chachacha

Hi BearsLexus

Thanks so much for doing this DIY...really appreciate your time and effort putting into this...

My 99 RX300 AWD reached 170K miles and is having the same symptoms as described here I've done IVAC, MAF cleaning and also changed out the PCV valve...I will attempt to do OCV change out and OCV Oil Screens cleaning asap

My question: where is the location of the FRONT OCV Oil Screen? Thanks for the help

salimshah

Green box in post 3.

Salim

chachacha

Guys -

Im following up on my on thie OCV / VVT issues per the DIY instructions done by BearsLexus...
Here are the symptoms I had:

1. Rough idle when engine is warm up...especially at stop light...i thought the car might stall
2. Engine cut in and out during up shifting and tranny wont shift to override
3. Engine check light flashed and then stayed on permanently...

I was able to make to autozone and have the codes read, here are the codes:

P1351= VVT-I front
P1133= AF sensor
P1153= AF sensor
P0300= random misfire
P0302= misfire cyl 2
P0304=misfire cyl 4
P0306=misfire cyl 6

Spark plugs on cyl 2-4-6 looked fine and so the coils...So I concluded they can't be out at the same time so it must be the Front VVT-i solenoid...all these happened on the new yr eve so I couldn't get replacement parts on new yr day. although i was willing to used Dorman OE part. I called around all the local auto part stores but they didnt stock this part. Luckly the local Toyota dealer has one left in stock on 1/2/13 and I jumped on it. Cost me $90. Put it in, pulled the negative batt cable to reset the code...Car ran just fine since 1/2/13....
I took a few pics of the old and new OE front VVTi for comparison purposes and for your curiousity :

Original parts: I pulled both to check:

Old vs new:

More old vs new:

Thanks to BearsLexus and all the contributor to this great forum...

Baetke

Has anyone tried to figure out why these OCV's fail? Is the solenoid bad or are they just gummed up? If the latter, couldn't they just be cleaned and put back in?

chachacha

i tried to clean it out, put it back, reset codes, drove and symptoms returned...I guess the electrical inside the solenoid just go bad overtime...there's no way to open it and find out

my mechanic friend suggested me to switch to synthetic oils, which i will.-I've been using costco chevron 5w-30 forever - since i live in cold weather like you...Portland Oregon

Baetke

chachacha,

Your OCV sure looked clean. No signs of sludge or varnish that I could see in your pictures so you're probably right, the coil was going bad. The resistance spec for that coil is 6.9 to 7.9 ohms. Do you know what the value was on your bad OCV?

Baetke

chachacha

Yep..both of mine looked very clean...i even took out the throttle assembly out and cleaned and also changed out the front valve cover gasket while i was at it...no sign of sludge shown at the 3 front cylinders. Unfortunately i forgot to ohm it out and went straight to dealer to get the part bc i need the rx300 to go to work the next day ...I still have the bad vvt solenoid in my garage...i'll ohm it out later n let u know...

chachacha

I ohmed it out...it's at 7.3 ohm.

Baetke

I measured my two working OCV's and they both came out at 6.8 ohms which is technically out of spec but that could be due to the cheap ohm meter I used. At any rate, no obvious electrical symptom here that correlates to good/bad OCV's.

Baetke

tarzan17

Thanks BearsLexus for this great DIY. Agreed that the senior guys here are awesome. Honestly, it is only because of them that I even considered getting another RX model for my wife (I couldn't convince her).

Anyways, thinking of your DIY on my 2000 RX300 (100K miles) after cleaning the IACV to see if it helps with low idling and improving gas mileage. Along with the symptoms you mentioned, did you get any associated DTC codes?

chazen

Another bit of thanks for the DIY, the threads highlighting the rather specific set of symptoms w/ bad solenoids, and the forum in general.

1999 RX 300 w/ 144000, purchased from original owner 11/12.

Has consistently (every 500 miles or so) thrown PO 171 since purchase, and always seemed to resist dropping into overdrive (esp. on cold Colorado mornings), but recently started showing other symptoms including the rough start/idle, the mushy brakes at idle and cutting out on power while driving - forcing one to "feather" the accelerator to get power to return. Also got a PO 1349. Finally got the 300 series of codes indicating misfires in cyls. 1, 3 & 5 after another week of driving.

Thanks to the forum, and various discussions I was able to track down the VVT DIY.

Did VVT (OCV) swap yesterday following BearsLexus DIY - was able to remove solenoids and filters w/o disconnecting hoses. All test driving yesterday and this morning indicate that problems may be solved (knock on wood - which is my head in this case).

Used the Dorman parts because that is what was available next day from Denver through my nearest auto parts store (1.5 hours away). Will provide updates on how the aftermarket parts work out.

Cheers and thanks again to the forum, moderators and individuals that make this such a valuable resource to so many people.

Chris in Telluride

Baetke

OCV Rear (right)(Toyota) 15330-0A010
OCV (Dorman) 917-214

OCV Front (left)(Toyota) 15340-0A010
OCV (Dorman) 917-211

wfc

I thought pictures were awesome so I decided to change out my front OCV myself. Got right to it, removed electrical connection then gave it a twist to loosen it then tried to pop or pull it out. No Go so I messed with it for almost 30 minutes then finally the whole top half of the unit broke off leaving everything below the machined aluminum boss on the head. Any ideas on how to proceed?

Thanks!

salimshah

Silly question .. since you did not write ,, did you take out the hold-down bolt. Once the bolt is off there would an ear like shape on the sensor (center should the hole for the bolt). You can try a screw driver or a cold chisel to budge it ... Be careful as slip may break something else. You may like to pull out the filter screen too.

If nothing is left above the block, then you have to chase it. I would use a thin tap or a stud extractor. You may have to use a drill to get things going.

Hint: never yank or pull without trying to give the object a twist. Things have lot more tangential strength.

Salim

wfc

salimshah,

As you suspected I did in fact remove the 10mm bolt holding down the OCV. Based on every ones suggestions and a few years of experience I proceeded to turn the OCV back and forth then was able to actually turn it completely 360 degs and more. I pulled as twisted at the same time the best I could but nothing. I did use the metal tab as a place to put my large screw driver under to pry it up (there was nothing else but the electrical connector and used that too after the tab flattened along side the OCV) but not enough yet. I graduated to a small pry bar. It started to move then the top popped off. I was really bummed. Since it is the front back side I will likely have to remove a bunch more stuff to try to remove the remaining bits. I am sure it is stuck due the the high temp oil crusting all around it for the last 14 years and the o-ring is rock solid IMHO. I will pull the filter screen next just to see what it looks like and clean it assuming I get the stupid remains of the OCV out. Not the simple afternoon job I was hoping to complete!

Thanks!