not follow the break-in per the manual and drove it spiritedly from day one. CEL came on @ 1115 miles."

Problems with soft break in:
christina_marie - "FR-S (Asphalt AT), 7073xx, western MA area - normal break in, never went above 4K and didn't drive her hard until after 1000 miles."

So, I'm not sure I buy break in has anything to do with these issues. I will accept ECU change might fix it, but we have members here who have gotten the CEL with either break in method.

[jduffy]

Originally Posted by AsianStyle

So, I'm not sure I buy break in has anything to do with these issues. I will accept ECU change might fix it, but we have members here who have gotten the CEL with either break in method.

I agree as there are too many people who have clearly done both styles of break in with the problem.

Plus if Toyota/Subaru had been able to pinpoint this problem sooner to break in styles we'd be hearing about it from the dealers.

They still don't have a grasp of what's causing this is my guess or else there wouldn't be so much confusion still.

[jesperswe]

As said there are both proper break in with CEL and hard break in with CEL. I am one of those who redlined it out of the dealer I drove it pretty hard the first 100km (and then my CEL came on). I wasn't even done with the "break-in" period....

And some people got CEL just driving a few miles after getting the car.

Why the hell couldn't Toyobaru just settle with regular fixed cam gears instead of these variable things! Problem solved!

[KrzysFR]

You can also add me to the list:

KrzysFR, GT86, 1400 km, 0067XX, CEL, France

Got blinking CEL / rough idle the last few weeks, and tonight I got CEL + SL on the trip home. SL disappeared after a few minutes and only CEL remains. Also the engine sounds like an old diesel truck when shifting into 1st or 2nd gear.

Of course, according to the dealership, I must be the first one to ever have this problem in the world, because they never heard of any problem whatsoever with the GT86...

Update 10/16: code P0019, dealership cleared the code and they will contact me when they hear from Toyota France in 72 hours max.

[jesperswe]

Now we almost got people on the list from all around the world. This is clearly a global problem.

[SubieNate]

Originally Posted by jesperswe

Why the hell couldn't Toyobaru just settle with regular fixed cam gears instead of these variable things! Problem solved!

Because 100 hp/L with decent low RPM characteristics?

[cyrus]

It's been 10 days since I've been waiting for the new ECM. The part is on backorder and the service manager has no ETA on how long it'll be.

Anyone have any other information from other dealers on how long the wait is before the ECM drops?

The service manager is speculating the reason for the backorder is that they are experimenting and manufacturing entirely new units to address this issue.

They have two other vehicles besides mine waiting at the dealership for the new ECM.

This is quite frustrating. I chose the FR-S over the Porsche Cayman because of reliability and lower cost of maintenance. I hope they get these issues worked out.

[brianlo622]

Originally Posted by cyrus

It's been 10 days since I've been waiting for the new ECM. The part is on backorder and the service manager has no ETA on how long it'll be.

Anyone have any other information from other dealers on how long the wait is before the ECM drops?

The service manager is speculating the reason for the backorder is that they are experimenting and manufacturing entirely new units to address this issue.

They have two other vehicles besides mine waiting at the dealership for the new ECM.

This is quite frustrating. I chose the FR-S over the Porsche Cayman because of reliability and lower cost of maintenance. I hope they get these issues worked out.

Same.. picked the FRS over a (2013) Cayman for immediate availability, lower cost of ownership, and almost equally as fun.

To answer your question, Northern California here, brought my car in on 10/3/2012, got an update from my service advisor a week later that the ECU will be here "sometime in the first week of November".

[dabocx]

Set up a appointment with the dealer since they could not see the car today. Im going to have to take of my tune and go in stock minus the exhaust. The service manager said no one has come in with the issue and they have not heard anything from Toyota.

Hopefully the problem can be replicated on Saturday and i can start on getting this fixed. I just hope i dont have to fight the dealership over this.

[Accurate Race Shop]

I love my fr-s but all of these problems are getting me worried about when the warranty is over if these things are going to start falling apart and now that all the auto media knows about the problems you are starting to see a lot of articles questioning the quality of these cars. Hopefully they get it all figured out before someone at Toyota decides to pull the plug on them

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2