2000 Limited TRD refresh/repair story

I have. It's likely corrosion inside the wire, which I can't really look at while I'm at school. It's just so weird that it's so infrequent.

 

Did another round trip to my girlfriend's out in Iowa for the weekend, same as usual. 430ish miles each way, one tank of gas each way. I think the low fuel light has burnt out, it didn’t come on when the tank got pretty low. Not surprising to me- this truck has spent a lot of time near empty.

This time, however, things didn't go as smoothly as they have before. All was fine for the first couple hours, but about 25 miles west of Dubuque, Ia, at about 8:15pm, the #7 coil went out.

Normally it'll miss once or twice every few minutes, give you sort of a warning. Not this time- instant dead miss. CEL flashing immediately. I keep a spare coil with me in the truck, so no big deal, right? Wrong! Pulled over, and my 10mm socket just spun on the bolt. It was super rusty. I ended up having to drive back to Dubuque to a parts store. Long story short, the guys at the O'rilleys in Dubuque were the absolute greatest. Zero hesitation to offer their time, tools, and help. The owner and manager even stayed after close to help me remove the stripped bolt. Definitely would've had to spend the night in Dubuque if it wasn't for their generosity. They even gave me a new bolt.

I couldn't believe how kind they were to me- all I bought from them was some vice grips. That's the Iowa experience right there! Made my day.

Sunset was nice, before everything went wrong.


Hit 216k too.

 

This sounds like the only positive O'reillys experience I've ever heard. In my dozen or so experiences, it's always been extremely negative. And some of the things I've heard from others on here looking for help, their staff told them or lied to them about (out of ignorance or otherwise) is alarming.

Glad you got it sorted, and super weird about the coil pack bolt. The threads were OK in the hole, it was the fastener that ate shit and died?

 

Agreed. I've only been to one other O'rilleys, but the guy helping me was clueless. All the employees at this one seemed to be friends, including the owner, so I'm sure that played a part in their knowledge/care.

Threads looked great, they always do. Once you get it loose they always look great, the gold zinc coating still there. It's the bolt heads that got dissolved from years of salt. I forget that it used to be a very, very rusty truck.

This photo was taken a while ago, it’s normally much cleaner than this. But check out the rust on all the fasteners:

 

Sounds like when you get home it'd be good to replace all of them
Edit: Just the bolts

 

Iowans are the greatest.

 

I was wondering if anyone else was doing this

 

I think at least a couple of us on here are doing double springs. I'm not sure what advantage it provides, but why not, right?

 

One makes no sense. Double gives even spring tension top and bottom.

 

Cleaned the MAF and throttle body today. I've been noticing that the idle isn't as smooth as I feel like it should be. Little bit suspecting of a coil but I haven't felt any real misfires. It could definitely be in my head too.

The throttle body wasn't really that dirty, and it's been at least two years since I cleaned it last. Didn't notice a ton of improvement but I pulled the battery cable so the ECU would re-learn. Still probably hasn't fully "learned" yet. Before:


After:


I also realized today that my second key for the truck was too worn down to operate the door locks. Neither of the keys I had were original, they're both copies. So I decided to retire the worn out one and get the "nice" one copied. Turns out it was 2-keys-for-1 day at the hardware store, so I now have four keys that work in the ignition! I know I can go to a dealer and they'll cut it based off the VIN, but $4 at the local hardware store is a lot easier and cheaper.


As I was testing to make sure my new keys worked in all the various locks- I noticed that you can lock the tailgate! How in the hell did I never notice this!?!? I'm sure I've looked right at the key slot hundreds of times! I've owned this truck for four years, and I've been around it my whole life!! Yet somehow it never occurred to me that I could actually use that key slot. It took some WD40 and a ton of working the lock back and forth to get it working freely, but now I can lock the tailgate.


Being able to lock the tailgate got me thinking. The bedcover on the truck also has a lock on it, but I've never been able to get it to turn.


A key for it came with the truck, but I was never really sure that it was the right key. It took some googling but I was able to confirm that it is the right key, and with a lot more WD40 and a lot of turning the key back and forth, the bedcover lock now works freely! Sprayed some lithium grease on it an it's working smooooooth.


I love fixing the little stuff so much. Not sure why I didn't do this when I got the truck. Total time invested was >30min.

Been doing taking the truck on a ton of trips to hardware stores, art stores, lumber yards, all over the place. If you didn't know, I'm in college for architecture. I'm required to build all sorts of models- which requires materials and tools from all over the place. The truck hit 217k in the home depot parking lot.

 

I did my throttle body and maf yesterday mine was filthy definitely running smoother and has a little more pick up

 

Am I the only one not seeing the images?

 

me neither

 

Is it fixed now?

 

All but the last one.

 

Washed, clay bar'd, and waxed the truck this weekend. I've actually never waxed the truck before. It looks great.

 

Looks great. Wish I had me a set of those factory color matched running boards

 

You could paint match a set pretty easily if you found one. Not sure how readily available they are though.

 

Gotta keep that roof and hood waxed. Atleast 3 times a year. In my experience* your clear will last years longer then a non- waxed vehicle. I like adams, zymol, and reg old megiuars.

 

First of all- not sure why I didn't clay bar/wax the truck sooner. It looks so much better, stays so much cleaner, and is so much easier to wash. If anyone is wondering, I used Meguiars "mild" clay pretty heavily and then put on a real good coat of Adam's Graphene Wax.


Big news: I fixed my 3D printer. This meant I was able to design and print a ton of stuff that I've wanted to for a while.

First up was some sort of organizer for the upper part of the center console. It was a total shitshow before- just tons of junk that would rattle around and make noise, especially if you opened the up the large bottom part of the console. I came up with this super simple and effective divider that has a spot for pens/pencils, and sections for other stuff. Works like a charm! It includes a dovetail joint, so it can be printed in two pieces. This allows it to be printed using a small 3D printer.



It gets stuck down with double-sided foam tape.


There is still a small gap between the top of the divider and the lid of the console. This lets little stuff like coins or paperclips pass over the top, but not anything bigger. Maybe some sort of foam would work to stop small items?




The next part was inspired by RainMan_PNW's Lunar Rock build. He attached a rock climbing chalk bag onto the side of his center console, to be used as a storage compartment/oversize cupholder. I've been struggling to find a storage solution for my water bottles for a while- none of the cup holders in the truck are big enough for the huge water bottles I carry around. I started by designing these brackets that go through the straps on the chalk bag:


Nice and simple. Took me 5 minutes to whip up in CAD, and they only take 40 minutes to print each. The two pieces get superglued together once the gray one is fed through the strap on the chalk bag. The large flat part gets a layer of double sided tape, and I put it on the back of the center console:



The hardware store was out of the 3M double sided foam tape, so I had to settle for the gorilla glue stuff. We'll see how long it lasts, I'm skeptical. The bag is mounted so that the bottle is supported by the floor of the truck, and the 3D printed parts are only keeping it from falling over. It's also mounted low enough that the center console can still open with a water bottle in the bag. I've been using it for more than a week now, it really works great. The advantage of the bag is that I can still put items on the floor in the back. I thought about designing a rigid cupholder, but that restricts center passenger legroom.




I've also built a mount to replace the two 12v sockets with an OEM Toyota USB charger. I made a design to use cheap ScAmazon USB plugs, but those all looked cheap and had bright LED lights in them. I also don't really trust them that much to not melt and burn the truck down. Plus the OEM one is way cooler. I started by taking a photo of the dashboard piece with the 12v sockets removed, and scaling it into CAD:


And from there I could make what's essentially a sheet with a rectangular hole that fits the OEM charger, and an outside edge that matches the shape of the dashboard piece:


It fits pretty well, I cut a hole that's the same shape of the 3D print, just a bit smaller, so I can glue onto the lip on the print. It needs to be scaled up on the Y axis just a bit more, but I'm happy with it.


With the 'doors' open:


And back in the truck. OEM part number for the charger is 85532-08040. I bought this one on ebay for $30.


I think it really looks great. Only issue- it isn't wired up yet. I purchased a connector that fits in the port in the back, but it didn't come with the pins that fit inside of it. Does anyone know where I can find those pins? It seems to be a super uncommon connector. I had to order it from the dealer. Here's the part number if it helps:

 

I’ll ask caribe on TW about the terminals. Any interest in selling the print?

would be nice if the doors opened the other way.

I’m using blue sea 12v usb sockets right now.

 

https://www.corsa-technic.com/item.php?item_id=1706



Looks like TS 025 U terminals. I know I have some 025. I think they max at 18 or 16 gauge which is a small bummer.

 

I don't think I could easily sell the print itself- my printer is at home and I'm at school. Maybe over my winter break. The file is all yours though. I need to make a handful of little edits to the design and then I'll post it up and tag you in this thread.

The USB charger just clips into the 3D print, so you can flip it around however you like. I just put it in that way because the little battery icons are pointed upwards when the doors are closed.

This is exactly the information I was looking for. I knew it would be out there somewhere. Thank you!!

 

Rats! Looks like they don't make this product for the 2002 AC.

 

He has a 2002 AC but it's designed for another truck though I think. @FirstGenVol

 

Correct. I bought one for a 2007 Tundra instead.

 

Cool! And ouch! RealTruck has them at $399.98 for a pair. Maybe I'll keep an eye out for a second hand pair.

 

Yet another 900 mile trip in the ol Tundra. Did most of it in the daylight this time, which was nice. Normally I’m driving there after dark, but that’s not really an issue with the projectors.


Hit 218k. Interior is due for a dust cleaning.


Also finally got the USB charger wired up, I made a small adapter harness to go between the original wiring and the charger. No wire cutting here!


I wasn’t expecting the terminals in the connector to be so small.


Charger works good. Some of the glue I used created this white residue, I think just from offgassing as it cured. Need to clean it off.


Need a better storage solution for wiring stuff. This doesn’t work well, if you couldn’t tell. Open to advice. I’m thinking a large tackle box with a spot for the strippers/crimpers and small organizers for terminals and stuff.

 

Hit eBay. Search: Vintage Raaco Drawer

Lots of different styles. Far surpass quality of anything made today but priced the same. I use one that has a long bottom drawer, two rows of semi-wide drawers, and lots of small drawers above. Super flexible.

 

I own three of those. Didn’t realize they were from that specific brand until now. They’re my bolts/nuts/screws.


I like that idea a lot but I need something more portable. Something I can bring onto my boat, into the house, etc.