Taedaké (2000 T4R SR5 RWD)

[Nanuka]

As referenced, Tae has since belonged to me since April 2019. The 99' Corolla I was borrowing had rocketed a piston into the stratosphere and I had to find a replacement with haste (hence why I ended up with automagic and RWD, but I love her all the same).

157xxx miles, one owner (traded in).

Aside from general adventuring ideals and admiring from a distance, I'm going into this with little to no idea what/how/why. Haha. Please bear with me and/or feel free to make suggestions. I've had 5 years of modifying and racing my 91' Miata, which has undergone a pretty substantial transformation (@nahnewkuh on IG). But I'm doing my best not to let that cloud my perspective since this is clearly a whole 'nother beast entirely.

Getting bored of only ever seeing pavement, cones and competition!

[I'll start compiling what I've done the past 4 months; 5 or 6 more posts incoming]

 

[Nanuka]

While oil changes are a considerable fool's errand, I was NOT expecting a downward facing filter to be the skin care expedition as it came to be. Covered in wet dirt and oil, elbow deep towards the sky- was my first personal experience with Tae, 3 days after purchase.

Also did seafoam in oil and gas prior to the change.

 

[Nanuka]

That same week (still in April), I replaced absolutely every single bulb possible aside from headlights. And that was where first blood was drawn! She got me. And the damned old bulb is still up on that frame somewhere.

Also patched what in my ignorance, was a completely missing CAT. (Tae hella loud and I didn't know any better)

 

[Nanuka]

Moment of solidarity for ordering tyres that are also still not terrible for being commuter 75% of the time.

AR23 15x7 (235-75R15)
BFG Advantage T/A Sport LT

[all via tirerack]

 

[Nanuka]

2nd RockAuto purchase arrived (first was the oil filter)!

This is where my exp with the Miata made for high expectations. I've changed the PCV valve on her twice with zero effort. Well Tae put up a fight. The grommet was rotted...and the large chunk actually fell into the valve cover. Nearly an hour of playing "operation" wishing I had 3 more arms, for retrieval.

Was pretty impressed with the near immediate mpg change (as well as light humming noise until the valve was seated).

 

[Nanuka]

Got my bitch a hitch, cause bitches love hitches? I mean, really I gave her balls. But that's semantics.

General throttle body, MAF and filter cleaning the week after.

Reason for motivation was Tae was throwing a "lean" code. Process of elimination for means to repair. Which the real reason is discovered much later...

 

[Nanuka]

So begins the exciting journey of "WHY DID MY FRONT BRAKES EXPLODE AND RADIATOR OVERFLOW" (now one month of ownership).

To be continued, as my train station is next!

 

[Nanuka]

Now that I'm here to tell the story, I honestly never had any final conclusion as to why my front calipers imploded. It was a bummer that melted wheel weights off. Only deduction was that the rotors and pads may have been the OEM 19yo set.

Never done more than replacing pads before, so it was exciting to do an entire overhaul. Rotors, pads, lines and (refurb) calipers. All of which were from a local O'Reilly's [listed as OE equivalent]. Got quotes from 3 dealerships putting me at $1600 for the entirety. Spent just shy of $300 on parts and a Sunday afternoon, doing it myself.

Disappointed that I didn't know about the Tundra upgrade, until I already had bought 15" wheels. At least it will be an absolute breeze when it comes time to size up.

Don't misplace your lug keys, kiddos.

 

[Nanuka]

After promptly learning the reason(s) why Tae was so awfully loud and got shit MPG (the previously mentioned CEL "lean"), was the missing CAT and faulty O2 sensors on both ends up the flex pipe someone had made a sorely attempt to install- a friendly birthday excursion through RockAuto brought about the exhaust project.

Didn't go for anything ~fancy~ tuned or modified. Again, OE equivalent.

Invited a fellow Miata brethren over for the trade of booze and burgers- to help with removal, as we could not get the tac welded portion off (why??).

Not all gaskets are created equal. Lesson learned. Had to do some O'Reilly's runs after completion, to swap downpipe/header pieces.

Spent the final moments of adjustments, pining over the icecream man passing by as I was drenched in sweat under the fuel tank.

 

[oldmopars]

I have seen this same thing a few times. I used to be a full time mechanic. I had a guy bring his Camero in to the shop, his brakes were so hot that the grease was boiling on the outside of the wheel. I had to let the thing cool down for an hour before I could even start to work on it.
Had a minivan that Jiffy Lube put ATF in the brakes and the seals all swelled and caused the same thing. Brakes just locked up so bad they had to drag it on the tow truck and then drag it into the shop.
Good that you are replacing everything, the only way to go.

 

[Nanuka]

I have seen this same thing a few times. I used to be a full time mechanic. I had a guy bring his Camero in to the shop, his brakes were so hot that the grease was boiling on the outside of the wheel. I had to let the thing cool down for an hour before I could even start to work on it.
Had a minivan that Jiffy Lube put ATF in the brakes and the seals all swelled and caused the same thing. Brakes just locked up so bad they had to drag it on the tow truck and then drag it into the shop.
Good that you are replacing everything, the only way to go.

Holycow!! I mean it sucks in general, but relieved to know it's not entirely a fluke. Commuting for a solid month to have some absolutely indescribable shuddering before losing all brake power. Parking braked (broke? Lol) into a store front slowly. Towed home and then offloading the brakes felt absolutely fine. Made no sense. But you're right, just dove right into replacement to take no chances. Bled them 3 times after some trial runs too.

 

[Nanuka]

Coinciding with the brake failure, her radiator had also boiled over (I can best assume due to fighting the lock up causing strain). As you can see, it's also the OEM piece just barely a breath from cracking. So, replace everything time!

Had really hoped to get an aluminum rad +external trans cooler, but the budget wasn't working out. Did this the night of July 4th; with my bday July 6th, I had to drop $$ on tag renewal for both vehicles that week.

Mostly via Rockauto with the 'Sunbelt' rad on Amazon. And *GASP* Tae's first Toyota manufactured investment, was coolant. Haha. If I was skimping on parts, it seemed appropriate.

Never found the broken spring portion of the old rad cap, which is mildly concerning..

Finished with a feeble attempt at cleaning what's left of her OE skid plate.

 

[Nanuka]

By definition, this is a "modification" yeah? Haha. I'm keeping track of damn near every bits and bobs that contribute to Tae's efficiency.

This was the best nearly 1 month late bday present from family! Don't have the cargo liner yet, since I use it more often than not to take naps and relax. So incredibly glad I got the word in edgewise to have the laser moulded fitment.

 

[Nanuka]

Now we're caught up to just this week!

Scheduled oil change remembering to get some Blackstone kits for both girls. (Yes you may spy the fuel filter is not installed yet) As well as did some passive "testing" on what gear I have readily available and how it would fit- in this case, due to hurricane Dorian. Parking ass end at the front door in case we needed to bail in an instant. ps: we didn't need to, thankfully!

(The sloppy tarps are holding foam mats over the windows, as parking near the door meant being susceptible to the ONLY tree in the yard)

 

[Nanuka]

As notated: 1st ONF excursion! (9 photos)

@WolfWings and myself met up (him all the way from Missouri to me in Florida!) to make the symbolic leap, before installing our new emblems together.

I would have preferred to have it under the mirror or on the front fender (in 'roadster' style) but was impressed to see there's not many flat surfaces..

Cheers to where the adventure goes from here! [emoji111]

 

[Nanuka]

Potential plans for this coming Sunday. The usual OE equivalent. Tie rods (inner + outer) and hopefully the endlinks won't be a righteous pain. I have adjustables on my roadster and the installation was not pleasant.

Good ole' Timmy the Toolman Toyota for how to reference. [emoji106]

 

[Nanuka]

Success! Kind of. A lot of hurdles for something so ordinarily simple. Never realized my inner tie rod removal kit was "missing" 5 adapters. Always fun to rent a $150 part you use for less than 10 minutes. Hah. Stupid 42mm!

Driver's side was a breeze. Dismantle and install in less than an hour.

Passenger side is where, as mentioned previously, she had the catastrophic caliper failure. Had not considered the molten brake fluid would fuse parts together...stubbornly spent hours with a multitude of aggressive approaches (only missing a torch). All finished now, and unfortunately with some bad tow out on that side since I wasn't able to track rotations to match alignment. Alas.

Endlinks are for another day, as this venture had already alloted my patience for the week.

 

[Nanuka]

The tech who I had scheduled an alignment with, said he would rather not touch anything and waste my time... as my steering rack bushings were "in crumbles". To be fair, they weren't great but the description was more concerning than the results.

Very convenient opportunity to put endlinks in, as the sway bar needed to come off.

I'm grateful for over preparing for having put zerks into my Roadster's control arms almost 3 years ago. So I had a few angle options and caps to spare.

Also pretty amazed what a simple steam clean can do! Especially when you use a breaker bar on an oily bolt and nearly break your nose in the process.

 

[Nanuka]

All that has been changed out in the past 2 weekends. <$100 worth of parts. Could have been <$50 if I got rubber instead of poly (needed to upgrade so that the valve cover leak doesn't cause swelling and deterioration).

 

[Nanuka]

October was uneventful for the T4R. Spent everything prepping the roadster for a trunk-or-treat event. A little OT got me the famous Weathertech unibrow installed finally!

Beginning research on plugs, coils/wires, injectors, vacuum hosing and getting the intake powdercoated by the end of this year. Put external trans cooler on back burner now that the overall temps have dropped. [emoji106]