General Maintenance and some minor "mods" - Toyota Yaris Forums

tmontague · 05-22-2014, 04:21 PM

Worked on my car a bit today and wanted to point out a few things to give others some insight etc.

The bottom bolt on my alternator which is a claimed 14mm was too small for my 14mm socket and I had to use a 9/16 which fit much tighter. I almost stripped the bolt with my 14mm. I didn't check the socket so it could be the socket was starting to strip but it fit perfect and snug with the 9/16 and I got the bolt loose with that one.

My Yaris had 118,000 km on it and after changing the lower control arm bolts last week and serpentine belt, I decided to do a few other things this week.

I added an oil catch can using the DIY posted here. It cost me a total of $39 with taxes and everything. I could only find a 1/4" filter and then used the same hose ends with a 3/8" hose fitting. Eeverything worked wel as according to the DIY. I had to take a dremmel and cut away part of my engine cover so that the hoses would fit. With the Oil catch the PCV hose no longer fits tightly alongside the engine. I haven't noticed any oil in it yet, however I cleaned out my PCV last week and just changed the oil so I wans't expecting anything.

I also did the DIY air intake today. I decided against purchasing the K&N high flow filter. Keep in mind I am not doing any of these things for performance but for none other then a small increase in fuel economy and longevity of the car. If I get an extra HP or two then great but it's safe to say I wouldn't notice anyways. I decided to use a dremmel and cut the front facing (facing the back of the headlight) and the right side (facing the wheel well) parts of the lower air box. I left the corner there for support but other then that both side are completely open. I still have the stock filter in there. I notice a lower grumble when the RPM's increase(keep in mind i generally shift around 2500-2700). When in 5th the engine is still nice and quite, and when it is a little louder the noise isn't that annoying muffler noise you hear in highschool kids cars. It's a lower growl from the engine. To be honest I haven't noticed any change in power or pick-up (expected), that being said I haven't even tried to push it at all.

I used a piece of the plastic that I removed from the lower airbox and cut it into a circle. I then used black duct tape and covered the stock airbox hole. Since I am no longer using the snorkel there is no reason to have an opening facing the hot engine, The air box is more then open enough now.

I also cleaned my TB. I wanted to completely remove it so that I could get a good look at it and nothing when into the manifold. I had a surprise when coolant started leaking from one of the hoses I removed from the TB. I should've expected it but just forgot. Not a whole lot came out anyway. My TB was pretty clean. However where it was dirty was right around the edges of the butterfly valve in the closed position. It was a thick oily sludge. Nothing big enough to limit air flow but over time it would have definitely stopped the valve from closing fully. I used some TB cleaner and cleaned it off and reinstalled with no problems.

My one question I have pertains to bleeding the coolant. I installed the TB back including the coolant tubes. Iran the engine for a while with the rad cap off until there were no more bubble coming out. I added coolant before I did this and a little after. I then repeated one more time and added a small bit of coolant to the over flow. Do I need to do anything else or did this get rid of the air in the system?

I will keep an eye on the over flow over the next week and top it up if needed. The rad cap is the highest point on the engine so the air should escape from that point saving me from having to do much else to properly bleed it, if this correct?

Next up will be an oil pressure, water temp and vacuum gauge set. This will likely be the most challenging as I've yet to deal with electrical. I'll post a topic with a few Q's I have next week.

My goal is to get the longest mileage and best fuel economy out of my Yaris. So far I've been impressed and have had no issues. I figure if I keep everything in check/clean then I should have no problem getting 350,000+km out of it. I do a mix of about 50/50 highway and city. My gf's 02 echo has 330,000km and we got it used with about 280,000km on it. She has a ton of engine sludge and it burning oil (can't tell by looking) which is causing the cat converter to go bad tripping a code. Other then that it runs fine and have had no major issues.

05-22-2014, 04:21 PM	#1
tmontague View User's Garage Drives: '08 2zr swapped Vios M/T Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Caledonia Ont. Posts: 2,938	General Maintenance and some minor "mods" Worked on my car a bit today and wanted to point out a few things to give others some insight etc. The bottom bolt on my alternator which is a claimed 14mm was too small for my 14mm socket and I had to use a 9/16 which fit much tighter. I almost stripped the bolt with my 14mm. I didn't check the socket so it could be the socket was starting to strip but it fit perfect and snug with the 9/16 and I got the bolt loose with that one. My Yaris had 118,000 km on it and after changing the lower control arm bolts last week and serpentine belt, I decided to do a few other things this week. I added an oil catch can using the DIY posted here. It cost me a total of $39 with taxes and everything. I could only find a 1/4" filter and then used the same hose ends with a 3/8" hose fitting. Eeverything worked wel as according to the DIY. I had to take a dremmel and cut away part of my engine cover so that the hoses would fit. With the Oil catch the PCV hose no longer fits tightly alongside the engine. I haven't noticed any oil in it yet, however I cleaned out my PCV last week and just changed the oil so I wans't expecting anything. I also did the DIY air intake today. I decided against purchasing the K&N high flow filter. Keep in mind I am not doing any of these things for performance but for none other then a small increase in fuel economy and longevity of the car. If I get an extra HP or two then great but it's safe to say I wouldn't notice anyways. I decided to use a dremmel and cut the front facing (facing the back of the headlight) and the right side (facing the wheel well) parts of the lower air box. I left the corner there for support but other then that both side are completely open. I still have the stock filter in there. I notice a lower grumble when the RPM's increase(keep in mind i generally shift around 2500-2700). When in 5th the engine is still nice and quite, and when it is a little louder the noise isn't that annoying muffler noise you hear in highschool kids cars. It's a lower growl from the engine. To be honest I haven't noticed any change in power or pick-up (expected), that being said I haven't even tried to push it at all. I used a piece of the plastic that I removed from the lower airbox and cut it into a circle. I then used black duct tape and covered the stock airbox hole. Since I am no longer using the snorkel there is no reason to have an opening facing the hot engine, The air box is more then open enough now. I also cleaned my TB. I wanted to completely remove it so that I could get a good look at it and nothing when into the manifold. I had a surprise when coolant started leaking from one of the hoses I removed from the TB. I should've expected it but just forgot. Not a whole lot came out anyway. My TB was pretty clean. However where it was dirty was right around the edges of the butterfly valve in the closed position. It was a thick oily sludge. Nothing big enough to limit air flow but over time it would have definitely stopped the valve from closing fully. I used some TB cleaner and cleaned it off and reinstalled with no problems. My one question I have pertains to bleeding the coolant. I installed the TB back including the coolant tubes. Iran the engine for a while with the rad cap off until there were no more bubble coming out. I added coolant before I did this and a little after. I then repeated one more time and added a small bit of coolant to the over flow. Do I need to do anything else or did this get rid of the air in the system? I will keep an eye on the over flow over the next week and top it up if needed. The rad cap is the highest point on the engine so the air should escape from that point saving me from having to do much else to properly bleed it, if this correct? Next up will be an oil pressure, water temp and vacuum gauge set. This will likely be the most challenging as I've yet to deal with electrical. I'll post a topic with a few Q's I have next week. My goal is to get the longest mileage and best fuel economy out of my Yaris. So far I've been impressed and have had no issues. I figure if I keep everything in check/clean then I should have no problem getting 350,000+km out of it. I do a mix of about 50/50 highway and city. My gf's 02 echo has 330,000km and we got it used with about 280,000km on it. She has a ton of engine sludge and it burning oil (can't tell by looking) which is causing the cat converter to go bad tripping a code. Other then that it runs fine and have had no major issues.