New Baby

[fearlesspierre]

Guys,

We're about to have our first Yaris!!!

It's a 1999 1 litre 3 door thats done nearly 95k miles. It's being passed to us through our family for free for our son to learn to drive in and then have as his first car.

It would be fair to say it's had a tough life thus far. A recon gearbox and new clutch a couple of years ago and an engine management light thats on permanently!

I'm a competant home mechanic and service my cars, change cam belts and suspension components without issue but this is our first Toyota.

Any advice on our new adition would be gratefully received.

Regards

Pete

[Raistlin]

Hi, Welcome to the club... Enjoy

[FROSTYBALLS]

Hello Pete - welcome to Toyota Owners Club

[Red Yaris 54]

Hello Pete.....Welcome to TOC

You need to get that engine management light out prior to the next MOT :)

[fearlesspierre]

"You need to get that engine management light out prior to the next MOT :)"

Thanks for the replies chaps. Red, thanks for the advice too. I have some software that I have always used for the diagnostics on my Mondeo's (yes yes I know!) could I use it on the Yaris? Actually, does the Yaris have an OBDII port? My son-in-law who has had the car for 10 years says says the light comes on and stays on. I've driven the car with the light on for a number of miles and it doesn't go into "limp home mode" it revs fine.

When it arrives later today I plan to service it and look at the usual suspects for wear and tear to replace etc.

Its a 1999 1 litre, do they suffer from any issues at all?

Cheers

Pete

[fearlesspierre]

Well the baby arrived last night and as I have a rest day today I've taken a look...

She needs 4 new tyres :-( the radiator fan seems to have a mind of its own, right from a cold start it was operating. I unpluged it, and plugged back and it was silent for praps 30 seconds before coming on again. Coolant temp sensor fault?

It needs a service, the oil is black but its well up on the dipstick and no apparent leaks. The suspension bushes and drop links seem ok as do the brake disks. Some minor lipping on the discks but nothing major. Pads and shoes have plenty of meat on them. Exhaust looks new from Cat backwards. All the lights work, as does the handbrake.

Needs an O/S door mirror surround ad the original is held on with electrical tape LOL!

Needs a damned good wash and some TLC and shes a good'n I reckon.

Pete

[fearlesspierre]

OK just completed at full OBDII check on the car myself using both Easy OBDII Software and the open source Scantool.net software and there were 2 fault codes stored in the ECU. The first was PO172 Fuel Trim too rich (Bank 1) the second was PO141 Oxygen sensor heater circuit malfunction (Bank 1). I assume these relate to the same O2 or Lambda sensor in the exhaust which I guess requires replacement with a new one.

I reset the fault codes and at present the fault has stayed away.

I'll still replace the O2 sensor though.

Otherwise we have a clean bill of health. Happy days.

Pete

[Cyker]

Congrats! 'tis a good first car to have!

Revvy but not powerful enough to get into trouble, very easy to drive and super reliable as long as it's looked after :)

Yarisesuses do seem to be a popular car for renovating; Here are two inspiring posts for example... :)

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/106791-cheap-elderly-yaris-renovation-of-a-sort/

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/86940-just-bought-a-yaris-not-quite-one-carefull-lady-owner/

[fearlesspierre]

Congrats! 'tis a good first car to have!

Revvy but not powerful enough to get into trouble, very easy to drive and super reliable as long as it's looked after :)

Yarisesuses do seem to be a popular car for renovating; Here are two inspiring posts for example... :)

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/106791-cheap-elderly-yaris-renovation-of-a-sort/

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/86940-just-bought-a-yaris-not-quite-one-carefull-lady-owner/

Thanks for the replyand those links Cyker, very good reads both of them!