[rushnerd]

My first purchase ever that was not from a private party (dealer) and it was the only one I've seen this year that was under 200K miles private party or not. After their fees and reimbursing me for the independent mechanic's inspection (which turned up fine honestly) it came out to $7,800

MAIN REASON I AM POSTING IS I WANT TO KNOW HOW TO DEFEAT THE DUMMY LIGHT ON THE DASH WHEN I CHOOSE TO INSTALL LEDS. Haven't been able to find much info on that so far, and I absolutely want to convert them.

I made it work with my Supra, but my 94' Camry had zero people who know how to fix the dash light. So I don't want to put in fancy new LED head/tail lights if it's going to be a dash light issue I cannot fix.

I know the GTS has a lot more issues than the GT, but I'm hoping I can make this work. I've heard replacing the engine oil pan is a must, but I don't know the details of it.
Other than that (and the piston rings, what are you gonna do?) I don't know of many issues with the car. I just want to do everything I can to make her as reliable as possible.

Sadly She does get condensation on the inside. She has a sunroof, so I suppose that could be the culprit, but I don't know how common that issue is.
Been wanting one of these since I bought my 88' Supra last year and I'm amazed I finally have it. Now it's time to make sure she is right in everyway and be fantastic for years to come

 

[actionseeker]

MAIN REASON I AM POSTING IS I WANT TO KNOW HOW TO DEFEAT THE DUMMY LIGHT ON THE DASH WHEN I CHOOSE TO INSTALL LEDS. Haven't been able to find much info on that so far, and I absolutely want to convert them.

I made it work with my Supra, but my 94' Camry had zero people who know how to fix the dash light. So I don't want to put in fancy new LED head/tail lights if it's going to be a dash light issue I cannot fix.

@2way might be able to correct me here, but I don't think this is even a thing on the 7th gen Celica. I've seen copius amounts of LED conversion and not one mention of a "dummy light".

I know the GTS has a lot more issues than the GT, but I'm hoping I can make this work. I've heard replacing the engine oil pan is a must, but I don't know the details of it.
Other than that (and the piston rings, what are you gonna do?) I don't know of many issues with the car. I just want to do everything I can to make her as reliable as possible.

Sadly She does get condensation on the inside. She has a sunroof, so I suppose that could be the culprit, but I don't know how common that issue is.
Been wanting one of these since I bought my 88' Supra last year and I'm amazed I finally have it. Now it's time to make sure she is right in everyway and be fantastic for years to come

Everything I've seen has shown the 2ZZ to be the more reliable engine, although it's more specialized and takes some know-how to maintain. You don't need to replace the pan at all, and the rings are only a problem on the very early 1ZZ engines. Otherwise, the most common issues seem to be generic ones that can hit any engine, and occasionally Lift not working.

 

[2way]

The only issue with LED conversion that I recall is you have to swap out the flasher to an LED compliant one or install resistors(kinda defeats the purpose of installing LEDs) to have a normal flash time on turns/hazards. There is no "bulb out" type warning like your old Camry in this gen Celica.

 

[rushnerd]

The only issue with LED conversion that I recall is you have to swap out the flasher to an LED compliant one or install resistors(kinda defeats the purpose of installing LEDs) to have a normal flash time on turns/hazards. There is no "bulb out" type warning like your old Camry in this gen Celica.

Thanks good to know thanks. I almost forgot about the flasher, I'll be sure to get one. The led headlights/taillights I found seem to be simple enough so I hope this will just work fine.

Everything I've seen has shown the 2ZZ to be the more reliable engine, although it's more specialized and takes some know-how to maintain. You don't need to replace the pan at all, and the rings are only a problem on the very early 1ZZ engines. Otherwise, the most common issues seem to be generic ones that can hit any engine, and occasionally Lift not working.

That's good to know. Maybe the oil pan issue was a bit more blown out of proportion than I thought.
I'm already planning on painting the valve cover and changing the cover gasket, so I'll inspect and change out the two lift bolts as well.

 

[yazuko]

My '01 GTS is also at 140k as well Congrats on the purchase! Also agreeing with @actionseeker on the oil pan. Been daily'ing my Celi for close to 2 years now and have had no problems with the oil. Just did the usual 3k oil and filter change and she runs amazing. Oil starvation was mainly a problem on the GT models. However, since our model is the pre '03 version, the lift bolts are notorious for breaking, so switch those out with the '03+ lift bolts like you were planning. Here's the part number in case you need it : TOY 90105-06293

 

[rushnerd]

My '01 GTS is also at 140k as well Congrats on the purchase! Also agreeing with @actionseeker on the oil pan. Been daily'ing my Celi for close to 2 years now and have had no problems with the oil. Just did the usual 3k oil and filter change and she runs amazing. Oil starvation was mainly a problem on the GT models. However, since our model is the pre '03 version, the lift bolts are notorious for breaking, so switch those out with the '03+ lift bolts like you were planning. Here's the part number in case you need it : TOY 90105-06293

Hey, we got the same car pretty much! Yeah I'm not really worried about the oil pan anymore.
I find the shipping price pretty hilarious lol.

I cleaned out the moonroof track/surrounding area today, really wasn't too bad. Trying to figure out what is letting the moisture into the car. All the seals seem to be in really good shape.
Could leaving the vents on fresh air instead of recirculating have anything to do with it?

 

[yazuko]

Hey, we got the same car pretty much! Yeah I'm not really worried about the oil pan anymore.
I find the shipping price pretty hilarious lol.
View attachment 56180

I cleaned out the moonroof track/surrounding area today, really wasn't too bad. Trying to figure out what is letting the moisture into the car. All the seals seem to be in really good shape.
Could leaving the vents on fresh air instead of recirculating have anything to do with it?

Tell me about it I paid around there for my lift bolts too. From what I've heard my buddy got it straight from a local dealership and didn't have to pay for shipping so that might be worth a shot. I haven't had any problems with moisture but my seals are pretty shot so it's probably not your seals.

 

[actionseeker]

If that's through MWR, I recommend buying a bit more at a time to justify the shipping. I bought all of my engine rebuild parts through them and shipping is around the same price each time so eventually you max out what the shipping gets you.

 

[Bitter]

EP35 is the flasher number for LED's in the Celica.
Change the trans fluid, I like Redline D4.
Passenger side engine mount is probably shot, use a dealer part.
Fresh spark plugs, I like Denso 4702's.
Check for cracks down the sides of the ignition coils, replace if they are. Get Denso's from RockAuto.
Clean the airflow sensor element wires.
Even if it's not throwing codes the upstream sensor is probably starting to get lazy or drift, it's fairly simple to replace and not horrible expensive for a Denso one from RockAuto.
Change the coolant and thermostat, these cars have good heat and get hot fast with a fresh dealer thermostat.

None of this has to be done all at once, can do it bit by bit.
Depending what kind of use the car will see, good tires make a big difference. All around performance all season tires would be the Continental DWS06+. No all season will perform like dedicated winter or summer tires though, not sure how Oregon is for snow and slush but the DWS get me through winters in Chicago on my other car just fine with some sensible driving.

 

[rushnerd]

EP35 is the flasher number for LED's in the Celica.
Change the trans fluid, I like Redline D4.
Passenger side engine mount is probably shot, use a dealer part.
Fresh spark plugs, I like Denso 4702's.
Check for cracks down the sides of the ignition coils, replace if they are. Get Denso's from RockAuto.
Clean the airflow sensor element wires.
Even if it's not throwing codes the upstream sensor is probably starting to get lazy or drift, it's fairly simple to replace and not horrible expensive for a Denso one from RockAuto.
Change the coolant and thermostat, these cars have good heat and get hot fast with a fresh dealer thermostat.

None of this has to be done all at once, can do it bit by bit.
Depending what kind of use the car will see, good tires make a big difference. All around performance all season tires would be the Continental DWS06+. No all season will perform like dedicated winter or summer tires though, not sure how Oregon is for snow and slush but the DWS get me through winters in Chicago on my other car just fine with some sensible driving.

Thanks a ton (again) Bitter. I know Denso is the way to go with these older Toyota cars.
No trans dipstick here, but I wouldn't mind changing out the trans fluid myself. From what I know it takes a few flushes to even really replace most of the fluid.
already have these plugs on the way, I don't think they are the model you mentioned, but it's the best I could find

Toyota Celica GTS 00-05 OEM Iridium SPARK PLUG SET Qty(4) SK20R11 / 90080-91180 | eBay

2000-2005 Toyota Celica (GTS model only).

www.ebay.com

I know the airflow sensors can get caked with carbon. I'll consider that next year, I know it's not a hard job to swap out.
Not exactly sure what you mean by clean the airflow sensor wires, but I will inspect them.
I'm sure the thermostat will need replacing of course, also not sure if that's a job I can do myself with such a tight engine bay.

 

[Bitter]

There 107% is a trans dipstick there. It's over by the ECU box in front of the battery and it's reddish brown plastic with a little lock tab on the tube. If you don't have a dipstick either you actually have a stick shift or someone took/broke it off. You might want to buy an owners manual off eBay.
You'll get about 4-5qts on a drain from the pan plug. Measure what comes out then add that much back in. Valvoline MaxLife ATF is also a good fluid but a little thinner. T-IV isn't bad but I don't believe it's synthetic base, if you're driving twisty roads for a long time you'll get the trans pretty hot. The M indicator will flash to warn you about 'problem' and eventually if you keep pushing it the trans temp light will come on and I believe put the trans into limp with M disabled.

If you have the time you can get a few more quarts by starting the engine and idling it in each gear position for about 30 seconds, it'll pump more out from the valve body and torque converter. Letting it sit for a couple days will let just about all the fluid drain back and drip out.

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[Bitter]

Bad news, those are probably counterfeit parts on eBay....or Amazon too. 100% stick with local retail or RockAuto. Also the 4702 are a better plug for same or less money.

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[actionseeker]

With ebay you gotta verify that every picture shows what it needs to (oem part numbers, packaging, that it's unique to that listing and not just downloaded from elsewhere on the web, etc). Amazon definitely does not carry any OEM parts in my experience, so best to avoid them. Otherwise yeah, dealerships, local sellers, this forum, junkyards, and RockAuto are where you're going to find quality parts.

 

[2way]

Amazon definitely does not carry any OEM parts in my experience

Um, yeah they do. There are some dealers that sell OEM parts on Amazon.

 

[actionseeker]

Maybe I'm just looking for the wrong parts, since most times they're either out of stock or refusing to show any pictures of the product.

 

[rushnerd]

I bought OEM Denso spark plugs off Amazon for my Camry before. Exactly the same as the original ones unless there is an elaborate conspiracy.
Let's assume those Ebay Denso Iridium plugs are real, is there anything wrong with them?

 

[Bitter]

If they're real,no. That's a big if. Check out some YouTube videos about counterfeit Denso spark plugs so you can spot the differences.

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[Bitter]

Check those out, fake spark plugs and oxygen sensors are really really common on Amazon and eBay.

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[rushnerd]

Thanks. I'll take a look when I get them. Going from all these cues, they do look like the real deal from the ebay pic though.

 

[Bitter]

My preference for the Iridium TT spark plugs is due to longevity and performance. They maintain their gap and arc characteristics over a very long service life (90,000 miles or more) meaning I don't have to mess with them very often and they'll perform at their peak during that time. I had IX plugs before and they were worn to the point of degredation by 30,000 miles, the ground strap eroded. Iridium TT are a mass market version of their SIP (super ignition plug) that's been used in Japan for a long time and is OE on a lot of Japanese cars now. It has less spark shrouding and high fouling resistance.

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