Another Build Thread - 2005 LC100 “Frankie” (5 Viewers)

[Gsquared]

After purchasing a 2024 LC 250 in September of 2024, I quickly fell in love with 4x4s and sought my perfect build on that platform. Before I got too far along, I realized it was not a long term solution for me and my family of 5, 7 if you count the dogs. The 250 was nice in a lot of aspects, but I need the third row from time to time if I want to bring my crew with me on my excursions.

Enter the hunt for an LC100. When I realized I had to go 3rd row, I knew the LC100 was what I wanted, it has a classic style and I was looking forward to something a bit more analog - the 250 drove me crazy with beeps. After a few failed BaT auctions and ghosted facebook market place messages later, I found a decent looking LC100 in Lexington, KY on auto trader. Haggled a bit with the buyer and agreed on a price then flew out to get her - maybe another time I’ll do a thread on lessons learned when buying a car sight unseen / what to ask for.

I then proceeded to drive it 1,500 miles over the next 4 days, discovering many of its quirks and potential issues in the process.

So far, this website has been an incredible help to me in fixing, updating items on my cruiser and I am thankful to everyone for the help - even if it was given many years ago!

To return that favor I will include as much helpful information in this build thread for future cruisers.

Future Items

• Winch - hidden winch or Dissent Offroad Bumper
• Skid plates
• Rock Sliders - likely White Knuckle offroad or Trail Tailor
• Rocker switches - to power toys, accessories, lights
• Front Leather Replacement
• Roof Rack
• Sound Deadening
• Speaker upgrade

Maintenance / Fixes to Date

1. Tires
2. Blower Fan Clean
3. HVAC Condenser Gasket Replacement
4. In Cabin Air Filter Mod
5. HVAC Condenser Drain Extension
6. Timing Belt / Water Pump Replacement
7. New Spare wheel, tire, and OEM mount
8. 40 Gallon LRA Fuel Tank
9. Door Lock Actuator Replacement
10. Fumoto Oil Drain Valve

 

[Gsquared]

Tires -
The vehicle came with 3 different tires and no spare - hence the name Frankie, as in, Frankenstein’s monster made from different parts. After driving it 1,500 miles from Lexington KY to Charlotte NC to Tulsa OK, I opted to get matching tires all around. I intend to do some wheeling with this bad boy so I went with K02s in the stock 285/65/R18 size. I am very pleased with these so far, they have some slight road noise but have performed great at my local offroad park and look great - “chonky” as my kids say. Plenty of room in the wheel wells, could easily go up in size if needed. I did not realize the vehicle did not come with a spare until taking delivery of the vehicle - in hind sight an easy item I could have asked about before agreeing to the purchase. Live and learn.

Below are pictures of Frankie when I got her vs after adding K02s all the way around.

 

[Gsquared]

Blower Fan Clean - AC was extremely loud on the highest fan speed. Removed the blower fan, cleaned and took our debris. Remounted and AC is now quiet at all fan speeds.

This is really easy, there’s 3 screws securing the blower fan underneath the passenger side glove box. Disconnect the blower fan wire harness before removing the 3 screws, it should drop straight down. Once removed it's pretty easy to see and clean any debris in the fan such as leaves or sticks, etc. These items cause the fan to become off balance when spinning and hence the loud and unpleasant noise it causes.

No resources on this one, it's pretty easy but you should be able to find a youtube video or thread here if needed.

 

[Gsquared]

HVAC Condenser Gasket Replacement (Passender Floorboard Drip Fixed) - When I purchased the vehicle, I noticed a slow but persistent drip coming from under the passenger side dashboard. This was a fairly easy fix and went hand in hand with the Cabin Air Filter Mod which I completed at the same time.

This is a simple “U” shaped piece of rubber that goes in the housing of the LC100 air conditioner condenser, which is behind the passenger side glove box. Taking the glove box off is pretty easy, I recommend you watch a video like chowcares on youtube for your first time to understand the level of effort and where some of the hidden “ “ screws are and how to snake the cover out.

Once you have the cover off and out of the way, you can replace the old gasket. Put the cover back on and you should be good to go. Below is a picture of the new gasket next to the new HVAC cover which I installed for the in cabin air filter mod, refer to that thread for more details.

Parts:

1. # 88578-47040 (gasket)

Note: I think doing this in tandem with the HVAC Drain Extension is beneficial / could be required for a full fix, refer below.

 

[Gsquared]

HVAC Cabin Air Filter Modification - as discussed on many threads on this site, there is not an in cabin filter for many years, if not all years of the US LC100, I’ve seen a few threads of people saying theirs came with it, mine did not. This is odd for an offroad vehicle and can lead to poor air quality within the vehicle - duh - and lead to debris and contaminants getting into the blower fan and or HVAC system itself. A fairly easy mod that I am glad I did. Coming up on time to change the filters…

Parts:

1. # 88891-60040 (HVAC cover with air filter access)

2. # 88568-60010​

3. Compatible filter door (OEM is probably out there somewhere but here is what I used) Amazon.com: Youqsm Car Air Filter Cover Cap A/C Condition Baffle 88548-02110 Compatible with Toyota Corolla 2010-2019,For Toyota RAV4 2012-2018,fit for Toyota Matrix 2009-2013 : Automotive - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DXTVKLBW?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Here is a view of the glovebox removed, again watch a video like chowcares to see how to remove it. The larger black box on the left is the HVAC unit, the gray metal box is your ECU. You’ll need to remove the smaller black box on top of the cover as well, then spend a few minutes cursing as you wiggle the cover upwards and out of the dashboard.

Here is the new cover, with the slot for the filters (they stack), compared to the old one. I want to say every single screw tab here is used, it felt like a lot but oh well. You could probably cut this yourself if you had the tools and the patience. For $40, it was an easy buy for me.

Note that while you have this thing open, it can be really nasty from decades of unfiltered air and water / condensation mixing. I took this chance to clean mine out and while I did not get a picture of the HVAC unit itself, it was pretty gross. Below is some of the larger debris I pulled out. There was also a good bit of what seemed like Mold that I vacuumed up / got rid of with a tooth brush taped to a ruler.

After cleaning it out as best I could, I put the new cover back on, added the filters, then screwed everything back in place. No issues, no noted dirt in the cabin … except when I wheel I like to keep the windows down so maybe that's why Toyota didn't add a filter to begin with .

 

[Gsquared]

HVAC Drain Extension - The HVAC drains through the front passenger firewall. On my 05, you can see a black triangular-ish piece going from the bottom of the condenser to the bottom of the passenger footwell. Over time, and due to the lack of an in-cabin air filter on many LC100s (see thread), this drain can potentially get clogged. Additionally, with time and wear, the drain tube itself could collapse as the rubber becomes brittle.

On some LC100s, this drain will cause serious rust on the front passenger side sway bar bushing as this is where the drip tends to accumulate which takes a toll over a few decades and depending on your environment.

I bought a tube extension from Cruiser Patch, it works decent enough but I could definitely have sourced these parts from my local hardware /auto store if needed.

Parts:

• Drain tube extension kit from Cruiser Patch: 100 Series LX470 & GX470 HVAC Condensation Drain Extension Kit - https://www.cruiserpatch.com/products/100-series-hvac-condensation-drain-extension-kit?srsltid=AfmBOorWRpk7fc7IlEDIPvP_nJwJuf_NMvPavGtMRoXo3BVj7VFIcmJd

The drain for the HVAC comes out through the firewall and basically just drips straight down hitting the frame before dripping down to the sway bar bushing. In the two pictures below, you can see where in the engine bay the tube drains, this is where you will add the extension.

First you connect the extension tube to the plastic right angle / tube connector - it would be difficult to do this if you installed the right angle in the engine bay first. You then insert the other end of the tube connector into the drain tube shown above. I recommend you do this when the engine is cool. It was a bit of a tight squeeze between the drain tube and the heat shield, I was worried that the plastic tube connector might melt if it was touching the heat shield directly so I layered a few pieces of foil and zip tied the tubes on both ends of the connector.

Finally, I found a good spot where I could snake the tube extension through the wheel fairing and frame to drain directly on the ground. The tube was quite long so I trimmed a few inches. After install I have noticed a lot of what accumulates on the ground after parking the vehicle, much more than other cars I have owned. It really seems like this HVAC system produces a large amount of condensation and this drain may become clogged over time so this mod has helped it to drain more freely. Along with the HVAC gasket replacement, I believe this mod has entirely solved the passenger floor footwell drip issue.