If the car battery on your 4th generation Toyota 4Runner was ever replaced, you might have experienced your automatic driver’s side window, moonroof, and rear hatch window no longer opens or closes automatically with the single full press of your controls. This is common when the battery has been disconnected; it requires you to perform a “normalizing” procedure to re-activate the auto open and close feature of your 4Runner.
This short cable that is broken off in the photo below is a battery ground cable. This cable should be connected between the negative terminal of the car battery and the body of the vehicle. Over time, if the battery is not securely tied down, the wire strands of the battery ground cable can fatigue and break due to constant movement. Rust and corrosion will accelerate this process. This can potentially be a safety issue and you might see some voltage issues as well.
The 13th generation Ford F-150 SuperCrew and SuperCabs have 60/40 rear seats where the entire seat bottom folds up to allow for extra storage space. In addition, the 40-side has a latch to pull the seat back down to access the jack and tire iron, however there is no latch available on the 60-side. I purchased a Seven Sparta Rear Seat Release Kit which allows you to pull down the rear seats for extra storage space behind it.
In the time that I’ve had my 2006 Lexus IS350, I’ve had a couple issues with the touch screen. One issue was the notorious frozen touch screen issue where the digitizer has failed. The second issue was the head unit screen going completely blank. The screen was totally black even though the car was on. This issue had a quick fix, which was to check the interior fuse box. Thankfully that took care of the issue before I had to go further with additional troubleshooting or worse, a full head unit replacement.
It’s common on Toyota and Lexus vehicles that when your check engine light comes on, it also triggers other warning lights to come on as well such as the ‘CHECK VSC’ warning on the multi-information display, or even the traction control light. When this happens, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the there is something wrong with the VSC (Vehicle Stability Control) system.
My 2020 Ford F-150 didn’t come with rear wheel well guards straight from the factory. Without these wheel well guards, the wheel well area can take a lot of abuse from dirt, rocks, etc. kicking up from the rear tires. In addition to the added protection from the wheel well guards, the rear wheel well looks a lot better and has a more finished look to it. It looks even better on lighter color vehicles when light-colored wheel well area is an eye sore.
The 2nd gen Lexus IS350 has a multi-information display and a warning light (exclamation mark inside of an amber colored triangle) to inform the driver of various warning messages. With regards to the oil maintenance on the Lexus IS350, a couple messages may appear depending on whether the engine oil maintenance is required soon, or if the oil maintenance is required now.
Ford offers a cargo system called Boxlink, that allows you to install specific accessories to either add additional tie-down anchor locations or mounting points for accessories. The Boxlink system starts off with reinforced mounting plates on each side corner of the truck bed. Other accessories can be secured onto these mounting plates. In my case, I wanted to add cleats for additional tie-down points.
The oil change on an Acura CL Type-S is straight forward. The car has a low clearance already, so a pair of car ramps and/or jack and jackstands will be needed to gain access from underneath. Besides that, the oil and oil filter replacement is pretty standard procedure. My 2nd Generation Acura CL Type-S (2001-2003 model years) takes 4.6 quarts of motor oil, specifying either a 5W-20 or a 5W-30 weight oil depending on the year of your car. Either weight motor oil will suffice with the 5W-20 improving cold engine starting and slightly better fuel economy. Whether you have a 2001 through 2003 model year, an Acura CL or an Acura CL Type-S (2nd gen), or an automatic or a manual, there is an oil capacity of 4.6 quarts.
