So i had a real snafu on my hands with this battery that would save me 20lbs..
There was literally no fitting it in the battery tray.. at any orientation.
I had to do some fabrication but i currently live in a rented apartment and my angle grinder is loud AF and Dremel not powerful enough to cut metal.
I liked using a dremel over an angle grinder though because it's a million times more agile. I found out about the flex shaft and decided to get one, as well as the new brushless Dremel which claimed to be the most powerful of the lineup.
This new Dremel is super quiet, has more than enough torque to go through thin aluminum and steel, doesn't overheat, and the flex shaft lets me make very precise cuts in not too long of time. I totally love it!
After building a battery brace for my existing tray, i made a mistake when putting it back together. Apparently these two massive ECU connectors are designed to latch in in a particular order. I didn't use that particular order, and bent 3 of the pins on one side.
Now i know from experience that if you bend a pin too much, it will snap and now you need a new expensive part. You may be able to fix it without weakening the metal but you would need specialized tools to do that and you should be as gentle as possible.
I called a bunch of ECU repair places and nobody was willing/able to help me.
I called my local electronic stores to see if i could get a very flat and narrow needle nose pliers without a gripping surface so that i could effectively clamp them straight, and they couldn't find anything.
A new ECU from Toyota would be $1200 installed, which isn't too bad, but still sucks considering that $0.05 of metal is my problem.
I hunted around and found out that Aven 10335 was the perfect plier for the job.
Aven 10335 6" Stainless - Steel Flat Nose Pliers - ESD Safe Grip - Smooth Jaws
And also, i got a tip off the net to buy some 0.5mm mechanical pencils ( very close to the perfect diameter for the pin ) and use them for the final straightening process.Aven 10335 6" Stainless - Steel Flat Nose Pliers - ESD Safe Grip - Smooth Jaws
With some careful clamping and bending i was able to get the pins within 0.5mm of where they were stock, then i used the mechanical pencil to smooth out the pin further in a second pass, so that it didn't catch on the connector and then proceed to bend again. Tiny particles of pin came off and this tells me i'm right in doing this second pass to make the pin smooth again.
Car fired right up, no warning lights or other questionable behavior, seems like i nailed it!
Now it's time to get those lighter rims installed and see if we can actually eke out that 1-2 extra mpg.
There was literally no fitting it in the battery tray.. at any orientation.
I had to do some fabrication but i currently live in a rented apartment and my angle grinder is loud AF and Dremel not powerful enough to cut metal.
I liked using a dremel over an angle grinder though because it's a million times more agile. I found out about the flex shaft and decided to get one, as well as the new brushless Dremel which claimed to be the most powerful of the lineup.
This new Dremel is super quiet, has more than enough torque to go through thin aluminum and steel, doesn't overheat, and the flex shaft lets me make very precise cuts in not too long of time. I totally love it!
After building a battery brace for my existing tray, i made a mistake when putting it back together. Apparently these two massive ECU connectors are designed to latch in in a particular order. I didn't use that particular order, and bent 3 of the pins on one side.
Now i know from experience that if you bend a pin too much, it will snap and now you need a new expensive part. You may be able to fix it without weakening the metal but you would need specialized tools to do that and you should be as gentle as possible.
I called a bunch of ECU repair places and nobody was willing/able to help me.
I called my local electronic stores to see if i could get a very flat and narrow needle nose pliers without a gripping surface so that i could effectively clamp them straight, and they couldn't find anything.
A new ECU from Toyota would be $1200 installed, which isn't too bad, but still sucks considering that $0.05 of metal is my problem.
I hunted around and found out that Aven 10335 was the perfect plier for the job.
Aven 10335 6" Stainless - Steel Flat Nose Pliers - ESD Safe Grip - Smooth Jaws
And also, i got a tip off the net to buy some 0.5mm mechanical pencils ( very close to the perfect diameter for the pin ) and use them for the final straightening process.Aven 10335 6" Stainless - Steel Flat Nose Pliers - ESD Safe Grip - Smooth Jaws
With some careful clamping and bending i was able to get the pins within 0.5mm of where they were stock, then i used the mechanical pencil to smooth out the pin further in a second pass, so that it didn't catch on the connector and then proceed to bend again. Tiny particles of pin came off and this tells me i'm right in doing this second pass to make the pin smooth again.
Car fired right up, no warning lights or other questionable behavior, seems like i nailed it!
Now it's time to get those lighter rims installed and see if we can actually eke out that 1-2 extra mpg.
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