A smelly Avensis

fancy pigeon

Bon dia

After selling the other Avensis and the funds bulging in my pocket, this was more of an impulse buy.

It has now become the official daily driver of yours truly

The stats:

• 2006 pre facelift
• 2.0 weasel powered
• 116 unicorns
• Culchie/base spec

But! It came with some excellent accessories:

• Disabled spinning seat
• Luckyland tyres
• Pre chewed interior
• Enough hair to make a wig
• And other wonderful mystery goodies!

So. The story behind this car is we decided to get coffee one Monday evening, had a nosey on Donedeal, saw this wasn't far away, looked at it, drove it... Bought it :eek:

It drives well, no rattles, no bangs, nothing mechanical of concern... Yet!

The morning reveals this marvel of cleanliness and upkeep of the vehicle I'd just purchased. Say hello to Brownfinger:










Mmm mmm mmm. Dig those brown patches :cool:

Have a passenger that outstinks the car? Spouting rubbish?

Pull a lever and boot them out


Don't worry, anything that has McCabe will be given the boot in due time, along with what I think is a jumper and what I think is a hat. I'll probably set fire to those, they smell terrible

fancy pigeon

The seller was dead sound and let me take what I needed from another Avensis they had there in terms of the interior (he had both cars as a trade in)



I had initially thought it needed a mirror too, which they were going to give also, but the motor was just stuck and thus wasn't required

"Take what you need, not what you want" and a lot of people could learn from that

Brakes were first addressed, caliper seized so a replacement was acquired from the aforementioned donor car along with it's new rear discs + pads.









It also had oil + filter service, along with diesel filter. And buttons for the seatbelt clasp

Nothing else mechanical yet

Awaiting to fit are front discs and pads + a timing belt kit, possibly will do coolant/power steering at the same time

I need to clean away the surface rust underneath and protect it before it gets worse.

Due to being owned by a disabled person, it was tax exempt and NCT exempt (it certainly was never NCT'd but the legality of that I'm unsure. It certainly was tax exempt)

fancy pigeon

I cleaned the outside up a bit in places to see how it turned out.

Nothing special, just washed with fairy liquid to eradicate the crap, detarred, clayed, washed again with what I had in the garage and a quick run of the rotary













Put a massive scrape in the bumper :mad: I'll sort that after with what I can find lying about.

Has anyone noticed a running theme of chaaape so far...?

fancy pigeon

I had to find some way to pass the time, after I was supplied the wrong clutch for my Z (it made a cameo appearance above ) so while clearing out some rubbish I found...





To the garage to try them out on a vacuum cleaner we found in a bin years ago



Throwing anything detergent related in the house into a bucket of hot water



You guessed it! I'm going to shove it up my...

boardsuser1

Jasus, an Avensis eligible for free tax sitting in a field

fancy pigeon

...yard to the car and get cracking :cool:

We need the seats out.

This should give you an idea of what kind of clean this needed.

I genuinely hope this was the dog that left this


Now, for those that know me personally, with cars like this I tend to buy a new interior and set fire to the old one, but as I'm making this as chape as possible this wasn't an option. I did however buy a replacement passenger seat, rear seatbelt and window winder for €60. I have the spinning seat to sell to cover the cost of those items :cool:

To take the hair out I used a rubber bristled brush and tiger gloves.

We resume shortly after the hair is gone






This is after a pass or 2, it was jet black on initial draining. Road is stained still!




The dog must have vomited/scratched the carpet at some stage


But it cleaned up well


Next side!

fancy pigeon

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

Jasus, an Avensis eligible for free tax sitting in a field

I found this out when declaring it off the road when I got the book. Taxed until April. 8 months :eek:

Got no discs, quelle surprise!

But I am a moral person, it has since been taxed as normal as that would be cheating those whom genuinely require it

Back to the other side!

Several passes later. It looks clean. Looks


Cool refreshing drink, straight from the carpet to your mouth :cool:


I kept at it until it was all gone

Niggly bits left








All addressed, apart from the nail polish on the sunvisor

All that's left is to dry it out. Smell gone!





Door cards I'll figure out another day

I didn't forget the boot mat either, even though I forgot some parts of it



More things to do in due time, such as the belts and whatever the NCT fires at me :cool:

passatman86

Some effort gone into that
Fair play to ya

fancy pigeon

Few more bits and bobs

I've put up near 2k kms (1200 miles) since I started driving it. Last week.

It seems to handle better than the petrol one I had. Seems to be more planted at the front, seems to hold the road better, seems to respond better to my input despite its questionable tyres (see below). There is a flatspot when you want to accelerate from about 1300rpm onwards in certain gears (the C220 had a lot more power and I'm still getting used to this as it had instant go in any gear with useable power throughout most of the rev range and even that was slow compared to the 406...), I'll see if I can eradicate it

Luckyland tyres, I trust in thee...


Seriously, you have to question the mentality of someone who thinks these are alright to sell in a predominantly rainy country.

"Ah, but all the taxi drivers are using them, I'm giving you the better Happy Galop version at the cheaper price, it's a great deal"

An honest review so far is they're fine in the dry, not noisy, cause no strange characteristics while driving multiple scenarios, seem to grip well; they have lots of thread though. If the road is slightly damp however they become unpredictable. When the road is damp after a light shower they can lose traction in 3rd.

This 116bhp car

Spins to the redline in 3rd :rolleyes:

My final verdict on them is they're fine for a climate that has naff all rain. Probably suited to somewhere like Iran

Moving on! Pollen filter




Thrown in the open fire

I had some of the heater control bulbs gone






3 have rubber caps for colour. I had thoughts of cobbling other bulbs in before I realized the contacts were stink with goop.

Cleaned up, lights working

Very quickly ran the rotary over the car, after it was washed and clayed. Still have the roof to do. Windows polished and rain-x applied


Remember the doorcards had sh*te ground into them? Not anymore :cool:




Process was simple. I used vanish oxi action and a scrubbing brush. Soaked the cards with the hose, wet vacuum and left the windows ajar all through the night. Still damp, but no more grubby doorcards. From start to finish I'd spent about 30 minutes

Thought I'd get diesel last night too, turned the heater on full to speed up drying (and dehydrate ourselves in the process) Seems to do damn good on the auld weasel


It's sitting at 62 this morning, which includes Ratholeoath gridlock and getting from the M50 to the Clonshaugh road, with a motorway blast. I'm quite impressed to say the least!

It also passed the NCT, not on it's first attempt as the banjo seal in one of the calipers let go, failed dangerous, but that's all that was wrong and it passed the 2nd attempt. Further impressed as it had never had an NCT before. Ever

More stuff in due time

colm_mcm

The trip computers are notoriously unreliable on them!

They also have hydraulic power steering in the diesels where the 1.6 is electric

Yours is 5 speed so should have the power heater as well (switch beside the mirror switch)

Sexual Chocolate

Nothing more disgusting but at the same satisfying as looking inside the wet vac and seeing gunk and ****e like that.

fancy pigeon

colm_mcm wrote: »

The trip computers are notoriously unreliable on them!

They also have hydraulic power steering in the diesels where the 1.6 is electric

Yours is 5 speed so should have the power heater as well (switch beside the mirror switch)

The range indicator is an absolute disaster, when I bought the car it had 0 miles left. With that 0 miles I test drove the car to Faughart, then back to the fellas house (4 mile round trip) then after onto Jonesboro, Dromantine, Forkhill, Crossmaglen and Cullaville before I filled up, the other car was the same with a bizarre range calculator!

Seems to be easy on weasel so far, but I will be checking on this refill when the tanks near empty and what range I got with the B trip counter

Spot on with the P/S, fluid looks jet black and will be changed when the T belt is done :cool: the 1.8 I had was also electric p/s, it left the input very light...

That's solved that mystery as to what that button is, I was thinking it may have been a cabin heater like in the Merc! I've heard something about them before though, notorious for rapid diesel consumption...? :eek:

Sexual Chocolate wrote: »

Nothing more disgusting but at the same satisfying as looking inside the wet vac and seeing gunk and ****e like that.

It really transformed the car, it's in far better shape than when I got it from a hygienic perspective and I'm sure there's parts I've missed! It's a tool we had for years I didn't even know I had I'll be going over it again, once I have a dehumidifier I'll be able to do a lot more don't want to risk using the SIP fireball to dry it out

Another small update. Decided when I got home yesterday to clean up the engine a bit. It wasn't overly dirty but didn't clean it the last time as I hadn't the time. Don't have an after pic as it was black dark when I'd finished up


All visible oily residue was cleaned off, conscious not to let any seepage near the T-Belt or rubber components/electric connectors etc

I then decided to remove the EGR to clean it up


Maybe it's just me but this looks like it was replaced a few years ago as it wasn't as dirty as I had anticipated


It was cleaned out however, all built up residue chipped out and removed, all excess soot washed out.

Then I decided to blank it!


I've offcuts of aluminum ducting I'd found thrown out, shaped a small piece, drilled to fit. Used a longer bottom bolt with a washer to compensate the difference in space

The car runs far, far quieter now (I pulled into the local lidl and thought the car had cut out!) and the flatspot I mentioned earlier while not gone has diminished significantly. No EML on the dash, yet

I'll engineer that flatspot out yet, more bits and bobs in due time!

colm_mcm

Far as I remember the power heater just burns diesel to directly heat the coolant.

job seeker

Great work man! Keep it up!

Eric Cartman

in that bag of attachments you found is the proper detergent hose for that vacuum, I don't know why it annoys me that you're not using it :pac:

Thats some impressive cleanup from the dog kennel it was. are you going to fix it back to full factory and leave it or do it up a bit ?

fancy pigeon

Eric Cartman wrote: »

in that bag of attachments you found is the proper detergent hose for that vacuum, I don't know why it annoys me that you're not using it :pac:

Thats some impressive cleanup from the dog kennel it was. are you going to fix it back to full factory and leave it or do it up a bit ?

It was my first time using it... I hadn't a clue what it was

But I have several other cars to try it out on along with 2 sets of mats for this car, someday I'll get the hang of it!

I will be putting alloys on it someday but the main plan is to try and eradicate as much of the previous owners... Scent as I can by going into the finer details. Once it's not rusty outside or underneath that'll do me grand, the main theme of this car is "keep your integrity, but do it as cheap as possible"

For example, I cleaned up the vents and trip computer. Removing them, dismantling, cleaning up and putting it back


My suspicions of more... Leavings


I'm going to assume this was coke as it's stained the metal


I took out the speedo and cleaned up all around the stalks/airbag/badge (mouldy :eek::(). Also bought a dehumidifier and tore out the back bench again, has made a noticeable difference overnight. Don't worry, screen was cleaned up after this was taken (traffic film)


Gearbox oil changed too, had enough to do, no more crunching or sticky gears

Plenty more to do!

Leonard Hofstadter

I'm very impressed!

I've got a real soft spot for the Mk2 Avensis, we got a 1.8 Luna brand new in 2005 (coincidentally also in black).

In relation to the steering, yeah the petrols have lighter steering because of they have electric power steering (it's far too light for my tastes), the diesels have hydraulic.

The trip computer isn't that bad in the petrols, it overstates the mpg but not by too much (BMW and Volvo trip computers are much worse in my experience).

I don't know about the diesels but the petrols will tell you they've got 0 miles when there's about a gallon of fuel left.

You should have traction control and VSC in yours as it's a 2006 car, everything got VSC and TRC by 2004-2005 apart from the 1.6s (which got it in 2008) but I'd imagine with those rubbish tyres the light flashes quite often!

colm_mcm

Think VSC and TRC was only on the 6 speed diesels. There would be a TRC button wvhere the power heater button is. 1.8 got standard VSC in mid 2004 (along with a €1k price increase!)

CalamariFritti

What a mank box she was!

Each to their own but whats in it for you? At the end you will be left with a 2006 Avensis.

CalamariFritti

CalamariFritti wrote: »

What a mank box she was!

Each to their own but whats in it for you? At the end you will be left with a 2006 Avensis.

As you said, each to their own.

You should have left it at that.

:rolleyes:

fancy pigeon

captainspeed wrote: »

I'm very impressed!

I've got a real soft spot for the Mk2 Avensis, we got a 1.8 Luna brand new in 2005 (coincidentally also in black).

In relation to the steering, yeah the petrols have lighter steering because of they have electric power steering (it's far too light for my tastes), the diesels have hydraulic.

The trip computer isn't that bad in the petrols, it overstates the mpg but not by too much (BMW and Volvo trip computers are much worse in my experience).

I don't know about the diesels but the petrols will tell you they've got 0 miles when there's about a gallon of fuel left.

You should have traction control and VSC in yours as it's a 2006 car, everything got VSC and TRC by 2004-2005 apart from the 1.6s (which got it in 2008) but I'd imagine with those rubbish tyres the light flashes quite often!

colm_mcm wrote: »

Think VSC and TRC was only on the 6 speed diesels. There would be a TRC button wvhere the power heater button is. 1.8 got standard VSC in mid 2004 (along with a €1k price increase!)

The steering feels more normal to me than the previous Avensis! This one hasn't got traction control, it flares up in the wet without hesitation. The 1.8 I had didn't have VSC either :P

Found that out about the trip computer when I bought it... Range 0 means I can go on an intercounty trip

CalamariFritti wrote: »

What a mank box she was!

Each to their own but whats in it for you? At the end you will be left with a 2006 Avensis.

But that's what I want... A 2006 Avensis. Nothing more, nothing less

I used to drive a C220 which stuck out like a sore thumb (which one from this spritely bunch I wonder?) and attracted the wrong attention, despite it being my daily driver. Another daily driver from yesteryear was spotted many's a time in the city centre, despite having a suspension drop it was standard otherwise visually

Parking on Baggot st? A village as backwards looking as Shercock? Navigating the streets of Portadown to get to Asda? Down the bog with a hape of turf? Middle of a brawl in Longford from the result of hilarious call out videos on youtube? The Avensis fits in anywhere. And that's what I need, animosity for a change!

Plus, if I were to sell this car, what it's worth is easily far more than what I paid for it and spent on parts, considering it has a full window and had to do a retest! It's cheaper motoring that gets me to work and back along with my essentials

I have other ways to get my kicks, here's one of them, here's another

JayZeus wrote: »

As you said, each to their own.

You should have left it at that.

:rolleyes:

Everyone has different tastes, just mine have changed to a necessity!

The challenge was to eradicate all traces of the previous owner, or as close to as possible. What I have so far is a car that no longer smells of... unmentionables, no longer has the dirt to match (inside or out) and is unrecognizable now than when I first got it (if you could have seen the car when I got it first in person, you'd understand)

I'd dread to see their house :eek:

I have other projects on at the same time that I'll put up in due time, all have different themes and end goals

166man

I like the idea behind it.

Sometimes, all we need is a car to get from A-B with little fuss in relative comfort, and to be fair the Avensis does that just for you at minimal cost. Leaves more moneys for projects and means you don't need to be worrying about getting to and from work.

Makes total sense to me. You have done an amazing job on it.

Tea drinker

Honest hard work and reaping the benefits of same. Satisfying eh?
Yeah my daily driver is an 03 Passat, I still enjoy it, and plus the missus can learn to drive in it rather than bating the corners off an expensive car.
I also have expensive hobbies... astronomy, photography ... spending loads on restaurant meals every week :-)

Toyotafanboi

Very satisfying turn around

Leonard Hofstadter

colm_mcm wrote: »

Think VSC and TRC was only on the 6 speed diesels. There would be a TRC button wvhere the power heater button is. 1.8 got standard VSC in mid 2004 (along with a €1k price increase!)

Well you'd definitely know. I could have sworn that the diesels had it by 2006 but having just spent the past few days driving our MK2 Avensis I can see from the OP's photos that his one doesn't (I had forgotten that the traction control button is one to the left of the power heater switch )!

It has 196,000 miles and it's as tight as a drum to drive, there's years left in it. Slow as a funeral compared to my own car but it's as fast as it's always been, even the oil is lovely and clean in it. I love my 3 series but given the problems I've had with it I have to say there's an awful lot to be said for lack of hassle and stress associated with running an Avensis and even from a car enthusiast's point of view they have plenty of good points, I had forgotten just how well they ride on bad roads for example. To this day I maintain the T25 is the best non sporty European market Toyota ever made, I honestly think they're a much better car than the T27 (and we've got one of those as well).

passatman86

Ok I posted in this thread before, but I signed in just to ask "please more pics of the 300zx"
I have a t27 other than my project car and appreciate the work gone into this.. fair play

fancy pigeon

captainspeed wrote: »

Well you'd definitely know. I could have sworn that the diesels had it by 2006 but having just spent the past few days driving our MK2 Avensis I can see from the OP's photos that his one doesn't (I had forgotten that the traction control button is one to the left of the power heater switch )!

It has 196,000 miles and it's as tight as a drum to drive, there's years left in it. Slow as a funeral compared to my own car but it's as fast as it's always been, even the oil is lovely and clean in it. I love my 3 series but given the problems I've had with it I have to say there's an awful lot to be said for lack of hassle and stress associated with running an Avensis and even from a car enthusiast's point of view they have plenty of good points, I had forgotten just how well they ride on bad roads for example. To this day I maintain the T25 is the best non sporty European market Toyota ever made, I honestly think they're a much better car than the T27 (and we've got one of those as well).

An honest and unbiased review on the T27 may have been written by myself a few years ago and I would be of the same view...! :eek:

Still not overly happy with the seats (I have an idea how to sort these...) but they are a huge improvement on the other one I had and I'm happy with the rest of it (well the radio is a bit crap but I'm working on a solution) I have to keep telling myself this is an 11 year old car, it genuinely doesn't show it's age inside save for a few scuff marks, a squeaky clutch pedal and some mismatched trim. No rattles bangs or squeaks from the driveline, it's very quiet inside even well up in the rev range and motorway speeds :cool:

Granted it's not going to set the tyres on fire from a power perspective (I wish it would though, those Luckylands could do with a wakening up!) but for a standard car on... questionable tyres it holds the road really well and responds fantastically to driver input, a huge plus point as a lot of my driving is on backroads

passatman86 wrote: »

Ok I posted in this thread before, but I signed in just to ask "please more pics of the 300zx"
I have a t27 other than my project car and appreciate the work gone into this.. fair play

In due time, in due time

That car suffered a failed transmission seal somewhere near the front, so I used it as an opportunity to convert it to manual. I got sent the wrong clutch so currently waiting on the right one (non turbo clutch is a 240mm, I need twin turbo 250mm). It's even getting an Avensis rear caliper pipe for the clutch slave

Only small bits and bobs so far, exhibit a, exhibit b

I'll eventually put it up as a separate thread, along with the other projects I have in the background

fancy pigeon

A very short update...

So I've put 6k kms/3.7k miles since Oct 1st. Hasn't missed a beat

On the Sunday just gone the rear pads began to screech, so I casually bought a set and fitted them on the side of the road (no pics as I just wanted it to be done)

Over the tank it seems to average from 48 to 50 mpg. Very noticeable not having to fill up before the weeks out!

I have a few bits ordered for it such as a t belt kit, pollen filter, front pads + discs all of which were on special offer on Mr Auto and barely tipped over €100, significant discount on this alone!

Other small bits include finally removing clingy McCabe and adding it to the busload of rubbish I found in the car (hat, jumper, fast food packets that smell so bad they are getting set on fire, why didn't I get rid of sooner, better late than never!)



I decided while doing that to take out the parcel shelf fully and clean up underneath it, glad I did :cool:

And I purchased a set of wheels for the car. Full 5 original Toyota alloys with road legal but crumtastic tyres (2 Triangles, an Austone, something generic and a Westlake with a plug in the sidewall that's the spare) again purchased on the cheap. 1 wheel has a scrape, the rest are fine.

The difference in the corners has turned an already good roadholding car into a great one. It feels very solid through the bends where before it may have wobbled slightly. There is a horrendous racket in the car now but I'm attributing this to the tyres. Wet performance is far better than the Luckylands but overall the experience so far is above average!

It also looks much better now and pretty much completes how I want the car to look outside apart from wind deflectors (well, maybe foglights too as suggested by TFB but that's much further down the line!)



Hopefully the next post about the car from me will be a lot more mechanical

job seeker

fancy pigeon wrote: »

Other small bits include finally removing clingy McCabe and adding it to the busload of rubbish I found in the car (hat, jumper, fast food packets that smell so bad they are getting set on fire, why didn't I get rid of sooner, better late than never!)

Sure that's nearly a full outfit, that's a win win! :P ... I was never lucky enough to find cloths in a car.

Leonard Hofstadter

fancy pigeon wrote: »

It also looks much better now and pretty much completes how I want the car to look outside apart from wind deflectors (well, maybe foglights too as suggested by TFB but that's much further down the line!)

Great to see this all coming together. The wheels make a huge difference to its appearance!

You should definitely put fogs into it, it will really finish the front off:D!

Feck the wind deflectors though:p!

passatman86

Any updates !

fancy pigeon

passatman86 wrote: »

Any updates !

I'll hopefully have some updates over the next few days, more mechanical this time!

fancy pigeon

I've been busy elsewhere with other project cars (406, E34 and the Z) I was hoping to bundle this into a combined post, but I still haven't even gotten round to putting the car on the lift let alone the timing belt yet!

It crossed over to 330k on Thursday

I recently changed the front brakes, both discs and pads as they were in dire need of replacement :eek:



The pads were just finished :eek:


And the disc must have been from new, at a guess


Yes, hairline cracks :eek:

I also cleaned up the sliders (amazing what crap builds up in a protected environment) and rebled the system. Brakes have been A1 since :cool:

passatman86

Wow, they were lethal looking .. grinding much

fancy pigeon

passatman86 wrote: »

Wow, they were lethal looking .. grinding much

Weren't grinding but certainly within a few more stops before it was metal on metal... That nearly happened with the rear slider when it stuck solid, or the new discs could have been scored! :eek:

On the plus side the car has new pads, discs and fluid now!

fancy pigeon

fancy pigeon wrote: »

Bon dia
Say hello to Brownfinger:

Sorry thats trademarked

fancy pigeon

Happy new timing belt!



A particularly easy belt but a lot of fiddly bits to take off. Actual time spent on the job was about the 3 hour mark faffing about



There are no special tools required, line up the marks and off with the tensioner then the belt. My hydraulic tensioner was seized solid, rollers whilst not bone dry were beginning to make noise. Not bad for what I can assume is 212k of a belt + rollers! :eek:




An extra pair of hands is handy to set the timing to take the slack out of the belt



The car is noticeably quieter and that irritating infrequent squeak from the alternator belt is gone with 2 new belts.

Interval will not be left that long under my ownership

I taxed it too, so checkpoint friendly for now

Next on the list is the NCT in Feb (due at the end of April): I never got to look properly under the car but can only assume the brake pipes have had it. Apart from that I don't know what to expect as it shot through the last time... The second time

Doctors room ghost

One for the pigeon.
If you had to choose between a Toyota avensis and your dream woman,what colour would your venny be.ha

fancy pigeon

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

One for the pigeon.
If you had to choose between a Toyota avensis and your dream woman,what colour would your venny be.ha

Be greedy like me and have both

Still motoring happily anyway, rolled over 335k last week. Changed my driving style and I am now getting anywhere between 40-60 miles extra range.

Bit of a clonk starting to develop from the front left, my guess is either a droplink or balljoint, which I'll probably get from Mr T as opposed to my usual sources.

Hoping to have it long sorted for the NCT in Feb...!

Doctors room ghost

Is it worth changing the gear oil in the 1.6 petrol as a precaution when they are prone to gearbox problems.

fancy pigeon

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

Is it worth changing the gear oil in the 1.6 petrol as a precaution when they are prone to gearbox problems.

If it were me, I'd have another gearbox with new bearings (input shaft) and change it or have it on standby.

Oil may help, but only prolongs the inevitable. My view anyway

Doctors room ghost

fancy pigeon wrote: »

If it were me, I'd have another gearbox with new bearings (input shaft) and change it or have it on standby.

Oil may help, but only prolongs the inevitable. My view anyway

Cheers pigeon.its fine at the moment I’ll keep eye out for a gearbox in the scrapyard and have it reconditioned.no harm have one on the shelf incase I suppose

Doctors room ghost

Can you recommend a good rotary polisher pigeon and where I could get one and for how much roughly.thanks

fancy pigeon

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

Can you recommend a good rotary polisher pigeon and where I could get one and for how much roughly.thanks

I couldn't really as the one I use is an old fixed speed B&D from the mid 80's (similar to this one) that's probably no longer made. For all the compounding + polishing I do, it's a fantastic job

If I were to buy a new one I'd make sure it had variable speeds, maybe the detailing forum would have better answers? As I wouldn't know how much you should be shelling out...

Sorry I can't help further!

Doctors room ghost

No bother thanks

fancy pigeon

Still motoring away happily, now on 338k! Yet to book the NCT but soon.

Changed these on Sunday, stumbled on these by accident. €2 for the pair!



Covers being the fiddliest part, the job to change both took no longer than 5 minutes. Noticeably better in the dark too

Due an oil change in the next week or 2, which I'll use to check for obvious NCT failing material, then send it in

fancy pigeon

About time I dropped in here again...!

Not much to update, now at 346k. Since the last time:

Serviced (oil, air filter)
Front tyres at 341k
Thermostat + coolant
Glowplugs
NCT (required the 2 unicorn links to pass!)
A replacement headrest
New tail light (old one was full of water)
A replacement headrest (old one resembled a stone)

That's really it I think...

We had the snow, I never got stuck and helped others when stuck!


Did also discover one day where someone arsed into my car and drove off... Jokes on them that bumper is wrecked anyway


Changed my plugs, 2 of which had failed (tested all with a multimeter)


Thermostat. Side of the road job.... Hahaha yeah right! Access is limited, coolant needs to be refilled too, preferably with Mr T's finest. Despite the not overly shabby condition of the old thermostat it was failing as the car now heats up much faster than before




Old taillights were annoying me (water ingress prior to my ownership) so I swapped them. The foam seal behind never works properly again so I used the other foam from the new light with the old one. No water ingress in the new lights


NCT time: failed on advanced corrosion on the control links at the back


They were fairly crappy... But a supplementary set was sourced and fitted


Test passed!

I also lost my only key in the snow for a few days... When I get time, that won't happen again (full kit is elsewhere in the photo). Also, shear bolts don't stop me :cool:


Few bits of surface rust to sort under the car, more updates in due time!

fancy pigeon

Another week, another set of tasks!

First, converted the rear windows to electric. I often leave the rear window open when parked up and this makes things... Lazier!

Nothing to it, you change the door cards, regulators and looms on 3 doors. That's it really. It all bolts in, the whole job took about an hour. This included ripping the parts off the donor vehicle

The biggest job was changing the drivers door loom, as it is routed to above the accelerator pedal. Just for a few extra wires!


Next, a quote from earlier:

captainspeed wrote: »

You should definitely put fogs into it, it will really finish the front off:D!

Seeing as I couldn't find a definitive answer if these would work or not, I had a rip at it myself

You need the stalk first with front fogs


Take off the bumper and remove the inserts. Or, leave it on and just crack it at the corners... Inserts are held in with 2 screws


Plugs are already there. These are a HB4/9006 bulb, you'll also need the retaining clip to screw the new insert/lamp onto


Plug it all in, doesn't work! I had to figure out myself where the additional relay was to plug in, it's near the radio. Also takes a standard Toyota relay. The blue one in this pic is the starter relay, the fog relay (grey, not pictured) goes in diagonally from it


Jobs a good one!


Had a scare over the snow regarding losing the only key, so instead of getting keys cut, I got a lock set with 3 keys (ECU isn't in this pic)


You need:

• Locks (door, boot)
• Glovebox
• Ignition barrel
• Immobilizer
• ECU
• Antenna (optional)

Starting at the back: boot lock. Plastic clips for the cover, an extra metal cover, the link rod and 2 10mm nuts.


Door lock: One plastic cover and a T30 key. Jiggle it out, replace the colour of cover if needed and shove it all back in. If I didn't take this pic I'd have this done under a minute door open to door closed!


Ignition: Remove the shroud to reveal the "anti tamper" shear bolts


Remove the stalks, disconnect the harness bracket and put those tamper proof bolts in the scrap pile


The immobilizer is behind the trip computer and is a nuisance to screw back in correctly without a long reach screwdriver. It's a black box with a galvanized bracket (in the pic above). The ECU also has to be changed, behind the glovebox. And the glovebox also has to be changed for the new keys, it conveniently stores your old lock set too!


Reassemble and test the whole lot


And yes, I have configured both remote keys to work the doors/boot with the key with a series of door flapping and key inserting/pull out method... This whole job took about 30 minutes start to finish.

And if anyone is wondering the cost of the above, I bought a donor car with all the goodies above for €300. Within days the car was a shell with doors and a boot!

I have a wheel bearing going (n/s front) so I'll be replacing that next, for another post!

Eric Cartman

whats the heater switch in the right cluster ?

jayo26

Eric Cartman wrote: »

whats the heater switch in the right cluster ?

It's a power heater it was standard on them in colder climate countries for warming the car up from cold.

fancy pigeon

fancy pigeon wrote: »

I have a wheel bearing going (n/s front) so I'll be replacing that next, for another post!

And here is that post! Almost 350k now

I have the spare one from the spares car fitted. Few bolts, driveshaft nut etc. Nothing to see you haven't seen before

As for the old wheel bearing... First, they're held on with a type of snap ring. Problem with this is one of the ends had broke away some time ago, so had to use alternative means to remove the ring... You can see why this one failed, the dust cover had vanished and allowed the grease to escape, to be replaced with dirt etc



Out to the press and out with the hub itself, naturally it fell to bits. So just the 2 collars to remove




The hub got a quick cleaning up



I'll have to order in the new bearing, it's a bank breaking £12 for SKF!

My handbrake was annoying me (previous owners dog chewed the old one)


Pulled this one out of thin air


And this rare non broken part of the centre console


Tightened up and eradicated the imbalance in the parking brake while I had this off. All back, quick clean, great result!

More stuff in due time, the shocks could do with replacing now that I have a spare set!