There was also a small rust patch on the rear wiper that was sorted out. Fun fact: Canadian Tire does not carry or even list a rear wiper for this car

 

I got a new nut






Button it up






Go for a quick test drive and only then notice that one of the front top hats has paint peeling everywhere. I jacked the car up and the top hat still holds the shock on so I figure it's okay

 

Then just did a thorough clean of the interior and touched up a few paint chips up front






It's hard to see the dog hair but it's so entrained in the carpet it's quite tough to get out.




The wagon's party piece. The "hidden" compartment


It also has a false floor for some reason. The floor can be collapsed to give you more room but why would they manufacture something to have less room than available? It makes no sense. Maybe it has something to do with a "flat floor" since the front passenger seat is also able to fold completely forward into a table

 

With the legs up

 

Rock chips touched up on the hood




A couple on the back bumper as well




I went to grease the sunroof tracks and noticed the drainage holes completely plugged for the sunroof. Again I’m not impressed with the dealer. They clearly re-greased the tracks at some point and simply didn’t bother to clean the holes out. They’re the most important part to prevent rust up there!

 

Found many treasures under the seat but nothing valuable.


Quick shampoo of the carpeted areas






Scrub down 12 years of grime from the carpeted storage places

 

Came out nice








Now the rest of the interior. The front seats definitely show their age

 

 

I really need to get the block heater in as well because -28C. I had it to -30C on the way home but when I pulled into the garage it started warming up. I backed out to take the picture but it wouldn’t drop past -28C anymore. I am having a hard time finding a guide on how to install the block heater. Surely someone since 1993 had to have installed one on a 2JZ engine. It looks straight forward and although I’m not a fan of friction fit items on important areas (coolant) if it’s made by Toyota that way I have to trust it. I'm not sure on that silver toothed washer and where it goes. The large O ring again I can't see where it goes but that will be easy to figure out once I find the proper frost plug.

 

Broken key syndrome. I looked at my other key and it already has hair line cracks in it.


The CD player is giving me an “error 1” code. The code stands for “Dirty CD”. I tried with essentially a new CD and even one of 2002 vintage and still nothing. It just spins the CD back and forth trying to pick up the feedback. The player wouldn’t work no matter how many times I got angry at it. Many many people have problems with these players and it’s too bad. I really like the look of the OEM stereo but the fact that I can’t get CD’s to work and I can’t get a satellite radio tuner for it (that will display the songs on the display) it means I’ll have to go aftermarket. That’ll be a later project.


Take the top tray out


Take the bottom shifter surround out. The cigarette lighter was sticking up and wouldn’t go down. Gave me the perfect opportunity to see what’s going on while I was taking the CD player out.

Looks like the bottom surround fell off






Take the traction control and heated seat switch panel out

 

Then remove the 4 10mm bolts that hold the heater controls and radio into the car


Only 1 plug is being used. This is supposed to be the top-of-the-line system so not sure why the extra plug


You should be left with this gaping hole


Take heed of the warnings


Did I technically void the warranty? I didn’t break the seal….


Take a few small screws out


You should be faced with this

 

I tried to clean the laser with alcohol pads






This is the model of my radio for reference (model 16826)

 

……..the cleaning did a whole lot of nothing since Error 1 still appeared as soon as I tried a CD. Woe

Here are two videos of the changer mechanism working. It does this sequence on its own as you put power to the unit.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4OTLmYL1AHQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This second video is the player trying to read the CD a few times. Once it gives up it displays error 1
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/XK44-QhCQDw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

After that put everything back in



I didn’t like the cup holder that came with the car. I ordered a different one from Japan.
With it came some Japanese cookies or something. I have no idea what the bears are saying


The old cup holder


The new one


It’s adjustable to 3 different sizes.






Best part is it now matches the back which already had that style

 

Changing subject I’m probably the only one on this planet who leather moisturised the first aid kit.


I did the rear differential fluid and engine oil today as well. Definitely not as straight forward as a Subaru but not overly bad. The filter is in an awkward place and it’s hard not to get spillage out of it. I wrote off my Tundra a year and a half ago and I still had a magnetic drain plug left over.



It’s one of those that can hold up a wrench




For accessing the filter there is conveniently a crease in the under shield that readily bends away. Denoted by the red line


When I had the view like below I had one of those horrid heart sinking moments. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed coolant in the oil filler cap area……or at least I thought I did. After the initial “oh crap!” I looked closer and it’s just oil residue that in the proper lighting made it look like dry coolant. Nothing to see here folks……….






For the rear differential it again was straight forward. The plugs were on there ultra tight. Many people just use a hose to get the fluid in. My last bit of hose had transmission fluid in it and I didn’t feel like going to get more. I took off the CV axle protector and there was the perfect amount of room to get just the tip of the bottle into the hole. In this case just the tip is fine.


Rear differential drain bolt was clean coming out. Not too bad