Spanky

My Echo has been suffering a little bit of technical problems over the last week or so. I'll list the problems 1.My Stereo headunit would for no apparent reason switch off and on again. 2. My speedo/tacho would lock up for no reason, The car would have to be switched off then on again to get the Electronic dash to start back up again. 3. The VVT-i system was going nuts causing the engine to surge and if I was trying to accelerate hard it never seemed like it knew what setting to use. I decide late last night, About Midnight (Seemed like a good time) to start pulling apart my dash to check my stereo install as it seemed to start there first and spread elsewhere over a period of a couple of days, While removing one of the screws that holds the stereo bracket in place I heard a small pop and the stereo stopped working, I assumed I must have not properly insulated my Accesories crimp terminal or the terminal had come apart for some reason, Checked it out, it was a little loose so I decided not to take the risk and cut it off and replaced it, Checked all the other connections behind the Deck and all appeared OK. Quickly checked with a Multimeter and a test light for any other potential shorts, No problems, Replaced the fuse in the accesories position and the stereo started up. Fantastic! I thought I had found the problem, Not that easy! While replacing the screw on the bottom right hand side of the stereo support brackets (Behind the cig lighter) I heard another small pop and the stereo switched off and the fuse blew again! On closer inspection all was revealed! When the car was built the wire for the cig lighter was meant to run over the top of a bottom dash support bracket but in this case it had gone between the dash panel and the bracket and when the bracket's bolt was tightened up during construction it was crushed, Now it has taken nearly 2 years for this problem to appear, I pulled the bottom of the dash forward and removed the wire and I could see where it had been shorting/arcing on the bracket, and had flattened the wire. I insulated this wire and replaced the fuse and reassembled the dash, I took the car for a drive this morning and she's back to her old self again, I went to a friends place who owns the 4 door model (2003) and the frightning part was when we checked his dash support the same wire was also crushed behind the bracket, But his had not started shorting yet. So why did this one wire cause all these problems? I can only asume because of the shorting/arcing wire it was sending some nasty spikes and surges through the electrical system causing all these problems. But it is fixed now, But just keep it in mind if you start getting some strange electrical gremlins popping up.

I have a 2002 Toyota Echo 3 door, I am about to order the DBA slotted disc brakes and some better quality brake pads, Does anyone know of a guide to change disc brake pads or is it a pretty straight forward job for someone to do, I have changed things like shocks and springs and I have replaced brake pads before, Just never removed the disc themselves, Is it easy or should I leave it to a professional to do? Thanks.

I just ordered my copy of GT4 Prolouge edition, Better get in Quick it is going to be a limited edition according to a couple of websites, Apparently it is going to be withdrawn for sale from some of the first markets it was released in EG:Japan, Apparently Sony and Polophony are concerned it may draw some sales from GT4 when it is finnally released late this year. I can't see how that would be true, If anything I would assume it will drive (No pun intended) people to buy the full version of the game. Silly Sony people!

The little Echo is a bit tall, So body roll is a bit of a problem, I have put on 205/40/17 tyres and wheels and it has made a difference, But to be honest I didn't buy it to make it into a sports car, And the large soundsystem and sound deadning has added a lot of weight. The Blitz Exhaust has given me a little better low down Torque that the 1.3L has needed and I just ordered a Unifilter Kit for the Car this week which should arrive tomorrow. I'm based in tropical North Queensland, It's a tough life in winter, Cool nights and warm days. B)

Cairns Queensland Australia.

I'm a huge fan of the Gran turismo series and I have been following all the info on it as close as I can. The release date has been pushed back because of the PS2 Networking system, Polyphony Digital was not going to make it a network game when GT4 was first in development just as GT3 launched, Sony Computer entertainment freaked that there flagship game was not networkable so Polyphony Digital relented and pushed back release about 5 months to confirm there are no bugs, Many Websites are predicting a late summer release of the game in the USA (Aug/Sep) But a few are predicting as early as late may early june. In a recent article published in Japan, (A friend of mine emailed it 2 me, All in japanese!, Had to ask if he could translate it for me) on GT4 has said all beta testing has been completed and the developers had now fully moved to the new engine for GT5, And final artwork and marketing is now in the final stages of production for GT4 were getting ready to be wound up and completed. All I can say is I can't wait!

Hello all, I found this Aussie site by accident, I spend quite a bit of time browsing the UK Yaris site, It's good to finnally find an Aussie home base. I just bought a Blitz Exhaust system for my Echo (1.3L model 3 door) It gets fitted this Wed, Anyone else running this Exhaust here in Australia? Any one have a paticular dealer they purchase parts from in Australia for there Echo? I'm trying to convince the company I work for to start carrying some parts in stock for the Echo(Autobarn) We can get HKS, Blitz and soon so I've been told APEXi, It has taken nearly 7 weeks to get the Blitz exhaust here. Anyway check my Echo out on Sounddomain (Link below) And if you need any info on car audio cruise on over to the Rockford Fosgate Forum, I'm a moderator on that Forum and always happy to help out.