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

[OrbitalEllipses]

You have a warranty for a reason. A few of those issues are known and have active TSBs while others aren't issues at all. Don't make a big deal out of an issue you don't have. It doesn't sound like you're pleased with the vehicle, perhaps you should attempt to lemon it or pass it off to someone else to enjoy?

[Graksthar]

Thank you Eurospeed, uspspro and OrbitalEllipses for starting and maintaining this thread!

My apologies as I posted my experience in another part of the forum (thanks for letting me know OrbitalEllipses!). Here's my posting and I'll get the VIN as soon as possible:

I just purchased my FR-S about 4-weeks ago. Encountered a failure of the Cam Gear / VVT at 2400miles. The car is now in the shop with no idea how long it will take to obtain the parts as they are back-ordered.

My problems started right before the failure when I was sitting in traffic. I started experiencing very rough idle as if I'd lost a cylinder (misfire). I placed the car in neutral and revved a couple of times to 1500 rpm and the problem appeared to go away. At the next light the problem occurred once again and would not go away. I pulled the car over and turned it off to let it rest for a bit. Upon restarting, I immediately encountered a check engine light and what appeared to be a traction control light. I limped the car home with I'd what I'd guess to say 1/2 the power as I couldn't climb a hill without flooring it.

Needless to say I was extremely excited about this car. Now I am a tad-bit disappointed and worried that other things may go wrong. I suppose it's the price you pay for early adoption.

Thanks for the forum! It was sad that others have encountered this problem, but at the same time it was a strange relief knowing I wasn't the only one. Hopefully, Toyota / Subaru can use this information and offer a recall so that others don't encounter this problem.

[mhigham]

mhigham, FR-S, 980mi P0019, in shop MI, ECU ordered.

Took it into the dealer on Friday. They scanned and informed me Toyota said not to drive, to put me in a rental.

I will say it was no hassle for them to get to the point of ordering an ECU or putting me in a rental. They said it would be done today, but I have not heard anything yet; still hoping.

Mike

[Sargy]

Haha I got a chance to speak with the famous Lisa. Just asking her to re-direct me to MY representative. Trying to get the compensation conversation going.

[KrzysFR]

Have you guys seen this ? Toyota UK Statement : CEL/Idle/VVT Issue 22/10/12

I'm calling my dealership tomorrow to rub this in their face, and see if they heard from their pals form Toyota France. Probably they told them to wait until the 25th for the firmware to be certified in France too ?

Note the 4% data point in the anouncement. That means 36 cars out of 900 are having the problem AT THE MOMENT in the UK. How many more not yet diagnosed, or where the owners did not notice or were turned away by the dealers telling them this is "normal" ?

[egraphic]

Originally Posted by KrzysFR

Have you guys seen this ? Toyota UK Statement : CEL/Idle/VVT Issue 22/10/12

I'm calling my dealership tomorrow to rub this in their face, and see if they heard from their pals form Toyota France. Probably they told them to wait until the 25th for the firmware to be certified in France too ?

Note the 4% data point in the anouncement. That means 36 cars out of 900 are having the problem AT THE MOMENT in the UK. How many more not yet diagnosed, or where the owners did not notice or were turned away by the dealers telling them this is "normal" ?

I just spoke to Lisa at Scion service (US), and she threw this out when I asked about the CEL issue: "No TSBs have been issued, and we've found that the ECU reflashing is working in most cases, and in any case we believe no more than 5% of FR-S's are affected."

Hmmm - the closest thing I've heard stateside to official acknowledgement of a percentage (I didn't ask for one). I may have missed word in another post, though.

[DieselxIndustry]

Took my car in 10/22 for the chirp TSB fix. Also had them gather more info on my car regarding the idle dip CEL issue. They are having a replacement ECU overnighted to the shop for the fix (hopefully) tomorrow. For those of you who have stealerships dragging your fix out, call them now to see whats up cause I was under the impression that the parts were on back order but mine is claiming itll be in tomorrow with an update by 2PM for me.

[Sean K.]

Originally Posted by egraphic

I just spoke to Lisa at Scion service (US), and she threw this out when I asked about the CEL issue: "No TSBs have been issued, and we've found that the ECU reflashing is working in most cases, and in any case we believe no more than 5% of FR-S's are affected."

Hmmm - the closest thing I've heard stateside to official acknowledgement of a percentage (I didn't ask for one). I may have missed word in another post, though.

Youch.....there's a second Toyota rep saying 5%. Not good.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by Graksthar

Thank you Eurospeed, uspspro and OrbitalEllipses for starting and maintaining this thread!

My apologies as I posted my experience in another part of the forum (thanks for letting me know OrbitalEllipses!)

No prob. I don't maintain anything, just saw a loose post that could have gone elsewhere. Good luck!

[ft_sjo]

Originally Posted by KrzysFR

Have you guys seen this ? Toyota UK Statement : CEL/Idle/VVT Issue 22/10/12

I'm calling my dealership tomorrow to rub this in their face, and see if they heard from their pals form Toyota France. Probably they told them to wait until the 25th for the firmware to be certified in France too ?

Note the 4% data point in the anouncement. That means 36 cars out of 900 are having the problem AT THE MOMENT in the UK. How many more not yet diagnosed, or where the owners did not notice or were turned away by the dealers telling them this is "normal" ?

An important factor with regards to the UK is that the majority of vehicles sold were in or after September so the average mileage on them is probably in the 1-2k miles region. Would be interested to see how that 4% figure changes by the end of the year!

[Sean K.]

Originally Posted by KrzysFR

Have you guys seen this ? Toyota UK Statement : CEL/Idle/VVT Issue 22/10/12

I'm calling my dealership tomorrow to rub this in their face, and see if they heard from their pals form Toyota France. Probably they told them to wait until the 25th for the firmware to be certified in France too ?

Note the 4% data point in the anouncement. That means 36 cars out of 900 are having the problem AT THE MOMENT in the UK. How many more not yet diagnosed, or where the owners did not notice or were turned away by the dealers telling them this is "normal" ?

Just so it's in print for those who don't click the link:

Toyota UK wrote:

During this activity we have become aware of an issue which affects 36 vehicles, less than 4% of total vehicles sold. These vehicles have experienced rough running caused by the engine ECU restricting the operation of the VVTi Controller. The root cause of the issue is the relationship of the tolerances in VVTi Controller design and the ECU software. We can assure you that this does not damage the engine because as soon as the ECU detects that a sensor signal is out of specification it will protect the engine by inducing a fail-safe condition and, at the same time, illuminate the Malfunction Indicator Lamp to inform the driver.
To affect a permanent resolution to this issue TMC have been developing an upgrade to the ECU software but this has taken time to bring to market due to the need for it to be homologated. Whilst this process has been on-going VVTi Controllers manufactured to a tighter specification have been available to fit to those vehicles experiencing the rough running condition.

We are pleased to confirm that the software homologation has now been completed and that it will be available on Thursday 25th October 2012. As this is now so close and a failure typically occurs within the first 2,000 miles we have taken the decision to hold deliveries of new cars until the software upgrade has taken place.

[mhigham]

Well, Monday has come and gone. I am told by the dealer that ECU is backordered. Day 6.

[Wcmarshall]

I took my car to the dealer on Oct 6th. On Oct 11th they said they ordered wth ECM with no anticpated date of arrival and on the 16th the service manager told me 2-3 weeks for the ECM to ship. So the week of October 30th to to Nov 6th is the ECM window.

[Wcmarshall]

Is anybody keeping track of the average and range of time that it takes to get a new ECM? Seems like 3 to 4 weeks lately but I would love to know if anyone has had any success getting the dealers to expedite delivery. Or said another way do you think that certain dealers have more pull or leverage than others to get backordered parts faster?