The Tips and Tricks thread

[red_rolla20v]

on the note of short finding:

by using an old headlight globe (H4 for example), cut the 'shorted' wire in the car, attach one end to one terminal (of the headlight globe), and the other to another terminal of the globe. if the globe lights up, the short is still present...putting a piece of metal or something heat resistant under it and it can stay lit up until u do find the short, and then the light will just go out once short is gone!

very simple, reliable and handy when the shorts in the middle of a thick loom and ur wriggling it all trying to single it out!

[TERRA Operative]

You can do the same with an indicator globe in a socket with spade lugs on the wires.
Just stick it in place of the fuse and it'll do the same as above without cutting any wires.

[red_rolla20v]

That too...i normally use the spades in the fusebox too, just for tiny little shit european fuseboxs up under gloveboxs and shit it might be handy

[andrew_mx83]

If you're using spring compressors a couple of drops of oil on the washer at the top will save you ass loads of time and rattle gun deafness

[GT1978]

with spring compressors it also pays to put a Jack under the end of the strut and compress the suspension prior to tightening up the compressors.

[4th surf]

Alarms/immobilisers

On a budget and want a nice "push the remote button" alarm without having to stick that damn key fob thingy in a slot? A Mongoose M40 is what you want, buy the base model for $200 and follow the directions in the manual but for the siren a simple "Normally open relay" does the trick well. On the relay terminal 85 is connected to the siren output from the "alarm unit". 87 to the horn wire on the combination switch and the rest to ground. Arm the thing and the horn "blips" and same for disarm. Set it off and the horn just jeeps on going. Want remote central locking if your 'yota has factory locking? simply find the lock and unlock trigger wires to the door control relay and hook up the appropriate wires from the "Alarm brain box" to the lock and unlock trigger wires and you're done. A full high end alarm cheaper at half the price if you fit it yourself

["Z" UTE]

That bloody plastic sheet crap inside the door is always giving me a hard time whenever I have to do a window regulator replacement or something like that.. Most times it is torn to hell by previous operators. That stuff is actually there to protect the inside of your door trim by preventing water from getting to the door card, so a good seal is essential.

I found a non setting/non hardening sealant in the cartridges, some time back and try to use something similar whenever I can, an alternative is double sided tape. The non setting sealant allows you to remove and replace the plastic many many times.

A great source of durable plastic comes to you when you have furniture or beds delivered, just make sure you are there to save the plastic and don't let the delivery guys rip it off the furniture.

cheers Chuck.

["Z" UTE]

Here's another one. Use a power tool plastic blow mould case as a parts washer and organiser. I used the old Ryobi drill box the other day when cleaning a couple of carbies. Using brake cleaner and carby cleaner in the cans and a small stiff brush. The blow mould case has a whole bunch of little pockets you can stow various parts in, helped to keep things well organised and when the job was done I simply wiped the case out with a couple pieces of paper towel and put the drill back in for safe keeping.

cheers Chuck.

[madmont]

I was doing my valve stem seals on a 2jzgte
Here is the retainer/keeper remover with a powerful magnet down the hole in the end of a piece of plastic . Works well all it needs is a rap with the hammer and the retainer and keepers come off the valve and stick to the magnet

I tried copying an inserter which did not work too well for me so I made my own, Bored out the end of a piece of pipe to fit the retainer , cut a hole so I could get at the keepers and it worked well. Leaned on the upper end of the pipe to depress the spring


I was down to the last 2 valves and was looking forward to going home having completed all 24 when I hit the wrong valve and dropped the valve straight into the cylinder.
As I thought this may mean head removal I uttered a few demeaning words shut the door and went home to search Ebay for a head gasket.
Not to be outdone by a valve sitting on top of piston number 5 I came up with a devious plan to remove the errant valve thus avoiding head removal.
I threaded a copper wire down through the hole where the valve had been and back out the spark plug hole

I then moved the valve to the spark plug hole and rotated piston number 5 to TDC

I then soldered the copper wire to the top of the valve

I then moved the piston to BDC and then proceeded to pull and push the valve back up through the valve guide with a lot of help from a borescope and a piece of wire


I was able to get the valve back to where it was

A couple of keepers disappeared down into the bowels of the motor along the way and were easily replaced by a couple I scavved from a 4S head I had lying around
This information may help some poor unfortunate fool who did what I did
I recommend taking lots of care when undertaking something like this

[alan.chalkley]

With a 97 manual hilux doing 1000kms/week of mostly city driving the fifth and reverse gear linkages can become stuck and won't select.
Simple solution is.
Once every six months , prize open the top of the rubber boot and spray down an entire can of lithium spray grease , or crawl under , hold your breath and spray it up under the rubber boot.
It works well and lasts for six months.