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MLB and 2nd car dilemma solved!

Turdle

DIY stunt double
Staff member
Moderator
Elite Explorer
Joined
June 16, 2003
Messages
31,544
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City, State
Humboldt, KS
Year, Model & Trim Level
2000 Mounty
Hi Gang!
Man, I am so friggin happy, and feel so fortunate!

Let me begin,

My wife and I were down to one car. Now, keep in mind the last time we made a major vehicle purchase was at the 15k mark.

Going out to do some car shopping resulted in , let's call em discussions, as everything economical is so dang expensive, and lacks space.

Our decision was made for us when my father announced over a lunch meeting with us, his investments had done well for him last year and they had been working out a purchase of an Acura RDX for my mother. They scored the car and decided rather than trade in their Avalon they would just gift it to my wife and I.

Oh the joy! I argued that he couldn't do that--well, I promise I did a little bit. ;):D

This thing is a cream puff to drive, and has a booklet of Toyota service records 2" thick. Even a visit to Toyota for a blown fuse. Any part replaced-oil change or air filter has been done at the dealer who sold it. All tire and alignment work at one Firestone store. Never, ever one failure or Check engine light. (ooops, not so fast buddy)

Gotta love my dad! He is not a DIY guy for lack of nothing other than confidence. He could do it--in fact he taught me how to change oil when I was 8 years old. Funny--I don't think he's changed his own oil since---idunno.


I am a DIY guy, and intend to take the best care of this as I can.

Funny thing happened on the way to the hair stylist though. The very first, yes, maiden voyage out for my wife in her new ride, the check engine light popped up. Omen?
I searched the google and found toyotanation forum, with the answer. Rear coils are a beatch to replace!!!
Toyota labels the cylinders a-f

a-c-e
(1-3-5)

b-d-e
(2-4-6)

A-C-E are against the firewall, wipers, motor, cowl need removed to access the brackets holding the intake manifold on. Of course, you need to pull the intake to replace plugs and coils. My father already paid a 550.00 spark plug replacement bill :eek::eek::eek::eek:




Code scanner said p0352, so I swapped the B coil with the D coil and sure enough the code changed to 354. Glad it is up front at least. Phew!! We intend to purchase all new coils, for either the next plug change or when they start popping, whenever the huge labor bill hits. I am a do it yourself guy, however, I do not want to put the first scratch on this car.

Oh yeah--the car

2006 Avalon ,Touring edition in Cassis Pearl --black leather interior. This was truly driven it's whole life by a little ol lady-my mom. :thanks::thanks::thanks:


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I try to search before posting, but sometimes miss the proper terms. Please, be kind to this ol man!!

New coil just came in today--being up front it is an easy fix.
 



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Nice looking car and can't beat the price! :D

I do understand your frustration of owning a FWD V6 car. My back plugs are a pain as well and the thing likes to eat coils. :( I've done mine twice so far.
 






Took about 5 minutes to change the coil and all is well.

Got her all cleaned up for Sheri to drive, now I can have the Mounty back!!:D

Going get a set of Falken Azenis 225 55r 17 tires installed Friday. They are on sale, with 50.00 rebate. Out the door for 115.00 each mounted and balanced, before rebate. It is a size up from the standard 215-55r 17, but from talk on the forum it will work out for better economy trade off for a little error in speedometer. GPS will take care of that.
 






Funny, I've never seen the coils set that code. They typically will set P0300 series codes for missfires before they ever record the P0350 series codes. Made it easy to diagnose though.

Just an FYI for future depending on which generation the engine is in there, you can typically snake the number one coil from the under the plenum on the passenger side of the car w/o removing it. You can also get to number 3 and 5 by pullung the throttle body off. Its kind of a pita to do it that way, but its easier than pulling the plenum.
 






Thanks for that info Mike.:thumbsup:

Threw on a set of Falken Azenis pt722 225 55r 17

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No trimming, no rubbing. :D

The driver side rear tire had developed a "wop wop wop" on smooth roads, so it was time.
Close up of new rubbers


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With humility I report in after a 6 hour day of oil change bliss

Leave here 11:15AM
Drive 55 miles to nearest Toyota dealer. Drop it off. Return 1.5 hours later with it still up on the rack waiting for my ok for a cabin filter and tire rotation.
Feeling completely whipped at this point I said OK. 4:30 pm it's done. back home at 5:45.

MrBoyle if you would please show me the tools--parts I need to change my own oil I'd appreciate it. This is ridiculous. All day and a drive through the country for an oil change.
Evidently I need a tool for the oil filter housing, an oil filter wrench , oil filter and o rings.


On a side note the inspection went great, They didn't even suggest any other work, knock on wood.
 






What would cause a random beeping. There are no warning lights displayed at all, however with key on it seems all bulbs light up-

Unless one is burned out?

It might be imagination, but it seems when the car is steered the beeping starts. It is a random series of beeps, I could not quite get a "code pattern"

I also posted in the toyotanation forum. I bet I get a faster response here-:D
 






changing rear plugs

. . . Just an FYI for future depending on which generation the engine is in there, you can typically snake the number one coil from the under the plenum on the passenger side of the car w/o removing it. You can also get to number 3 and 5 by pullung the throttle body off. Its kind of a pita to do it that way, but its easier than pulling the plenum.

Thanks for posting that information. I was going to change all of the plugs last year on our 2006 Highlander until I read the instructions about removing the intake manifold. I swore I would never purchase another vehicle with a transverse V6. I only changed the front plugs since there's only 41,000 miles on the odometer. We'll probably sell it in a year or so and purchase a rear wheel drive Grand Cherokee.
 






What would cause a random beeping. There are no warning lights displayed at all, however with key on it seems all bulbs light up-

Unless one is burned out?

It might be imagination, but it seems when the car is steered the beeping starts. It is a random series of beeps, I could not quite get a "code pattern"

I also posted in the toyotanation forum. I bet I get a faster response here-:D

Nevermind.
Someone drove away with one of the cordless handsets, and it was beeping for out of range. lol

It was under the seat. Weirdness
 






Nevermind.
Someone drove away with one of the cordless handsets, and it was beeping for out of range. lol

It was under the seat. Weirdness

:bsnicker:

I missed your earlier post about the oil change issue. To change the oil filter you will need one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Filter-Socket...00741&sr=8-14&keywords=toyota+oil+filter+tool

Don't try to remove the center plug on the housing that has the 3/8 square hole in it, it does nothing (was supposed to be a drain for the housing but it rarely does its job). Other than that just be careful to get the threads on the cap and housing lined up properly when you reinstall it (they like to try and cross thread). The rest of the job is pretty straight forward.
 






:bsnicker:

I missed your earlier post about the oil change issue. To change the oil filter you will need one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Filter-Socket...00741&sr=8-14&keywords=toyota+oil+filter+tool

Don't try to remove the center plug on the housing that has the 3/8 square hole in it, it does nothing (was supposed to be a drain for the housing but it rarely does its job). Other than that just be careful to get the threads on the cap and housing lined up properly when you reinstall it (they like to try and cross thread). The rest of the job is pretty straight forward.

Hi Mike. While you are here, can you show me please what the oil supply hose for the ttv looks like? I have heard this hose leaks, and I want to check it out.

I think we have an oil leak, or maybe power steering fluid leak. Too small to make a spot on the road, but there is some on the shield.
 







I used to carry one of those in my Paseo after a trip to a quick lube turned into a few hour wait due to the filter not wanting to come off using various removal tools. Even stabbing it with a screwdriver and attempting rotation failed. Finally found a parts store in a neighboring town had one in stock. Filter was off in under a minute.
 






The hose that commonly leaks is under the plastic cover on the right side of the front of the engine. You have to remove the cover to see it (its a PITA). Toyotas are also known for PS pumps leaking and they are mounted on the same bank as the leaky hose so they can make determining what is leaking a pain.

The video in this link shows where the hose comes out and what it looks like when one fails bad. http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/22775-2gr-fe-vvt-i-oil-line-replacement/

There should be a TSB out for replacing the hose if you take it in with it leaking.
 












That looks like one of the oil filter wrenches I got in a kit from Harbor Freight. It came with like 10 different sized wrenches with different angles (8 point vrs 10 point etc0.

~Mark

Yea you can get it in some of the HF kits or individually if you only need the one. Sad thing is, I think I paid more for the one off a tool truck than you paid for the whole kit.
 






..:scratch:...I still don't get what Major League Baseball has to do with Sherri getting a new car..:dunno:..:p:
 






..:scratch:...I still don't get what Major League Baseball has to do with Sherri getting a new car..:dunno:..:p:

MLB=My Lovely Bride \\

Nothing to do with baseball.
 






So: the wop wop wop tire sound came back
One of the Falken tires separated due to a bent wheel. Should have caught it when the Falkens were mounted,

due to a long story I ended up with a set of 2013 Toyota wheels that needed re coating.

I coated them with "heavy charcoal" to match the Toyota "hyper silver" color. Our center caps fit the "new" wheels perfectly, and show the color match.

I then selected a set of Hankook 452 s2 Noble tires. 225 55r 17

520.00 out the door with full lifetime rotation, balance check and alignment check, which by the way was dead on. No alignment adjustments have been done since we owned this car.

188k miles, and with the new tire-wheel combo this thing rides like a cloud.

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201k miles now and the "what if it fails now?" list is adding up.
Wife really likes this car so we'll try to keep it road worthy for another 2 years.

This is going to be my first round of actual work on this car so I am intimidated.

Coolant drain and fill was easy. Drain and fill with no water needed. 2 block drain plugs have nipples so I could use the reservoir hose to direct flow to the bucket for a drip free spill free coolant change. The stuff that came out looked very clean, with only a slight color change compared to the new toyota kool aid. Old was a bit more orange tinted.

However I made a novice mistake and forgot to replace the hoses, so,I ordered those and will try to just catch-reuse the coolant when I change them.

So far i am impressed by the build quality of this car.
The ball joints and rubber link thingys all look way better than what is on my mounty . All boots look straight, tight and full. I noticed no play.

200k miles this has been aligned one time. At 188k miles and new tires, the alignment rack said everything was still dead on.

Water pump , thermostat, and fuel pump have 201k miles. Unheard of. I'm letting these run out.
Struts and springs seem ok with no leaks. Also letting these ride out as wife has no complaints about the ride.

There is a rattle in the dash during cold weather on rough roads which goes away. I assume it is a mount issue with the dash, which happens to be on a recall and being replaced free of charge. I have a letter. My fear is the new dash would sound and work worse once some toyota tech got his hands in there. Guess we better get it in before the free wears out.


I have new Denso spark plugs and coils. Upper plennum gasket just in case, plus a new Toyota brand PCV valve. This will begin tonight. $$$$ ouch
New powerstop brake pads and rotors next. Solid, no holes or slots.Hopefully the calipers will be ok. I plan to flush all the brake fluid.

Transmission fluid and filter+gasket after that.

Power steering fluid -turkey baster change with a few lock to lock drains and refills also.


Accessory belt change and idler bearing check. Also factory stuff. Normally I can get new bearings for idlers pretty easily, but might have to shell out some bux for these. We'll see how they spin by hand.


When I have it up for brakes I'll check the suspension further but anticipate, and hope all is good. I am concerned about wheel bearings because of age, but to be honest this thing drives real good. My wife is very good about noticing and reporting things which sound or feel abnormal.

Not so good about telling me she backed into a rock in Arkansas though. That one I found on my own. Grrr!

All real damage to this car has been the rear bumper.
1st was tha garage door which I have adjusted for full down force. She didn't pull in quite far enough and made 2 new racing stripes down the center of the bumper.
Then, a girl hit and ran us while wife was sitting in the car at a local convenience store. Just a rub down the rear bumper side.

Then, in Rolla Mo, I backed it into a motel TV cable box which was mounted on pole just as high as the bumper. Crap. This has a high ass end in the rear view mirror, and no backup camera. I pooped that one all on my own. Good thing the above was not repaired yet.

And now an Arkansas rock. Maybe it should just ride like it is.

Good source for Toyota "Cassis Pearl" paint?
 



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I used to buy all my touch-up paint from the dealer. Mine is so old, that I am left with aftermarket brands.

I have been mostly putting OEM repair/maintenance parts on my Paseo as I can.

Right off hand, I can only think of these non-OEM parts...

stereo - mix of Alpine, AudioControl, Infinity, Rockford Fosgate, Kicker
radiator hoses - local mechanic put on NAPA ones
battery - Interstate
headlights - JDM Toyota Cynos (foreign market OEM Toyota)
headlight bulbs - Philips Xtreme power
lugnuts - McGard
the rest is in my signature below
 






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