Well, 12 1/2 years and 205,000 miles later, my 2007 TCH is still going strong. The ride is now loose due to worn suspension, and the steering wheel is now rubbed a little in a spot, but the rest of the interior held up great. No issues with any electronics. Any rattles were fixed initially with the help of this board, and the only repairs needed were rear brakes. My 12 volt AGM battery is still original. Other than that, I have just carefully maintained it by changing the coolant, powertrain fluid, and motor oil regularly. I use only Michelin tires and have had good luck with those too. So all those skeptics who told me the hybrid battery pack was going to go bad were wrong. The main issue I have now is oil consumption. The engine now consumes around a quart every thousand miles, so I have to remember to top it off regularly. The oil consumption problem started around 50,000 miles ago. Around the same time I started using mid-grade or premium gas to prevent minor engine knock.

I don't think there is anything I can do about the oil since repairing the problem would cost too much given the value of the vehicle, but I would be open to any suggestions from the contributors to this board. Overall, this has been a fanastic vehicle.

 

Thanks for the update..

Does this engine have PCV system? If so check it and fix it. It might fix the oil issue. Also any leaks.

For knocking, make sure the plugs are proper, fuel injectors are clean and sensors are clean (like MAF/MAP). Dump 2 bottles of Techron and one bottle of RXP (after 2 fills from Techron). It might help with knocking. Also, use AutoRXP with next oil change to clean it slowly. I tried all of these and worked on more than one vehicle (VW Passat, BMW Z3, Honda Odyssey, Toyota Matrix and on my Avalon Hybrid with 50k on it). Always use the Techron once a year. Clean the Air / MAP / MAF sensor with the proper cleaner (ONLY with proper cleaner).

Good luck. Hopefully you can make it to 250k. how is the mpg? If you have a scan tool, check the fuel trims to see how aged the O2 sensors are.

 

Loose steering? At 285,000 miles ours does not have loose steering? That sounds like you should have it checked out.

You're on borrowed time. The batteries will go eventually. Sounds like your lucky like I was... My original 12v finally went a few months ago. The dealer gave me a discount on a replacement, so I went back with the Panasonic.

Also, our traction battery went out just last week. Still trying to figure out what to do. I have the pack out of the car now. I figure that's a pretty good run since most posts I see have them croaking just over 100,000 miles or a little more. Lots of corrosion on all the grounds of the 34 packs.

The car really has been great and I would buy another one without hesitation, but it has not been trouble free. Several TSB's and recalls have been done and that does not include the things I have had to pay for out of pocket, like: Drivers hub bearing went out around 165,000, 3 ICE water pumps, Cleaned the PCV valve about 10 times, lubed the intermediate steering shaft 3 times, Replace the engine cooling fans around 215.000, replaced the trunk latch switch cover 3 times, Replaced the A/C evaporator around 240,000, Replaced all JBL speakers 260,000 and Replaced JBL amp 270,000. I'm sure there are some other pidly things I forgot. But, those were the big ones. Our struts are long overdue for replacement, but still work well.

I have had the "pinging" problem you have as well. It is a well documented and common problem. Something about low oil pressure to the cam advance mechanism on the end of the cam. That's why when you step hard on the gas, the pressure shoots up and the pinging stops (because the increased oil pressure advances the timing). Switching to 5/30 oil helped for me. But, it still does it every now and then. I have noticed that when the engine is pinging it does use more oil. When it doesn't, it hardly uses any. Over 7500 miles it uses just over a quart.

FWIW the car has never left us stranded. If we want to go somewhere, there was never a worry about the car, we just went. And like I said, I would buy one again.

 

I just remembered something.... Years ago, I was reading about some of the Lexus vehicles having the same pinging problem. There was a device that screwed into the side of the head or block (forget what it's called). That piece regulates the oil pressure to the hydraulic advance mechanism on the end of the cam. That part can be taken out and cleaned and or replaced. Something about a filter in there and the pieces sticking that would restrict flow and cause retarded timing at lower engine speeds.

One of a couple things I just never got around to.

 

I currently have some, what i would best describe as engine rumble, (wouldn't say knocking) when the camry is switching the engine off. Do you think a higher octane gas would fix this? Ive replaced two battery cells but im much more comfortable with electric work than mechanical. (Id say the most mechanical thing ive done is a coolant system drain...)

 

My 2007 TCH is doing amazingly well despite 262,000 miles and almost 14 years. It even has the original factory brake pads still. I had the AC recharged about 7 years ago, and it still is cooling well. I also replaced the 12V battery 7 years ago despite not having any problem. The water pump was replaced once about 10 years ago. It still drives and runs great.

The hybrid battery finally died on Monday... well it gave the red triangle of death along with the Check Hybrid System warning. I can't complain, 262,000 miles and just shy of 14 years. It had a good run. I had noticed the battery capacity dropping a lot over the last two years. Even so, until the failure, I was still getting around 40 mpg driving to work.

The car still ran but starts were "turtle" mode, very slow, until it got moving, then it accelerated decently. I pulled the two codes, P0A80 and P0A7F. I reset the codes and the car ran normally again. I had Toyota put in a new hybrid battery and it is running strong again. The dealer charged $3400 for the battery, and $775 to install.

I have an appointment to have the battery install rechecked. The AM radio now gets a terrible hash interference when the car is put in Ready mode. Stations come in clearly when the car is in accessory mode. I didn't notice it right away as I listen to FM mostly. But I like KNX 1070 AM for their news and traffic reports. Has anyone else encountered this problem after replacing the hybrid battery? If so, what was the cause?

-Nash

 

A new hybrid battery is not a drop-in replacement. You get new sheetmetal, new NiMH battery modules a new temperature sensor and new bus bars. ALL of the electronics including the battery computer, relay,DC-DC converter, etc. comes over from your old battery. There are 4 10mm hex nuts that could (MAYBE) cause high resistance if not properly torqued... the two main HV leads, the inverter lead at the terminal block and the far end of that cable at the DC-DC converter.

If you mostly listen to FM, can you say with 100% certainty that you didn't have the condition before?

 

Most definitely. I listen to KNX anytime I leave the area, and occasionally during the week driving home. It has always been loud and clear.

Now it can only be heard if the car is in accessory mode. The moment the hybrid system powers on a terrible hash noise completely covers up the station. I can only hear 2 AM stations if the car is running now. The rest are buried by the interference.

 

Finally got it fixed. The radio interference was from a bad ground. The Toyota service director said a "ground tensioner" between two bolts on metal shield was not making good contact. The only down side is the dealer took 3 days to figure it out.

 

Was it associated with the hybrid battery installation? There is a ground strap between the cable cover and the outer case. I honestly feel it's completely redundant, but it's the only thing I can think of.

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