aussie_camry

A good way to attack these problems is to start with the cheap fixes and work your way up, so filling your tank with 98 octane would be the first step to rule this out, setting you back an extra $15 or so for the full tank. But given its after you accelerate I doubt this is the problem. It could be an engine mount or transmission related... although knocking is usually associated with an engine related problem (albeit under load... such as acceleration... not after it)

Hey... Tbh I have no idea on the electrical side of things, Id take it to an auto-electrician in terms of the alarm because they would know whats going on in relation to that... its obviously an electrical issue. As for engine problems and this bumping, well I dont know exactly what you mean by bumping but I will say this... you should NEVER let the car overheat. After an accident you need to watch the temp needle very carefully and if its rising, it would cost alot less in the long term to get it towed ($100 or so) compared to a warped head gasket ($1500 to repair). This aside, I would just take it to another mechanic and see what they think of the 'bumping', worst case scenario maybe coolant is leaking past a screwed up head gasket into the oil, starving the bearings of oil and goodbye engine (check oil colour, if its milky, that is not good)... I think this is doubtful, maybe it is something else related to the crash, maybe an engine mount is shot after the force of impact and this results in the bumping? Or maybe its electrical and is linked somehow to the alarm, perhaps the electronic fuel igniition system is effected by some eletrical fault which is evidenced by alarm but is part of the engine related issue (I remember when a friends car had bad distributor cords the car due to poor timing would bump under certain throttle positions)? Who knows.. as I said its hard to determine it online... Id take it to an auto-electrician to get the most immediate problem fixed (not being able to start car) and then if the bumping is still their, go to a mechanic.

I personally dont think its wise get your foot off the accelerator when changing gears. Im not automatic transmission expert, but I believe the 'lag' is due to the torque converter, which essentially disconnects the engine from the transmission when changing gears (like a clutch)... therefore by taking your foot off the accelerator and then manually changing gears who knows if this is good for the torque converter and indeed the transmission itself! It may help acccleration though, because by taking your foot off the accelerator it means less load, the torque converter doesnt have to 'disconnect' it for as long and gear changes may be quicker. But yeah not knowing what effect this has on the transmission, which are more sensitive then engines to issues... I wouldnt do it.

Ben_Yu... these are the facts, not my opinion. The above poster highlighted one reason why, in the process of the parts bedding metal shavings do occur... its meant to, thats why they use poor quality oil so the parts fit perfectly into place so to speak. By thrashing it early on, you wear off more of the parts then you should be for the wearing in process... thus decreasing engine life. In relation to the additional points you made... by thrashing the car easly sure you may not feel the repocussions for a while, but it will reduce the longetivity of the car, as I just mentioned above. As for intervals, yes I change me oil earlier, a serval interval is the maxium you leave it to... oil only breaks down once its in the engine, synthetic oils are better because they have detergents in them etc and do last longer, but at the end of the day they are breaking down as you drive and do not lubricate the engine as well they do from day 1. I linked an article on oils a while back, find it and all your questions are answered. The more oil changes the better... however its an issue of practicality on how frequently you do. Also of note is that in the past I believe Toyota had 20,000km intervals which was a contributor to the oil sludge issues with the 1MZ issue... remember they want to increase intervals as a form of product differentiation 'oh less costs'... doesnt mean its better for the engine, in fact its in ther interest that it lasts so your satisfied but doesnt go for to long and delay a resale in the future!

Umm I have issues with the ideas forwarded in that article... when you buy the car they put shyte quality oil in their so all engine parts bed, this is a fact. Any mechanic who has done a rebuild will tell you this, you dont thrash a new engine because of the ECU, an adaptive ECU is just that, it will adapt once you can start opening the engine up in the future (for older engine/ECU, then you manually reset)... so the disadvantages far outweight the advantages. And even if you dont believe this, why the hell would you risk it... be patient for a 1000km.... you have nothng to gain but all to lose

Would seem strange its due to the power, isnt the IS350 engine a variant of the Aurions and TRD Aurion engine... just with direct injection? That is good for 230kw and more importantly 380Nm of torque (not heaps less).

And thats what Toyota would want.... logically if they sold it cheap then people wouldnt buy the TRD. I would think if it is sold, it would be expensive, and mainly targeted for overseas who because they dont have the TRD, would be willing to pay alot for it.

Well Im no expert on this... in my case its not quite a tip per say, the previous owner had the mufflers tip cut off and the new tip welded in its place. It could be the muffler as well I dont know, its a new one, but looks like your average run of the mill muffler.

I think a mouth watering proposition would be supercharging the IS350, not sure if you could just whack it on... but in theory its the same engine as the Aurion just with direct injection which makes it good for 230kw and 380Nm, add supercharger and you in theory get 270kw and 450Nm (Id say even more given that its RWD so no need to go conservative for traction). Now the IS350 in original form does the 100 in 5.8 seconds, with a supercharger it would be under 5. Can only dream on! Maybe if we are lucky this is the future of the TRD Aurion, eventually getting the direct injection version... then AWD.... then goodbye FPV and HSV!!!!!

In some cases an exhaust tip can change the note, I didnt do it but the previous owner of my V6 Camry put a tip on the exhaust and its quite loud (in a good way), might have something to do with going from the dual tip to a single tip

Yeah as everyone said they are changing it all, but even so seems pricey. The overflow bottle does wear prity badly in these cars, I repalced mine a year ago with a used one, cost $20. As for changing coolant, do it yourself it really isnt hard... undo drain plug at bottom of radiator, drain it all, close plug, add coolant till full, keep cap off water inlet (not radiator in the 1MZ), turn car on and let it heap it, level goes down so add more coolant, air bubbles bled from system -> DONE. You could also find the drain plug on the block because there will be some residual coolant their but I dont bother, it isnt heaps. This option will cost you say $50 for overflow and $40 for coolant itself.

http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleD...p;vf=7&pg=1 ^ Not such a shining review. I do agree though asking $12k or so on top of the ZR6 is abit much, I would have thought it would be better to just put the supercharger in the ZR6 from the outset to compete against the XR6T.

Personally I think anything over 20inch is to much.... like 22inch on an Aurion would look strange not to mention very impractical, you'd want to keep 4 spare tyres in your boot because every reasonably sized pothole becomes a potential blowout.

Yeah I thought clearance might be an issue... not just legal reasons (be a prick of a cop to check that) but practicality, going up steap driveways or over speed humps could become an issue. Which is abit of a bumer becuse its not that the cars riding low, more those skirts are lowering its clearance while the chasis itself is still high.

Yeah cutting springs is also totally SAFE and highly LEGAL..... not <_< Although yes lowering will reduce ride comfort (still not really bad, coilovers yeah they make you feel every bump but if you go spring + shocks seperate you can make it work), it does improve handling a fair bit and give the car a more unique and aggressive stance.