Eliana, my mostly-stock 2001 PFL

[Carolyn]

Yes.  But it is a Euro car and they've all got LSD.

[inigopete]

Yes.  But it is a Euro car and they've all got LSD.

Thank you.

[inigopete]

What a difference two small strips of rubbery foam make!

I noticed the bin doors had been rattling slightly. The catches were maybe a bit loose, the latch had developed a bit of play over the years. So I added some weight to the car (one for @Petrus - approx 8g!) and hastily stuck two small strips of draft excluder black foam just above where the catches close. And it's SO much quieter! (and yes, I'll straighten that strip up, this was a quick test-fitting.)

IMG_5246 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

I had no idea that the background little rattles, from just behind me, made such a difference to the feel of the car. This has made me happy. And a nice way to treat her for ticking over her 150,000th mile.

(of course this means the slight whine in 3rd gear, the creak from the clutch fork and the slightly noisy power steering pump are all a little more noticeable... but those are jobs for another day!)

[J88TEO]

the slightly noisy power steering pump are all a little more noticeable..

That's at the front!

[Petrus]

of course this means the slight whine in 3rd gear,

It amazing how much less whining there is with the passenger seat out.

[inigopete]

That's at the front!

Oh I know, it's just a bit more noticeable now the general noise level in the car has decreased!

[J88TEO]

You can either adjust the catch or bend them inwards a bit so the doors don't rattle.

[inigopete]

Had a sunny-ish afternoon on Thursday so I took the luggage bins out and checked for moisture. And yuck, there it was. I pulled this soggy, slightly mouldy lump out of the n/s bay:

IMG_5861 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

...and although the o/s bay's sound insulation didn't look as bad, there was standing water due to a blocked drain pipe.

IMG_5859 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

Mercifully both drain pipes cleared easily (Carolyn's tip of using a zip tie worked very well). I cleaned out both bays and fortunately couldn't see any rust.

IMG_5860 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

While I had everything fairly accessible, I reached into the drain bags and cleared out any crap there - the o/s had a mouldy grubby cloth in it! Thanks, previous owner. I've got concerns about the seal between the roof and the door on that side, so I'll be keeping more of an eye on it.

Next job, I guess, is to find some non-water-absorbent sound insulation to put back into those clean metal bays.

[inigopete]

I also found this thread on SpyderChat about the "ears" that stick out when the soft top is down: https://www.spyderchat.com/threads/fs-%E2%80%9Cear%E2%80%9D-straps-for-the-convertible-top.157259/.

I'm pretty sure my soft top is an after-market one but it does seem to have the same tube inside it across the top, and the popper attachment points. Does anyone know if those straps are easily available in the UK? Searching for "ears" brings up lots of posts about gEARS and yEARS...!

edit: "ears strap" or "soft top strap" is bringing me more useful answers. I'll keep searching...

further edit: maybe having "ears" is OK, if the alternative is fitting the strap and putting more strain on the soft top when it's up: https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=56236.0

[fawtytoo]

I think you found my post on the "issue". Best option is to find a vehicle upholsterer to have the strap repaired.

[Carolyn]

I'm not a fan of pulling the 'ears' in on a vinyl roof.  I think the stress on the fabric is too much.

[inigopete]

Last Thursday I had a couple of hours in the afternoon so gave her a good thorough wash, a dry with a towel and got the Turtle Wax out. I'd forgotten how much work it was to polish it off - time to invest in a polisher - but the car looked SO MUCH better afterwards, and when it rained that night the water just beaded and ran smoothly off.

And the weekend saw a very fortunate eBay purchase: I found a hardtop from a guy who unfortunately had written off his car. It was very lucky for me - same colour, same year, came with a storage bag, great condition... I won the auction and was on his doorstep around ten minutes later! We fitted it there and then and I drove home.

IMG_5965 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

The car's definitely quieter with the hardtop on, there's a lot less wind noise (perhaps I need to adjust the catches on my soft top!) and the seller mentioned that he thought it made the car feel stiffer. I was mainly motorway driving home so haven't taken it on fun twisty roads at any speed, but the car certainly felt more serene to drive. And I like the way it looks!

[inigopete]

In opening a can of Airco Cleaner, I may have opened a can of worms...

It's in more detail in this thread, but the car has had a slight mouldy smell from when I bought it last summer. I wondered if it was in the ventilation / heating pipes somewhere, and Ardent kindly suggested Toyota's airco cleaner.

Now the ventilation system isn't heating up consistently when I drive, but the radiator fan is coming on when the engine's up to temperature. So I'm looking for a schematic or some information on what I've shorted out or clogged up when using the airway cleaning foam!

(I have a feeling this is going to end up with removing the dash, which at least could be a good chance to clean everything out under there and replace those two dashboard bulbs that have gone. :/ )

[Gaz mr-s]

Have you lifted the carpet & felt underneath the seat for dampness?

[inigopete]

Sorry I missed your message Gaz! No dampness that I can detect near the area I thought there would be (around the boot lid / petrol cap levers, where any drips from the door seal would end up), I haven't fully removed the seats and carpets yet - that's a job for a full sunny day some time soon.

I did manage to get the top down and attempt to lubricate some pivots, as it's getting a bit stiff. I'm not quite sure where to lubricate so will be looking for advice / guides on here.

I also finally solved the squeaky clutch! As I suspected after reading various posts here, it was the slave cylinder pivots and the fork / ball thing inside the rubber boot. I didn't remove the rubber boot, but squirted some moly grease onto the end of a flat-bladed screwdriver (it was quite runny, on a fairly warm day!) and rubbed / dribbled it onto the point where the slave cylinder seemed to touch the fork, and then also felt around in the port of the rubber boot to get an idea of the shape of the inside parts, and rubbed some grease in there too.

IMG_6222 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

...and it seemed to work, for now at least.

I'm a little more cautious about the size of the lumps that I pulled off my rear ARB while I was under there, I think it might be time to look for a new one of those. :/

IMG_6220 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

Edit: and now the "lock" button on my one working key has stopped working, so that's going to the top of the list of Things To Look At Next.

[J88TEO]

I have a set of OEM ARBs in excellent condition - no rust - if you are interested.

[inigopete]

@J88TEO will be messaging you shortly - I looked at the front end this morning and that's not great either!

IMG_6247 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

[inigopete]

But the first thing I did today was have a look at the key, as the lock button had stopped working.

They don't make them easy to take apart! The sender unit comes out of the key body easily enough - undo one screw, slide the body apart - but then apart from the battery and battery cover, the rest is a sealed unit.

I had to carefully* cut around the edge of the dark grey rubbery stuff to separate it from the light grey plastic body.

IMG_6244 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

*not carefully enough, it turned out... managed to stab myself in the thumb with a Stanley blade. :/

And then I was able to open up the unit. And find that the lock button was hanging on by one of its four solder joints... well, that explains it. I lifted it slightly and it came away in my hand!

IMG_6245 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

I didn't try and remove the PCB, just carefully placed the switch back on top of its original solder dots. A little bit of cautious soldering later, it seemed to be holding to the board. I re-connected the battery and pressing the button made the red light flash briefly... I tested it near the car, and it's working again!

IMG_6246 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

(perhaps best not to look _too_ closely at the soldering...)

So that was good. Carefully reassembled the rubber top, super-glued the lock button back in place on it, re-placed everything inside the key body and fastened the screw, and my one working key is fully working again.

[inigopete]

After giving the car a good wash, I decided to investigate the windscreen wipers. They've always had a loose flip-flump sort of sound to them (in my nearly a year of ownership of the car, at least) and I wondered if there was something I could tighten up, to solve this.

Removed the spare wheel holder (even though I then realised I didn't need to) because I thought I'd need to completely remove the frunk plastics. Then realised I just needed to remove the plastic between the screen and the front bulkhead (is that what it's called?). The wipers themselves were _not_ easy to remove, fairly corroded in place... and then I think I discovered what the problem is.

IMG_6248 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

IMG_6249 by Pete Owen, on Flickr

...yeah, that's pretty worn out. There's nothing that can be tightened there, it's time to find a replacement. I know they're no longer available new, so I'll be in touch with J-Spec in the morning. I've got a long drive (and back) this weekend, so I put everything back together the way I found it, and I'll just have to put up with the noise and looseness while it's raining!

[J88TEO]

That looks pretty worn out!
I just replace the assembly, minus the motor, on my 06 blue.