‘06 Family hauler (1 Viewer)

[RoaringFork]

I would buy a LI battery starter pack and throw in in the glove box for peace of mind.

That’s a great idea, thank you... did you ever see the thread about a jump pack like that starting a fire on the passenger seat? I think it was a 100... I searched and couldn’t find it, titled something like “I bet you’ve never seen this before”...

Do you have any thoughts on a jump pack being a fire hazard?

I’ve had one at work(Matco) for 3 years, always plugged in never subject to excessive temps. Works greatish, seems to be getting weaker with age.

Anyone heard of an old school(big,heavy) jump box catching fire?

 

[Ninja Cruiser100]

I just got one for Christmas. The seat fire sound familiar although I don’t remember the vehicle.

I tour a lot on a motorcycle and it will come in handy. I tend to leave my ignition on and that can drain the battery quickly.

 

[RoaringFork]

I've read more than a handful of threads over the past few years about parasitic draw situations associated with that circuit and I'm not sure anyone actually found the smoking gun. Nice work and thank you for explaining how you tracked it down.

Happy to help... why not document what I’ve learned?

 

[RoaringFork]

I just got one for Christmas. The seat fire sound familiar although I don’t remember the vehicle.

I tour a lot on a motorcycle and it will come in handy. I tend to leave my ignition on and that can drain the battery quickly.

A jump pack will work great for a bike, way more jumps per charge. My pack used to be able to jump start my Cummins.... not last time I tried though

 

[RoaringFork]

Time for an update:

First off, after unplugging the rear DVD player a few months ago, the battery hasn’t died once. Even after sitting for 2 weeks, call that fixed...


If you didn’t read the thread title, this 100 is on family duty. Very important work... The first post describes my 1 kid family turning into a 2 kid family, and the need to get a bigger vehicle, enter the 100. Our second son was born in March, out came the second car seat and the 3rd row. I wouldn’t say this cruiser has it bad, it doesn’t see much dirt, but is well taken care of...

Jackson and Charlie(respectively)

This pic was taken on the way back from Denver...

have you guys ever had the moment/feeling of solidification of why you own a cruiser?? That moment when you wheel up something seemingly difficult and think “yup, that’s why I drive a cruiser”... or when you reach that beautiful destination to share with your company, all due to your truck...

This Denver trip was the 100 earning its stripes for me. After Charlie was born, he had intestinal issues(don’t worry he’s doing great) that sent us to children’s hospital. Denver is 3-3.5 hours away via CO82 to I70 east, 180ish miles over vail pass and Eisenhower tunnel. My MIL, oldest son, dog, and essentials were loaded into the 100 at 1am and we hit the road. There was still plenty of snow kicking around in March and snowed pretty much up and down vail pass, we made it to Children’s hospital in 4 hours(5:00am). We were in Denver for a eleven or twelve days, much longer than expected, the cruiser then had to fight Denver traffic for all errands, make all trips in and out of CH, live in parking garages(couldn’t have done this w/o AHC), and be an additional hotel room. Because we were there so long, and not prepared for the duration, we ended up with much more stuff than when we arrived, including people. My FIL flew in to help out and let my MIL go back home. When it came time to head home from the hospital we had additional people, luggage, toys, food, etc. Lots of snow melted off since the last trip over the passes, the weather was beautiful too. The 100 got myself, FIL, wife, 2 sons, dog, and all our stuff home in 3 hours without a hitch... I was proud...

Then one day it happened... the 100 was gonna see dirt. I overheard a co-worker say he got his Jeep stuck in the snow and has developed a fuel leak. I had the 100 at work for an oil change, and he was stuck not very far out of the way of my route home.

 

[bentonrover]

Awesome

 

[RoaringFork]

My oldest son is getting big enough to go out on short overland trips... we’ve gone over light hill and drove over the backside of Snowmass mountain. We usually take my 80 on these outings, after the Snowmass ride I noticed a small coolant leak.

That was Thursday, I had plans to meet my homie and his daughter who were camping way up the pan at twin meadows Saturday morning. Looks like the 100 will get the nod...

 

[RoaringFork]

Not much new to report... getting close to 1 year of ownership, and a solid 4K miles put on the odometer...

I did finally put the inner cv boots on... I met a long time Toyota dealer employee named Ben(10+ years as a tech, 5+ as an advisor, and 5+ as service manager), who told me when I tackle the cv boots just take the whole knuckle off, don’t fight squeezing it out with the lower attached. I heeded his advice: freed and hung caliper, freed abs sensor harness and brake line, popped the upper/lower/TRE ball joints and pulled the knuckle with hub/rotor still attached... good advice in my opinion, the assembly was heavy, but no fuss or struggle during any of the repair...

Come this weekend, we’re packing everyone up and taking out first long road trip to Dallas...

 

[krispykritter]

Just came across your post today - I also picked up a 2006 100 series (though mine is the Lexus Cruiser variant) and paid a nearly identical price ($15990), at nearly the same time (last august!). Had similar miles (135k), similar work done (TB/water pump), and similar issues (CV axles/drive flanges needed to be replaced thanks to worn teeth). I have not done the heater tees but that is probably something I need to check and/or take care of sooner rather than later.

I hope you replaced the lower ball joints, or at least re-booted them, while you had the axles out. I replaced one lower ball joint and re-booted both uppers while I did the CV axle job since you can't get to the lowers without getting the axles out of the way, which is a long process. Also, check to make sure there isn't any play in the axle/drive flange interface when you put it into gear - on mine, you could see the axle take up slack when going from reverse to forward or vice versa with the caps off the drive flanges. The teeth look extremely shiny on the end of the axle, which could indicate that they've been worn down over the years.

 

[RoaringFork]

Just came across your post today - I also picked up a 2006 100 series (though mine is the Lexus Cruiser variant) and paid a nearly identical price ($15990), at nearly the same time (last august!). Had similar miles (135k), similar work done (TB/water pump), and similar issues (CV axles/drive flanges needed to be replaced thanks to worn teeth). I have not done the heater tees but that is probably something I need to check and/or take care of sooner rather than later.

I hope you replaced the lower ball joints, or at least re-booted them, while you had the axles out. I replaced one lower ball joint and re-booted both uppers while I did the CV axle job since you can't get to the lowers without getting the axles out of the way, which is a long process. Also, check to make sure there isn't any play in the axle/drive flange interface when you put it into gear - on mine, you could see the axle take up slack when going from reverse to forward or vice versa with the caps off the drive flanges. The teeth look extremely shiny on the end of the axle, which could indicate that they've been worn down over the years.

Good advice...

I do plan on going back through the front end, the bearings could use a re-pack and the sway bar bushings were cracked... I might as well have new drive flanged in hand... I was knocking out the boots for our road trip this weekend...

as for the ball joints I’ll address them as needed. Seriously, pulling the knuckle off was a 20 minute process and made everything accessible...

As for your heater tee s, I recommend the wits end kit...

@NLXTACY

100 Series 2UZ Heater Hose Kit

100 Series 2UZ Heater Hose Kit (HHK-1)

absolute-wits-end.com

 

[krispykritter]

Good advice...

I do plan on going back through the front end, the bearings could use a re-pack and the sway bar bushings were cracked... I might as well have new drive flanged in hand... I was knocking out the boots for our road trip this weekend...

as for the ball joints I’ll address them as needed. Seriously, pulling the knuckle off was a 20 minute process and made everything accessible...

As for your heater tee s, I recommend the wits end kit...

@NLXTACY

100 Series 2UZ Heater Hose Kit

100 Series 2UZ Heater Hose Kit (HHK-1)

absolute-wits-end.com

I'm amazed it only took twenty minutes to get the knuckles off - I've got access to a lift and (mostly) the right tools, and it took me longer than that to get the drive flanges off the first time around. Separating the upper ball joint as a complete pain in the ass, and when the lower popped free the bang was so extreme it cause a knot to form in my hand immediately. I also had to cut off the bolt end of my passenger tie rod end because the nut had rust welded itself to the stud. Was significantly more work on my end - count yourself lucky!

As for the drive flanges, just make sure the teeth aren't worn on the old CV axles either. Both ends tend to wear away, not just the flange or axle splines.

Thanks for the link to the kit, will definitely check that out. I'll have to research the heater T's because I've heard them mentioned multiple times but never actually figured out why.

 

[RoaringFork]

I'm amazed it only took twenty minutes to get the knuckles off - I've got access to a lift and (mostly) the right tools, and it took me longer than that to get the drive flanges off the first time around. Separating the upper ball joint as a complete pain in the ass, and when the lower popped free the bang was so extreme it cause a knot to form in my hand immediately. I also had to cut off the bolt end of my passenger tie rod end because the nut had rust welded itself to the stud. Was significantly more work on my end - count yourself lucky!

As for the drive flanges, just make sure the teeth aren't worn on the old CV axles either. Both ends tend to wear away, not just the flange or axle splines.

Thanks for the link to the kit, will definitely check that out. I'll have to research the heater T's because I've heard them mentioned multiple times but never actually figured out why.

Let’s call it 20 minutes once it’s up and the wheel is off...

Those are the ball joint presses I used, they make short work of the hardest part in my opinion...

The heater tee’s are plastic and degrade from the heat/pressure cycles. They eventually get brittle and fragile enough to fail, usually at the worst time. If yours haven’t been done, you will see how fragile they are when you replace them...

 

[RoaringFork]

On the road!

 

[RoaringFork]

We made it to Dallas... it was a long trip, we stopped every couple hundred miles, so the kids wouldn’t get restless... we put on ~400 miles yesterday from glenwood to raton, NM, then ~600 miles today...

There was one hiccup along the way... about 30 miles outside of Childress, TX, I pulled off for some beverages. It should have been a quick stop, no need for fuel, we had lunch an hourish before and had 3/4 tank... When I got back in the car my wife was feeding our youngest(5 mos), so I decided to top up the tank... I backed up to the pump, stuck the nozzle in, and next thing I know fuel is coming back out of the filler!! WTF?? I’ve never had any fueling issues with this cruiser(my 80 has...), I turn the truck off(yes I had it running to keep the a/c on), listen for boiling or excess pressure trying to escape and hear/feel nothing... I try again, no dice, the pump cuts off, or fuel tries to come out of the filler... whatever, I have plenty of fuel, the fam is ready, let’s get back on the road...

NOPE! I start it up, immediately I can tell it’s running rough and no throttle response. Eventually it stalls and will only crank... I know it’s the fuel pump for a few reasons: the ambient temp was 106f, the weird stuff when trying to fill it, and all the ‘06/‘07 fuel pump threads I’ve seen recently.

Ok, so, my wife, 2 kids, dog and I are now “stranded”... what do you do?? I bang where I can on the tank, the skid plate prevents a good whacking in the right spot... hmmm, out come the kids car seats, out comes the middle row, pull the carpet up, fuel pump access cover off, and “baby, try cranking it while I smack the top of the pump”... and just like that, it roars back to life.

Whew, that was close. I put it back together and we hit the road and I don’t shut if off till we made it here. I check to see if it will restart, of course it does...

Thoughts and theory to follow...

 

[RoaringFork]

Thoughts and theory...

Fuel quality... this is a huge contributing factor to this problem.

Ambient temp... a contributing factor, as it affects fuel physically

I work on Audi’s professionally... over that last few years the summer time fuel pump failure rate has increased so drastically, a “repair kit” has now come available to install on new replacement pumps. There is a disconnect from the engineering to the installation(hence thoughts and theory), in regard to the data used to implement this repair kit, but... the repair kit changes the fuel flow at the pump(in tank) to prevent vapor formation(boiling fuel) that overheats and damages the pump.

Fuel quality and ambient temps... we all know ethanol is added to gasoline, the more ethanol, the lower the boiling point. Add in the highest ambient temps of the year = in tank “vapor lock”... what was designed as an adequate fuel pump, has been stifled by fuel quality and temperature...

 

[RoaringFork]

The time has come to wrap this thread up...

My last posting was about a vapor lock situation while traveling through Texas in the summer. Initially I thought possibly the fuel pump was the next logical step to prevent the vapor lock from happening. I researched mud and found lots of folks adding a heat shield to the fuel line where passes by the exhaust. The theory is the exhaust temp is absorbed by the fuel line(s) and passed to the fuel and contributes to boiling in the tank. I decided to go this route(and replace the filter), I used shielding found on PCV hoses that run near the exh. man collector/turbo on old audis(had it lying around).

We’ve since made multiple TX trips in all weather and temps., and haven’t had a single problem... I was skeptical about the heat shielding, it seemed too easy. I am convinced the longer the fuel is subject to boiling the more damage to the fuel pump.

I wanted to add this info above to tie off any loose ends to this thread...

We have decided to sell the 100 and replace it with a 200. The biggest reason is because the child seat latch system is only on the middle and left of the second row. As the kids car seats are getting bigger they push into each other and our little ones seat sits at an angle. Get new car seats you say? NO, time to upgrade the whole vehicle!! I’ll miss the 100, really the only conceivable replacement is a 200. We found a ‘15 with 90k...

We sold the 100 locally, we had it listed for less than a week. Fetched $18.5k. The wife was dumbfounded it got more than when we sold the 14 Audi... lolz

thanks to all the 100 series mudders that contribute here... I’m not going anywhere, I’ll still be in the 80 and 200 section.

 

[sanshin]

The time has come to wrap this thread up...

My last posting was about a vapor lock situation while traveling through Texas in the summer. Initially I thought possibly the fuel pump was the next logical step to prevent the vapor lock from happening. I researched mud and found lots of folks adding a heat shield to the fuel line where passes by the exhaust. The theory is the exhaust temp is absorbed by the fuel line(s) and passed to the fuel and contributes to boiling in the tank. I decided to go this route(and replace the filter), I used shielding found on PCV hoses that run near the exh. man collector/turbo on old audis(had it lying around).

We’ve since made multiple TX trips in all weather and temps., and haven’t had a single problem... I was skeptical about the heat shielding, it seemed too easy. I am convinced the longer the fuel is subject to boiling the more damage to the fuel pump.

I wanted to add this info above to tie off any loose ends to this thread...

We have decided to sell the 100 and replace it with a 200. The biggest reason is because the child seat latch system is only on the middle and left of the second row. As the kids car seats are getting bigger they push into each other and our little ones seat sits at an angle. Get new car seats you say? NO, time to upgrade the whole vehicle!! I’ll miss the 100, really the only conceivable replacement is a 200. We found a ‘15 with 90k...

We sold the 100 locally, we had it listed for less than a week. Fetched $18.5k. The wife was dumbfounded it got more than when we sold the 14 Audi... lolz

thanks to all the 100 series mudders that contribute here... I’m not going anywhere, I’ll still be in the 80 and 200 section.

How many miles on it when you sold it? Thx

 

[RoaringFork]

How many miles on it when you sold it? Thx

~176,000... looking back, we bought it 11/18 with ~160,000. We really only used it for road trips or when we had to pack everything.... you didn’t ask, but I forgot to put a pic of the 200 in the last post...

 

[sanshin]

Wow, that’s a nice return! My ‘05 is at 165K and I’m looking to upgrade to a 200 as well. Just trying to do some market research. Good lookin’ 200 you’ve got there - I’m partial to white.

 

[RoaringFork]

Wow, that’s a nice return! My ‘05 is at 165K and I’m looking to upgrade to a 200 as well. Just trying to do some market research. Good lookin’ 200 you’ve got there - I’m partial to white.

thanks for the compliment...

If you’re wanting the 200 you won’t regret it!

I saw your comments on the salsa 200 for sale in ft Collins. I’ll leave this for you here so I don’t clutter the for sale add... don’t forget to check the recirc. door as part of ppi it’s an expensive repair. Most people don’t know it’s broken until their windows fog up or they go looking for it...