LordBug

I just wanted to say that I love John's photo, it has a good crime-scene look to it, who shot the Aurion? Glad to hear that the water pump change can be done relatively easily, I may have to brace myself to tackle it soon depending on what that little black thing floating in the coolant tank of mine is.

Drive belt, meaning timing belt? I thought the 2GR-FE has a chain? Change only necessary if it goes bad?Haha, nah, meaning the drive belt, the belt that drives the accessories that don't require timing ie alternator, water pump, AC pump, power steering pump. Have changed mine myself, can see how they would mark up the costs on that one. Belt was less than $60, access was by removing drivers wheel and squeezing in through there.

The service book for my TRD recommends changing the drive belt at 90k.

Here's hoping they cover the cost, I was lucky enough that I have a mate who works for them so I was able to get it fixed up at pretty much cost price for the CV, and he also rebuilt the other side too. You're most likely talking about the VVTi rattle, here's two sample videos: From what I read about it last time, there's no sign of long term issues arising from it, though that was a year or so ago. May have to hit up my mate to see if there's any new internal news regarding it. If you've got a clacking noise which persists on idle, almost similar to a diesel engine idling, stick your ear near the supercharger to see if that's the source. I've got that particular sound, must really pull my thumb out and take off the snout to check the health of the coupler, which is meant to be the cause of that one.

When it happened to me, it was a bearing in one of the CVs. If you're lucky, it can be rebuilt, I'd left mine for so long that one CV had to be replaced because the dodgy bearing had worn the area around itself.

I put a blanket over the drivers seat when I'm driving home from work. Also, a strut brace. :P

Last change I just chucked in a Ryco filter from SuperCrap, any filter that fits the part number 04152‑31090 will do. Next change I'm going to bulk-buy some of the TRD variant filters (PN PTR43-00082) from the US, because 1. TRD in my TRD, why the heck not! and 2. Even a single one from the US with shipping is still heaps cheaper than the ripoff of Ryco over here. Shame you're not in Perth and close to me, as I'd happily take the oil. Just google up "Victoria engine oil disposal" and have a look through some of the results, looks like there's a broad range of options for you.

It's dead simple. 6L of 5w30 synthetic, a 65mm filter socket (for example, I bought this one http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Toyota-Oil-Filter-Wrench-Socket-Tool-65mm-14-flute-New-/170528959152 ), and lastly a filter for the 2gr-fe. As usual, jack up the front end onto car stands, or if you're lucky use car ramps or a hoist. Dump the sump, empty the filter housing otherwise it's a wee bit messy. Old filter out, give the housing a wipe & check for anything out of the ordinary, new filter & o-ring in, reattach, oil in to necessary level, happy times.

CCA relates to the amps they can output when cranking over the engine. The AH, amp hours, informs you how long the battery will last. For more reading, browse through http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_battery Personally, I'd just go for whatever half decent brand name I come across. It's not like a kitted out 4wd or similar where you might be running a fridge or winch or other accessories off the battery, just the occasional leaving the lights on trick which'll drain any battery. What's wrong with the current battery though? When drained flat for a short duration, they usually will recover with a proper overnight charge. Or is it fairly old now? At least three years is what I expect out of batteries, best is 7 years.

Won't have to worry about the timing belt, as there is none. Uses a timing chain. With such insanely low kilometres, I'd go with what Toyota said and just keep up the standard services. Timewise, might want to get someone to check the aircon gas, but that's all I'd bother with outside the norm.

Jeez, and I was fairly happy with getting Maxxis tyres for $245 a corner recently, and avoiding Hiflys at $170 each. What are these magical $125 boots?

I think you guys might want to look up a little, specifically at this post: http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/47697-wrecking-trd-aurion/page-2#entry542855

I realise that you're gutted and ****** off that your car suffered such a major failure, but posting up 7 year old information?

That really sucks dude :/ Any extra details on what exactly happened? Threw a rod? Hydrolocked? Cracked head? Oil leak/seizure? IED style explosion?

Yeah, colour me interested in the front seats.

Is it the 3500S or the 3500SL?

I've done something that shocking with a previous car, when I finally got around to dropping the oil at about 18k there was no sludge. Best thing to do is check it out yourself, or even get one of those RAC guys who'll do a once-over for you. Slack enough to leave it unserviced for that long could also mean slack enough to have skipped on anything else that might have come up.

My god retro, if you don't mind making a new thread with pictures and details on this modification, I think you'll be hailed as a genius (At the very least by me!)

I've only had bad experience with Ultratune, as well as hearing plenty of bad stories about them. Hey retro, what sort of prices does that guy charge?

Most car shops/mechanics will chuck a battery tester on for free, that'll actually tell you if there's a dud cell or not. Multimeter doesn't cut the mustard in that regard.

Hey guys, Judging from the sound coming from my supercharger, I believe I'm going to have to replace the coupling. Don't suppose anyone knows which kit I might want to grab? I notice there's a few around, m90, m112, m122, etc etc. Cheers!

OP, I'd be torn. On one hand, there's a massive benefit of your current car being newer. Newer quite usually tends to mean better/less problems. On the other hand, if you're able to sell the ZR6 for more than $20k, you'll be able to pick up a TRD with change to spare. I'm currently looking at selling mine (necessity, not choice), and man is the market sad. Over a third of the price I paid lost in 18 months, fairly good chance of selling it to dealerships for $17k, might be lucky to get $20k on the private market. It's going to hurt when I manage to sell it after not having been able to drive it for the past 12 months, as it is one of my dream cars (I'm not interested in silly things like Lambos and 'Raris, there's just something about the more average joe cars of the TRD Aurion and the other dream car Shelby Mustangs). Damn the WA market at the moment.

Aww crap, I think my dash has started doing the same thing in spots :( I'll have to check when the missus gets back from work, but I'd noticed some tacky patches when I was giving the dash a clean the other week but thought nothing more of it. Regarding Amor All, the stuff is rubbish, only useful if you want to make your trim look shiny before trying to sell it. It should never be used, get something like 303 Aerospace protectant instead.

Apparently quite tough: http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/104-5th-6th-generation-2002-2006-2007-2011/277636-built-2gr-fe-w-800hp-flywheel.html I'll be very interested to hear back how this all goes for you, from memory I've only read of a single other 2gr-fe being turbo'ed over in the states.

I noticed a small improvement when I installed my strut brace, a local roundabout was my testing method, dispelled the "placebo effect?" thought :)