Why i hate my Toyota today

About a year ago i bought a 93 Previa Minivan on the cheap. Recently it's been running a little rough, especially on startup. This morning, when my wife started it up to take it to work, it was running really rough and took it a minute to smooth out.

I figured at this point i should probably replace the cap, rotor, plugs, and wires. I figured this would be a simple job, even with the engine positioned under the seats. Boy was i wrong.

Of course none of this stuff was under the driver seat access panel, that would be too easy. Instead, i had to remove the passenger seat and associated trim, the door sill to pull the carpet up, the access panel under the seat (which was held in by like 10 bolts), and the panel over the plugs themselves.

What do i find when i get in there? I've got to get at the dizzy from under the car and the exhaust is right in my way. After getting the cap off, i see the rotor is screwed in. The bottom screw was easy enough but the top one needed an ever elusive stubby screwdriver to fit. To top it off, it was snowing/raining the whole time.

What would have been a 20 minute job on one of my old CRX's suddenly turned into almost 4 hours. Hopefully it fixed my problem (the plugs at the least did desperately need replaced), because if not i'm either going to set fire to it or pay someone else to do the work.

/rant

Jacques

PubBurger said: Why i hate my Toyota today

The sun will come up tomorrow.....

*Insert bad joke about it still having brakes and not having a stuck throttle

I always thought those things would be tough to work on.

Sounds like you need a service manual...a few minutes and a few bucks spent flipping through the manual would have saved you a heck of a lot of time. ;)

Also, a neat trick if you need a stubby driver that you don't have is to use a bit from a screwdriver set. You know, those 50+ piece screwdriver kits with all the torx, phillips, square, flat, etc. bits and one driver? Take the bit you need and clamp onto it with some vise-grips. You end up with a make-shift, low profile wrench with whatever tip you need. This really comes in handy if you have a torx screw or something odd or if you need to get more torque than a stubby screwdriver (or limited working space) will do.

Bryce

Nashco wrote: Sounds like you need a service manual...a few minutes and a few bucks spent flipping through the manual would have saved you a heck of a lot of time. ;) Bryce

Nope. They are to maintainance what a hammer to the groin is to sexual pleasure.

Streetwiseguy wrote:

Nashco wrote: Sounds like you need a service manual...a few minutes and a few bucks spent flipping through the manual would have saved you a heck of a lot of time. ;) Bryce

Nope. They are to maintainance what a hammer to the groin is to sexual pleasure.

I've worked on a Previa, I understand they are packaged kind of weird and some jobs take longer than others...they are a van and mid-engined, after all, it's in their nature to have some tricky service jobs. My point was you wouldn't waste time trying to figure out HOW to do the work (pulling panels unnecessarily, etc.) if you have a manual and instead you just spend time doing the actual work. If step one doesn't say anything about removing the interior, that would be a good indicator that you shouldn't do it....saving plenty of time.

Bryce

What would have been a 20 minute job on one of my old CRX's

See also: My theory that I will never NOT own a 1st gen. crx or 3rd gen. civic.

Enter: the worlds smallest rant!

PubBurgers wrote: (the plugs at the least did desperately need to be replaced), because if not i'm either going to set fire to it or pay someone else to do the work. /rant Jacques

/worlds smallest rant.

We were ranting anyway, I mean no harm, but they are just two little words.

More to the point, I have been known to cut and weld to make the right tool rather than struggle - screwdrivers are really cheap to replace.

Streetwiseguy wrote:

Nashco wrote: Sounds like you need a service manual...a few minutes and a few bucks spent flipping through the manual would have saved you a heck of a lot of time. ;) Bryce

Nope. They are to maintainance what a hammer to the groin is to sexual pleasure.

Unless your into hammers to the groin...

Joey

The techs at the Toyota place hated them. Nothing was easy. Even drive belts were an absolute PITA, what with that whole driveshaft to the fan thing.

Welcome to working on vans... Most of the colorful language that I know I learned from watching dad work on full size ford vans. Although they have more space, they also have a similar 'where do I go to find that' type of search and rescue in the engine bay. Be thankful it isnt an old econoline flat face.

Eric G

Nashco wrote: Sounds like you need a service manual...a few minutes and a few bucks spent flipping through the manual would have saved you a heck of a lot of time. ;) Bryce

Going in blind can help you find the shortcuts though. Manuals have their good share of unnecessary steps also. I am a believer in having the manual, heck I tend to buy the manual before the car these days, its more of a reference to me not a step by step guide.

Nashco wrote: Sounds like you need a service manual...a few minutes and a few bucks spent flipping through the manual would have saved you a heck of a lot of time. ;) Also, a neat trick if you need a stubby driver that you don't have is to use a bit from a screwdriver set. You know, those 50+ piece screwdriver kits with all the torx, phillips, square, flat, etc. bits and one driver? Take the bit you need and clamp onto it with some vise-grips. You end up with a make-shift, low profile wrench with whatever tip you need. This really comes in handy if you have a torx screw or something odd or if you need to get more torque than a stubby screwdriver (or limited working space) will do. Bryce

i always use those bits in a 1/4" socket if i need more leverage and have limited room to work. but i guess the vise grips is more fitting to the theme of this website.

More to the point, I have been known to cut and weld to make the right tool rather than struggle - screwdrivers are really cheap to replace.

I dunno, personally im more for just having a 1/4 ratcheting wrench to stick your screwdriver bits in. In fact, harbor freight sells this exact thing for like $3 with 5 bits, but of course all the hundred we've collected from sets over the years will fit in there as well.

I dont think there's any defending the previa as being NOT harder to work on than most other vans of the same size. It just IS harder to work on. IMO at this age, only mechanically inclined people who like them for some reason should own them. If you dont especially like something about the design, i can tell you with 100000000% confidence that you would be better off with a 3.3l dodge caravan of the same year.

Plugs and coil boots on E150 with the 5.4 will take you about 4 hours. Half of that trying to figure out whether you need to be in the van to reach it or up front. BTW the eight coils you have to pull to get to the plugs are under the fuel rails and the wiring harness.

Oh yeah, if you ever get a Chevy Venture. To change the rear three plugs, pull the passenger side tire, and then front two bolts on the engine cradle and drop the cradle about six inches. Then if you cuss loud enough the back three come right out.

Hahaha, I did some work on a buddies previa a couple of years ago. Those things are a nightmare to work on! Its a good thing they are so damn reliable!

Hummmm snowing raining you are out in the weather working on a car that the wife needs to drive. .. . . You must need some new tools or or you dont need any more tools but you have not used your harbor freight coupon yet?. I know you purchased another Miata and are trying to find a way to tell the wife. Ya Ya that's it.. LOL

Isn't that the generation where the front passengers are the part of the crumple zone?

your kneecaps are the crumple zones.

Nashco wrote: Take the bit you need and clamp onto it with some vise-grips. You end up with a make-shift, low profile wrench with whatever tip you need.

Another trick I do is put the bit in a socket (usually 6mm IIRC?) but then you have to be careful not to damage the bit since you'll be applying way more torque than you ever could with a screwdriver.

joey48442 wrote: Unless your into hammers to the groin... Joey

leave Per out of this

I can definitely blame myself for some of it. I have a perfectly good garage but i've managed to cram it too full of junk to get a car in. That will be remedied this weekend for sure.

On another note, replacing said parts didn't fix the problem and i need some ideas. Here's what's going on:

Usually after it's warmed up and i go to restart it (though sometimes even during cold starts) it idles really rough for a couple of minutes or until i give it some gas. It seems to be happening more often these days. It runs fine otherwise. Any suggestions?

thanks!

Jacques

PubBurgers wrote: Usually after it's warmed up and i go to restart it (though sometimes even during cold starts) it idles really rough for a couple of minutes or until i give it some gas. It seems to be happening more often these days. It runs fine otherwise. Any suggestions? Jacques

1.Head gasket leak making one spark plug wet? Did one plug look cleaner than the other three? Any unaccounted antifreeze loss?

2.One bad injector that takes a while to get happy? sticky pintle, high reistance...

3.Intake vacuum leak that reseals itself as temp changes?