AVCS failures?
 

According to AVOturboworld and MRT Performance out of Australia, they're claiming to find failures in regards to the AVCS system. Anybody encounter this? Turbo guys?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iw1Pdln8eI"]AVO turbo update including tech data for Toyota Frs 86 and Subaru BRZ - YouTube[/ame]

there have been avcs failures reported, but i don't think it has anything to do with a turbocharger. the ones i've seen reported have been on relatively new, stock cars iirc.

I was thinking maybe due to the added stress of the turbo system on the engine as a whole. I wonder if the failures were specific to AVO as they use a mechanical pump ran directly off the camshaft... pure speculation but this AVCS failure problem is new to me. I hope this isn't an inherent design flaw :(

...they did say in the video that they will ultimately fail. :(

Or all bs and really only effecting a tiny percentage of cars? Should I be worried? My car is an 05/2013.

From what I understand, it's a very small percentage and it is not specific to modified cars.

I believe @shiro attributes his Greddy turbo motor to blowing because of the AVCS.

I should be finding out more this week. Subaru is finishing the engine tear down as we speak. I know for a fact one of my rods are broke. Can't wait to get the results soon.

ouch....

Thread revival but im turboed and my avcs is going bad apparently. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt.

What is your car's build date?

April or May 2012
Apparently there is a TSB that I never had done to the car because I never had this issue until I got the P0301 DTC near the end of last year after 36,xxx miles. (S-SB-0033-13)

Thanks for the info. It appears that the affected were early production buiids.

And I hope this TSB fixes it

Excuse my ignorance but where are you finding these tab recalls? Scions website under recalls??

issues section of this forum theres a tsb list

If your a mechanic your going to have access to these through any of your programs like Pro-Demand, TechStream or Auto-Fix.

We however, happen to have a pretty good listing here though for those who don't have access.
Remember not all TSB are recalls. Some are just diagnostic aids.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21868

Anyone know the updated part numbers that I should be replacing?

Well, this is a good example of when gauges such as oil pressure and boost can be used to save your car real time. With a boost pressure gauge I am assuming one could see the drop in pressure and pull over

so what fixes the issue

Yes and no.

No body drives around with their eyes on oil pressure or boost pressure gauges all the time.

True, I'm assuming that this mechanical failure could reduce pressure real fast. Maybe if an oil gauge had a red light warning built in once the pressure dropped below a critical volume?

Only way to tell that I can think of is if you notice the car pulling alot of timing (loss of power). Im boosted so power loss is more apparent.

I have the Greddy Multi-D/A gauge and it will flash and has an audible alarm you can set. One issue though is the car varies so much in oil pressure from idle to higher RPM, you are still at a fairly low pressure to trigger the alarm or else it would be triggering all the time. Need more logic to trigger something more meaningful.

It would be nice if someone on the forums who had the issue fixed could tell us what was done to fix their issue.

6 minutes in...you have to replace the VVT pulley at least. Be nice if you could get a tuner to turn on a warning light if pressure drops below your lowest number at idle... @moto-mike

I think the oil pressure drop is small relative to what really does the motor in--which is the overly advanced (or retarded) cam phasing. It will end up creating very high cylinder pressures at high RPMs, and where 18 degrees might have been fine before, now 18 degrees timing is causing a ton of knock and smashing the bearings.

We had one of the race teams last year stuff a motor just this way in a pro series (each event is $20k+ in expenses) because their MX5 VVT actuator did the same thing. So not something entirely unique to the BRZ, but these components are mechanical components just like anything else, and can fail. I'd say there seems to be a disproportionate number on the early FA20's though based on what I'm seeing.

I think I figured out how to determine if you may or may not have to worry about this issue.

I have a 2013 FRS which was the year that this TSB was addressed.

TSB S-SB-0033-13 is the bulletin. If you open the pdf and review you will see the following:

"|This bulletin applies to vehicles produced BEFORE the Production Change Effective VIN shown below.

MODEL PRODUCTION CHANGE EFFECTIVE VIN
FR-S JF1ZNAA1#D#008792"

I did some reading up on how to interpret VIN numbers. "12th to 17th characters- VIS - Vehicle Identifier Section. The last 8 characters of the VIN are used for the identification a of specific vehicle. The last four characters shall always be numeric. Identifies the sequence of the vehicle for production as it rolled off the manufacturers assembly line."

So if we look at the 12th# of the VIN above JF1ZNAA1#D#008792 it is a 0. Therefore, I conclude that if you have a VIN# 008792 or below you should see your dealer about the fix. If you have 008793 or above the update was made and you should be fine. Me, I have something like 725896 vs 008792. So mine was produced well after the TSB was addressed.

Does this look correct?

If so that means there are 8792 engines with the potential to have that issue. That's a lot for a low volume car.