Denso Cool Gear Cabin Air Filter

 

Do you feel that your air cond is not performing well and the air blown are weak ? Maybe it is time to change your cabin air filter. As you know, all the modern car come with cabin air filter to purify the internal air circulation and it is important to change the filter once a while to ensure optimum air circulation of the car.

In my previous post, I had changed the cabin air filter to Denso premium filter which cost quite a lot however, recently during my internet searching, I found that Lazada does sell cabin air filter by Cool Gear (Denso) for sale and it cost very much less than the original.

Cool Gear is a sub brand for Denso and it sell parts at the more affordable price and since the price is almost 2 or 3 times less than the original parts, I try it out and buy one online and get it delivered to me within a week. It does fit well after installation and out comes the old filter which is colour black rather green (Original).

I would recommend getting this parts rather than OEM as this parts are still manufactured by Denso subsidiary so quality wise should be better than OEM. For Malaysian, you can buy this via lazada and you can get some discount too with free delivery too.

Cool Gear part number : 145520-2520 Product Made in Korea

Previous post on Cabin Air filter :-
http://toyotaisis.blogspot.my/2014/09/denso-carbon-filter.html
http://toyotaisis.blogspot.my/2011/11/changing-air-cond-filter.html

Places that you never know what it for !

Many of you that visit my blog surely is a owner outside of Japan that happened to own one of Japan well design car named Isis. I bought this car sometime ago and never feel regret owning it except when the time I run this car up Genting Highland. The 1.8l is really underpower going uphill. I wish that I bought the 2.0l back then.
Anway, back to today topics, have you ever think / question the design of some parts of this car ? I had examine this car from top to bottom and 3 of  the following item is a really puzzle to me during the initial stage of ownership of this car.

1st :-

 The cup holder design between the front row is a big question mark to me, I know it is a cup holder but I seem can't understand the design of a big circle and a small rectangle space at the bottom right hand side of the plastic are meant for what. Based on the picture above, you can see that design is to put cap of the water bottle. What a funny thinking this Japanese have in their mind during the design stage of this car. How many owner will appreciate this little extra ? I don't keep any of my bottle open while I am driving as I guarantee that the water will spill out at corner.

Next is an opening at the front passenger side at the floor between the door and seat. There is a rectangle opening which the designer think that the driver or passenger can put an collapsible umbrella at that location. I had tried to put one at it and found it useful until certain way as the umbrella that can fit that space aren't that useable for my family. Hence a full size umbrella are always located at the foot of passenger in my Isis.

The last bits are the red flare location below the glove compartment. My car is an gray import hence the seller had taken out the flare. Based on the manual and internet search, that location marked red in the picture above are the holding place for a flare which in time of emergency can be used.
How many times does we see people using flare for emergency involving car ? Boat or plane maybe but in car ? Seriously ?
I think a simple red umbrella will serve the same purpose too!

So this is a wrap for this pre Chinese New Year post. A Happy New Year to fellow Isis owner and share with me your stories and comments via email or comments column below.
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.

2nd row blower from Taiwan

A few months ago, I bought this item from a group buy in WishClubMalaysia and I been keeping it in the store because of lack of time to go to install it. However after a road trip during Hari Raya that my Isis need to carry 7 person including myself, I think its time to install it before the next road trip. Reasons ? During the afternoon the cold air at the front can't penetrate or reach the third row resulting a big complain and some comments.

This blower is not an air conditioner system, it is just a blower that function to blow air from one side to the other. Simply say it is a fan. It is made in Taiwan and I heard that the Toyota Wish at Taiwan do install it in their car. There are 2 speed for this blower, and the operation switch can be switch to I or II for the different fan speed and when you activate it, it will turned on the side led too.

A few days ago, I drop by CNAudio in Shah Alam to install this item, it is a highly recommened shop for its good workmanship. I do agree with it. The boss is friendly too.
Above is the photo of where it is fix in the car now. I had tested it and the 3 row passanger can really feel the air even on the low setting.

The second photo show when it is activated with the blue led glow at the side.

For those having a MPV same as me or wanted something like this for the comfort of the back passanger, it is a good upgrade for car in the hot and humid country same as Malaysia.