What did you do to your car today?

[Kiwi-Corolla]

That's awesome! Love quirky little things like that. Should've been factory standard, but it's that much cooler being an optional extra


Took some night shots of the Aurion:

[Timmo]

Took the front off and did my best to clean up the 1 million litres of oil which pissed out of the oil cooler, all through the radiator, front suspension, tyres etc.. (hose popped off just out of Tokoroa...that was a very expensive tow home). Also removed an oily dead bird.

[Boosted_162]

Bought another new car

Got a 2005 Mazda Premacy for the wife. Now have 4 cars so if anyone is wanting a BZ Touring, please buy mine!

[hsmidy]

Latest addition to the engine bay.

[Bling]

[GDII]

Don't forget to change thermostat (and before that flush the coolant).

I bought a new TGP thermostat and put both the old and new in a pot of water with a thermometer and heated the water to make them open. The temperature stamped on the thermostat is 82 so I heated to 82 and above. They both start to open just over 82 and fully open by 90. So I'm not sure if it's the thermostat causing the heat fluctuation. The old one was fully closed when I took it out so it does close up and it appears to fully open.

It's either the technology of the engine doesn't allow for a stable temperature or there is something else going on. I am still yet to drive the car long enough to see what the temperature does with the new thermostat.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Installed some new struts/springs. Finally got the car to the height I wanted. Only took me a year

[Dell'Orto]

Much better!

[GDII]

The odd thing is the temperature will also go down to 1/3rd on the gauge sometimes like going down hills.

This is the reason why I mentioned thermostat. If temperature goes below "normal" after the car warmed up, it suggest that thermostat is jamming up (in semi-closed or open state).

Yeah that's what I got from what you pointed out too but it's done it since new. Might grab another one when I buy some more TGP. It might not have liked getting hot.
The other funny thing is the gauge will go up and down when cornering.... Up when turning left, down when turning right. I'll put that down to a weak needle spring.

New thermostat and new radiator cap. Temperature is still very unstable but no longer gets too hot. What else can cause this?

[siren676]

Temp sensor, air lock or waterpump?

[GDII]

It's definitely not an air lock. I don't suspect it's the sensor but you never know. The water pump could be the issue but that doesn't explain why it runs cold. The thermostat would control that. The sensor for the gauge is after the thermostat unlike the MR2 that get's an accurate reading as it is after the head and water circulates past it all the time.

[Jason T]

Bypassed Aristo JZS161 ARS Active Rear Steering due to fault code 62 via paper clip / C1552 van scanner

Fault caused from changing alternator

There is no info on repairing this vehicle types rear steering system other than bypass which has worked with no more dash light

Info used via

http://toptierimports.com/index.php?topic=11332.0

[TRD_TOY]

Lowered the Crown.

Its definitely nicer than before but now i have the same issue as what kiwi-corolla did where the front sits just a bit higher than the rear.

[GDII]

The odd thing is the temperature will also go down to 1/3rd on the gauge sometimes like going down hills.

This is the reason why I mentioned thermostat. If temperature goes below "normal" after the car warmed up, it suggest that thermostat is jamming up (in semi-closed or open state).

Yeah that's what I got from what you pointed out too but it's done it since new. Might grab another one when I buy some more TGP. It might not have liked getting hot.
The other funny thing is the gauge will go up and down when cornering.... Up when turning left, down when turning right. I'll put that down to a weak needle spring.

New thermostat and new radiator cap. Temperature is still very unstable but no longer gets too hot. What else can cause this?

The temperature is far more stable now. No longer gets hot, still drops a bit but not too bad. The needle is very sensitive to cornering g-forces so on corners it will go up or down and read incorrectly.
I think it may have been the cap. The thermostat wasn't the problem but the old radiator was definitely the cause of the engine getting warmer than it should. It never got right up to red but it got a bit hotter than it should. Now I can blast it up hills for longer with more weight in the car and no issues with cooling at all.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Lowered the Crown.

Its definitely nicer than before but now i have the same issue as what kiwi-corolla did where the front sits just a bit higher than the rear.

Looks good!! Can see what you mean about the height difference front/rear though. If you're anything like me that'll piss you off something chronic over time. What brand are the springs?

[TRD_TOY]

Lowered the Crown.

Its definitely nicer than before but now i have the same issue as what kiwi-corolla did where the front sits just a bit higher than the rear.

Looks good!! Can see what you mean about the height difference front/rear though. If you're anything like me that'll piss you off something chronic over time. What brand are the springs?

Cheers man.

Ended up getting the Tanabe DF210.

Its starting to get to me already....lol!!

What was your trick to getting the front and rear even?

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Cheers man.

Ended up getting the Tanabe DF210.

Its starting to get to me already....lol!!

What was your trick to getting the front and rear even?

My trick was installing different springs in the front! . Changed from King Spring SL's to Dobi Spring SL's up front and the difference was like night and day.

The DF210's usually give the lowest drop possible (the DF stands for 'dress up form', so form>function). Are you sure they didn't send you the Tanabe NF210's? Did you cut your bump stops in half when installing them? We have the DF210's in the Wish and it sits perfectly. It's worth mentioning that they have settled about 8mm since they were installed (checked them a few weeks back compared to the original measurements after they were fitted), so there's hope that it may drop another cm or so in the next couple of months.

[TRD_TOY]

Cheers man.

Ended up getting the Tanabe DF210.

Its starting to get to me already....lol!!

What was your trick to getting the front and rear even?

My trick was installing different springs in the front! . Changed from King Spring SL's to Dobi Spring SL's up front and the difference was like night and day.

The DF210's usually give the lowest drop possible (the DF stands for 'dress up form', so form>function). Are you sure they didn't send you the Tanabe NF210's? Did you cut your bump stops in half when installing them? We have the DF210's in the Wish and it sits perfectly. It's worth mentioning that they have settled about 8mm since they were installed (checked them a few weeks back compared to the original measurements after they were fitted), so there's hope that it may drop another cm or so in the next couple of months.

Ahh i see!!

Yep, i went for the DF210's for the biggest drop. Didnt cut bump stops in half though.

If it drops another 10mm then it should be not too far off the height of the back....will give it some time to settle down and will look at it again.

[wde_bdy]

If you need to touch the bumpstops to get travel, then legally you need to cert it. If it is bouncing off them at the moment then it won't be fun to drive once the springs settle a bit more.

Callum

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Decided to do a couple of small things to the Aurion this weekend. Had some stick-on chrome trim left so put some around the rear lip. Hard to notice unless you know it's not meant to be there, but makes it look a little better back there.

Tinted the LED bumper reflectors with a 50% opacity black film, so it's now the same colour as the tail lights and has no more glare but isn't fully black when switched off (much better than the 20% tint or red film I tried previously).

And, last but not least, loaded some custom dash faces onto my head-unit which work with the DashCommand OBD-II software I have installed.