2012 Sienna P0015 after long trip

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Feb 18, 2011
Messages
8,173
Location
Hudson, NH
2012 Sienna 3.5L v6, AWD. After 200 mile round trip the dash lit up with a traction OFF message and a CEL for P0015. After some googling I don't get a clear answer. Just multiple dead end posts with a similar problem description. During a long trip, the Toyota 2GR-FE v6 can illuminate a P0015 and turn traction, cruise, etc off. Toyota's answer is $4,000 dealer TSBs that rebuild half the engine. Others claim it was dirty oil, faulty oil control valves.

The van has been dealer serviced per manual since new. Receipt from last month's dealer oil change says "bulk" 0w20, Toyota filter. I cleared the code and checked the oil. It was full. A tiny bit over actually. But I need to verify that cold. Its been 4 days and the code has not come back. No more long trips. ODBII monitors are ready again.

Wondering if anyone else experienced this problem.
 
Originally Posted by supton
No, but I didn't know what P0015 was, so I googled it.

https://www.toyotanation.com/forum/...check-vsc-system-p0015-p0011-2gr-fe.html

https://www.siennachat.com/forum/66...ition-timing-over-retarded-bank-1-a.html

Wonder if you could fix for cheaper? Might be worth a shot, and if that doesn't fix, then assume bad chain or whatever.


I saw that. Its for the same engine, but I suspect different oil (5w30) because his assumption was dirty conventional plugging the OCV. This engine uses 0w20. Which I thought was a synthetic? Which means his resolution is less likely. or... synthetic oil gets dirty too..
 
You can try replacing the oil control valve on bank 1, but there is a decent chance that you will need to drop the engine and replace the cam gears as outlined by the TSB.
 
If you think it's the oil control valves, before you pull anything apart I would do 2 Kreen flushes (a pint each for 1000 miles, no need to change oil in between, but make sure you have a good filter on it) since the Kreen will dissolve any carbon/sludge/gunk in the valves. As long as the solenoid has not failed and there is nothing physically blocking the valve it should result in improvement. Kreen is a very strong solvent and if there are plugged issues this cleaning should solve it. However, if the TN post stated, the valve doesn't operate cleanly even when spotless, well, then that's something Kreen won't fix.

But $30 for Kreen with the added benefit of ensuring the rest of your engine is spotless if you do eventually have to open it up makes this a no brainer, IMHO.
 
Originally Posted by diyjake
How many miles are on your van?

130k. Sorry should have added that to the description. It's my gfs dad's van
 
Originally Posted by LeakySeals
Originally Posted by supton
No, but I didn't know what P0015 was, so I googled it.

https://www.toyotanation.com/forum/...check-vsc-system-p0015-p0011-2gr-fe.html

https://www.siennachat.com/forum/66...ition-timing-over-retarded-bank-1-a.html

Wonder if you could fix for cheaper? Might be worth a shot, and if that doesn't fix, then assume bad chain or whatever.


I saw that. Its for the same engine, but I suspect different oil (5w30) because his assumption was dirty conventional plugging the OCV. This engine uses 0w20. Which I thought was a synthetic? Which means his resolution is less likely. or... synthetic oil gets dirty too..

2GR-FE engines can use anything from 0W20 to 20W50.
3rd generation Sienna in 2011 got 2GR-FE recommended for 0W20, while same engine in 2gen Highlander in 2011 was running on 5W30 oil. Reason why Toyota switched to 0W20 is CAFE, nothing else.
What dealer used in that engine is questionable. Toyota recommends full synthetic, but people are very liberal with these engines because they think if it is Toyota it can run on anything.
Synthetic oil gets dirty too, but the question is what synthetic oil and what is OCI? Oil should get dirty, that means it is doing its job. But problem with these synthetic oils that go into Toyota, Honda etc. is that they vary in quality a lot. If they start to sludge due to long OCI, that might well be culprit.
 
Thanks all. The cel and other dash lights have not returned. It's not going 200 miles one way, but it has gone over 100 miles without stopping. Maybe the dealer added a bit to much oil knowing it drinks a bit.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top