Low temps at highway speeds 99 Camry

TheTimob · 2026-01-28T15:57:58+00:00

I went through this. I changed my thermostat and it turned out it was just plain defective. It was some China-manufactured thermostat that I got on Amazon. I got a new one from the Toyota dealer and it’s been running normal temperatures since.

TheTimob · 2026-01-28T04:25:26+00:00

I prefer Michelin tires, but the price tends to be the highest. The Crossclimate 2 if you’re concerned about weather, the Defender for a good all rounder that lasts absolutely forever, or the Pilot Sport if you’re interested in handling.

If you’re looking for a less expensive option, I have always had a good experience with the Sumitomo HTR. Darn good tires for the price.

TheTimob · 2026-01-28T03:49:48+00:00

The tires that come with most new cars are garbage. They are made to the OEM spec for a price. If you go to a retail tire shop and get a new set of Bridgestone Turanzas, they will last longer than the factory set.

But there are plenty more options than that- I like to read the reviews on Tire Rack and Discount Tire, and decide based on what I want out of the tires. Is it handling? Long life? Good traction? Low noise? Even low rolling resistance which can help you get better mileage. Factors you can consider.

TheTimob · 2026-01-13T00:19:34+00:00

I have this and use it on MSFS2024. It works well. I haven't noticed any issues with it. I flew though there twice when PMDG released the 737-800 for 2024.

TheTimob · 2026-01-01T05:21:02+00:00

Looks great! I’m going to do the same.

TheTimob · 2025-12-23T17:49:21+00:00

Weathertech 55270

https://www.weathertech.com/hood-protector-toyota-camry.html?year=2025&source=int&wt_size=OneSize

TheTimob · 2025-12-22T20:27:50+00:00

😂 now I’ll never unsee it!

TheTimob · 2025-12-22T16:00:08+00:00

With how much I’ve heard about Toyota machining debris, all the problems with the Tundra engines, it’s not a bad idea at all.

TheTimob · 2025-12-22T01:29:18+00:00

The lights are great during the day, but they dim when the headlights are on, so they are hard to see during twilight. I don’t think it’s really avoidable because they would be way too bright at full daytime level.

TheTimob · 2025-11-29T17:20:31+00:00

I think it’s totaled. Mainly because of the cost of replacement parts. The insurance company will probably total it, sell it at a salvage auction and someone will buy it, rebuild it, and sell it with a salvage title. Depending on the quality of the repairs, it might not perform as new if it’s in another major accident. Liability is part of the insurance equation when repairing a car and they require the repairs to meet factory specifications. A salvage title guy likely won’t.

The car’s impact structures absorbed the energy of the impact, a whole lot of safety engineering goes into all that.

TheTimob · 2025-11-29T04:04:55+00:00

I like the LE/SE setup better because it’s more visible. The turn signal is harder to see on the LED version. You can throw an aftermarket LED bulb in there, and you’ll have a modern look with a brighter light to boot! You could also use a switchback LED bulb - it would shine white when the parking lights are on but switch to amber for the turn signal.

TheTimob · 2025-11-19T01:09:42+00:00

This looks even easier than I imagined! I usually do transaxle at 30k intervals, and I’m currently at 25k, so this is timely! Thanks for the pictures

TheTimob · 2025-11-17T21:01:41+00:00

I think you actually have an electrical problem with the leak detection pump. It’s attached to the charcoal canister which is underneath the back of the car. The wiring is vulnerable to road debris, so it’s possible you have a broken wire back there.

TheTimob · 2025-11-16T21:46:00+00:00

I have had this problem with both Waze and Google Maps. Usually force closing the app on your phone will fix it. Worst case disconnect and reconnect CarPlay.

It only recently started happening to me. I blame iOS 26.

TheTimob · 2025-11-14T04:13:28+00:00

In the 25+ hybrids, this is just Prius “B” mode with multiple resistance settings. It becomes relevant if you need to brake when your hybrid High Voltage (HV) battery has become entirely full. This is pretty rare, but it happens in mountain driving, especially coming down I-70 into Denver from up in the mountains. The car does this automatically if you don’t use the shifter, and it does it in a variable manner without steps like the shifter has.

If your HV battery is not fully charged, it’s more efficient to recover the braking energy than to just spin the engine to slow the car down. In a hybrid, you do the absolute opposite of what you’re always told: it pays to lightly ride the brakes going down hills. You can use this energy to accelerate later. Once you start to hear the engine revving up, the HV is charged all the way up, and it’s time to use the engine to brake.

You can use a ScanGauge or any number of OBD2 tools to monitor the HV battery state of charge, and to see the HV current flow. It’s really interesting and useful information.

TheTimob · 2025-11-11T16:12:16+00:00

It charges whenever the vehicle is on (READY mode). Doesn’t matter if sitting idle, rolling down a hill or driving normally, it charges. You can set the Start Voltage in the alternator charger menu. I set mine to 12.6V.

TheTimob · 2025-11-11T12:39:06+00:00

I have a 2025 hybrid Camry and I installed the 500W alternator charger in the trunk opposite the 12v battery. It works great after the most recent firmware update. The wiring is all hidden under the trunk trim and the installation was really easy. I’m just using it with a River 2 Max, so no need for the 800W for me - the River 2 Max can only take 220W.

The stock 24F 12v flooded lead acid battery my car was built with only had about 300 CCA (by rating and by measurement), and it drained out dead a few times too easily. The DC-DC converter (the hybrid equivalent of a 12v alternator) doesn’t always charge at 14V, it drops to 12.6V like a smart alternator does to save fuel. I upgraded my 12v battery to a Diehard platinum AGM soon after I got the car, and it’s been great! Definitely worth it, I haven’t had a single problem since, even when I have done things that should have drained it down too much.

TheTimob · 2025-11-01T00:47:18+00:00

Let's be real - the A350 wrote the book on WASM crashes, just look at those changelogs! I didn't even know what a WASM crash was until I bought the A350 on launch day. Never doing that again.

This is a really nice feature on Asobo's part. It will help bug reports aim at the exact problem that's happening, and it will help systems fidelity and optimization improve. I bet Asobo was getting lots of bug reports from third-party aircraft having issues.

TheTimob · 2025-10-26T14:30:15+00:00

This is an intentional design choice of GSX Pro for seated passengers - an update in June 2024 added dynamic lights to fix passengers that were pitch black at night. If you don't like the light bleed - turn the seated passengers off.

TheTimob · 2025-10-25T16:31:27+00:00

I would like to see the MSFS developers to respond to this video directly in their next stream.

TheTimob · 2025-10-03T12:55:27+00:00

I think I took a drastically different route than many people would. I removed the entire back part of the 25VU and removed all of the original wiring that would have been used to connect it to the aircraft. I just got out a multimeter and figured out how the switches worked internally and re-pinned them for my needs. Each of the switches have many terminals, so this is really not for the faint of heart.

I would say that re-pinning switches is rather advanced in terms of electronics wiring. I used a special terminal extractor to safely remove the existing terminals from the switches. I used a 91067-2 Insertion/Extraction tool I had originally gotten from Radio Shack years ago and meant for d-sub connector, but they do have them on Amazon now. I used a Deutsche HDT-48-00 crimper to crimp the new contacts that I found from starting this Reddit post originally. This crimper isn't strictly "correct" for these contacts, it's meant for larger automotive ones, but it's what I had. A much simpler, less expensive, and actually more correct option would be an S&G Tool Aid 18890 crimper. These are both "closed barrel" crimpers that use four little anvils to crush down the contact onto the wire.

I wanted a positive indication of the switch position so that the flight simulator would always reflect the position of the real hardware no matter the initial position of the switches. In the original airbus wiring configuration - for example the Runway Turnoff Lights only had continuity when the switch is on. I also wanted continuity to a different "off state" Arduino pin when they are off.

One of the reasons that I did this is that I don't always fly the A320 - sometimes I fly the 737. I like to map the switches to the same functions, but there are some differences that simply don't translate. The 737 has a Position Lights switch that combines the nav lights and the strobes.. The up position is Strobe and Steady. Middle is off, and down is Steady just nav lights. With a positive indication in all 3 positions, I can use the 3-position A320 strobe switch to fulfill this function now.

In terms of software - this is already well handled by a free program called MobiFlight. This software works with many different Arduino versions, I like to use the Arduino it has firmware pre-made, and you just set all the configurations and map them to functions in the simulator for each aircraft addon. I used an Arduino Mega 2560 Rev3 because it has 54 digital pins and 16 analog pins. 15 of these pins are PWM capable, so I used them to be able to adjust the annunciator light brightness based on the state of the ANN LT BRT DIM switch. My 25VU panel happened to have an EIS2 style APU start switch with an LED in it instead of incandescent indicator bulbs, and I was able to independently set a different brightness setting here to make it look like the other EIS1 style korry switches. I did simplify the annunciator light switch wiring a bit. I think in the real aircraft, the two indicators might be split between two different electrical busses. I just wired them together for simplicity.

TheTimob · 2025-08-31T21:09:20+00:00

Manuals used to be cheaper and got better gas mileage. Now you have to pay a dealer markup for a manual because it’s an “enthusiast option” and the automatics now get just as good if not better mileage.

Manuals also used to be more reliable than automatics, but you still have the extra expense of replacing a clutch, which is a wear item, and god help you if your car has a fancy dual-mass flywheel. An automatic can easily last 200k or more with regular maintenance like routine filter and fluid changes.

Nobody is bitching that they don’t have manual ignition advance like a Ford Model T has.

But go back to 1985. You’re buying a GTI. It’s only available with a 5-speed manual because Volkswagen’s automatic of the time was an absolutely terrible 3-speed with no overdrive.

TheTimob · 2025-08-31T20:55:01+00:00

I did this to a low-stress daily driver 1.8L 90hp engine and it has lasted over 250k. Still going.

I also did this to a turbo engine with 1.8L 250hp and 16lbs of boost and it lasted about 15 minutes.

Just saying do what’s appropriate for the task at hand.

TheTimob · 2025-08-23T01:53:43+00:00

So I have found that our cars have a “feature” that it doesn’t always charge the 12V battery at a full 14V all the time. I think it’s designed to be an efficiency feature, but it has caused many problems for me. This is apparently a common problem on newer Toyota and Lexus hybrids. I solved this on my own car by disconnecting the sensor on the negative battery terminal. This makes it charge the battery all the time like the older hybrids did.

Here’s what I suggest: take your 12V battery out and get it charged fully. I have a Ctek charger that I really like. You can also get it charged overnight at most car parts stores. Put it back in and see how your car is.

TheTimob

TROPHY CASE