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Most beloved member - any decent engine oil will do the trick - Shell/etc - you don't need to buy Toyota cos they actually don't manufacture oil. Oil needs to be checked for the level ideally every 2 weeks. A wrecked engine is expensive to replace. You'll probably never need to put oil in very often. It - the oil - is cheaper if you buy 5 litres. I never trust dealers, and nor should you. A Toyota mechanic has to look after a massive range of cars and he/she won't have much experience on the 4.1 model. The RAV4.1 lasts longer than the average Toyota mechanic. The silicon can be applied by any local small mechanic who can crawl under th car. Avoid large mechanics who might get stuck, and don't take their opinion - cos they wont know. If Mr T is going to look at the car for nought then fine. However you can buy a secondhand gearbox for around £250 so its not worth getting the gearbox stripped down cos that will cost big bucks. My number 2 RAV is waiting to get its 4th gearbox installed following the failure of the previous 3 for what seems mostly odd failures. The used box cost me £240 but its becoming as cheap for me to just buy a RAV4 early model to act as a spares donor. Don't even thinkl about paying to take the gearbox out to get it checked - just get another if it worries you. If the gearbox is working and these things are bullet proof then stick with it and get a mechanic to check the oil level every 3 months, then if all is well, a check every 6 months., Now its time to have a wee relaxant an stop worrying. !! I run 200 miles frequently in my number 2 RAV without any probs.

I have the DeepTitanium and don't regret choosing that colour one bit - what Kingo says is very true

yaaarg I could get a fully bespoke stainless steel exhaust made and fitted for less than that.

Hi Ian - I was getting to the stage where I was going to PM you and ask you to look at this thread! I seem to remember you talking about the diff and Backplates problem some time ago, but despite the search facility, I couldn't find it. Trust life is treating you a little more gently now? To be honest, things are mind-blowingly hectic. We have a fleet of 10 trucks, 4 forklifts, another truck which is being soldered back together again after it melted the ecu and other bits after an attempt to jumpstart it... and I've spent all week shifting some racking that we got at a great price back to our warehouse. However after 4 hours spent at hospital yesterday and another 4 hours today, I seem to have inflamed eyes which accounts for the fuzzy vision following running over copious mini roundabouts with fully laden trucks ! So a bit of rest - how in Gds sake do they expect you to insert eye drops 6 times a day ?? It will give me time to chase up the garage to get number 1 finished so I can drive it while I can still almost see! But thanks for asking - thats kind! Still enjoying driving RAV number 2 - will never part with either which means the grave is going to cover a good few lairs lol !

I just got a email maessage from Mansellz - sorry but I haven't been on the forum very much - been hectic at our charitys business - Yooz as we have 2 managers down ---well one left the other has girlfriend problems! No advice for the latter fraid. Anyway having just had a quick look at the last 2 pages... heres my experience The brake back plates are simply a bit of thin metal that is meant to stop stones etc from getting to the front brake disc. My number 1 RAV (the faster one) had funny scraping noises a few years ago and when I found what it was, I just removed the rusty old backplates. They provide no help to the brake operation in my view - even after I replaced the front brakes with expensive racing brakes. My number 2 RAV still sports the front brake back plates on both sides but then its only done 105,000 miles. Don't bother with the backplates - end of! The early RAVs only had drum brakes which I have retained on both my RAVs despite using one for racing. And the rear drum brakes don't have back plates. If you have rear discs, same advice as above re the fronts. The diff mount - well you have 2 options - one is to replace the diff mount (depends how badly split it is, but they are pretty rubbish even when new. I got my rear diff bushes filled with silicon - the type that dries hard but still flexible and it copes with the racing RAV power no bother. A soft rear diff mount will give you all sorts of clunks on both acc elaration and slowing down / changing gear. Try the silicon first before wou support Kingos low fat sandwich diet. The silicon cartridge you'll get for less than a tenner. On the 3SFE engine, I found it did use a little oil and as it got older, it used more oil. As long as you check and top up the oil with a reasonable grade oil rather than cheapo stuff, you'll be fine. The engine block has been known to develop crankshaft seal oil leaks but again if not too bad then don't muck about. On the gearbox, again it depends on where the oil leak is from. get the rear diff mount done first and then see how the car behaves. If you carry weight in the back, then think about getting spring assisters for the rear coil springs - ala caravan type. Also check that the rear springs aren't broken. An MOT should flag that up but not always. They break down near the seat. By the way, I stopped going near Toyota Dealers for servicing or anything else aside of parts many years ago. Take your car to a small JAP car specialist or as said an independent who doesn't get to doi repairs. Do get someone to check the gearbox oil - I'm too fat to do anything like that now but I leave that to my friends at the Garage.

Not all the parts are made in the UK and they don't ship the parts across from Japan one by one every few seconds, they build up a few weeks worth to fill the shipment then send them all at once. Your wife's was probably already built when she ordered it.

I used this http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html to calculate the OD. These thicker tyres are only available in up to H speed rating, the OEM tyres are V, not sure how that would affect insurance in the event of a claim. Hey ho. another idea down the drain ;0)

I agree, the mathematics is almost spot on to give that 10% correction. The sports purists will argue that the handling will suffer, however, I would doubt that I would notice since I have seldom found the limits of handling for any car since the road surfaces can be so variable; I always have to allow for diesel spillages, poor road repair, councils using cheap roadstone which has a low coefficient of friction.

Morning Zincubus, A 200 mile run to Scarborough and back will do the engine nothing but good. Don't attempt my "Italian de-coke" ( harsh acceleration ) until you quantify the problem with the diff mountings. Nothing is going to fall off the car - the brake shields have no load on them other than the aerodynamic load of the car moving ( which isn't much ) and the diff won't come off it's mountings unless you are exceptionally rough with it - it will just get a bit slacker over a long period of time. Let the clutch in slowly and smoothly but get the engine nice and warm and running at higher revs ( at times ) than you would normally use. Not suggesting that you break the speed limit, just use a lower gear! Take the engine oil with you but I bet you won't need it. Do you get an oily patch on the area where you park the RAV overnight? I'm guessing not and that the oil leak is more of minor weep. Did the dealer check the gearbox oil level? You will have more peace of mind if you get it checked and, if necessary, topped up before you set off. Oil leaks are a bit like a cut to your head or other boney place - a very small amount escaping can cover a very large area over time. If the dealer could not see the leak it is either very small or, as Kingo says, a seal that is passing some oil. Your discription of the symptoms ( clutch judder on start up which disappears quickly? ) suggest to me that there is unlikely to be much amiss. If I was in your position, I wouldn't worry - just go! According to a good friend of mine who lives in Scarborough, the temperature there this morning is pushing 25oC, so what are you waiting for? Have a great trip and enjoy every minute. You don't say where you are travelling from, but I'm about 100 miles from Scarborough as well.

Congratulations on the purchase! I remember having to wait about a fortnight for mine, it was the longest two weeks of my life, especially because my wife's car was available within 4 days. I have never quite understood how the lead times can be so long when there is a car rolling of the production line seemingly every few seconds!

Your RAV has cleaned up extremely well! You have a great combination of cars there. Cheers, David

To make the speedo acurate, fit 10% OD tyres So I can go from 215/50R17 to 215/65R17 nice soft ride mmmm...

I might be tempted to argue that you booked it in within the warranty period - presumably you phoned up a few days before?

Yes! But it cannot read under the actual speed. Most speedo's are within 5-8% range The margin of error is built in to take account of tyre wear and the like. f you stick to the indicated speed on your speedo, you will never get a speeding ticket, not unless you have changed tyre/wheel size and have not followed the correct guide and your speedo is out by changing the rolling diameter Kingo

That is crazy. 30mph actual x 110% = 33mph + 6.25 = 39.25mph So when you are doing 30mph actual, your speedo can legally read almost 40mph?

i see the ones you have lol

+1

The best Yaris is clearly the Mk1 T-Spirit D4D 5-door :D

I was watching/considering several of these, but was always worried about image quality, is it as good as they say and you can read street names and even faces? I have been using this unit now for well over over a week now. Image quality on mine is quite good, switches on when I start the car and full HD including sound recording inside the car, mine is set to a 10 min loop so it records over again after 10 min, Re Image quality I can read number plates etc, and it has a G force option setting that in the event of accident it saves the recording to mico flash disk in a protected area so it cannot be lost, or recorded over my mistake. (I have not tested this part) The cost was less than £30 on E bay I also needed to buy a 32gig class 6 micro SD to go with the unit. I hope I never need to use the data that is being recorded ! I will attempt to use this unit as a negotiating point when my insurance is due for renewal, that of course remains to be seen how the insurance companies respond.

As the title says, the cable for the lean burn sensor was damaged when I switched on my air con. The first I new something was wrong was a few seconds later when the EML illuminated. When I looked under the bonnet, I saw that the cable had somehow shifted towards the right hand fan. The cable outer sheath was shredded, and the black heat cable was cut. The other three cables were fine, though the white signal cable had slight insulation damage, not broken. Luckily I had my old sensor as a guide to how the disassemble. Simply pull the white plastic centre of the plug, then using a small fat blade screw driver to release and push the pins. I basically crimped the broken wire back together with insulated crimps, then using heat resistant insulation tape to further protect the join. I insulated the signal cable, then using earthing sheath wrapped in heat resistant tape to protect the whole cable, from the damaged sheath to the plug. The wires were re-inserted into the plug. After re-assembling the plug, the sensor was put back on the exhaust. The slightly stiffer cable will stay put and (hopefully) not get caught again. The thing that puzzles me is that the sensor was installed over 5 years ago, so it is a mystery to how the cable ended up in the fan. May be a mouse or cat got into the engine bay, or a bump or engine movement was the cause. In the area I live Nuxley Road, Belvedere, there is a big bump where the council raised the road at the junction, and I did ground the front bottom of the car at slow speed the night before. Everything is fine now, but it could have been expensive if I took it to a garage!!!

Blame the UNECE, they set the international standards for speedo type approval, not the manufacturers The amended Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 permits the use of speedometers that meet either the requirements of EC Council Directive 75/443 (as amended by Directive 97/39) or UNECE Regulation 39. The Motor Vehicles (Approval) Regulations 2001 permits single vehicles to be approved. As with the UNECE regulation and the EC Directives, the speedometer must never show an indicated speed less than the actual speed. However it differs slightly from them in specifying that for all actual speeds between 25 mph and 70 mph (or the vehicles' maximum speed if it is lower than this), the indicated speed must not exceed 110% of the actual speed, plus 6.25 mph. For example, if the vehicle is actually travelling at 50 mph, the speedometer must not show more than 61.25 mph or less than 50 mph. (taken from Wiki) Kingo

If you're getting custom system, why install a tip, it will just make it look cheapo IMO.

I shall have to check but I am pretty sure Touch & go includes full postcode input. I know it may sound obvious but you are using the space button to put a space in e.g PL# #DJ. I shall check as soon as our GT is onsite