31bravo

Hi everyone unfortunantly my first post is not a happy one, I bought a 09 xB back in late July of 2008 after my tour in the middle east. I love my box and it wasn't soon till i started modifying it. having randode install springs within a few days after having it, heck I had my weapon R intake before the car was even in the states.

Well around the July 4th weekend of 2009 I started having problems with the car, with it dieing shortly after start up most of the summer, or when braking at a stop light. I couldn't find the issue, testing the battery, altenator, and plugs, in August i changed the plugs to the E3's which I wouldn't recommend for the xB as they looked like crap after only 13k miles. the problem went away all of the cooler months between september and march.

In april of this year the issue started again, dieing twice on my way home from school (GO SUN DEVILS). I took the car into the dealership to see why my car was dieing all the time, they couldn't find any issues except saying to change my plugs.

So when i go to do that finding that the rubber boot on my 2nd coil pack was ripped to shreds, I called up parts to see about a replacement boot, which isn't available, you have to get a whole new coil (and at about $100) well as my car only have about 33k miles it is still under warranty and after making a million calls to Avondale Toyota Scion, and talking with a service manager who made claims that i was "street racing and using nitrous" neither which i have done, the coil was replaced a job that some how required them keeping my car over night.

on that last visit I was told my car was giving a code for a misfire on #2, a code that neither I nor any parts store could get to pop up, infact, i had no codes, ever. I was also told that the replacement coil would fix the problem. while speeking to my sevice rep a master tech came to hear what i was experiancing when the car gave me problems, that they couldn't recreate. He explained that the issue sounded to him like the fuel pump was cutting on and off.

The problem continues and after dieing 3 times backing out of my driveway on sunday evening i decided to take my car in today. I set a 1 pm appointment, when i got their i waited till 3 when the service rep came and told me they couldn't figure out the problem, he asked me what all my mods are so i listed them, nothing crazy, since i'm a poor college student, intake, lowering springs, light weight pulley, HID's, tons of fatmat.

I understand not being able to fix a problem if you can't find it but if a master tech says it sounds like a fuel issue do you have to pull teeth to get them to TRY to fix it instead of saying "we can't find the problem so we can't fix it"

2300 miles left on the warranty all i want is the problem to be solved is that to much to ask.

main problem with car dieing:
when reversing the car will start up fine but when you put it in reverse and let off the brake it dies.

when starting up the car will sometimes jump to crazy high (3500) or low (200) RPM if i press the gas and hold it at what would normally be 2000-2200 rpm the car will jump between 200-3500 but will stay on, if i dont get on the gas it will die.

when in motion the car jump in rpm's between 500-4000 if i stay on the gas it'll eventually be ok, if i let off the car dies (not a good thing to happen at 65mph) and the car will sometimes just bog down rpm's stay the same but it almost feels as if you are on the brakes.

(I left out a LOT of details but if this got anylonger i'm thinking people wouldn't read it)

jamesfg49

Well with the way our economy isn't recovering this isn't going to help ATS by ailenating and pushing away their customers. I hope someone at this dealership comes to their senses, soon and gets the XB fixed. That's what warranties are for aren't they?

SEXB909

hmmmm someone needs to take care of this soon before Avondale loses a lot of customers.

RMS

Wow, it's crazy they can't figure this out. Is it throwing any codes?

SEXB909

Any other dealerships would like to help out a war veteran that just got back home from defending this country of ours? I know there's a few of you that are on here.

Tealtoaster

You have an aftermarket intake that I assume has a location for the MAF sensor? Check that sensor and make sure it's tight and that the o-ring hasn't been cut when it was installed. If you have a leak around the MAF it could be messing with the perceived airflow and is wreaking havoc on the Idle Air Control circuit. If that checks out, check the connections on all of the devices associated with the intake mod. I assume it didn't do this before the mods?

emrules2001

My only guess would be what Teal said, possibly something with the MAF messing with your AFR's. Also, the crank pulley is not a good idea, but I don't think that it would cause problems at such low mileage.

31bravo

the problem is not related to the MAF or the crank pulley, the intake was installed with less than 100 miles on the car, and I have had no problems with it. I have no codes poping up, which is why I thought it was weird that they where getting a misfire code when i never had a check engine light.

As it is now the service manager gave me the number to the tow company that they use, when my car dies again he wants me to not start it again and call the tow company. He thanks that when i start the car again it is clearing out the codes so they can't find them, so thats where it stands.

toeveryhour

iTrader: (3)

I would suggest calling Corporate right now before your warranty expires so they know you are persistent in this matter in your warranty period. I would also take the car into a different dealership while still continuing your work with ATS. Considering you're in the West Valley, I reccommend Larry Miller T/S. I have had warranty work done there and they did a good job.

RMS

2x

SEXB909

Corporate doesnt handle warranty issues or quarrels. They will just forward the message or call to the customer service dept, then to someone else after that. All warranty work has to go through their purchase dealership because they dont want to be responsible for a mess that some other dealership did plus the replacement parts if any is out of their pocket. I know because I had to go through it with my wife's 4runner. May the truck rest in peace. hahaha

mcbrew

Why do you assume this? It sounds a lot like a MAF problem. MAF problems often don't trigger a CEL because the car doesn't think there is a problem. The MAF reports airflow, just like a thermometer tells the temperature. If you have a bad thermometer, the thermometer doesn't know it is bad. It just gives you a wrong temperature. Same think with the MAF. It is reporting a number to the engine, and the engine adjusts fuel metering accordingly. If the MAF number is wrong (because the MAF is bad or because there is air getting in around or after the MAF), then the ECU thinks it is doing the right think by adjusting the fueling. Hence, no CEL is triggered. The only time a CEL will be triggered is if the MAF is not reporting at all, or if the number it gives is out of the range that the ECU is expecting (implausible).

I would focus on the MAF and/or the throttle.

SEXB909

the problem is this. the thread is about warranty issues with the dealership not a DYI or "how to" thread.

jamesfg49

Well we have inputs from people who read one thing and translate it into another. Thanks Kirby for your input, at least you READ the problem and got your finger on the pulse of what needs to be done instead of more tail chasing and keyboard mechanic guessing.

Tealtoaster

The bottom line is that unless this guy has SEMA on speed dial and can prove that NONE of his mods are the cause of this issue, he's cooked. End of story. I wonder if ATS would warranty my drivetrain now that i've bagged the car, even though it's all bolt on... Bahahhahahaa, i'll start holding my breath...

SEXB909

what does SEMA have to do with this? SEMA is a convention of multiple companies that gather up once a year to showoff new products, ideas, shop, and trade new (APEX Convention @ Sands Expo)or existing products. Has nothing to do with a automobile company

BUT believe it or not your suspension warranty is gone, but your motor, sensors, and most of your interior wiring is still under mfg warranty. So yeah you still have some sort of warranty. BUT then again suspension is wear and tear to begin with unless recalled by the automobile mfg.

Tealtoaster

SEMA has been known to step in and intervene when an OEM denies warranty for purposes of bolt-in aftermarket parts. Haven't you ever read the little insert that comes with every K&N filter. Excerpt - " Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, a law needed to protect your right to buy non-O/E parts. There has even been a bill introduced recently in Congress called the “Right to Repair Act,” a bill designed to protect your right to have your vehicle serviced by an independent repair facility." SEMA was part of the reason that Act is in the works and they are looking out for us modification addicts. Naturally if you buy cheap chinese e-Bay stuff, you'll have a hard time using that as a leg to stand on. If you buy reputable brands that have been R&D'ed then you can probably make the dealer eat crow as long as it was bolt in and no part of the vehicle was permanently modified. I could probably fight that point with my EasyStreet setup because it is in fact all bolt in. If I was this guy i'd return the car back to stock and make them eat the repair since it was brought in before the end of warranty, even if I had to file suit against them. Just my two cents.

SEXB909

wth? Back to topic, I heard that there is a happy resolution to this situation, so we will get passed this. Thank you ATS for taking initiative. Good luck to the owner who posted this and enjoy that xB.

Tealtoaster

The level of censorship and blatant disregard for all points of view on this site is astounding, I like how some of my posts were deleted and why???? I said nothing off base for the topic.

SEXB909

In my defense I didn't do it. My posts were removed as well. I thought we had a good conversation, but we did go off topic a bit but it fixed itself right?