Simple fix today. The tailgate latch became very hard to open. Simple: remove the inside plastic panel, remove the metal panel, spray with WD 40 to clean, then dry lube each pivot point.
Oh, I also blew out 18 years of dust.
Works great now. I love cheap fixes.
What did you do to your Baja today?
Moderator: mikenmel08
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HalfNakedWalrus
- Scoobytruck Lurker
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2024 9:34 am
Re: What did you do to your Baja today?
Installed new spark plugs and ran some CAT clean through the engine.
Cleaner cleared the engine light and now ive got some fancy blue wires on my engine!
Cleaner cleared the engine light and now ive got some fancy blue wires on my engine!
Re: What did you do to your Baja today?
Got the headers and oil pan done. Still waiting on powder coating...
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Re: What did you do to your Baja today?
Turbo, downpipe, up pipe and blankets are in!
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Re: What did you do to your Baja today?
Radiator sprang a leak so it needed replacing. I’d also been putting off the timing belt and water pump since I got the truck. Figured it would be a good time to tackle those as well since it already would have the coolant drained, radiator out. Very glad that I did as the belt was in badddd shape.
On the whole, the N/A engine is literally one of the easiest belts I’ve ever done. I did spring for a generic crank pulley tool and crank socket which both helped, the tool more than the socket in my case, but happy to have both.
Replacement radiator was a Denso 2213601 unit which had all provisions for the automatic transmission cooler lines. Timing and water pump kit was AISIN TKF010. Both worked great and should be good to go for another long while.![[smilie=coolup.gif]](./images/smilies/coolup.gif "coolup")
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On the whole, the N/A engine is literally one of the easiest belts I’ve ever done. I did spring for a generic crank pulley tool and crank socket which both helped, the tool more than the socket in my case, but happy to have both.
Replacement radiator was a Denso 2213601 unit which had all provisions for the automatic transmission cooler lines. Timing and water pump kit was AISIN TKF010. Both worked great and should be good to go for another long while.
-Brian
Re: What did you do to your Baja today?
My Baja is sport trim level, so I upgraded to powered and heated seats. Had to add the wiring for the seat heaters, but that was easy enough. While I had the interior out and the carpet up I added a double DIN radio with backup camera and dash cam.
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Guacamole
- Scoobytruck God
- Posts: 521
- Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2015 4:11 am
- Location: Eastern Shore, MD
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Re: What did you do to your Baja today?
Bit of an update on this exhaust...
MD's salty roads have rusted out the replacements. Got a good 6 years out of it for a daily driver. Now that my Baja is retired to the backup/weekend car maybe the 2nd catback will last longer.
Re: What did you do to your Baja today?
Been a minute - do you have any updates for how this worked out for you, long term?dsmguy wrote: Wed Dec 13, 2023 5:21 pm20Baja06 wrote: Wed Dec 13, 2023 10:02 amIs this only a base cushion protector? I’d be interested in a review after some use.dsmguy wrote: Sat Dec 09, 2023 1:42 pm Yes, I know this makes me officially an old guy, but I took some joy in installing these child seat protector mats to minimize the leather seats from getting dimpled and rippled up from the kid seat. Only time will tell…
Yeah, this is only just to protect the base cushion from marks or crazy indentations from forming from the tightly strapped kid seat. No backrest protection. I like that they are a nice grippy rubber material and they don’t let the seat slide around like the fabric-based mats.
When I first started shopping for this, I saw that WeatherTech makes one, but it was $40+ $12ish shipping and I couldn’t see myself paying over $50 bucks for this, so I got this Britax brand mat used off FB Marketplace for like $12.
I’ll circle back in awhile after I put a few month’s use on them, and hopefully report that they did their job to protect the seat. We’ll see man
-Brian
Re: What did you do to your Baja today?
I finished the head gaskets on my Baja back in November. Everything seemed fine at the time so I buttoned it up. After a few drives and a few hundred miles, I noticed fresh oil on my garage floor catch pan underneath the truck. Looking at what I could from the top side, I was pretty certain at least one rear cam plug and one cam seal were leaking. These were all from the FelPro gasket kit I used and all done to the best of my ability with sockets or whatever I had available to knock new ones in.
So, I ordered new OEM cam seals and plugs, along with the Company23 cam seal installer and the Kent-Miller special tool for the rear cam plug. In my research, the rear cam plugs sounded like they’d be the problem children in this whole thing as most people suggest the driver rear cam plug is difficult to get to. After tackling this job this weekend, I’d much rather do the rear cam plugs than the cam seals any day of the week. The special tools, in either case, were well worth the investment.
My biggest gripe with the cam seals was having to do the timing belt. I had no reason to drain the coolant so I did the whole thing with all hoses, radiator, and fans in place. Compared to what I’m used to, there was mountains of room to do the timing belt even with all that in the place. Still, it took some time and I kept scraping up against the fan frames, providing my hands and arms with small scrapes up and down them. I also didn’t have the easiest time getting the “old” seals out. I went ahead and did both because I was in there and the belt was off. I did find the one I suspected of being a leak source was installed crooked - good job me! The special tool from Company23 made reinstall a joy, a breeze, completely worry-free of how well they were installed.
The rear cam plugs I dreaded. Getting into it, I removed the intake tubing and air box. The passenger side, like many others have posted about across the internet, was very straight forward. I used a small screw driver and punched through the side of the seal hump. With the screw driver inserted there right amount, the end of the camshaft becomes a pivot point to pry against to pop the seal out. Again, the special tool for install made this almost a pleasure to do. I lubed the outer diameter of the seal and was able to press it in using the special tool with just my hand - no hammer required!
Ok, so taking that experience to the driver side, I felt better about it until I looked at its location. I got what others had mentioned about minimal space available. Straight above, from below, there simply isn’t room to get at it unless you have arms of a small child. After studying it a bit, I decided to remove the battery, tray, and wiper fluid reservoir. That opened up enough room to get an arm back to the seal which looked promising for reinstall, but the “old” seal still needed to be removed. I determined I had a really great line of sight when leaning over the passenger fender, across the engine. I used a long (like 18-24”) screw driver and hammer with the intent of punching a hole in the seal like I did the passenger side. It didn’t punch a hole but it did force the seal out.
As stated, with the battery and washer fluid reservoir removed, I snaked the special tool and seal behind the head and, just as with the passenger side, pressed the seal in. This one was a little different as I really ended up pulling the seal in from the front side of the engine, pulling the special tool towards me to ensure it had seated properly.
Reinstalled everything and so far so good with the leaks! Hoping that was all and I didn’t muck up the oil separator or something else that I have to pull the engine out to address. Good times!
Here’s pics of the properly installed positions of the seals and the space available on the driver side for the rear plug with the reservoir removed.
So, I ordered new OEM cam seals and plugs, along with the Company23 cam seal installer and the Kent-Miller special tool for the rear cam plug. In my research, the rear cam plugs sounded like they’d be the problem children in this whole thing as most people suggest the driver rear cam plug is difficult to get to. After tackling this job this weekend, I’d much rather do the rear cam plugs than the cam seals any day of the week. The special tools, in either case, were well worth the investment.
My biggest gripe with the cam seals was having to do the timing belt. I had no reason to drain the coolant so I did the whole thing with all hoses, radiator, and fans in place. Compared to what I’m used to, there was mountains of room to do the timing belt even with all that in the place. Still, it took some time and I kept scraping up against the fan frames, providing my hands and arms with small scrapes up and down them. I also didn’t have the easiest time getting the “old” seals out. I went ahead and did both because I was in there and the belt was off. I did find the one I suspected of being a leak source was installed crooked - good job me! The special tool from Company23 made reinstall a joy, a breeze, completely worry-free of how well they were installed.
The rear cam plugs I dreaded. Getting into it, I removed the intake tubing and air box. The passenger side, like many others have posted about across the internet, was very straight forward. I used a small screw driver and punched through the side of the seal hump. With the screw driver inserted there right amount, the end of the camshaft becomes a pivot point to pry against to pop the seal out. Again, the special tool for install made this almost a pleasure to do. I lubed the outer diameter of the seal and was able to press it in using the special tool with just my hand - no hammer required!
Ok, so taking that experience to the driver side, I felt better about it until I looked at its location. I got what others had mentioned about minimal space available. Straight above, from below, there simply isn’t room to get at it unless you have arms of a small child. After studying it a bit, I decided to remove the battery, tray, and wiper fluid reservoir. That opened up enough room to get an arm back to the seal which looked promising for reinstall, but the “old” seal still needed to be removed. I determined I had a really great line of sight when leaning over the passenger fender, across the engine. I used a long (like 18-24”) screw driver and hammer with the intent of punching a hole in the seal like I did the passenger side. It didn’t punch a hole but it did force the seal out.
As stated, with the battery and washer fluid reservoir removed, I snaked the special tool and seal behind the head and, just as with the passenger side, pressed the seal in. This one was a little different as I really ended up pulling the seal in from the front side of the engine, pulling the special tool towards me to ensure it had seated properly.
Reinstalled everything and so far so good with the leaks! Hoping that was all and I didn’t muck up the oil separator or something else that I have to pull the engine out to address. Good times!
Here’s pics of the properly installed positions of the seals and the space available on the driver side for the rear plug with the reservoir removed.
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-Brian