I bought a 2003 base vibe - Maintenance items

[aranlar]

I bought a 2003 base 2wd, A/T with 139k miles and with the help of these forums and a bunch of time on my hands, getting ready to move from NM to GA, I have completed the following maintenance items...

Changed oil

Cleaned Maf: Easy 5 minute job

Replaced spark plugs: Easy plug job on Vibe!

Replaced air filter: Also, found air hose from front of engine bay was clogged with an old rag and performance/speed was instantly improved!

Replaced badly cracked Serpentine Belt

Replaced Intake Manifold gasket: Not too hard a job at all with all the info on here and other toyota forums. This got deeper though as I did find the baffle just rattling around inside the Manifold and even a small piece of it wedged in engine Intake port! Found a replacement Manifold locally for $120

Cleaned throttle body: Again, easy enough with all the info online

Cleaned IAC valve: Yeah, those 2 funky headed screws!

Trans fluid and Filter: Did this couple days ago but just found pan seal is seeping. I thought "I must not have the bolts tight enough" Wrong! Now I've stripped one bolt and will have to fix that and have concluded I way over-tightened all the pan bolts so will be redoing the tranny pan Gasket real soon.

Diode fix on O2 sensor: I was getting a CEL with code P0420. Previous owner had aftermarket Cat welded in to the exhaust. I first tried the resistor fix I found on here but it threw a P0136 (Short in 02 sensor) after couple days so I put the diode instead, no codes since.

Replaced PCV valve: Easy 5 minute job

Cleaned VVTI Valve and filter: Did this today. At first the valve seemed stuck and wouldn't pull out after removing the bolt but it was fine after a little gentle forcing. Cleaned both rather than replace. I was able to do both without removing alternator. Had to fiddle with a tweezers for 10 minutes to get that filter out though!

The car is running waaaay smoother and performance is waaaay better than when I picked it up a week ago. Hunting down and fixing rattles/vibrations around the dash and rear cargo area is an ongoing project but at this point I've gotten obsessive about having the whole car run perfectly!

[vibrologist]

It is amazing what a little maintenance can do for an engine!
Will we see some pictures soon?

[aranlar]

Sure! The paint on roof and hood is bad from the New Mexico sun and I don't have the engine bay as clean as I'd like yet but I'll post up a few tomorrow.

[aranlar]

So... Yesterday, due to the seeping fluid at back edge of the tranny pan after my drain/refill & filter change, I decided to redo the tranny pan Gasket. One of the bolts sheared right off as I was trying to take it off. To make things interesting it was the only pan bolt that goes into the tranny block so I couldn't just drill straight thru and fasten with a bolt and nut. I tried a bolt extractor to no effect. At this point was tearing my hair out, it wasn't drivable because excessive amounts of fluid was leaking out due to that one bolt. I gave up, topped off with enough fluid to get me 3 blocks to a local shop to get it on a lift and retread the hole and be done. All his lifts were busy and he couldn't get to me until at least next Tuesday. This is my only vehicle right now! This morning I got up, researched a bit online, went to O'Reilly auto parts and got a 1/4 inch helicoil repair kit, a 17/64 drill bit and a short coarse thread 1/4 inch bolt. Came home, drilled the hole out, inserted the helicoil, threaded in the bolt and it's fixed! I drained the fluid AGAIN as I had no idea how much had leaked, topped it off, have driven around the block a few times, no leaks! At least I have the cleanest tranny fluid in there now. Phew!

[aranlar]

Oh, and by the way, I live in an apartment. I did all this work with the left side of the car driven up onto a high kerb on the street. Fun!

[vibrologist]

Wow, I am impressed. You are some kind of determined! ....don't worry, the hair will grow back!

[Salsa Guy]

If you have a P0420 you need a new cat. The diode may stop the CEL but the problem still exists. Looks like you covered your maintenance well.

Good Luck

[aranlar]

Yep. I've no idea how long the aftermarket cat has been in there but I assume it's what is causing the code. I checked it for loose material though and it sounds solid. I also have plenty of air coming out of exhaust and emissions passed fine, so it's a future replacement when I have the time and cash.

[jayoldschool]

How about some links for you maintenance list for us noobs?

Thanks!

[aranlar]

Sorry dude. I started to post all the links but don't really have a computer to use handily so using my phone for all this and have them all bookmarked on here and trying to paste in all the links is just too much on this dinky screen. All the info is out there with just a little effort in googling. Used this forum mostly but also toyotanation, matrixowners and corollaland. If you need anything specific, I'd be glad to help.

[jayoldschool]

No worries, I'll track stuff down as I work through things.

I hear you about the phone, I hate "foruming" on it.