|
2003 Toyota Sequoia Limited - Stargazer's Garage @ istargazer.ca
There are some things that aren't
in any of the literature from Toyota that I've seen. So, rather than creating a comprehensive
collection of frequently asked questions, I made this section just to explain....
Things about my Sequoia
that I learned on the Net
(listed in reverse order of
enlightenment)
General disclaimer:
You know what they say about the Internet, anyone can post anything, so
please conduct your own research and consult with your dealership or a
qualified mechanic before performing any repairs or maintenance on your
vehicle.
I thought it was for the
subwoofer, until I found out there was no subwoofer in the Sequoia.
Then I saw this post at Tundra
Solutions:
"The
rear area heater core, air conditioner coils, and blower fan are
located there. The panel itself is the air intake."
~
Posted on Dec 5, 2003 by DJ, "Mystery
panel on Seq."
Where
are the 10-speakers on the JBL stereo system located? There
are no speakers in the third row, and I wrongly assumed that the
compartment on the right side of the cargo area was a sub woofer
(since the MPV had one). It was difficult to count all the speakers by
simply looking at the speaker enclosures. There
are 10 speakers in 8 locations as posted at Tundra
Solutions:
"2
for front tweeters
2 for front woofers
2 for front mids adjacent to the woofers (they count that as a
separate location)
2 for coax at the back (2 speakers)"
~ Posted on Aug 26, 2002 by froknoy8,
"10
speaker system"
The Canadian brochure
lists this as a standard feature on the 2003 Sequoia Limited but there
is no information about it in the owner's manual and my sales guy had no
idea what it was. When I asked a service tech he told me it was just an
automatic system that I wouldn't notice until I towed
something. It still didn't explain to me how the whole thing actually worked. The
following is from Tundra
Solutions: "The
Sequoia does NOT have an airbag or airshock setup and there is no
compressor. I got boned thinking that's what it was and dealer had no
other info either. Essentially it is a set of cargo coil type springs
with a different shock absorber also. Supposedly their is an internal
valve that will allow the shock to "pump" itself up based on
the load (aka Monroe sensa-trac?). I have not tried it towing yet (and
probably won't for a while). I had originally wanted it with plans of
adding HID lights and wanted the truck to stay level if loaded so I
wouldn't blind anybody. I did confirm at 3 different dealers that the
shocks and springs for my vehicle (based on VIN) are different from 98%
of the others. If your thinking your gonna get some kind of air bag type
setup, WRONG, thanks for playing our game(and spending $300). I was
quite disappointed when I found out and told the dealership with a few
colorful detailed words WTF(they took a couple more bucks off and tossed
in a couple goodies) just because they also were "misled". The
positive side is that I feel I got a little better load capacity with
the cargo coil type setup, I'm not concerned with any compressor
breaking down or broken air lines. My friends Expedition has been back
to dealer four times just for these problems." (sic)
~
Posted on Oct 1, 2003 by sequoiasoon, "Rear
LSS = Better Ride?"
More from sequoiasoon
at Edmunds: "I
ordered the QA last year from a dealer in NC after all the NY
dealerships said it was not available (and brought it by to show them
after). I had to wait the 10 weeks also. The system is actually a
different pair of shocks and possibly springs. I went through the
factory service manual and describes exactly how they work. The shock
has extra fluid reservoirs internal with a high pressure / low pressure
setup. It works when you are driving by the action / position of the
internal piston. It does work and I have tried it. You will not notice
it when you put the trailer on (the rear end will drop) but within a
short distance it brings it back up to std ride height. the increased
load forces the piston past an internal valve allowing the extra high
pressure fluid to move the low pressure side where it is needed to
increase the ride height. Once the load is removed, it extends past the
valve in the opposite direction releasing the pressure and letting the
ride height drop to normal. Actually a very smart, reliable system with
out all the compressors and sensors to possibly fail. Many friends have
Expeditions and Navigators and all have had issues with the factory load
leveling. With the Toyota setup I'm not worried. Technically it
"should" be able to be added after just by upgrading to these
shocks. I called the dealer with my VIN and my Aunts VIN (she does not
have QA) and the part #'s were different for the rear shocks but I
forget the price. I was disappointed originally when I found out that it
was not a compressor setup but after reading about and trying it and
knowing everybody elses problems, I'm glad for long term that I have
this setup instead. Long post hope it helps you (and ease your mind)"
~
Posted Dec 10, 2003 by sequoiasoon, "Stevek80
and Katzat - QA package"
*** UPDATE ***
The complete details from the Sequoia Service Manual, courtesy of
Stephan: Rear
Load Leveling Suspension (pdf)
I noticed the sound as
soon as the weather turned cold. It occurs whenever you press the
throttle and only lasts for the first minute or two after a cold-engine
start.
This is issue is ongoing
and has been around a long time. My latest logbook entry on this is
here: Stardate 2003.12.06. Searches
in various Sequoia forums for "ticking" or "lifter"
or "piston slap" will give many results.
Here's a posting from Edmunds:
"I've done a lot
of research on this topic over the last month (via internet as well as
talking with several Toyota mechanics) as my '01 Sequoia has the same
noise issue.
What I've learned is
that the noise comes from several sources including both the lifters and
pistons. During startup, particularly on cold days, the main noise is
"piston slap". Supposedly this is due to the fact that Toyota
used different metal alloys to produce the Head and Block and Pistons
and because of this they had to build in different tolerances to account
for the different expansion coefficients of the various types of alloys.
In the case of the Sequoia/Tundra, the pistons are made out of a
hardened aluminum alloy that expands/contracts more than the cast iron
block, thus when the engine is cold the pistons have more play and
"slap" until they warm up and expand.
As others have
reported, this apparently is not a serious problem from a mechanical
aspect as engines with this "issue" continue to run today with
>200K miles on them and don't consume oil... However, it sure is
tough trying to convince your neighbors that you didn't drop a diesel
engine in it when you first start it up on cold mornings and you can
hear it clattering up and down the block. If I would have test
drove/bought my Sequoia in the winter (vs. summer) and the engine
clatters the way it does today, I doubt I would have bought it."
~ Posted on Dec 2, 2003
by tharms, "re:
Lifter Noise"
|