…While Toyota Australia has extended the warranty period for DPFs installed on HiLux and Fortuner to 10 years it’s said there’s no problem with dusting in HiLux.
Way back in 2018 reports started to surface about dust leaking out of the air filter and blocking the mass airflow sensor which triggered all sorts of nasty error codes, causing the HiLux to go into limp home mode. At the time, Toyota claimed the issue was being looked into but that because the vehicle remained drivable it wasn’t considered a ‘safety issue’.
What Toyota did was look at redesigning the air intake system for HiLux and Fortuner to prevent dust from leaking past the air filter, and told owners and service technicians to clean the air filters more regularly to prevent dust from electro-statically attaching itself to the MAF sensor. Indeed, a service bulletin released in 2018 suggested that mechanics spend around two minutes blowing compressed air through the intake system to clear it of dust.
Similarly, Toyota recommended that owners living in dusty conditions consider turning the head of their snorkel (if fitted) backwards to further reduce dust getting down into the air intake and leaking past the filter.
Similarly, Toyota was copping flack for its diesel particulate filter (DPF) which was becoming prematurely blocked and, again, causing the vehicle to go into limp home mode. To get around this, a manual regeneration button was fitted to HiLux so that owners could force the system to burn off the DPF and clear it of particles.
Fast forward to now and Toyota decided to quietly extend the warranty on DPFs in HiLux, Fortuner and Prado to 10 years with no limitation on kilometres. A media statement issued this week said, “As part of Toyota’s ongoing commitment to customer service and peace of mind, it has extended the warranty on the diesel particulate filter (DPF) for approximately 166,000 HiLux, Fortuner and LandCruiser Prado vehicles sold between early-2015 and and mid-2018”.
In the statement, Toyota’s sales and marketing boss, Sean Hanley said, “We deeply regret that some customers have experienced an issue with the DPF, and we are doing everything possible to assist them”. Indeed, Toyota has rolled out a new Q&A website it hopes will answer owner’s questions. Check it out HERE.
Okay, that covers HiLux, Fortuner and Prado from 2015-2018 but what about the recently refreshed model released this week? Speaking with the media at a virtual presentation this week, Toyota’s Sean Hanley said the updated HiLux boasted a tweaked engine tune that would improve the way the DPF operates – the changes, he said, are both hardware and software. That’s good news.
But what about the dust issues? Well, nothing. Despite its service bulletins in 2018 and its advice to change the air filter regularly and acknowledgement that dust can leak past the filter and attach to the MAF sensor, Toyota said there’s been no change to the air intake. Hmmm.
Sean Hanley told the media, “Our studies have shown… that minute dust particle can pass through the filter in a highly dusty environment,” said Hanley. “But this is not known to cause engine damage based on the very thorough evaluations and assessments we have done in what I’ll call incredibly dusty situations, in quite incredible driving conditions.”
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