Since I bought it and the only maintenance record the previous owner had was the timing belt and water pump being done one year ago I decided to jump right in and refresh alot of items. First I changed the plugs with the dual ground NGKs and a new set of NGK wires and a set of new coil boots. The old spark plugs had worn down to a tapered point. I changed the oil with high mileage Pennzoil 5w-30 and a Purolator filter, the OEM ones hadn't arrived and I'll probably do a Seafoam treatment soon anyway. I changed the serpentine belts and replaced the a/c idler pulley.
The check engine light was on initially when I bought it but based on the code I replaced the air/fuel ratio sensor upstream and o2 sensor downstream and the code went away and has stayed away.
I changed the fluid in the rear differential with Amsoil 80w-90 and the transfer case and front differential with Amsoil 75w-90. I dropped the transmission pan, changed the filter screen, cleaned the magnets, and reinstalled with new rubber gasket. I then filled the pan with Amsoil multi-vehicle and them disconnected the returned line and started the car several times to pump the old fluid out as I kept adding new fluid. I pumped 3 gallons through and called it good.
I disconnected the return line on the power steering and flushed the fluid thru with the vehicle off ignition on and turning the wheels from lock to lock. I flushed it with Castrol Dex/Merc ATF.
I replaced the fuel filter with an new(OEM) filter. I put in a new Spectre air filter as well. I removed the MAF sensor and cleaned it with MAF spray.
I then replaced the radiator and thermostat(OEM), upper(OEM) and lower(OEM) radiator hoses. I flushed the cooling system & both heater cores out with a hose and man there was some nasty stuff that came out. Based on the fluid that came out and the corrosion in the radiator I'd say that the previous owner had filled it with straight tap water. One of the rear heater core lines was completely clogged and had to be blown out with an air compressor. I then flowed new 50/50 Toyota Red/Distilled water into the heat core hoses to flush out the tap water. I filled the system with more of my 50/50 mix. I found that the radiator upper hose was collapsing after cooling when driving and ended up finding that the hose going from the radiator cap to the reservoir and the reservoir cap itself had completely clogged as well and had to be cleared with a stiff wire. The reservoir had alot of buildup and was cleaned out as well. I added a nice radiator cap with a built in temp gauge. It's a little more accurate than the dash gauge. The heat had barely felt warm before and now it is roasting hot!
I replaced all the interior overhead lights with LEDs. all of the center console lights had burnt out including the back lights for the climate control so I ordered all new OEM replacement bulbs and now they are all light appropriately. I replaced a burnt out fog light. I saw that my driver's side headlight was aimed way far up and was going to adjust the aim but when as I looked closed I noticed the bulb seemed at an angle and found that the wire spring clip hadn't been put back and the bulb was just hanging loose in the housing, spring secured and now my headlights are aimed appropriately.
The ride was horrible and even regular road bumps would routinely cause the suspension to bounce off the bump stops. After much research on this site I decided to replace the suspension all around with Bilstein 5100s and OME 880 & 890. The ride has much improved and it does not feel too stiff either. It did raise the body quite a bit and added some rake but I'm sure that its just making up for the sag that developed and once it settles it'll be stock height. A sway link snapped and they all had broken boots so I replaced them all with Moog problem solvers with the grease fittings. I added a couple pumps to each one and did three pumps to all grease fittings along the driveshafts. Firestone had a $30 off coupon for their lifetime alignment service so I got that taken care of since the new suspension seriously threw off the alignment.
The power antenna was jammed and not working so I removed it and replaced it with the whip mod antenna. It wasn't too hard to fish the new antenna thru to the radio. I used a Y and adapter to combine the front and rear antennas input into the head unit. I then replaced the crappy aftermarket radio the PO had with a nice Kenmore with HD Radio, bluetooth, front and back USB, aux port. I also installed Infinity Reference component speakers up front replacing the factory 6.5 & tweeter. I replaced the rear door factory speakers with Infinity Reference two-way 5.25" speakers. I traced the factory plastic mount on 3/4" plywood to make a custom mount and sealed it with a bead of caulk. The stereo sounds amazing now. I ran a microphone to mount in the gauge cluster area but somehow misplaced the mount in all of this so I have to wait for another one to arrive before it can be secured in a good mounting position.
I picked up this rim from a local used parts placed for $40 and plan on replacing the tire on it and replacing my spare with it. I replaced all the crappy wipers with OEM from the local Toyota so in the future I'll just buy the rubber inserts. I removed the skid plate from the front to clean up and to make this work a bit easier and then they'll be going back on. I put in new Weathertech mats throughout. I have their side deflectors on the way but they haven't arrived yet. I removed the factory hood deflector since it was broken at one end and cleaned the bump stops for it off the hood.
I plan to do the valve cover gaskets and PCV valve in the morning and trim the throttle body gasket so it no longer restricts airflow. I have shaky/squealing brakes that also dive right a bit when pressed hard so since I'll be doing the brakes anyway I plan on doing the 199mm upgrade to improve the brakes without the risk of ABS issues. I'll be replacing the soft brake lines with SS lines while I'm at it.
