Preventative Maintenance

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pwa
Posts: 17370
Joined: 2 Oct 2011, 8:55pm

Re: Preventative Maintenance

Post by pwa »

francovendee wrote: 5 Jun 2023, 8:49am Mick had me worried about our older Yaris as I tow a loaded trailer quite frequently. Luckily on our 2008 diesel Yaris it seems I'm OK.

Is the problem confined to modern Yaris cars or is it a general thing? If so caravan owners may struggle to buy a new tow car
It might be a limitation just for hybrids. Our Auris hybrid can't tow. I knew that before we bought it because I read it in Toyota's info online.
tim-b
Posts: 2091
Joined: 10 Oct 2009, 8:20am

Re: Preventative Maintenance

Post by tim-b »

On the subject of towing I think you'll find that it's all about type approval...

Mainstream volume cars must be type approved, which "is the confirmation that production samples of a type of vehicle, vehicle system, component or separate technical unit will meet specified performance standards."
https://www.vehicle-certification-agenc ... -approval/

Post August 1998 towbars also have to be type-approved.
If Toyota says that a car must not tow and "you get a tow bar for your car, it needs to be ‘type approved’. This means it meets EU regulations and is designed for your car. Type-approved tow bars have a label with:
an approval number
details of the vehicles it’s approved for"
https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car/trai ... -equipment

Presumably you can't type approve a tow bar for a car that isn't supposed to tow. Maybe a manufacturer can give chapter and verse on this point?
~~~~¯\(ツ)/¯~~~~
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Mick F
Spambuster
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Joined: 7 Jan 2007, 11:24am
Location: Tamar Valley, Cornwall

Re: Preventative Maintenance

Post by Mick F »

Toyota will sell you a towbar for a Hybrid but only for mounting stuff.

You can buy them online from any towbar supplier.
Hybrid or otherwise despite the Gross Train Weight being the same as the Gross Vehicle Weight. They don't ask at all.

Buy one from these people, and no mention of suitability.
https://www.pfjones.co.uk/tow-bars/toyo ... wards.html

Try these people, and it's correctly a no-no.
https://www.witter-towbars.co.uk/towbar ... ybrid-9700
Mick F. Cornwall
Jdsk
Posts: 24636
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Preventative Maintenance

Post by Jdsk »

Mick F wrote: 6 Jun 2023, 4:25pm Toyota will sell you a towbar for a Hybrid but only for mounting stuff.

You can buy them online from any towbar supplier.
Hybrid or otherwise despite the Gross Train Weight being the same as the Gross Vehicle Weight. They don't ask at all.

Buy one from these people, and no mention of suitability.
https://www.pfjones.co.uk/tow-bars/toyo ... wards.html

Try these people, and it's correctly a no-no.
https://www.witter-towbars.co.uk/towbar ... ybrid-9700
My emboldening.

On that P F Jones page there are 11 products. All but one of them have Hybrids listed as "Model Exclusions".

The one that doesn't is:
"Toyota Yaris Hatchback Hybrid ONLY 10/2013 Onwards Brink Detachable Towbar":
https://www.pfjones.co.uk/toyota-yaris- ... owbar.html

That includes:

"This Towbar is for bike racks/cycle carriers ONLY, it has no towing weight"

Jonathan
Biospace
Posts: 2008
Joined: 24 Jun 2019, 12:23pm

Re: Preventative Maintenance

Post by Biospace »

Jdsk wrote: 5 Jun 2023, 7:49pm
Mick F wrote: 5 Jun 2023, 7:47pm ...
Our Yaris is a Hybrid with a a constant velocity transmission system. As a driver, you have no control over the engine. You have Go pedal and a Stop pedal. Engine kicks in as required by the computer system.
...
Is that continuously variable transmission?
Yes.

The Toyota eCVT isn't a belt and cone design which is what its name might suggest to most, but having skimmed through a couple of YouTubes it's a gearbox which includes an epicyclic gear train, two electric motor generators and a chain.

It looks to be a superb piece of mechanical, electrical and electronic design, which would fit the Toyota mould. They really are the Benz of the C21st. I thought the shaft within shaft system which Audi developed for its Quattro was clever, this is on a different level.

There are comments from RAV4 owners that they're tougher than a standard manual transmission and so they do use them to tow with lightish trailers, not caravans. And change the oil every 50,000 miles using Toyota WS fluid.

Towing is not just about weight, it's about extra frictional drag which could cause the gearbox to overheat in continuous use over a given speed. Toyota will have limited its use for very good reason, although some clearly make use of the built-in margins.

https://youtu.be/izdMsVOo7bU?t=719
Last edited by Biospace on 6 Jun 2023, 6:52pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jdsk
Posts: 24636
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Preventative Maintenance

Post by Jdsk »

Biospace wrote: 6 Jun 2023, 6:42pm
Jdsk wrote: 5 Jun 2023, 7:49pm
Mick F wrote: 5 Jun 2023, 7:47pm ...
Our Yaris is a Hybrid with a a constant velocity transmission system. As a driver, you have no control over the engine. You have Go pedal and a Stop pedal. Engine kicks in as required by the computer system.
...
Is that continuously variable transmission?
Yes.

The Toyota eCVT isn't a belt and cone design which is what its name might suggest to most, but having skimmed through a couple of YouTubes it's a gearbox which includes an epicyclic gear train, two electric motor generators and a chain.
And it's extensively discussed in previous threads. Following the suggestion that it doesn't have a gearbox.
Jdsk wrote: 6 Mar 2022, 9:36pm
Mick F wrote: 6 Mar 2022, 7:32pm Driving a hybrid like wot we do, we don't have any control over the engine. No gearbox at all, not even an automatic one.
All we have a Go peddle and a Slow/Stop pedal. There isn't a gearbox...
That Yaris hybrid has a gearbox. It's discussed at some length here, with an excellent strip-down video:
viewtopic.php?p=1622292#p1622292
viewtopic.php?p=1622508#p1622508

What it doesn't have is discrete gears or manually selectable gears.
I especially recommend that strip-down video.

Jonathan
Biospace
Posts: 2008
Joined: 24 Jun 2019, 12:23pm

Re: Preventative Maintenance

Post by Biospace »

Stradageek
Posts: 1657
Joined: 17 Jan 2011, 1:07pm

Re: Preventative Maintenance

Post by Stradageek »

Mick F wrote: 3 Jun 2023, 2:35pmIf you have a car with a front and rear emergency tow hitch hole, make sure you grease it up periodically and try out the tow thingy and screw it in and out.
Took your advice Mick, it seems that our 2016 Honda Jazz suffers no such problem, good to know :D
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