The plus and minus point of Isis

I do love Toyota Isis, but as everything in this world there are always 2 side of the picture. I just wanna sum up some plus and minus point for Isis that I found out after having it for 2 years.

Plus :

• Roomy n spacious
• Sliding door for easy access and parking in tight spaces
• Power door!
• Front passenger side seat can be folded up for longer leg room for 2nd row
• 3rd row seat can be folded flat 
• Good driving position with a nice DIN placement on the center, perfect for DVD player for kids
• Most of the engine and transmission parts are similar to other Toyota model
• Running cost is not bad

Minus :-

• The gas/petrol cover not really align to the body works
• Lack of 2nd & 3rd row air cond, except in U-Selection which feature 3rd row air cond
• Difficult access to the 3rd room as the 2nd row seat is not user friendly
• Not much aftermarket parts
• JDM only model
• Bulky on the road, not sporty
• 1.8l model is underpower

NOS on Isis ?

I had heard supercharger for Isis before, but NOS ? This is extreme. The picture above show an Isis installed with NOS.
What is NOS ? Full name of is Nitrous Oxide Systems. It is a system that hook up additional fuel to your injector by adding nitrous oxide to the combustion chamber for better power. Normally this kind of setup are one to sports car and it is quite rare for it to be installed on a mini-MPV such as Isis.
nyway, Japanese do love their car and this owner really does love this car so much to invest and installed this kit to Isis.
This car is a platana model 2.0 D4 engine with aftermarket piggyback ECU (Emanage Ultimate) installed.
There are a video in youtube that show the tuning/dyno process.

The video are posted this year and this is quite a new mod done. I can't get the tuner details as mostly it is in Japanese and the translator aren't very good. I will update more once I get more information.

Links to the original page in Japanese :-
http://gold.ap.teacup.com/brucem/763.html

Toyota Safety Recall for Isis

There are many cases where Toyota announce recall for their cars either in the global market or for their JDM market. However they never hide the problem of their for long and they reported it to the mass media globally. This is something that I feel is not bad, even tho that this show their car have problem but in another way this also mean they are a bit transparent with the problem of their car.
Basically, a safety recall means that the car have certain problem identify by the manufacturer and request the owner to send their car back to the shop to have remedial works done. This normally free of charge and they will inspect and repair it.

So for Toyota Isis specifically, safety recall were announced recently and many years back and I had identify 3 recall for this car. Since this is a JDM model, normally the description for the recall are in Japanese and the website that cater to this recall are in Japanese too.
I manage to track this website and kindly follow the links below (you will need to enter your car chasis/model number to check) :-
http://www.toyota.co.jp/recall/RecallServlet

Upon a simple search you will get the list of service recall for your car. I had entered mine and get 3 recall as below :-
http://toyota.jp/recall/2006/0530.html (Year 2006)
http://toyota.jp/recall/2007/0717.html (Year 2007)
http://toyota.jp/recall/2012/1114.html (Year 2012)

The brief description for all 3 recall are to check/replace/tightened the steering shaft, checking the brake switch problem, and connection rod for the gearbox and steering mechanism.
I not sure in details of all this thing due to the translation by google are moderate, hence it is best to check with Toyota Malaysia for this. I think we can write in to Toyota Malaysia for their help in securing the parts and service to do this service recall. Hopefully they can do all 3 of this together.

Anyway, this post is to share the information of the safety recall and take note that Toyota reported that no accident had happened due to this problem and personally I had problem with the brake switch thingy but I had change the switch and no problem for now. On the same matter, I know about 1 or 2 safety recall for Isis before I buy this car but I love this car hence this doesn't matter much. Hopefully, I can get some reply from Toyota Malaysia to help me in this and I will post something back here if got any update.

Cheers

Toyota Isis Halfcut

Latest from Mudah/my, are a halfcut for sale. This halfcut are from 2.0 D4 model with body model AMN10W. Engine are 1AZ-FSE.
Price wise are unknown but should not be too expensive.
I am interested on the HID, but not sure whether it fit my car original wiring. Recently, JPJ have crackdown on HID conversion car and I don't wish to donate money and visit Puspakom for checking.
Anyway, if you are looking for some spare parts, it is good to visit them.

Links to mudah page :-
http://www.mudah.my/Half+Cut+Toyota+ISIS+ANM10+D+4-19100660.htm

p/s : I do not own this advert and have any business/non business relationship with the seller. I merely share this information.

Toyota Isis U-Selection in Mudah.my

Recently saw an advert on mudah.my about the full spec Toyota Isis U-Selection. This is the highest grade Isis offer by Toyota. Double blower and power door plus sonar sensor is all built in. Good car and this is a good buy for those looking for a mid-size MPV. However you need to take note that this is most probably a recond and with a manufacturing date of 2005, it is sort of a old car.
Personally, this is not to promote the advert, I just merely highlight what available in the market for those looking for a Toyota Isis. I didn't have any direct or in-direct relationship with the seller.

Isis in Tokyo Auto Salon 2005

I manage to find some interesting photo of beautifully modify Isis that were shown in the Tokyo Auto Salon 2005. 3 version of Isis were shown, Sporty version, TRD version and Tom's Racing version.

Sport Version :-

 

 TRD Version :-

 Tom's Racing Version :-

Which one does I prefer ? None..... I like bits and pieces from Sporty version and Tom's Racing version.
I like the front grill and colour of Tom's plus the clear headlamp and side mirror indicator from Sporty version. The rims from sporty version look nice too.

Links to original page in Japanese :-
http://autos.goo.ne.jp/event/tas2005/car/toyota/gallery.html

New commercial for Toyota Isis

This is a new commercial in Japan for Toyota Isis. Its a 30 second clips which is sort of a complete advert. This time Toyota pick Misia as their brand ambassador for Isis and she is a Japanese songwriter and singer. Personally, I don't know much about her, but you could always google your way and get more information about her. The advert show the specialty of Isis by magically removing the B pillar during the commercial to show the panorama view that Isis champion for. By showing how the dog sleeping on the floor of 2nd row seat and jumping out does give you the feeling of spaciousness of Isis. Enjoy the nice advert, cheers.

2rd row blower for sale

Previously I had posted about what I had installed on my car to blow air-cond to the 3rd row passanger. Many visitor to my blog had enquire me about where to buy this item, I had help to ask around in wishclubmalaysia but there are no one to organize group buy. However, good news are around the corner, you could buy one from a Singapore online website for the item.
It will cost you SGD200 and not inclusive of postage.

Links as below :-
http://www.e-shoppinghouse.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=59_66&products_id=1014

Fuse Blown and replaced

  

Above is a picture of a 15amp fuse that were blown today and were replace with a replacement fuse costing RM1.00. What trigger this ? I not pretty sure, as I suspect something funny when I am driving today as my Blitz R-Vit is not working and my wing mirror won't function at all.  It won't fold or the mirror cant be move using the side door control.

So here is the actual image of the fuse box inside the car behind the glove compartment. You can read about how to reach this area in my previous post of replacing your air cond filter.
You may ask which one to change in all this fuse, I have similar problem this morning as I can't find the correct fuse based on my search in the Internet or my electrical and wiring guide. Hence by luck, I found the problem fuse which is the 15 amp fuse on the left row (4th from below including the empty slot)
If you are having similar problem with your cigarette socket or wing mirror not working. Just try to ply this fuse out and have a look. It is best to use a thin head plyer as the space is a bit cramp and your hand might not reach it properly.

Blitz R-Vit

If you are an owner of Isis, you will notice that the car didn't come with a water temperature gauge, although this is a common practice on all new japanese car but I still prefer to know what's the water temperate while I am driving.
Why ? Because I had a bad experience with my other car which resulted the engine overheated and stranded me somewhere in the highway.
Lucky for me, I manage to get myself a Blitz R-Vit from my other car and installed it into my Isis. This devices comes with 3 set of wiring, one from the OBD port, the other one from the cigar lighter plug and last if for the device itself.
I prefer a clean interior and hide all the wiring away from view hence I cut a hole from the button cover and pull the wiring inside the dashboard. The display itself was glue on using double sided tape. So far the double sided tape works even on hot weather.

Next is the power point, I route the wiring into the cup holder area and last is the OBD port wiring that I hide all behind the dashboard. A cable tie secure everything behind. Toyota Isis OBD port are located at the bottom of the dashboard (driver side) next to the latch to open the bonnet.

R-Vit is capable to display up to 6 parameter of your choice in the same time, but I prefer to show on 3 parameter as the display is rather small and bigger font does help during viewing.
The parameter that I choose for Isis is "Gear", "Water Temp" & "ATF Temp". It is good to know your ATF oil temperature to help you guard and save your gearbox from going bad. High ATF temperature will shorten the lifespan of your gearbox. Repair of gearbox is costly and it is not easy too.

Replacing air filter

Do you know that using a clogged or dirty air filter will affect your fuel consumption ? Thats what happening to my car now. It clock 30k and I haven't change my air filter from day 1, so recently I went to my favourite spare part shop in Sentul and bought myself a Original Air Filter for Toyota Isis. I do expect that the air filter is the same parts as being used in the 1.8l Toyota Wish, after checking the parts catalogue the boss told me that it is the same. The air filter cost RM70.00 and made by Denso Japan. Parts number is 17801-22020.

I had snapped some photo of the before and after condition of the air filter. The darker on the top air filter is the original and replaced air filter while the bottom white colour is the new air filter. I yet to test the mileage I will get after changing this, but I expect some slight increase in power and mileage. For those who experience some drop in performance and mileage per tank, try to check your air filter and replace if necessary. Happy DIY.