Eliana, my mostly-stock 2001 PFL

[Carolyn]

I did suggest that it was probably the MAF.  Well done for getting it sorted.

[inigopete]

If in doubt, trust @Carolyn - thanks again!

Of course, something else has started now... I'm getting an odd intermittent fault while driving along. The handbrake and battery light will come on and the temperature gauge needle will drop to the bottom, usually when the engine's at least partly warmed up. Sometimes the P/S warning light will also flicker on too.

I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this - an earth fault somewhere? - but can anyone give me some pointers where I should be looking? I haven't yet delved into the electrics of this car. And, of course, I'll have time to do it this Thursday when there's some truly horrible wet windy weather forecast!

[Carolyn]

I'd be tempted to remove the instrument cluster and give the pugs and sockets a good dose of contact cleaner.  I've not come across this one before but it does seem like a connectivity issue.

Come on peeps - help with this one!

[Joesson]

@inigopete
I can't easily get to my handbook / fuse box layout diagram but, are those items served by one fuse? If so therein may be the problem.

[rusty0273]

I had a similar issue but different gauges (Petrol level would drop to zero plus a few other things on the dash I can't recall exactly). Car drove fine. The connection problem was one of the connectors into the original ECU. Fairly straight-forward to access and connect properly. However, this is on a 2ZZ swap with 2 ECUs so had been messed about with a few years previously. Might be worth a look though. The symptoms are very similar.

[inigopete]

@inigopete
I can't easily get to my handbook / fuse box layout diagram but, are those items served by one fuse? If so therein may be the problem.

Good shout - the paperwork and books that I got with the car don't have that information, but I'll have a hunt online and spend some paid time on Toyota's tech site if necessary.

[Joesson]

@inigopete
The access restriction was only temporary, I now have my handbook.
I can see no specific reference to handbrake and battery light temperature and power steering fuses.

Fuses in Instrument panel the  passenger side near to hinges referring to gauges and meters, amongst other items, are as follows, as page 244/245 in my 2002 Handbook.

Fuses ( typeA)
10: ECU-1G: 7.5A Power steering system , anti lock brake system
13: Gauge 7.5 A: ....gauges and meters...
17: AM1 7.5A: "GAUGE" .....
26: ECU-B 10A:....gauges and meters
27: TAIL2 10A: ...gauges and meters
29: RADIO2 7.5A: Gauges and meters...

[Carolyn]

Reading @rusty0273 's comments, I've had thought:

Did you have any issues with blocked roof drains, by any chance?  Damp could have got into the ECU connectors.  It's a bit of a faff (you've got to take the driver's side rear bin out).  But disconnecting cleaning and reconnecting its connections might also do the trick.

[Alex Knight]

My immediate thought is a failing alternator.

These are classic symptoms.

[Carolyn]

Alternator!!!!!!  Yes. All I can say is Doh!

[Microgerry]

A bit late to the party but I would say alternator too. I had the exact symptoms last year and a new alternator sorted it.
Good luck

[inigopete]

Thanks all - bit of a family emergency meant I didn't have a look at the car today... but I did drive her 180 miles in the torrential rain and high winds last night over to Somerset!

Alternator sounds like it might tie in - the previous owner gave me a solar-powered battery trickle charger with the car, but said the battery was relatively new. So perhaps the battery hadn't been consistently charging anyway because of an undiagnosed tired alternator, and something to do with the damp conditions has triggered an intermittent fault. Is there any other way to test the alternator is it just a case of fitting a replacement and seeing if that solves it?

As I set off yesterday, the car was running well but the dashboard fault was intermittent. But by the time the car had warmed up and I was on the motorway, she ran flawlessly and very comfortably for the long run. It was quite a lovely experience feeling warm and dry cocooned inside the car as the wind and rain lashed down outside!

So, a quick search on here tells me I'll be needing this great guide - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=67660 - thanks @shnazzle! Oh, and a new alternator...

On the water thing, there's one annoying clip in the door / window seal on the driver's side that seems to allow a tiny drip of water in only when the car's stationary - is this normal / can it be removed? There isn't one on the passenger side and I know the roof has been replaced so I'm wondering if it's a weird facet of that. For now, a silica gel bag from Amazon is living in the driver's side footwell when I'm not using the car, to dry and absorb the slight damp. :/

[J88TEO]

one annoying clip in the door / window seal

That clip is in the wrong position. Carefully unfold it and it should point outwards.

[Alex Knight]

Is there any other way to test the alternator is it just a case of fitting a replacement and seeing if that solves it?

[inigopete]

Thanks @Alex Knight, that's superb! Very informative. I'll be able to diagnose later this week - I'm a bike mechanic so dismantling and replacing things with freewheels (decouplers) and bearings is right up my street, if necessary.

And thank you @J88TEO - that's exactly the answer I was hoping for!

[inigopete]

On the plus side, I seem to be at a lovely stage where everything I do to the car makes me like it even more.

I changed the gearbox oil yesterday, thanks to shnazzle's guide - one thing I'd want to add to his guide is that on 5-speed gearboxes you have to remove not just the bolt with the 12mm head on the top right of the gearbox, but the plug thing that that bolt holds on. It looks like this (when it's clean!):



(still taken from this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YInl0cOECSE - which I found pretty useful. Good grief his car is clean...!)

Mine was grubby and stuck, and took a fair bit of wiggling around to get loose. And I didn't have a replacement O-ring, but it seemed to be in pretty decent shape.

Some slightly cloudy grey / brown oil came out. 2 quart bottles of clear red Redline MT-90 went in, and seemed to fill up to the right level without overflowing.

...and now she feels quieter and smoother to drive! Gear shifting is easier, and the slight whine I'd noticed in second gear seems to have disappeared.

Coupled with the quieter gearbox, I carefully bent that little clip out on the driver's window seal, leaving a small black plastic piece pointing to the outside but clearing the window, and the seal gradually expanded to its original shape, so there's no wind noise and no leak from that point any more. Success!

[inigopete]

Of course, there's always yin to balance the yang. I got the multimeter out to test the battery and when the engine's running it measures 14.8V; with the engine stopped and ignition off, I measured 13.4V, gradually dropping as I kept the multimeter on.

I think this suggests my alternator's voltage regulation is on the blink and it's putting out too high a voltage, which will knacker my battery if I don't do something about it soon. :/

And I have two more "does this look OK to you?" photo questions, if anyone has time.

1) the front suspension looks like this. It looks like there should be neat rubber boots there somewhere to protect the shiny stanchions, but instead there are shreds of rubber that look like Nora Batty's tights. Should I be concerned?

IMG_4689 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

2) Almost certainly more concerning is that I spotted a section of relatively fresh black paint on the rear subframe, just by the flexis. Oh good, someone's thought to protect the subframe in this vulnerable area, I thought. Then I looked closer. Oh, someone's welded a patch on. And there's a section above it that's actually got a hole right through it.

IMG_4691 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

IMG_4695 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

Bugger. Do we think this will get through an MOT next month? How urgently do I need to be looking for a new subframe?

3) in better news, a box from Andy at J-Spec, so I now have the small plastic cover and no longer have an exposed chunk of engine. Which is nice. And I've got a new(ish) steering universal joint to grease up and fit the boot to, which I'll do when replacing the power steering fluid at some point soon...

[Carolyn]

[/quote]
1) the front suspension looks like this. It looks like there should be neat rubber boots there somewhere to protect the shiny stanchions, but instead there are shreds of rubber that look like Nora Batty's tights. Should I be concerned?

 2) Almost certainly more concerning is that I spotted a section of relatively fresh black paint on the rear subframe, just by the flexis. Oh good, someone's thought to protect the subframe in this vulnerable area, I thought. Then I looked closer. Oh, someone's welded a patch on. And there's a section above it that's actually got a hole right through it.


Bugger. Do we think this will get through an MOT next month? How urgently do I need to be looking for a new subframe?

[/quote]

There's  nothing wrong with a sturdy patch weld, which is what you have.  The other hole could be repaired in a similar manner. 

Most older suspension struts will be missing the gaiter.  When you get around to refreshing the shocks, which you will doubtless do at some point (new KYBs are a revelation) you can do the gaiters too.

I believe @J88TEO has a couple of good subframes he's happy to part with.

[inigopete]

Thanks @Carolyn, that's reassuring.

[J88TEO]

I believe @J88TEO has a couple of good subframes he's happy to part with.

Yes I have a few.

[inigopete]

A really rainy day meant inside work, so I did a couple of tweaks to the radio that I'd been planning. Details in this post.

[inigopete]

Happy day on Wednesday, she passed her MOT.

Advisories... 

Repair as soon as possible (minor defects):

    Nearside Front Lower Suspension arm ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (5.3.4 (b) (i))
    Offside Front Lower Suspension arm ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (5.3.4 (b) (i))

Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):

    Offside Rear Outer Suspension component mounting prescribed area is corroded but not
      considered excessive sill holed but no effect on suspension or seat belt mountings. (5.3.6 (a) (i))
    Nearside Front Coil spring corroded (5.3.1 (b) (i))
    Offside Front Coil spring corroded (5.3.1 (b) (i))

(although I was expecting them and am planning to get the front end in the air on a sunny weekend in Spring.)

[Alex Knight]

That's not horrible.

New subframe and a couple of ball joints. I'd take that.

[inigopete]

Weather is too horrible and time is currently too unavailable to get the car up off the ground and do anything interesting, but I had a couple of hours and wanted to attack one of those little things that makes the car sound "old".

The heater fan had an annoying whine. Nothing terrible, but on any setting there was just an irritating continuous sound. It could have been a bearing, or something rubbing against a motor, or a stuck leaf acting like a reed; I decided to take it out and have a look and clean up whatever I could.

I had a search on here but couldn't find any useful guides on how to access it, so I'll write the rest of this post as a guide in case anyone else is interested...

First, take the glove compartment out and you should be presented with something that looks like this (on a right hand drive car):

IMG_4850 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

The thing up at the top of this compartment is the passenger side airbag, which isn't something I wanted to play about with or have going off if I accidentally shorted something, so I disconnected the battery at this point.

The pale-coloured cylinder on the right side of the photo is the blower / heater fan chamber. The fan and motor are removed from below - I'd recommend disconnecting the electrical connection first. It just pulls off, straight down toward the car floor; the connector should look like this:

IMG_4858 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

IMG_4859 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

^^ This is the view from below. There are three bolts you'll need to remove, either (iirc) with a 10mm socket / spanner, T20 Torx driver, or by the looks of it a flat-head screwdriver. Leave the two cross-head screws in the middle for now, they hold the motor into the black plastic base. I found it easier to access them by removing some of the trim bolts holding the footwell plastics in place.

IMG_4851 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

It was also more convenient when I removed the bolt from the bottom of the vertical strut as well. In the above shot, I'm starting to manipulate the fan out of the chamber, you can see the fins.

...and it pulls out, straight down. Mine wasn't as filthy as I thought it might be, but was definitely a bit grey and grimy. I tried not to disturb too much of this dust.

IMG_4853 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

I didn't take many photos of the next steps, but basically I took the fan and motor unit inside the house where it was warm, and took it apart. The motor shaft has a flat on it, which slots into the fan and has a clip on the end of it. The clip is easy to remove with a pair of pliers; the fan was _not_ easy to remove from the motor, possibly because of some rust on the end of the shaft. A spray with Brunox (WD40, PlusGas or whatever) and a little soak helped it get moving.

I used two large flat-bladed screwdrivers, one on each side of the fan, to prise it up away from the black plastic bottom plate. Be careful here, you don't want to mangle or snap anything. As far as I know, mine is the stock 2001 part and the plastic was still flexy and it came apart after a few minutes of careful but firm force.

IMG_4854 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

To remove the motor, undo those two cross-head screws and pull it out of the black plastic case. Be careful here as the motor electrical connections are just metal blades that are soldered into the motor and push through the plastic case. This is more of a consideration when you're putting it back together - if they're not straight, they'll kink easily and might not straighten out without damage. I nearly learned this the hard way.

Having separated it all, as above, I cleaned out the fan by running a bowl of washing up water and getting to work with a washing-up brush and a cloth. There was a lot of horrible grey dust and I tried to inhale as little of this as possible!

I also took the motor outside and used a compressed air blower to blow out the dust in it. The bits in it didn't look too bad and after I dripped some bicycle wet lube onto the bearings / bushings at either end it was spinning much more freely and silently.

IMG_4856 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

Clean(er), motor pressed carefully back into housing, contacts aligned, two screws re-placed and ready to fit the fan back on. Obviously I tried to dry the fan as much as possible - it seems designed to prevent water getting into the motor but I didn't want to take any chances.

IMG_4857 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

Press it back together carefully, wiggle it about to make sure it's aligned OK and the motor's still spinning cleanly, and re-place that spring clip. For some reason the alignment took me a couple of goes, I think pushing the fan down onto the motor shaft pressed the shaft through the motor a little and made the motor parts bind a little. Which is why I had to pull and push it a little and check it was spinning well.

...and then just put it all back together. Re-insert back up into the chamber, re-place those three bolts, be careful not to drop the most awkward one down into the footwell trim while you're putting it back (!), re-connect the electrical connector, put that vertical strut bolt back where it came from, re-connect the battery and test.

And it made a difference! Mine was much quieter, at every speed. I'm still not completely sure there isn't a leaf somewhere in the tubing, but there's no annoying whine from the fan any more. Which leaves my ears free to notice all the other little creaks, rattles, buzzes etc...!

[inigopete]

And while I'm posting photos, this is the plate above the battery in the engine bay. Does that big "B" in the lower right corner mean I do have a LSD in there? I haven't pushed the car hard enough to find out.

IMG_4758 by Pete Owen, on Flickr