Fixing up an MCV36R

[Marty McSly]

Hiya,

I went looking for a solid, reliable Camry for travelling to and from work. Wasn't fussy, a 4cyl auto would have done the job easily. But my local FB marketplace turned up a 2004 V6 manual Altise with 170,000km and a keen seller.

A couple of things need fixing. The trip computer in the centre of the dash, above the head unit, is dark. Not sure if it's just a fuse or if I need to replace the display. Where is the fuse box in these please? And how hard is it to source a replacement display if needed?

Also, the engine seems to be idling very fast. 2000rpm for at least 5 minutes on a cold start, 1400 on a hot start, and never under 800. Now I'm used to Falcons so these seem very fast to me. For comparison, an AU Falcon cold starts at about 1000, starts to slow after a few seconds and settles at about 600 when warm. My father's air cooled VW used to hot idle at 800 or so, I'm thinking that a relatively modern EFI V6 should idle slower.

So, where is the OBD port, and what scan tool can read the codes? I gather (from 15 year old posts on here) that, like the AU-BA Falcons, the OBD port looks like a generic OBD2 port but the software is custom or proprietary. Thanks to the internerd, the problem has long since been solved in the Ford world by Forscan software and ELM327 OBD readers. I'd assume there's a similar solution in the Toyota world?

I'm guessing that I probably have a dud TPS or idle air bypass (or MAF or MAP), although it starts with minimal cranking. I figure scanning for codes would be a good place to start.

Cheers,

Marty.

[Baxter190388]

Not sure if this will be useful still but for the trip computer you can resolder the contacts on the backside of it. I was a bit skeptical at first but it worked on my 2002 4cyl manual sportivo. Cant really give you specifics since it escapes my memory but it was definitely  a DIY fix.

[hayden]

The trip computer display usually has a tiny halegon globe behind it which needs replacement. If it’s idling too high. Clean MAF sensor and IAC and check for any vacuum leaks. As for scanner. Mini vci cable that comes with Techstream. Forscan is also a great software. 

Edited April 3, 2023 by hayden