Toyota HiLux fix at least a year away

A proper fix for the Toyota diesel ‘limp mode’ fault is at least 12 months away.

The issue, identified in a motoring.com.au comparison test, is caused by a dust leak past the air filter that cuts the 1GD-FTV 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine’s power and switches off safety features including stability and traction control.

The engine powers the top-selling HiLux utility, its Fortuner SUV spin-off and the popular Prado SUV.

Even if this best-possible August 2019 timing is achieved for a revised air inlet design to come from Toyota in Japan, more than 200,000 examples of these vehicles will be on Australian roads by the time it becomes available.

Even then Toyota says it will only retro-fit the fix if it’s asked for by vehicle owners.

That’s because it says the fault only flares in extremely dusty conditions. It also estimates there have been only about 340 cases since the engine’s 2016 introduction, most of them in the mining industry.

Toyota Australia’s technical department is conducting testing of the engine in co-operation with Toyota Japan and has been able to re-create the issue at its Anglesea testing ground.

Toyota Australia marketing and sales chief Sean Hanley told motoring.com.au that the company was convinced this was not a safety issue because the vehicle remained mobile when it dropped into limp mode.

“No, we haven’t considered recalling,” Hanley told motoring.com.au. “We are examining the evidence that we have that’s for sure and we are certainly not ignoring it.

“We are certainly looking at every aspect to determine our future action, but at this stage because of the low incidence and the extreme driving it did not warrant a safety recall.

“Safety to our guests is our number one priority and we certainly don’t ignore these incidents. We deeply look at them, we study them to understand whether a recall is necessary.

“At this point in time we don’t see it as necessary but we will continue to examine it.”

The design flaw allows fine particles of dust to leak past the air filter and corrupt the readings of the mass air flow sensor (MAF), which measures the rate of air entering the direct injection engine. The engine control unit (ECU) use the reading to determine the correct fuel ratio.

The corrupted data prompts the engine to go into limp mode, a potentially dangerous outcome in the wrong situation, such as when overtaking.

It also turns off stability control and traction control and depending on the instrument panel fitted to the vehicle, instructs the driver to visit a Toyota dealer or consult the owner’s manual.

Toyota first issued service bulletins to dealers warning about the fault in 2017. Essentially, it urges owners who drive in extremely dusty conditions to have the MAF sensor cleaned with compressed air and for air filters to be cleaned every 5000km.

But the ultimate solution is a new part and that takes time for Japan to design, manufacture and send to Australia.

“A new intake system will mean re-homologation and emissions testing so it’s hard to pinpoint when that [arrival date] might be,” Toyota Australia spokesman Orlando Rodriguez said. “We have just had a technical change that is just coming out now in August and we usually have tech changes roughly once every year.”

Does that mean August 2019 is the earliest opportunity for an inlet system update?

“I would suggest that,” Rodriguez said.

But a retro-fit remains a moot point. Rodriguez said existing owners would likely be accommodated if they asked for it.

“If it’s possible we would do that,” he said.

The fault is a tremendous embarrassment for Toyota Australia, which markets the HiLux as ‘unbreakable’ and has built a reputation for quality, dependability and reliability through recent decades.

Hanley emphasised the issue was being taken seriously.

“You can be confident Toyota will take every step, that’s what our customers can be confident of,” he said.

“We are reviewing it again to make sure we have covered every possible angle, that there is no inherent risk to our customers.

“If we do establish an inherent risk exists you can be 1000 per cent certain we will act as quickly as possible.

“We never close the door on a recall if it is necessary. Recalls aren’t dictated by quotas they are dictated by safety.”