Exhaust - Muffler replacement.

When I purchased my XB I found that the check engine light was on.  As a standard practice I take my snap on Ethos scan tool with me when looking at used cars.   I found that it had P0420 for a Catalyst below efficiency code.   The car has over 200k miles so I expected that the catalyst would be bad.

I purchased the catalyst, resonator and the muffler so as to be sure to replace everything in one swoop.   with this high of mileage I might as well do it now rather than piece by piece.   

The first item I replaced was the Muffler.  I purchased a Walker 54602 Quiet-Flow Stainless Steel Muffler Assembly from Amazon.com.  It was pretty quick delivery and only took a couple days.

It fit very well.  The rubber hanger are in the right location as the factory ones.   The assembly is the correct size and fit into the same spot without issues.   The coupling to the factory exhaust system was spot on.   I reused the old factory clamp and gasket for now because I will be replacing the complete exhaust system one my replacement oxygen sensor arrives.

Couples to the factory pipes without issues. 

Muffler fits into the factory location without issue

Exhaust hangers are in the right locations.

I noticed that the muffler tip does not reach to the back of the bumper opening.   So a muffler tip will be needed.  Otherwise the exhaust fumes will just gather under the bottom and swirl with the turbulence and possibly come back into the passenger compartment with the windows down I would think.

Muffler tip not long enough.

Be sure to use a lubricating oil on the rubber exhaust hangers to be able to slip them off the factory barbs.   It is pretty tough to get off without it.   The flare on the tips are pretty big.

I preparation for the exhaust replacement I sprayed Kroil on all the exhaust nuts and bolt to get the rust soft, then I broke the bolts loose and re-tightend them.   Now Im ready to go once everything is here.



Tools used to replace the muffler.  Lubricating oil, Pry bar. 12mm socket, 3/8 drive ratchet.

Parts used, Walker 54602 Quiet-Flow Stainless Steel Muffler Assembly

Mighty Vac pump rebuild.

So one of my tools I had since 1994 has not been working correctly.

Success, holding vacuum now. 

My Mighty Vac hand pump stopped holding vacuum a year ago and I have been to lazy to do anything about it.   This is a metal body one, not the plastic one, so I was reluctant to throw it out and buy a new one.

After searching Amazon.com I found a rebuild kit that seemed like it would work correctly for my pump.

I purchased the Mityvac 4100 Silverline Pump Maintenance Kit for about $20 use.

It worked great.  All the parts were there in the package.  It included a paper sheet showing where all the parts go, but no step by step instructions on the process of rebuilding.  So I had to think about it and come up with my own step by step.   Feel free to enjoy the pictures.

I split the body parts from each other and started on the body one way valve.  I removed the handle then the plunger cap. 

Removed the little one way valve at the end of the bore.  There was build up on the body preventing it from sealing and letting vacuum leak out.   I cut some small pieces of fine sand paper and used my finger to scrub out the valve sealing surface and the bore of the body.  Be very gentle and very fine paper or you could gouge the surfaces and they will not seal. 

After a long time of gentle scrubbing with fine grit paper, the bore and the wall feel smooth to my touch so I think they will seal with the new rubber parts. 

Cleaned the body surface with fine grit paper.

Installed the new valve into the bore with some grease and pulled it  through the center hole.

Removed the old plunger and plastic pieces from the metal rod.  These are on tight so it takes some force to remove them.  

I installed the new plastic pieces with a deep socket until they snapped into place.   It takes some force but they will snap into place.  Then install the rubber part. 

Plunger with new plastic body and rubber ring.

Then add the spring plate. 

Installed the new large spring.

Installed cap and new short screw.

New short screw installed.

Re-attached the pump handle.

Removed the top pressure valve. 

New one way pressure valve installed. Old one on the blue napkin

Be sure to match the screws removed to the new screws so you don't pick the wrong ones. 

Cleaned the front half of the body and the groove the o-ring seals against.

Bleed valve assembly

The order of how the bleed valve is assembled  

Removed the o-ring then cleaned the surface with fine grit paper.

New small o-ring with grease. 

Some debris on the ring mating surface needs to be removed. 

Some very fine sand paper to gently clean the mating surface for the new o-ring.

Installed the new spring from the kit. 

Compress the new spring with the original cap. 

Installed long bottom screws.

New Oring from kit with some grease. 

Assembled the two body halves with the new short screws. 

Success, holding vacuum now. 

I'm pretty pleased with the parts kit and the simplicity of the tool.   The quality of parts seems to be pretty good.  They matched what was already in the tool.   I would recommend the rebuild kit as long as you have a metal bodied pump.  I don't have confidence in rebuilding plastic units.



Tools used in this post - Phillips #1, Phillips #2, grease, deep socket.

Parts used in this post -

 

 Let me know if you have any questions or would like more detail. Thanks for reading.

Rear brakes

This posting is not a step by step of how to change your rear brakes, rather a posting to share my experience with these parts and some particulars I came across.

If you need to replace your rear brakes seek the help of a professional or get a repair manual to give you step by step directions.  I've been a Toyota technician for a very long time so I felt comfortable taking this on.

When I purchased my Scion XB the first thing I did was give it a good going over.  I inspected it as best I could.  I found the that rear brakes needed to be replaced.  The shoes were getting thin on 1 shoes on each side.   I noticed the Drum and sho on the passenger side was grooved.

Grooved drum

So I searched Amazon.com to find parts.  I came across this  Mac Auto Parts 38459 For Xb (2) Rear Brake Drum Drums & Shoes set.  It seemed like a good price for my budget.  I didn't need to get factory parts since it has so many miles and wear.   

Honestly I was concerned that there were no reviews for this product.  But I decided to give them a try and see how they work.  I could always get the factory ones if these were noisy or had problems.  

The parts arrived in a box well sealed.  I opened the box and found a set of shoes and 2 drums.  

I laid the drums side my side with the factory ones to compare them before getting to involved with tear down.    The diameters seemed to be the same and the profiles seemed to match.  The inside wall thickness seemed good too.  Being satisfied so far I decided to remove one side of shoes and compare them with he ones from the supplier.

I spend the box and liked that they are wrapped in plastic instead of loose in the box.  I inspected them and found a pivot pin pre installed into two of the shoes. This pin was for the Brake self adjustment star in the parking brake mechanism.   Laying them next to some original shoes showed to be approximately the same surface area contact.  They seemed to have the same dimensions as well.

Be sure to locate the contact points the shoe makes with the backing plate.  I cleaned these points a little and placed anti seize compound to help allow the shoes to slide easier.

When taking a part the shoes be sure to note the self adjusting screw ends.  This is my passenger side unit.   Note the grooves in the ends for the manual adjusting arm (left side of picture) and the star adjusting arm grove (right side of picture).  They need to be installed correctly so all parts will move freely and not bind.

Before installing the drums, I took some sand paper and put swirl marks on the surface to give a non directional finish, and then sprayed brake cleaner to remove the debris and oil coating from the manufacturer.

When removing drums from hub, I take the time to remove rust from the outer edge of the round center hub, and from all the flat surfaces.   This allows the new drum to 1 - sit flush agains the flat surfaces so there is no wobbling when he drum is rotating, and 2- allows the drum to center itself properly on the center hub. Just another little step to take to help with the best brake job you can possible do.

Once I replaced the shoes and adjusted them to drag on the drum when spinning the tire, I bled the complete brake lines to get out a lot of the old brake fluid, and air that might be in the system.  After 200k miles and 10 years, the brake fluid looked old a dirty.

Brake fluid attracts and absorbs moisture.  When heated water will expand, but brake fluid will not.  So I wanted to get out that possibly contaminated stuff as best I could.   Now the pedal feels solid.

My opinion, these shoes have been great performers so far.  Its been about a week and no squeaking or other brake noises have been noticed.  Occasionally I will hear a squeek when backing out of the drive way in the morning, but I can live with that.  Braking has been solid.   Brake pedal feels solid.  No brake fade has been noticed so far.   I have not activated the ABS system yet so I can't comment on that, but normal braking is great.

Tools used in this post - slip joint plier, 2 screw drivers,  19mm impact socket, electrical impact gun, Anti seize compound.

Parts used in this post - Brake shoes, Brake drums, Dot 3 brake fluid (Local store)



 Let me know if you have any questions or would like more detail. Thanks for reading.