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Post #51 I was not in a happy place. It was Friday, my options were severely limited. After some deliberation I decided our best bet was to end the vacation and turn southwest to Boise where I’ve got a close friend with an 80 and 100 series.
I had nearly no brakes and 400 miles to drive. Google maps provided us with a route free of interstates and we set off. Slowly. Very slowly. We covered just 150 miles and found a nice place to camp in the national forest somewhere off Idaho state highway 22.
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Set off again the next morning. Our route took us through Craters of the Moon National Monument so we checked that out. While there I met @marcoLx470 briefly. The monument reminded me a bit of Sunset Crater in AZ. I didn’t take any pictures, I wasn’t really in the mood
Since I was only driving 50-55mph max and the terrain was pretty flat (downhill leaving Yellowstone) I did record an astonishing 21.6mpg on my last fill up. The current tank has 288 miles on it and shows just under half full. That has to be some sort of record
We finally coasted into Boise safely late Saturday afternoon. On bald front tires and almost no brakes. Not exactly the 100 series introduction I was expecting.
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Anyway, I left the LC at my buddy’s place and borrowed his ‘01 LX to make the rest of the drive home on Sunday. I’m going to get some parts on the way and hopefully return to Boise in the next 2-3 weeks to repair my LC and finally get it home.
Sounds like both an awesome and butt-puckeringly horrible trip at the same time.
While there are a lot of things that could possibly be wrong with your brake booster/MC, I think the most likely culprit is what I experienced with mine last fall:
“Total” brake failure yesterday... accumulator pump motor CONFIRMED
An easy way to test, once you are back at the truck, is to disconnect the motor leads from the underside of the ABS module and jumper the leads directly to the battery, using some alligator clips and lead extenders. I'm betting that your motor won't run, or at least won't run consistently. What happens is that copper on the commutator wears through to the insulating plastic shaft, and when it does so, the associated coils are electrically dead. If the motor happens to stop on one of those dead spots, it won't be starting again.
You can do this test with the MC installed in the truck. You'll need a small mirror to see what you are doing, and either a right-angle Phillips head screwdriver or (even better) a Phillips bit and bit holder on a 1/4 ratchet. Pull back the boot, position the mirror under the ABS block, and unscrew the terminals. Don't drop those screws! If, as is illustrating in the thread I linked to, the screw terminals are badly corroded, assume the motor is bad and the pull the MC. However, since Paul worked on this truck recently, I'm sure they're not.
The motor can be rebuilt, possibly locally in Boise. It is also available separately new for $700 or so, IIRC. If the motor is the issue, do what I did and either rebuild or replace the motor only (and rebuild your MC while it is out). If you are replacing, the motor/pressure accumulator assembly together is only like $850, so it might make sense to replace both parts. On a 2007, I doubt the pressure accumulator is bad, though.
This is not a hard job. With a friend and all the parts on hand, it can easily be accomplished in one long day. Testing/repressurizing the system and bleeding the brakes took me longer than all the heavy wrenching. The single hardest part of the job was accessing the four bolts that hold the MC to the firewall, because there is just no room under the dash.
Good luck and feel free to PM if you want with any questions!
Glad to see this truck is back in the hands of someone who will appreciate and take care of it.
Hopefully I’ll see it cruising around town in a few weeks.
Thanks for posting all this. Nice to see the fantastic photos mixed in the story as well. Sorry to read that it wasn't the trip you were hoping for.
Reading about trips likes this makes me wonder if we can all prepare ourselves better for some of these re-occurring problems. Besides some basic tools I'm thinking a laptop with Techstream, FSM, wiring diagram and a multimeter is the minimum for a trip. Include internet access to mud as well?
Maybe it would have been possible to use the 'active test' feature to neutralize the suspension and then pull the fuse or switch AHC off. Similarly I'm thinking about a set of potentiometers and some wires as an alternative method to bypass the height sensors. So also a soldering iron, solder, small pliers and tape.
The brake booster pump is something that worries me a lot as well. Especially when family members are driving (LX or GX). I did see a video where someone tapped the booster/motor with a hammer to get it moving again. Good to know for an emergency situation.
I also have some older (still good) coils in each vehicle. Any other thoughts?
I just saw this thread. I'll try to get more involved, too see if I can help get this special 100 series back on track.
Not sure if you got the AHC, sorted out. But in this picture I noticed turnbuckles total turned in. The sensors have two adjustment. One is the nut that allows movement up and down in slide. The other is the turnbuckle, which yours are turn all the way in. Likely PO adjusted in, thinking he was lowering the front end.
Reading the Unicorn thread, you'll see AHC was flushed. IMHO should be every 20 to 30K, more often is better. You see new rear coils and 30mm spacer. This give just a little add lift to rear. It was added to give longer life to globes. You likely do not need any parts for the AHC, just adjustment to get system in line.
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They should look more like this for factory set.
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Caution:
Use care and disconnect battery negative post clamp, when working glove box/HVAC area. There is an air bag sensor. I like disconnecting negative battery terminal when working on these rigs, most times.
HVAC fan sounds:
Sounds at high speed fan of HVAC. May be filter used, is to restrictive or clogged. May be debris in fan squeal cage. Fan unplugs from bottom and remove 3 screws to drop out. Filter are behind the door of face of HVAC. See Unicorns thread for this stuff. It may also need a new seal in bottom of face plate, if water dripping in footwell. I' use new OEM seal or make one with butyl. I'm betting butyl last much longer.
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Wiring housing unplugged:
Not sure about the unused wire housing, near glove box. It may be extra, which you'll find many unplugged on 100 series. It may be glove box light or some other thing not working. In may plug into the wire just in front of it. Toyota is pretty good at using plugs in a given area that can only be plugged into one wire housing in same area.
One thing everyone likes but, I do not. Is aftermarket radios. It's not the cool features of modern tech. It's that so often factory wires are hacked. We get some very strange stuff happening, that is often result of messing with wiring.
Air bags:
Look in Unicorns thread. You'll see a wire under DS the seat that I spliced. This is parts of seat sensor for air bags. This wire breaks often. Especial when large men sits in the seat, which PO was. I'd suggest making wire longer. Toyota used a wire a little thin and short IMHO.
Brakes:
Since time of Unicorn restore. I've learned more about brake master. The brake control wire had corrosions, which I replaced. I've now learned this corrosion increases resistance in wire to motor. IMHO the commutator will then prematurely wear out, due to high resistance reduce AMPs to motor. Commutator tends to get dead spots. Motor will run at times and not others, as its brushes land on dead spots.
Here is example of a dead spot on a commutator of brake booster motor. Likely you'll find similar in you old motor. Buying the booster assembly is best way to go, as you did. But likely only the motor needed rebuilding. You'll now have a booster system that will bring pressure up to factory new spec. Bad of this is, "can the master handle factory pressure". If you get screeching sound with air bubbles coming up front of brake reservoir, the answer is no.
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Easiest way to learn how to pull pins/pigtails from wire housing block. Order a new OEM housing block and pigtails, you'll see. Basically, I pres in a pick and release from business side and pull out. Most come out back side. My local Dealership cost more. But they're cool on returns, if I don't use.Also found the reason for my airbag light as @2001LC suspected. I haven't taken apart one of these pin connectors yet, need to learn how to do so, extend the wires and hook it back up.
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Also did an oil change with the larger M1-209 filter. Had a Pennzoil filter in it that was changed last November.
Both my PO and your PO where big men...LOL. Nice touch getting new foam.Wednesday I greased the driveshafts and got rid of the slight clunk I was feeling
Yesterday I knocked out a few jobs. Found the missing console panel clips at my local dealer.
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Cupholder still doesn't work all that well, only one time out of ten will it actually go back into its hole. At least the panel fits snugly now.
The rear wiper blade was starting to come apart so I saw that as good reason to upgrade to the JDM wiper.
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Pulled the drivers seat and swapped the foam out. What a difference this made, I'm sitting a lot higher in the truck now and I have so much more lateral support. It doesn't feel like a used car so much. Still smells like one though.
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Bolster was flat!
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Part numbers for the rear seatbelt holders. Shoutout to @l3n0x for providing this info on another thread.
73371-60030-A1 - HANGER, REAR NO.2 SEAT SHOULDER BELT, RH/LH (IVORY TRIM (brownish))
73371-60030-B3 - HANGER, REAR NO.2 SEAT SHOULDER BELT, RH/LH (STONE TRIM (greyish))