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Lesson number one:
Never EVER EVER EVER buy a car from anyone under 40 again. I'm guessing this is about the age of 'auto' maturity for most people and my most recent car purchase just goes to help prove my point.
You see my assumption is that anyone under 40 figures they can do it all themselves without relying upon professional help. Anyone over 40 and it is normally either time for a new car when things break, or a trip to the professionals to get it fixed.
Unfortunately it turns out that I ended up with exactly one of those cars. It seems that every time I turn around and decide to fix something that should be quite simple, I find the prior owner screwed things up so bad that a quick fix is going to now take a lot more effort to get right.
I think many people are going to have a huge laugh at the following sequence of pictures and can probably relate to exactly what I am talking about.
Problem to fix: Missing beauty ring for ignition key.
Easy enough to fix, but as the keyhole does not look lined up right, I decided to straighten it out. But to do that you really have to remove the panel that holds it together. Now to do that right, I needed to remove the center console.
After removing the aftermarket radio and climate control, look at the mess I am left with.
O.M.G.
I can now see that the antenna not going up when the radio is on is the least of my electrical worries. As I can see the prev owner had run a number of wires up the passenger side of the dash, it seems appropriate to follow them to see where they go.
At this point I run into the issue of my glove box key not working. I had already been to the Lexus dealership, had a new key cut, had service try to get it open and after an hr they gave up. Long story short, a butterknife ends up doing the job just fine.
Even more is removed.
I pull the carpet back on the passenger side and right away notice a huge wire harness that is not being used.. can't be right... Nothing is plugged into the large white clip along the floor.
Maybe someone knows what that white plug is supposed to be used for?
I assume it is for the factory stereo in the trunk, only a guess, so I decide to follow the speaker wires that the owner ran to the back of the car.
This job keeps getting worse:
Not only has the owner taken the changer/amp out of the car, but he wired in a lousy aftermarket amp for the sub. Only it is much worse than that....
Take a close look at the picture above and you will see the speaker output wires, large gauge, connected via electrical tape to small gauge wire. Only look close, he used home speaker wire with a metal female connector on the end and simply taped it together.
So I now have a high power feed ending in a weighted speaker connector right up against the gas tank.... stupid, stupid stupid...
Could it get worse?
While digging around the trunk, I pull out the liners and notice the back right wheel well is full of water, an inch or so. Well the owner moved the drain hose when he installed the wires, and simply left it in the trunk instead of putting it through the wheel well grommet. Must have been recent as at least there is no rust. So I dried it off and sprayed it with black primer/paint.
Well I ask myself about the power wire for the amp, and sure enough he ran 2 power cables directly to the car battery with NO INLINE FUSE!
Because 2 power wires are run to the trunk, it is obvious that the owner had a dual amp setup and decided to remove the large amp and simply put this small one for the sub. He didn't even bother to secure the amp to the car, so it was free swinging via the wires.
Well the power wire that I was following was on the passenger side and ended under the seat. So I decide to follow the live power wire which means pulling carpet on drivers side.....
Well glad I did, as the carpet on the drivers front is totally soaked. The liner is so deep that you can't feel it with your hands unless you pull the carpet. So, had I not done this, I would have ended up with mildew and a bad smell.
What was supposed to be a quick fix on a nice sunny day is now going to become quite a project. The seats and carpet come out tomorrow so that I can find the leak and get the carpet dried out properly. Only then can I begin to fix things properly.
btw,
The prior owner attached the entire dash together with 3 zip ties, 2 bolts, and 1 screw. NO wonder it rattled so badly. Calling this car a Lexus at this point is just so wrong. I've got a long week ahead of me.
Can anyone tell me how to properly go about removing the center vents along with the trunk lock cylinder?
I need to get to the area with the lock cylinder for the glove box so that I can tighten the cable to the lock latch.
Also:
Is there a dash wiring diagram listed somewhere so that I can try to identify some of the long cables like the yellow one in my pics to see where they were meant to plugin?
pretty sure the big yellow wire is for airbags, maybe not though. only reason i say that is because when you open the steering wheel up there's a yellow wire for the airbag. the wire then goes through the steering column and across the dash.
Today I removed everything in the interior except the dash top portion as I am still looking to remove the center vents in order to get to the glove box lock.
The good news is it looks like I found the source of the water on the drivers front side. The prior owner ran heavy speaker wire from the battery to the trunk having gone through the fender grommet. The problem is he cut the grommet in order to get the new wires through. I am guessing that all the water kicked up by the tire is simply going through the grommet to the interior. At least I hope that is the only source of leaks. I did a basic test with a hose and will bolt in the drivers seat to go to a pressure washer as a final test before putting the car back together.
New project:
Well I read a long thread about 'Jay's SC rebuild and the interior work was amazing, so why not duplicate it? I'm currently debating between b-quiet, dynomat, and others. The only real problem is I hate paying retail for anything and this seems to be hard to find a deal on, but with perseverance it will appear.
I took the wet carpet to a professional and he is going to completely dry out and clean up the carpet. It looks virtually brand new already, but any moisture definitely needs to be removed. It should take him about a week to get it back to me, so I have plenty of time to order new parts and toys for the project.
I just got the tt rotors back from the shop and I have to admit that He did a great job on them. Now just waiting for the carbotech pads to arrive and the new tt brake system can be installed.
I'm also thinking that it would be a good time to relocate the wire harness in the fender well as we will have the wheel and caliper off giving us plenty of room to work with. Why they ever decided to put wiring exposed to the outside wheel like that is beyond stupid to me. Yet another issue to have to solve.
pretty sure the big yellow wire is for airbags, maybe not though. only reason i say that is because when you open the steering wheel up there's a yellow wire for the airbag. the wire then goes through the steering column and across the dash.
That sounds right. The passenger airbag has a similar looking thick yellow cord that drops in above the glove box.
Originally Posted by scblackout
I'm currently debating between b-quiet, dynomat, and others. The only real problem is I hate paying retail for anything and this seems to be hard to find a deal on, but with perseverance it will appear.
Years ago, I bought a big roll of Fatmat which was reviewed as being essentially identical to Dynamat. I forget exactly how much it cost, but I think it was 20% of what you'd normally see. It has worked great for various projects.
FYI the center vent and wood trim piece is a major PITA to remove you need to reach your hand behind the dash and there will be about 3-4 10mm nuts on the back.....be prepared for lots of cussing and cuts on your fingers
FYI the center vent and wood trim piece is a major PITA to remove you need to reach your hand behind the dash and there will be about 3-4 10mm nuts on the back.....be prepared for lots of cussing and cuts on your fingers
Truth. There are a handful of things on these cars that I'm convinced were the result of a challenge among engineers to implement the worst design possible while still getting it approved by the guys upstairs. That or Toyota was so wrapped up in their aura of unparalleled reliability at the time, they forgot to consider serviceability.
moving the harness is very easy, don't overdo it like most people do by pulling it all out and cutting it and splicing new wire in, all you have to do is loosen the fuse box on the inside, loosen the grommet and pull the wires up on top of a little ledge inside the fender. i seriously don't get why people go through so much damn trouble to relocate that harness.
Learned the hard way today just how difficult it can be to find parts for these cars. Like everyone else I check cl from time to time and came across a car with so many decent looking parts on it, that it would be worth the 100+ mile one way drive.
I made sure to call prior to going on a drive that far and the yard confirmed the car was still there and the pic above was the latest available.
What the car really looked like upon arriving today.
At least the sun was out and it was a great day for a drive. So much for that tank of gas...
This about sums up how everything has been going on this project... I find a set of supra seats in black about a 3 hr drive from me. I bought this car to play with it and the barcolounger stock seats are annoying when cornering. I've ridden in the supra and liked the seats, so why not a cheap upgrade?
So I get home and go to put the seats in the car and notice they are not working right. Hmmmm
If you look closely you will notice that all 4 brackets used to bolt the seat to the car are cut off and missing... CMON... can't anything go right?
So, now it looks like I have to cross my fingers that toyota actually sells the brackets at a reasonable price as finding another set of supra rails could take forever. I don't want to go with drop rails where I loose the power functions.
I went to the dealership today to ask about the seat rails, and there is no way I am spending over $600 even if they were still available. Turns out they don't sell just the 'tabs' so I could punch them back in.
So, any ideas on a proper cheap fix, short of buying another set?
01-25-15, 05:12 PM
SCBlackout gotta fix it before building it
