Darren Carthy

Once the wheel has been removed and the car jacked up you can remove the 2 bolts located at the back of the break caliper which attach it to the hub assembly. I suggest loosening both and removing the bottom (shorter bolt) first, then moving the caliper to remove the top (long bolt), which can become obstructed by the spring on your shock absorber. I also suggest using the closed end of a 14 mm spanner, most socket wrenches struggle for clearance. The location of the bolts is illustrated in Figures 1 & 2. Let the caliper rest on a box underneath the car, do not let it dangle as this may damage the break lines. At this point you could do a break pad change in addition to adding the new break rotors. Once the caliper is secured release the hand break and you are ready to remove the old break rotor. If it is an old rotor it will likely be rusted to the hub assembly. Remove the rubber bung from the old rotor and spray penetrating fluid into the hub. Let it sit for a few minutes. Take a piece of timber and place it against the rotor. Strike the rotor with a large hammer, i used a ball and peen. Don't rotate the rotor, just move the timber to where you want to strike next. If the rotor is free but will not come away from the hub you will need to adjust your hand break. drum. To do this, push the rotor back onto the hub and rotate it so that the whole you removed the rubber bung from is at the bottom of the hub. Look inside with a flashlight and you will see a small gear. Using a flat head screwdriver, move the gear towards the car in a downward motion, this will loosen the hand break shoes and allow the rotor to come away from the hub without damaging the hand break assembly. Figure 3 shows the hub and hand break assembly , the hub was coated in copper grease to prevent the disk from becoming seized to the rotor in future and the break assembly cleaned with break cleaner. Spray the new break rotor with break cleaner (they come with a protecting coating you will want to remove) use a mask and appropriate PPE when doing this as the fumes are toxic. Sometimes the new rotor does not fit over the hand break shoes. If this happens do not force the rotor over the shoe. Adjust the small gear at the bottom of the hand break assembly to tighten the shoes. The location of the gear is illustrated in figure 4. You can use a vernier caliper to measure the distance the shoes are apart, the measurement is shown in figure 5, aim to have the same spacing on both sides of the car, or as close together as possible. In this case there was a difference of 2 mm between the LHS and RHS drums. Now place the new rotor on the hub and hand tighten a wheel nut against it, this makes it easier to secure the break caliper as illustrated in figure 6. Add copper grease to the caliper bolts and secure it back onto the hub assembly. You may find that your hand break no longer works after you have the car back on the ground. You will now need to adjust your hand break cable, which is done from inside the car. To do this, remove the center console by unscrewing the two 10 mm bolts inside the arm rest. Unscrew the gear knob and remove the gator, there are 2 Philips screws holding window controller to the center console, remove them, there are two more screws in either side of the console (roll your seat all the way back to reveal them). Plug out the cigarette lighter and the window controller from the loom and lift away the plastic. On the left hand side of the hand break there is a 10 mm bolt, tighten the bolt with the open face of a 10 mm spanner until between 5 and 7 clicks are achieved on the hand break when it is engaged. An image of the removed console can be seen in figure 7. Reassemble your interior and you're ready to test drive. If you have your own way of doing this or there's something I've missed feel free to weigh in Regards, Darren

Hi Dan, Had a similar issue with my 06 avensis, It could be the starter motor but not 100 percent, So to check if its the starter, you sit in the car and try to turn it over, as you're doing that get a mate with a hammer to tap the starter (not too hard but hard enough to give it a bit of a knock) you can do this from the top of the car, no need to get underneath. If the car starts up then you'll need either a new or reconditioned starter. New one is 300 quid, recon is about 80, Hope this helps, Darren

Hi all, I've been thinking about some potential modifications to a T25 avensis and I was thinking about the ins and outs of swapping the inlet manifold from my 1.6 VVti engine for the 1.8 manifold and injectors. (Which I believe are bigger/have different spray pattern?) I was considering doing this in conjunction with a K&N panel air filter in the standard air box to squeeze a few extra HP from the engine Has anyone done similar work in the past and noticed a difference? Kind regards Darren

Hi avensisd4d786, I swapped both my rear doors for doors with electric windows, It's much easier to swap the whole door for a door from a donor car, it's a straight swap for your old door, however i havent investigated the driver controls myself so very interested to know if its a supported feature on an entry level wiring loom I managed to pick two up in a scrap yard for 120 euro, well worth it in my opinion, Kind regards, Darren

HI Konrad, Thanks for the link, on paper the diesel and petrol suspension parts are identical, I was hoping there would be some difference so I cold justify purchasing the springs/shocks from a larger engined model but unfortunately its not the case, I've found a set of 25mm lowering springs from Eibach that offer a progressive spring rate and are suitable for standard shocks, I think i'll give these a shot, Thanks for the reply, Kind regards, Darren

Hi all, I'm looking to up the spring rate of my 2006 1.6 VVTi Avensis, i've been told by a veteran that the 1.8 model came with a harder set of struts, after examining the part numbers however, I cannot find any difference between them, Can anyone advise on a harder toyota manufactured suspension to suit the avensis? I don't want to go after market unless absolutely necessary Kind regards, Darren