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I saw another real wood kit from an Outfit named "Joshua Tree". You can find it by searching that name. They offer real wood kits with fewer pieces. I wish I would have gone for the real wood and not installed the pieces at all on the face of the radio, the ash tray/coin box and the AC panel.
I say check them out and let us know what you do.
Tony
http://imagep.webphotos.iwon.com//1000023826/1000023826_14200292154PM0.9672052.jpg
to see what I did. It looks very good and as if the car came with it.
The potential problem with the REAL wood trim is that it will be MUCH more difficult to match your trim.
Thanks, Charlie
The bad part is I already got a chipped paint in the front of the car next to where the front license plate should go. My question to you all is what should I do? I was thinking of going to the dealer to buy some paint and paste it over the chipped area to prevent any rusting in the future. What do you guys think? Is there anything else I should do? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Look inside the driver's side panel and there is a thing like number/letter/number.
For example Silver is 1C4.
Any dealer sells this.
Also, regarding bumpers, the reason I did not buy a Diamond White Pearl Solara is that I have NEVER seen one with bumpers that were at least a little yellow. Some are better than others, but I have noticed that the newer ones are especially bad. Also, there are trim pieces that are off-color, like the body-side moldings. Has anyone else noticed this, or am I just fussy?
Thanks!
Thanks cliffy for the note!
With the top down, it is pretty tam in the front seats up to 45-50, with the stereo easy to hear. On the highway, it gets pretty load at about 65. I find that putting up the front windows really cuts down the wind noise and make the stereo much easier to hear up to about 80. Of course you look a little dorky with the top down/window up look. The back seats are a wind tunnel with the top down. Put your enemies back there.
The car is a blast with the top down. Go get it.
It has everything to do with the reaction between the plastic material (used in the bumpers and side molding) and the paint.
You'd think with all of the technology available these days, that someone would come up with a solution for correcting this interaction!
My DWP 1999 SE also has the yellowed bumpers and side molding...boo, hiss.
On the yellow bumper thing, I really do like the pearl, but Toyota can't do bumpers right. I have even seen a new Lexus coupe (the convertable thing) with yellow bumpers. That really sucks. I have noticed that they don't match any bumpers correctly. Mine are darker blue than the rest of the car. Weak! WEAK!!!!
Long time reader. First time writer. Anyway,
I just bought an "indigo ink blue" 2001 Solara SLE with the auto climate system and in the cold mornings here in the Washington DC metro area going into work, I set the temperature at 73 degrees and it blows out air with a temperature of "300 degrees". Is this the way the system gets the cabin to 73 degrees? This occurrs for about 30-45 minutes then dies down to acceptable 73 degree temperatures.
Also, does anyone else's Solara's disc brakes make a "clicking" noise every time you start from a stop or press the brakes after driving for a period of time?
Anyway I would appreciate your thoughts and experiences.
When the outside weather is colder, you have to set the temp lower. If the outside is like 50 degrees or more, I set it at 75. If the outside temp is like 32, I have to set it at like 68 or 70.
I didn't know it only occurs for 30-45 min. I never set it to AUTO.
The disc brakes to sweak a little.
Charlie
DWP 2001 SLE V6 10k miles
I have a 2K SLE, Silverstream - w/MoonRoof,6-Disk changer, side air-bags, traction, mats, and the transmission has been flawless, as has the rest of the vehicle. I often slow down when turning right onto the road I live on, then press the accelerator to expedite my journey - the engine will rev-up, and the transmission will engage with a smoothness that can best be described as 'butter'. My previous vehicle was a Nissan Maxima (MY-96) and it would 'clunk-jerk' during this same manuver. There have been times I have experienced a 'harsh' shift but only during a brisk acceleration from 60-MPH to around 80-MPH pressing the accelerator to the floor.
BTW, I am closing in on 30K and have attended to all the usual mantenance items mentioned in the owners manual (based on this mileage interval) except coolant flush and transmission service (fluid/filter change). My driving is 95% HWY so could I extend this service a bit longer?
Best regards -
M. J. McCloskey
2K SLE - STILL Smooth & Creamy
I finally got to read up on the Solara's driver manual. It said that I only need to change the oil at either the 5000 or 7500 mile interval. Can that be trusted? I'm so trained to chang my oil every 3000 miles, I just can't believe this new found freedom to change the oil at either 5k or 7.5k... yuppy!!
Thanks, Charlie
"1" is the first iteration of the "MZ" family
"FE" is "E" is usually fuel injected. "FE" combined is a DOHC, narrow valve angle (around 22 degrees) and a head tuned for low to mid range power. Typically non-interference
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"GE" is the performance head where the valve angle is around 45 degrees, with the head designed for mid-high end power. It will also be a interference design to squeeze out as much power as possible. DOHC also
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"E" is SOHC fuel injected
After 37,000 miles, I'm lookng to change my front struts. How much should I pay for OEM struts and labor?
Thanks in advance.
99SE
Estimate the struts will cost around $100-150 each.
Labor approximate 3 hours total (it really should take less than an hour per side) at $70/hour
An alignment, around $50
The estimated Total to be $450 to $550.
It does seem awefully early.
You could try the bump test, at each corner, lean on the corner heavily to compress the struts, and let go. It should not bounce more than 3 times.
8u6hfd and 99solara -
I live in NYC and the roads here are absolutely terrible and after three years of driving on them, the ride is noticeably harsh. Also, the handling is especially weak now(not that this car is known for its handling). The car doesn't feel very planted when I take turns and go over bumps and potholes. I did the 'bounce' test and it reacted as it should, which baffled the mess out of me. I've changed the tires and I check frequently to make sure my tires are inflated to the proper psi. Nothing seems to work. So I plan to change just the front two struts and see if that will help things. If anyone has any other suggestion, I'd appreciate it.
99SilverSE
1MZFE - 8u got it all except there is also a difference in V bank angles (the angle of the cylinders). F series usually have narrow angles, with the one exception being the Tundra's 2UZFE (90 degrees). Ours is 60 degrees. the Celica's 2ZZGE has a 90 degree V angle. that's supposed to allow for better performance, but that is not necessarily true all the time.
about your struts...don't change them to OEM toyota struts. i would get Tokico struts. they are quite comfortable to ride on, do not bounce and float, but also handle very well compared to OEM. the bounciness and floatiness happens to all of us, it has nothing to do with where you live...they're just mismatched struts in my opinion.
The 2ZZ-GE is an inline 4, no V angle is involved here.
"FE" and "GE" refer to valve angles (intake to exhuast), not V-bank angles.
$500 (CDN) later, took the car home, no more brake light. Great. Now I notice that when breaking at slow speeds, it sounds like something on the rotor is scraping against something. When applying my breaks in traffic, I'll hear this scraping sound each time the wheel goes fully around (only hear it at slow speeds, but I'm sure it's there when I brake at higher speeds, just don't hear it until the car slows down to about 20 km/hour).
Great, now I have to take it back again, and let's see if the dealer tries to charge me for something new. Considering the brakes sounded fine before I brought the car in I think that would be ridiculous. But then, I think I have the worst (or maybe the most opportunistic) service dealer around. Not to mention the fact that they don't take appointments so you have to a) wait 2 hours in a line up before you even get into the garage and b) leave your car their for the entire day (yes, even for an oil change).
I'm at 43,000 km. Last time I was in (at 41,000 km) they said the brake pads still had a long life left on them. Let's see if they suddenly need replacing!
ZAINO - looks great. The only reason I haven't bought it is that I just can't find 3-5 hours over 2 days to apply it and it is so expensive! Not only do you have to buy the ZAINO, then they recommend the clay, pure white cotton towels (the expensive kinds no less), etc etc. I used Mother's 3 step, the first time I waxed it, took 4 hours in one day, didn't look very different! Waste of money I found. The next time I got it professionally polished, $100 later it didn't look any different from when I used the Mother's formula. Maybe I'll just succumb to the ZAINO hype this summer.
What really stinks is that unless you're a mechanic, you really have to rely on what these guys tell you. Either that, or every time you take the car in you'd take it to another mechanic and get their opinion, which I just don't have the time to do. Then if you take it to a non-Toyota dealer and they do work on the car and something else goes wrong later, I'm sure Toyota would claim that the warranty is void and blame it on the other mechanic!
That's why I'm going to be interested in what they say this time around. If they try to charge me a dime for anything I'm taking it to get a second opinion. That sound definately did not exist before they "cleaned" the brakes.
But I mean, what recourse do we have these days? Nothing. Maybe we can call toyota Customer Service, but from what I've heard their service department isn't exactly winning any awards for customer friendliness or responsiveness!
http://users.ev1.net/~gunpilot/trd
You can easily disable your DRLs. I habe a "99 model and on the left side of the firewall you will find a gray plastic electrical connector. If you open this connector the DRLs will not come on. I used "electrician's tape" to tape the two parts of the connector together in a slightly open position to prevent any noise from vibrating parts. If you want the DRLs back on, just remove the tape and click the two parts together.