Vvti ??

The Muppet

Looking to change car at the moment and I am leaning towards an Avensis around 2001/2002 vintage. Some of the ones I am looking at have VVTI while others do not. I have a vague idea about VVTI but wonder what are the pro's and cons of going either route VVTi Or not?

Someone told me that some Toyota VVTI were recalled due to them burning oil. , is this true.

any advice would be greatly appreciated
TIA

ZENER

VVTi = Very Very Technical Indeed !!!:D

ZEN

Seth Brundle

As far as I know:
VVT = variable valve timing
i = injection

It just means that its a more modern engine than standard valve timing

maidhc

The Muppet wrote:

Someone told me that some Toyota VVTI were recalled due to them burning oil. , is this true.

They were. Most engine blocks were replaced too whether they had a problem or not. I know a friend of mine got a phone call out of the blue and was asked to bring his (2002) Avensis in for a new engine, even though the car has only 20k up.

I also heard that there is an unofficial 5 yr warranty on these engines if they start burning oil.

ZENER

It means Variable Valve Timing with Intelligence.

Later versions were called VVTL-i the L standing for Lift.

ZEN

Crosshair

VVTi is in all avensis and corolla from 2000, there is a problem with oil consumption and toyota are still replacing short blocks on 2001 cars, dont know how long they will stay doing this tho, best bet is to buy one that has had new block and documentation to show

The Muppet

Crosshair wrote:

VVTi is in all avensis and corolla from 2000,

Are you sure? I was looking at a 2001 and the salesman told me it was not VVTI.

Crosshair wrote:

there is a problem with oil consumption and toyota are still replacing short blocks on 2001 cars, dont know how long they will stay doing this tho, best bet is to buy one that has had new block and documentation to show

Cheers for that and maidhc

mloc123

To answer the original question.... Get one with VVTI. What it does....

It varies the cam profile depending on the revs of the engine so basically....
When you are sitting at idle the valves are at low lift which lets the engine idle smoothly but when you at higher revs the valves lift more allowing for more fuel/air intake and giving greater power.

So if you want you can drive easy and get good mpg or drive hard and get good power.

el tel

I've driven a Celica VVTI and my mate's 2.2 Prelude VTEC and to get the performance you really have to rev the nuts off them. Personally I don't like screaming 4-cylinder cars so wasn't overly enamoured with the whole VVTi / VTEC business.

Delta_ie

mloc123 wrote:

To answer the original question.... Get one with VVTI. What it does....

It varies the cam profile depending on the revs of the engine so basically....
When you are sitting at idle the valves are at low lift which lets the engine idle smoothly but when you at higher revs the valves lift more allowing for more fuel/air intake and giving greater power.

So if you want you can drive easy and get good mpg or drive hard and get good power.

VVTi does not do this. VVTLi, similar to honda's vtec, can change the lift of the valves by changing the lobes used on the cam. VVTi just changes the timing of the intake valves.

mloc123

Delta_ie wrote:

VVTi does not do this. VVTLi, similar to honda's vtec, can change the lift of the valves by changing the lobes used on the cam. VVTi just changes the timing of the intake valves.

Ah okay, I always presumed VVTi was the variable cam profile

leex

Am an owner of an ex-oil burning 1.6 VVTi 2002 Avensis. Block was changed without any hassle by Toyota eventhough car was outside the 3yr warranty. I also heard there was an unofficial 5yr warranty on their engines.;)

Kimbot

leex wrote:

Am an owner of an ex-oil burning 1.6 VVTi 2002 Avensis. Block was changed without any hassle by Toyota eventhough car was outside the 3yr warranty. I also heard there was an unofficial 5yr warranty on their engines.;)

And how were you notified about this?? I rang toyota about my 2001 Corolla a few months back about my car burning a full fil of oil in 1200 Miles as I heard about the problems and they knew nothing about it!!

leex

A few people I was talking to in the trade about the oil burning issue suggested I follow it up with Toyota. They heard of other people with similar issue who had the issue resolved by Toyota.

I thought I hadn't a hope given the car was outside 3 yr warranty. Maybe I was lucky with the dealer I went to. They did take the chassis number etc of car before a decision was made. Was about a week later when they said they'd replace block so maybe it is only certain batches that are affected by the issue...or at least as far as they're concerned.

Eventhough it was a serious fault in the car, the fact the issue was known to the Toyota garage and resolved satisfactorily I would definitely consider buying another one. Loads of other brands have faults which are ignored by the manufacturer.

Kimbot

So I should bring it to A Toyota dealer then??

Henry Ford III

Fair play to Toyota/dealers for fixing these oil burners outside of warranty.

I'd contact Toyota, and name and shame your dealer.

smash

ZENER wrote:

It means Variable Valve Timing with Intelligence.

Later versions were called VVTL-i the L standing for Lift.

ZEN

Not exactly true, only some models have the VVTLi engine. It's not a later version, it's a completely different variant. The celica vvti-190 has a VVTLi engine, as does the GT and the T-sport but these models aren't sold by Toyota here and so you'd have to import and you can only get the regular VVTi here.

CPG

kbannon wrote:

As far as I know:
VVT = variable valve timing
i = injection

It just means that its a more modern engine than standard valve timing

By no means modern, VVti first appeared in the LS400s in 1989.

unkel

CPG wrote:

VVti first appeared in the LS400s in 1989.

Even older. The first variable valve timing system was developed in the 70s. Toyota, Honda? Nope, you guessed it, by























FIAT

maidhc

CPG wrote:

By no means modern, VVti first appeared in the LS400s in 1989.

That is exactly 100 years more modern than non-vvti cars

pburns

I had an Avensis a few years ago & had the block replaced. I noticed the problem myself & brought it in. Even though I hadn't bought from the dealer in question, they sorted it out for me. It took Toyota a few days to get back but all was done under warranty & I was provided with a courtesy car etc. It was within 3 years tho...

All the same, I was very impressed with the whole service.

Get one with the replacement block & you should have no problems.

(And kudos to the service crew in Des Hughes Motors)

bedrock1001

I have VVTI in my Lexus IS200

kicks in about 4,500 revs - i get an increase in power from the engine

very handy for overtaking but will guzzle petrol if you drive in this rev band

colm_mcm

It's modern when you compare it to VAG petrol engines of the same vintage.

In late 2000, Toyota added D-4D and VVT-i engines to the Avensis- replacing the old TD and 16v engines. At the same time they did they did a minor change to spec and styling

There are a small number of old type 1.6 and 2.0 TD Avensis's around registered in 2001. very few though, you can tell the non VVT-i ones because they have different lights (top ones are old models, bottom ones, new model)

5500

That picnic table on the bottom car didnt come as an option from toyota did it?

colm_mcm

eireal wrote:

That picnic table on the bottom car didnt come as an option from toyota did it?

happily, no. The parts departments wouldn't have room for them anyway.

bazz26

I heard the stories of the early VVTi engine suffering from heavy oil consumption alright. I heard that it was mostly 1.8 litre engines and most engines in the chassis number range affected were sold in the UK. Not sure how true this though.

Saying that I'm on my second Avensis, both 1.8 litre 127bhp, put 50k miles on the 2001 model and now have 91k miles on the new type 2003 model. Have had no issues with oil consumption over those miles on either car to be honest. My old man also had a 1.4 VVTi Corolla for 4 years and it never burned oil either.

It is true though that you do have to rev the VVTi engine a bit to get the power but I found it to be alot better than the previous generation lean burn engines in the pre 2001 Avensis where there was no life until you suddenly hit a certain rev range.

colm_mcm

The VVT-i gives you a bit more pull in the low revs, where the old 16 valve had all the power at the top end

unkel

colm_mcm wrote:

It's modern when you compare it to VAG petrol engines of the same vintage

Absolutely. Never mind variable valve timing, VAG are still selling family hatchback size cars with 8V petrol engines today and I guess some other manufacturers do too. Shocking really

colm_mcm

The Jettas 1.6 engine is a disgrace.

bazz26

unkel wrote:

Absolutely. Never mind variable valve timing, VAG are still selling family hatchback size cars with 8V petrol engines today and I guess some other manufacturers do too. Shocking really

The Audi A3/A4 still use the old 8 valve 1.6 litre VAG engine too.

colm_mcm

Yeah but twits will still buy it!