Electrician

Purchased the speaker wire from the local ***** Smiths. I dont know what they are putting in the silver wire now, but its impossible to solder. Had a look amongst my old gear from a former life, and found some 1mm twin, both copper with tracer. Spent four days on the first lot trying to get good solder joints and its now in the bin. Took about two hours with the second lot. Moral is, if your going to solder the joints.... Hope this saves someone a bit of time. Cheers Tom

Thanks Peter, Got stuck into it last night. No problem "tongueing" the wires through. Very neat and safe. I am going to try telephone Scotch connectors to join the wires to the LEDs as the LED wires are minute. If it doesn't work I'll just solder and heat shrink them. Thanks for the help. Cheers T.

Hey Guys/Girls, what is the best route between the centre console and the front seats? Ive come out under the console on top fo the carpet, but balked. The seat has a fair amount of travel and don't want to jam the wires. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Tom

Aren't they all made in China nowadays? With a guide as good as this I decided to get some ticker and do it myself. The switches still havn't shown up, but all the wiring is in ready other than the non dimmable feed. I decided to see how they go with just the dimmable feed. Seems to dim my combi tool when you close the door so I obviously have the correct wires. Dont know if all Aurions are the same, but discovered a panel behind the glove box. Easy removal except for the concealed screw behind the top section of the passenger's footwell panel. Able to spring this away to get at it. The rest was straight forward. Cheers Tom Got sprung by the better? half. Wanted to know how long after the lights dim the movie commenced. Glad I'm only married to one of them.

Hey Peter, I think it looks great, If you paint it black it will just disappear. Practical too, protect the radiator. Cheers Tom

Great mod, Peter. I've got a few chips in the "grey?" on my upper grill too. I'll make a few inquiries to find out the colour. Maybe a toothpick touch up will tide you over until you get the new grill. Cheers Tom

Hi benji4138, Welcome to the Toyota Owners Club Forums. Your car sounds kool, I just hanging to see some photos of it. You are correct. This site has invaluable information, easy how to's for a large number of topics. Anyway keep watching and participating. Cheers Tom

Hi William. I'll bet you saw the American Camry button fitted between the front personal lights in the roof. Not fitted Oz model. Like DJ my remote is huge, but fits nicely in the driver's side pocket in the console near your left leg. Put double sided tape on mine to stop it rattling. Works well, easy to get at, and almost free. Cheers Tom

Try just paralleling a battery jumper lead and see what difference it makes (whilst stationary of course) If it works, replace the cable with large cable. If not, at least you have ruled that step out. Cheers Tom

Yup will let you know if i do get to know about it. But I'm pretty sure they are going to turn back at me and say it doesnt exist because they wouldnt bother trying. Should check with people who have Aurions in other countries too. Aurions are Australian re badged 6 cylinder Camrys. The computer setup is different overseas and have features we don't. Like self locking at certain speeds. Its a pity about the delayed off headlights tho. I had it on my previous car, a VS Calais which was fifteen years old. So much for progress/regress, Cheers Tom pps I may be wrong, DJ said in chicken's mod "I can activate this feature on my Aurion through the ECU"

hey mate :) No Aurion also has this feature however and unfortunately unless you a Toyota IT handy you can do it yourself :( it's hidden away in the computer along with other things such as how dark or light it is before your Auto on headlamp come on. So you can have this feature turned on and from memory 15sec 30sec 45 sec or a minute. Mention it next time you get your Aurion serviced and I'm sure they can fix that up for you :) Thats what I thought so when I had a read throught the manual and found nothing about it...oh well atleast there is lots more to play with this car so im happy..will surely mention it to Toyota the next time im taking her to service :)..hopefully i find an IT guy at Toyota who knows the secret codes :P.. Cheers mate :) If you do find it could you let me know. According to my local Toyota dealer it doesn't exist (on my pre facelift 09, anyway.) Cheers Tom

Thanks John, Great write up. Althogh a few of these tips are common sense, I've never given a thought to fading on one side if parking in the same place all the time. See you can teach an old dog...... Cheers Tom

Yeh me too, young fella. Easy to get satisfaction tho'. Got a nice heavy duty tow bar and good brakes just for those that tail gate....

Just had a mini blackout as I finished this the first time. Thats life. I've ordered the strips from China. Following the great guru's advice I decided to source a SPDT rocker switch that would fit in the holes beside the parking sensor switch. Quotes from the local Toyota dealer ranged up to $200 and still would have had to be modified. Local Boat & Auto shops has none that size. (Clever Toyota) I ended up buying a packet of ten from China for $11 aud delivered. I really only need one. Although not strictly 12 volt switches (They are rated at 6A at 250 Volt) I'm sure the piddly draw from four 12" led strips at 12 V DC won't cause them to lose sweat. I anticipate they or rather it will fit into the blank over the empty switch hole. I now intend to pinch the fade positive from the ignition surround light, if I can get to it. I'm sure there won't be too much trouble locating the non dimmable active for the other positive feed. With International postage not setting any speed records I will sit back and enjoy Christmas and wait until they both arrive (Strips & switches). The camera is primed and ready for the mod (and Christmas) Merry Christmas Everyone Cheers Tom

Pretty much. And amazing how cheap as well if sourced directly from China. I have two 5 metre rolls of the stuff. Just because it's Chinese made, doesn't make it bad quality. Thanks Daryl, I was looking at a double 12" strip in the US that looked good but was $15 + pp (obviously need two sets). The Chinese ones didn't look quite as impressive, but were about a third of that price. I will go with the dome dimmer with extra switch and wire it myself, except the actual connection behind the glove box. Even with your help I have the same reaction as Kenpo when I take the GB out.

Great post czaja74. Even I might try it. Anyone suggest the best LED strips to get? Seems a choice between USA and China. Would prefer paying a little more for quality ones. Cheers Tom

Watch the grandpa cracks, Steven Good idea tho'

Here, coff, coff, here

Under R&D, I am under strict restriction that will not let me share proprietary information. I am not allowed to discuss formula ingredients specifically, or formulas in general. Competitors watch Meguiars like hawks, always looking for ways to obtain information, or advantage. So while Im interested in how things work, and I know all of you are interested in how things work, there is only so much information I can relate and after that, you simply must try for yourself, the product, or products in question and determine with your eyes whether or not you like the results. Thanks for your comprehensive input SirNed, and the quote. I wasn't looking for the complete formula for Mag's Ultimate Protection. Rather omitted ingredients. I might be playing the Devil's Advocate, but I am wondering why one (opposition) company states that "no Solvent & silicone is used (in their product) and its product "will not dry out vinyl, plastic & rubber or create cracking and fissures", which gives the impression that those contents may/will cause damage. Megs doesn't list any (omitted) ingredients or give that guarantee. All it lists is "....rich shine and darkness on interior surfaces...superior UV protection..." In some cases, you must place your trust in a company and have faith that the ingredients in a product are the finest ingredients available, and included in a formula for a specific purpose. In the case of Meguiars products, the ingredients used in any particular formula are chosen because they are either beneficial to the surface, or beneficial to the procedure. Sorry, whilst I'm sure the product is good, I would sooner make a few inquiries than place blind trust in any company or product. Cheers Tom

Gave the Meg's Ultimate a run before reading about the Bowden's Vinyl Care. I don't know what the detailers used on the dash before I took delivery, but I'm not particularly happy with the result after three applications. Maybe the Meg's isn't happy over whatever it was. Still looks a bit patchy to me. Having said that, I used the Megs on a second hand "D" pillar plastic cover on my son's EL Falcon Wagon, and it came up magically. Does anyone know the Megs contents? Has it any of the nasties mention in the Vinyl Care write up. i.e Silica 1 / solvents? A check of their hazmet site frightened buggery out of me, but I suppose is not different to any similar products. It still didn't exactly reveal the contents. Thanks to all who have got involved with this...and the blonde does look good - wonder if she's got a mother/grandmother ????? Cheers Tom

Welcome to the forum Aurion 09. You have made a wise decision with your ride. I have owned a pre-update model 09 for a few months now and absolutely love it. I used 98 in mine. The extra kilometers counter the additional price and it seems the motor just loves it. Don't be offended by being jumped on for not doing the search bit. I've only been a member a short time and takes a while to find your way around here. Having said that there is some interesting stuff searching will find. I even had help securing my front mats. The carpet came with only the holes and it was a bit of a mystery how they were held back. (Now very secure) My ride is almost stock so I cant help you with the wheels. (Its an old age thing ) Have a look at the upgraded Chinese head incorporating reversing camera, tv, DVD, USB, SD, Satnav if you lean that way. There is brilliant information for fitting and upgrading that was simple enought even for me. A great investment. Enjoy your car and the TOC. Cheers Tom

You just made me jump on ebay and look for a bobble head for my dash B) 25 pages of 'em

1 x Meguiars Ultimate 2 X Kitten Interior Protectant 2 X Autoglym Thanks for the relies everyone. Looks like they are all good. Might have to toss a coin. Cheers Tom

About 30 years ago, before most of you were born, I replaced a dashboard in my 2 door Gallant. The guy from the dash manufacturing place told me to use baby oil on it as Armoral dried it out. I've done this on all my cars since with great success. No doubt there is something better. The Aurion dash is the size of a football field and nestled under a windscreen about the same size. Even with the windscreen protector up it gets extremely hot. I'm afraid if I use baby oil on it with that sort of heat I'll end us with a "not the chips" type fire. Is there any consensus, thanks.