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Toyota Solara Care and Maintenance
How safe is the top on convertible when entering the car wash????? Will it clean fairly decent>>
Carole618
Carole618
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I now have almost 92k miles and want to bring the car in for a new timing belt. Should I insist that they do some other additional work (i.e. replace water pump, replace tensioner, etc.)? Do I need to be crystal clear with them and tell them explicitly to put in NEW anti-freeze?
Thoughts?
Thanks!
Alan
There are several ways to do a "transmission fluid change". The way I do it (myself) is that every few oil changes (perhaps every 4th/5th) I open up the two drain plugs and let whatever fluid can come out drain. This is usually about 4-5 quarts. I then replenish that fluid through the top. I have the 101k miles on the car now, and only once (perhaps at 50k) did I take down the pan and clean the filter/screen. Now that I've read this post it reminds me I should do it again.
Personally, I am VERY big on preventive maintenance. You might hear different answers from different people on this, but for me, I like to drain/replace my fluids as frequently as possible.
If I had better facilities to do this work I would probably replenish my transmission fluid (4-5 quarts) every OTHER oil change. But that's just me being anal I suppose
Remember, draining/refilling the tranny fluid the way I metioned by opening the two drain plugs will only get SOME of the fluid out. That is why I like to do it so frequently.
Also, I would NEVER take my car to a place other than the dealer OR a garage that I fully trusted. You have no idea what kind of fluid they're putting in (regardless of what their tank/pump labels read), and their filters are INFERIOR to OEM.
That's another reason I do this myself. I ALWAYS use CASTROL oil and transmission fluid. The best !
The dealership told me it needed a vacum switch valve, and cleaned the filler neck housing.
Part cost.....$48.59
labor............$175
How do I know for a fact that anything was wrong? Do you trust your dealership to 'tell the truth, and nothing but the truth?
I have to wonder with a $239. bill, and the car was running fine.
Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmm.
Cheers!!
--njexpress
Advisor says I was not at fault, semi metallic pads always produce hot spots. According to service records at the dealership (where we always get our service done) at 25K mile service we had 25% left on the front pads. Advisor said today, that even if we had changed our pads then, there were hot spots produced by the semi metallic pads back then. If I'd changed the pads @ 25% he would have advised machining the rotors.
I've asked the Service Mgr. to review this and if necessary contact Toyota to pick up the expense of machining the rotors. Questions:
Does this happen with all cars that use semi-metallic pads or should Toyota have upgraded their rotors to better match their pads?
Should I just forget about it and agree to pay for the machining or is Toyota at fault for not installing compatible the rotors?
Thank you,
Meegwell
The reason for it is fairly simple: when the pads grip the surfaces of the disc, they wear both the pad and the disc, generate heat, create loose particles of metal and brake pad material, etc. The process is imperfect, and the wear is not totally even or smooth. That's why you can see grooves, like the grooves on a record, on your brake discs.
So, when you change the pads without resurfacing the brake discs, you put a new pad (smooth, theoretically), on the worn surface of the brake disc. This will supposedly cause higher braking temperatures and less uneven wear, and poorer braking performance.
So, your dealer isn't really trying to scam you, and 30K miles isn't an unreasonable interval for a disc resurfacing. If they insist, I'd go ahead and have it done, but if you're still not sure, take a look at a good shop manual (Bentley? not sure what you toyota folks use) and see what it recommends. It's probably listed under the 30K mile periodic maintenance...
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(1999 solara V6 SLE)
Today i start my car,but the engine rotates but will not start.
The shop said it may be the fuel pump problem.
I found out there are a few of the problem that may cause this problem.
1.Fuel tank empty
2.Faulty fuel pump
3.Leaking fuel injector
4.Pressure regulator
5.Ignition components damp or damaged
6.Spark plug
7.Broken,loose or disconnected wiring in the starting circuit.
8.Faulty CAS sensor
9.Broken ignition wires at the ignition coils.
PLEASE HELP!!!!
THANKS :sick:
What did you end up doing? The reply by moranos was an excellent explanation (thank you, moranos!) but I'm wondering how it turned out for you.... I'm filing all these issues away for future reference!
Any suggestions will help! Thanks!!
If some is leather and some vinyl, how do I know the difference and how do I protect the surfaces?
On cars with vinyl I used Armorall and was happy with the results. Now I am concernted putting Armorall on the leather is not going to protect it. On the other hand, I don't want to waste expensive leather care products on vinyl.
The door panels, dash, and side wall panels are NOT leather. They are some form of plastic.
They do this often with leather furniture for the home as well. It's too costly for them to make the entire seat/chair/couch in leather, and so in order to provide it to you at a more reasonable cost (or save the manufacturer money) they only make those parts that actually touch the human body out of leather.
You have to look closely at the seats. The parts that are NOT leather include:
1. The very front of the seats underneath your knees (behind your shins).
2. The left and right sides of the seat (near your hips).
I have to believe that the upper end Mercedes and BMWs would have ALL leather seats and even perhaps leather door panels. Next time I see a dealer I might stop in to see for myself !
I know Goodyear will charge me less than Toyota because the price the dealer quoted me for a pair of new (Original Equipment) front-end struts (which always gave us a squishy ride) was three times higher than what Goodyear wants for a pair of KYB struts.
Any thoughts on any of the above would be welcomed.
Thank you,
Meegwell
Is Synthetic a better way to go?
I used to just take my car to the dealer for these things but I'm making a change.
Thanks,
Meegwell
THE most important thing is the competency of the human being doing the actual work. If you can find a mechanic (human being) that you can trust, OR an owner/manager of a shop that you can trust, then that's the person to go to. A good owner/manager would only hire competent mechanics, and should oversee the work of his team.
I wouldn't care if the mechanic had a small one-car garage. I wouldn't care if he had no garage at all. If he were competent, and I had a lot of trust in him/her, I would use him/her.
And YES, there is no question that the dealer is going to charge more. He's being backed by his chain and he has much more overhead to deal with. But it absolutely DOES NOT mean you're getting more value for your money. You are definitely going to get a bigger bill, however.
There are probably some very special situations where I would advise that someone go to a dealer. The one benefit I can think of with the dealer is that they might have access to other resources that the average mechanic does not. The other reason you might want the dealer is if the car is still under warranty and the problem item might be covered under that OR covered under a TSB from the manufacturer.
Also, I would NOT go to any of those quick-lube places - EVEN IF they have a big CASTROL sign outside. Why? How do you REALLY KNOW that the oil they're pumping into your engine truly IS CASTROL?
I use CASTROL right from the plastic container !
First noticible difference was how light the steering felt on my first road test. The car seemed quicker to respond to inputs and stuck like glue through the twisties where the stock Michelins would let loose and squeal. The tread pattern is more aggressive so the ride is a bit rougher but I can't notice any increase in cabin noise. Gas mileage has decreased 2mpg in the first 350 miles. Not sure if it will get better after break in. Ran them in heavy rain last week on the interstate up to 80 mph with no hydoplaning or loss of road feel.
Thanks for the info!!!
These BF Goodrich's are also a softer, more compliant ride than the stiffer Eagle GT's. I drove the Advantage TA's at highway speeds in the rain last weekend from NJ to WV and they handled fine. No hydroplaning and no sliding around at the toll plazas. Right now I have about 1,000 miles on them and they are rated as a 65,000 tire. I'll report back after I run some miles on them.