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.