New LX. Got Some Questions After 800 miles (1 Viewer)

[TwistedCon]

Just picked up the car and drove it back north. Pretty uneventful drive besides the car being out of alignment by a good amount. Also freaked out a bit when the diff lock light and VSC light came on while on the highway. Appears where I put my knee it tends to want to bounce into the locker button. Other than those two things car drove like a dream (besides the clunk).

Now to my questions.

Center Diff - My center diff locks ridiculous quick. I was pleasantly surprised. Takes less than a second it seems. However it takes a bit longer. Sometimes 10 seconds of driving straight slowly to unlock. I assume this is the norm although couldn't find to much on this.

Clunk - I seem to have that clunk that plagues most of us. I plan on greasing the fittings in the drive shafts but I see the problem persists for some. Will it really cause that much damage in the long run if I can't fix it with some grease? Not familiar with AWD systems at all really but I know that they have a bit more slack than a standard 2WD car.

Oil -So I learned that super synthetic exists only because the owner before me had 5w20 Super Synthetic sticker in the window. Can't find any threads on this specifically... What I can tell is that it really isn't to much different, so should I just live and let lie? Continue using Super Synthetic of go back to Synthetic? Along with the oil my gauge is a little odd. Had no problems driving back home, but this morning it was low pressure when I wasn't applying throttle. This evening though stayed pretty close to the first mark, maybe a little below. Ordered a new pressure sensor. Just wanted to ask if you think it is the 5w20 SS oil that is causing my low oil pressure.

Headlights - So my headlights suck. Idk what one of the owners did but they are abysmal. Can barely see 30 feet in front of vehicle. Get under the hood and I see this... Anyone have any idea what is going on here?

Thanks in advance for your time!

 

[suprarx7nut]

Just picked up the car and drove it back north. Pretty uneventful drive besides the car being out of alignment by a good amount. Also freaked out a bit when the diff lock light and VSC light came on while on the highway. Appears where I put my knee it tends to want to bounce into the locker button. Other than those two things car drove like a dream (besides the clunk).

Now to my questions.

Center Diff - My center diff locks ridiculous quick. I was pleasantly surprised. Takes less than a second it seems. However it takes a bit longer. Sometimes 10 seconds of driving straight slowly to unlock. I assume this is the norm although couldn't find to much on this.

Clunk - I seem to have that clunk that plagues most of us. I plan on greasing the fittings in the drive shafts but I see the problem persists for some. Will it really cause that much damage in the long run if I can't fix it with some grease? Not familiar with AWD systems at all really but I know that they have a bit more slack than a standard 2WD car.

Oil -So I learned that super synthetic exists only because the owner before me had 5w20 Super Synthetic sticker in the window. Can't find any threads on this specifically... What I can tell is that it really isn't to much different, so should I just live and let lie? Continue using Super Synthetic of go back to Synthetic? Along with the oil my gauge is a little odd. Had no problems driving back home, but this morning it was low pressure when I wasn't applying throttle. This evening though stayed pretty close to the first mark, maybe a little below. Ordered a new pressure sensor. Just wanted to ask if you think it is the 5w20 SS oil that is causing my low oil pressure.

Headlights - So my headlights suck. Idk what one of the owners did but they are abysmal. Can barely see 30 feet in front of vehicle. Get under the hood and I see this... Anyone have any idea what is going on here?

Thanks in advance for your time!
View attachment 2867520

Welcome!

1. Center Diff - that all sounds perfectly normal.
2. Clunk - perfectly normal (and annoying). There are many spline interfaces and gear interfaces where you can have slack. Add up all that slack after hundreds of thousands of miles and it's hard to avoid a clunk. Check the front drive shafts. It's common for those to spin in relation to the wheel. They should have ZERO movement, but almost always have some. The fix is new outer tulip (or entire CV) and hub flange. I recommend OEM only - nothing aftermarket nor rebuilt. $500+ per side for just the axle part through discount dealers.
3. Oil - no sweat. I'd use a 5-30, 5-40 or 0-40. Blackstone labs can run a test for you if you're uneasy about anything. Almost any oil is fine for the 2UZ.
4. I think I spy a cheap and horribly installed HID or LED kit. Not sure to undo that, but the OEM headlights aren't amazing anyways. Retrofitting a simple HID (a proper one from a real headlight company, not the garbage cheap stuff) is a relatively cheap way to get yourself amazing headlights if you're an enthusiast.

 

[87warrior]

Oil pressure - On the 100's I have been around, the oil pressure gauge will usually read around the mid point on a cold start and at the lower 1/4 point once warmed up (at idle). My wife's 200 behaves similarly.

 

[js47]

There is nothing “super” about super synthetic. Actually it is a lower grade oil than regular M1 full synthetic. “Super” is their lowest spec full synthetic oil.

 

[TwistedCon]

Clever marketing on their part I suppose haha.

Spent the day driving around city streets today. Definitely have suspension issues sadly... Ride is pretty damn rough and can really feel the joints going on overpasses and cracks in the road. The AHC was over the fill line when I got it but I figured since it was a reservoir it wouldn't cause damage. I will suck some out in the morning or after the weekend but guessing without lines I probably have around 5 or 6 graduations.

I had already ordered fluid to do a flush but now I am debating on buying the globes Big expense off just quick troubleshooting. I'll have my mechanic look over all the suspension parts when I drop it off (I might have missed something) but if it all looks good probably going to end up replacing the globes after Christmas.

Anyone have recommendations on where to buy them for a low rate, and relatively fast cheap shipping?

 

[awesomeissquid]

Welcome to the party! The search function will become your friend as there are tons of helpful posts about any topic you might think of. It does take some luck and word play to find stuff sometimes so don’t be afraid to ask if you can’t find it. Someone probably has seen something that looks familiar to what you are searching for.

Speaking of which, check out this thread about globes. I don’t have an LX or AHC, but I think this might be a good start for you.
Impex is LEGIT 4 new AHC globes. Door To Door from Japan, less than 2 weeks - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/impex-is-legit-4-new-ahc-globes-door-to-door-from-japan-less-than-2-weeks.1256544/

 

[Unrulykid]

AHC globes are not cheap… especially from the dealer…

And non-OEM globes are notorious for failing within 2 years.

Front and rear are different part numbers due to requiring different nitrogen pressures.

Check out Cruiser parts.com. I have checked and these prices are very good. The rest of the page shows other materials that you will need to refresh your AHC.

 

[Unrulykid]

WOW!!!!!!!

I just looked up that IMPEX site from the link above… If these prices are correct, that’s less than $200 per globe…DELIVERED!!!!!!
THAT right there, is the best deal anywhere!!!!!!!!

 

[TwistedCon]

WOW!!!!!!!

I just looked up that IMPEX site from the link above… If these prices are correct, that’s less than $200 per globe…DELIVERED!!!!!!
THAT right there, is the best deal anywhere!!!!!!!!

Yah. I plan on ordering through IMPEX. I'll be in japan in a month or 2. Just gonna fly back with them so I don't pay shipping.

 

[suprarx7nut]

WOW!!!!!!!

I just looked up that IMPEX site from the link above… If these prices are correct, that’s less than $200 per globe…DELIVERED!!!!!!
THAT right there, is the best deal anywhere!!!!!!!!

Yup. Nowhere else is even close. It's odd how widely those prices can vary.

For a set of 4 as of Jan 2022:

My local dealer: $4,400+
McGeorge: $2,600
Partsouq: $1,300
Impex: $700

I'd love to know where all that extra margin is going for the smaller local dealers. I think around $2-3k is just dealer markup, but that still leaves a solid $1k that's going to yet another zero-value-add middleman in the equation. The McGeorge pricing seems to be the common wholesaler price as it's shared by Toyota Parts Deal and the other common online parts dealers. Then there's the Partsouq level pricing which is the same as Cruiser Parts. And then comes Impex to show the world what these things actually cost (not that much) to manufacture and sell online.

 

[97 AZ LC]

I'd love to know where all that extra margin is going for the smaller local dealers. I think around $2-3k is just dealer markup, but that still leaves a solid $1k that's going to yet another zero-value-add middleman in the equation.

Remember that Toyota wholesale parts prices can vary substantially around the globe. I don't think this is a story just about variations in dealer mark-ups. Competition has a way of leveling those out. Toyota on the other hand can charge whatever they want wherever they wish.