New, to me, '03 limited V8

[TechWrench]

Just acquired an '03 Limited V8 w/263k from a friend. He was original owner, wanted it 'gone', and made me an offer I couldn't refuse. It needs work, but overall not in too bad a condition for the miles. Still working on getting it ready to pass NYS inspection. Just replaced left side upstream O2 sensor to fix P0133/4 cel. Needs tires and headlights need polishing to clean up haze. It starts and runs well. Previous owner wasn't mechanically inclined, at all, so all maintenance and repairs were done at dealer. He could only find one master key, so I ordered two spare key fobs and keys from ebay. Local dealer said they will cut them to vin for $10.00, and then I will program them myself. Found spare was still new, never been on road. But, lift mechanism is rusted solid. I will probably have to cut cable to remove spare and replace lift. Wheels are in pretty rough shape, with amount of road salt used in upstate NY causing corrosion of finish. But, surprisingly, the frame is in pretty good shape (much better than my SR5). Except for NAV, it has all the options, and everything works. I am going to contact his dealership and see if they will let me have a copy of service records, so I can determine what has been done in the past, and what I may need to do in the near future. Will be evaluating it for a while, and then decide which one to keep.

 

[V8Man]

Enjoy the V8. Nothing sounds like an 8. I cut the resonator off the rear and installed a straight 3.5" tip. Perfect should not rumble. Sounds like an eight know.

 

[moneypit]

Service history available.....

Join and register at Toyota owners web page and you can see all the dealer service history with milage when it was performed. Enjoy.

 

[Sungod]

Do not use that spare without checking it out first. If it is original you do not want to rely on that as a back up. It will be 11 years old have spent time in some pretty nasty conditions. Tires break down and can come apart with very violent results.

Congrats on the score otherwise!

 

[TechWrench]

Do not use that spare without checking it out first. If it is original you do not want to rely on that as a back up. It will be 11 years old have spent time in some pretty nasty conditions. Tires break down and can come apart with very violent results.

Congrats on the score otherwise!

I had to cut cable to remove spare. It was flat, and when I cleaned the years of accumulated debris from the top side, I found the upper/outer bead had separated from the wheel enough to have the gap filled with dirt and gravel. I will have it dismounted, along with the other 4 so I can clean up the wheels and re-paint/finish them before getting new tires. The bolts holding the spare lift to the support cross member were rusted pretty badly, so I had to cut them off to remove the useless lift. I will order a new assy., when I get a chance. Once I get a wheel cleaned, I will mount the spare again, air it up, and see if it will work as a spare. If not, I will discard it.

Used Muthers kit to clean haze from headlights, and they came out great. Applied sealer and now good to go. Last remaining problem is the rear hatch latch mechanism. Initially couldn't get rear hatch to open, though I could hear motor working. Using info found here, I tried all methods of resetting it with removing fuse and disconnecting battery with no luck. I managed to remove the inside panel, and eventually was able to force door open by lifting smaller lever in latch mechanism while prying on bottom of door from inside. Latch mechanism was badly rusted. I removed it, cleaned it up and applied generous amounts of Gibbs until I got it to work again. Reinstalled the latch, and it now works, but I will probably replace it in the near future. It passed NYS inspection today, so now it just needs a good cleaning, inside and out, and then we will see how things go.

 

[TechWrench]

Went to original selling dealership. They printed out a copy of the entire vehicle service record for me. Lots of stuff to look through. While there I asked them to cut to vin two spare keys I picked up off ebay. Once they verified ownership, and received the Ok from Toyota (apparently a recent security step added to process) they cut both keys at no cost to me. When they asked about programing them and I told them I would do it myself, I got one of those 'yeah right' looks. I told them there was a procedure to program both the keys and remotes available, and they said they had never heard that. They were very agreeable, and seemed to be genuine. When I got back home, it took all of 10 min. to program both keys and fobs. All work fine.

 

[pparrett]

Welcome to the family!

 

[thebitz1]

where did you buy the new fobs? I only have one and I also need a second key as well.
Thanks!

 

[TechWrench]

where did you buy the new fobs? I only have one and I also need a second key as well.
Thanks!

Got both keys and fobs from two different ebay sellers. Do a search on ebay, many sellers to choose from. I went with the best deal I could get on two of each, w/free shipping. When looking at the fobs, make sure you get the FCC Id info from the back of your original fob so you can get the right match. As for the keys, I made sure I got the ones with the 'dot' on the blade.