Crazy Cat Lady

About a decade ago when i owned my Corolla i noticed many little door-ding dents that were mysteriously appearing on just one side and area of the car. One day i discovered how they were happening; the woman next door would reverse her car to park next to mine, her daughter [again about 8 or 9 years old] who sat in the back of the car would very suddenly open the door with her foot which quickly thrust wide open in an instant - if anything was in the path of this door [ such as my car ] it would get hit Luckily they moved away shortly after i realised what was happening.

Blimey, makes my damage issues look piffling! You have my sympathy. Is this carnage you suffered still ongoing or just a bad era of the past?

Is it just me, or do any of you good folk every see damage, scratches, scrapes, dings, dents, on your vehicle that you can't account for? Okay, i know about the little ding near my fuel flap, probably got doored in the supermarket carpark sometime last year. ^ Having said that, i am very careful about where and how i park at the supermarket, usually give my car space and don't mind the extra walk from the empty far end of carpark. Anyway, a week ago i washed the car, and noticed a scrape on the front bumper, how it got there i don't know, wasn't there a month before when the car was last washed. It looks like it's on the bumper edge that could plausibly been caused by me nudging up to something hard enough to remove the paint, but nothing doing on my memory recall, the arrival of this blemish is a complete mystery to me. The front bumper and spoiler assembly was completely resprayed a couple of years ago, and was perfectly unmarked only a month ago, and now it has an obvious scrape Since cleaning the car a week ago it's been parked up on my driveway all week, and yet today i notice a scratch on the rear quarter panel... This scratch ^ is a meter long ~ continues a wavy line right over the wheel arch. I can just about feel it on my nail, not sure it will polish-out. But how did it get there? I'm thinking it may of been accidental on account of my neighbours, i like to think it wasn't done on purpose, and i do have a forgiving nature. Then again the neighbours and i are not on good talking terms [ long story that i won't go into here ] and/or they do have a 8 year old boy who been playing around out there a lot lately in the stay-at-home lockdown. Both of these recent damage are on the right hand side of the car, the side that is closer to the neighbours parking space. Do any of you have any mysterious damage that magically appears on your Celica?

Wouldn't do any harm to invest in a good hose or maybe pressure washer to rinse the car down and underside once a week at least. Or use a local pressure washer and concentrate the spray on the underside of vehicle. ( Caveat - as long as the wash pressure isn't too vicious ) Get all the inside box sections treated with Dinitrol Keep the paintwork waxed.

Blimey, could buy a dozen cat flaps for 350 quid

What is a sports lid and cap?

For some time i've noticed that on my 'winter wheels' the tyre pressures at monthly check & top up times all the tyres lose one or two PSI except the front left which tend to lose around 5 or 6 PSI. It's not good cos one can feel the car pulling to one side due to the left front tyre under-inflation. It's been on my things that need doing list far too long, should have sorted it ages ago... So today i decided to wash the car, thoroughly clean the wheels to spotless immaculate standards of ridiculous eccentricity, and then zoom off to my favourite local tyre centre and hand the car over to the experts to fix the problem. They checked all four tyres - all excellent condition plenty of tread no problems. The leaky tyre was quickly diagnosed with a faulty seal at base of valve - replaced with brand new valve. Job done... To early to know if the problem leak has been fixed yet but i have a good feeling it will be alright now On the way back from the tyre centre it rained buckets, loads of mucky truck spray flying through the air, and the roads winter filthy too. Getting out of my car at home i noticed my immaculately clean Celica was now even dirtier than how it was before i washed it earlier How it was earlier:

Something to waffle about A Mammoth Microfibre Glass Cleaning Waffle Weave Towel arrived today - from Amazon for £4.99 I'm going to use it on the inside of my windows. Apparently it only needs to be dampened with some water before use. Wish me luck

That is a very interesting link ^ I like the way they term the four stages of condition, some Gen 7s have already gone the way of stage 3 & 4 but i expect most of us Gen 7 users have cars at stage 2: I like the fact they are trying to address the concerns of people like us have in wanting to preserve our cars without it costing a fortune. Would be good to hear reviews from people who have used this firm.

Plenty of potholes around here, and often can't be avoided due to on-coming traffic ( i suppose coilovers & lowering springs don't help matters too ) Meanwhile, job done this morning, took an hour and a half. With the car up on the ramp at a convenient height we took the opportunity to replace a few popper-studs that hold the inner wheel arch trim, seems trivial but when they go missing the flimsy plastics flap with a loud BANG! every time the car bumps over a pothole... which is more often than i'd like Anyway, alls well that ends well, Celica purring along nice a quiet again now

Blueprint (?) i've read both good and bad reports about Blueprint on this forum, but let's be hopeful. And besides. going by my annual milage it will take me the next 24 years to clock up 60k

Within 30 seconds of my car going up on the garage ramp, my mechanic diagnosed; front - left wheel bearing I had a go myself, all wheels spin smoothy except the front-left which spins with rumbly feel He said there is no play in the wheel at present, and the problem isn't at a bad stage yet, but it needs doing. A replacement [ Blueprint ] is ordered for replacement to go ahead on Thursday. He also said he gets 'em in his garage a heck of a lot worse and without people even knowing something is wrong! Blimey, remarkable how some drivers can ignore a noise that like! In all my hundred and forty years of motoring i've never had a wheel bearing fail before, so this is a new experience for me. and i've stopped panicking now, not a serious problem, and nought wrong with the CV Phew! Makes me wonder why it failed at 63k miles tho', i know tyres are usually the culprit for noisy noises and they say Celica wheel bearings are super-duper reliable. It enforces my theory about the past years rainy weather, floods, surface water on roads, puddles... added to the fact my Celica is parked up 5 days a week, and often goes a whole week between drives, maybe wheel bearings need to be used more frequently or they start to rust up if left stationary for too many days (?)

Thanks for replies, guys. I'm wondering if one of the wheels bearings has some water ingress. So much rain this year, and the roads around here get horrible puddled up in places. The gearbox changes fine, the oil replaced with Redline MT-90 in 2015. The tyres are Michelin Cross-climate and all in fabulous condition. We will get it up on the garage ramp tomorrow for a proper inspection. Debs

Problem seems to have developed over past few days, it's not very loud, have to turn the radio off to hear it. Car passed the MOT a couple of weeks ago with very good health ...so problem maybe not an MOT issue (?) A transmission type whining / humming that gets higher in pitch as car speed increases. Gets more noticeable at higher speed, and unaffected by gear changes which work fine. And rather like a washing machine pulsating sound when it spins a bit out of balance, and more intense at higher speed. Brakes are fine. Steering fine. Suspension fine No notable vibrations though steering wheel. <> Will have to wait until Monday when friends garage is open before we can get underneath for inspection Whatever it is, i hope it's not going to be a big expense job

Arrived with this mornings post. Haven't fitted them yet, put on the window sill to be admired for a while first

The advise on this thread is very good, most winter checks/service nicely covered already. But just to reiterate a good one from earlier, a good time to check brake pad wear, pull out the calliper slider pins and clean and re-lube with fresh silicone brake grease. The annual oil/filter change service & MOT is due on my G7 in early November, so half way though October we do a pre MOT check combined with winter preparation. The oily rag gives the suspension parts [and other parts] a wipe over and this followed by a waxy preservative spray, okay not guaranteed to last out the entire winter but far better than doing nuffin'. Another often forgotten about but very easy and inexpensive check/replace is the cabin interior air filter, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Borg-Beck-Cabin-Pollen-Interior-Air-Filter-BFC1023/192213009589 a nice clean cabin filter will help keep the windscreen from fogging up

If the problem yours has is anything like my A/C problem, then it could be an old bashed up and leaking condenser that seen better days. They sit right in-front of the cooling system radiator where they can get knocked about by stones and debris from under the spoiler. I'm not positively sure this is the [only] problem on mine, but last year i had mine re-gassed [ and all done properly ] but only to find the A/C lasted a nice couple of months but then didn't. The compressor seems to work fine but the coolant is leaking out somewhere. I'm willing to gamble it's the condenser on mine and will soon be changing it for a new one.

For the past couple of years i've had an Avensis Ferodo front disc eBay listing below in my watch list. Please don't take my word that it's the correct fit for our Avensis upgrade to Celica hub, it needs confirmation from the mechanical experts here! It's also the eBay dealer 'Autosessive' [ based in Chester ] that is mentioned in above post by maizey ^ https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ferodo-DDF1315-Front-Right-Left-Brake-Discs-Pair-Vented-295mm-x-26mm-5-Hole/401440863377 I believe the criteria in question is the stud hole patten. Please can someone confirm...?

The only coating we could tell is the oily film that gets wiped off with the brake cleaner I dunno if the gold and black colour coatings are any different [ i suspect not ] It's probably the case all discs rust cos they be made of steel, so we may as well paint some protection on, only aesthetically pleasing but nice to keep things smart and tidy. Which make of discs did you buy ? Next time i need discs i'll probably buy Ferodo, i rather like their pads. They will probably rust just the same but the price is good value for money.

I had M-Tecs fitted four years ago, no squeals but the special rust prevention silver colour coating is a debatable joke; 48 hours from fitting they started rusting with the first drop of rain. Painting the hub parts before fitting is a very good idea, painting them after-fitting is a lot more faff. IMO Rose gold is the best colour - well chosen! Photo from July 2015

It's a shame we need to cart around a spare wheel - that really does weigh heavy. A lightweight get-me-home spare wheel maybe all we need (?) The last time i punctured and had to put the spare on was 1988

IMO it looks an improvement over the old swishy whip aerial, but when i [ briefly ] tried it the reception became a lot worse I suppose it could depend upon where you live, and if your tuner and aerial are digital (?) Is that the gas mens van across the road - by any chance?

Went to see my mechanic mate who kindly let me use his ramp for a little while. Under the car i found the cause of a sharp clattery bang type noise every time i drove over a bump; Relieved to find nothing serious - just a couple of popper studs missing from front-nearside wheel arch inner trim - so replaced. Also noticed the rear fixings of the silencer exhaust shield had worn though so that was clanging too, so secured it firmly on with zip ties from the [worn too enlarged] heat shield holes to wrap a hold around rear sub-frame, bit of a bodge but a nicely done bodge and all noises gone now A shampoo and polish later back at home, and some tyre dressing. It got a bit too dark by then to take a photo but believe me it looks cute

Somehow have full confidence your paint job will be fine, Master Flex!

Hopefully your yellow paint will be flex-resistant. Others have reported and i can confirm, the rear subframes flex and which in time cracks the paint finish. It's probably what causes the rust to get a start in the first place [ and start again if reconditioned ] I'm not sure which paint to recommend. My rear subframe was thoroughly bead blasted, primed and powder coated, but paint cracks have appeared [at the tension bar mount area] It's not so bad it can't be treated in situ, but will need addressing some time soon to keep it rust free.