X(RS) Files

Sharing my newly acquired daily driver!

I had been daily driving my 1996 Impreza L, however after my work commute changed from 12 miles round trip to 50+, I decided something a bit more modern and comfortable was in order. 

I wanted something a bit larger to make hauling tires and wheels etc short work, the matrix was one of my first choices for their general lack of rust here in the rust belt and known reliability. After some searching I found myself a 2005 Matrix XRS, two owner car, all service recorded and no accidents. The car came from California in October and was in overall great shape. 

For those unfamilar with the XRS model, it features the 2ZZGE engine, the same powerplant found in the early Lotus Elises and a 6-spd manual gearbox.

At the moment the car needs nothing, I slapped my snow wheels and tires off the BRZ on, I would like to replaced the radio and speakers at some point and I have been guiltily looking at Koni yellows and springs as I have found the corolla shares the shame chassis and suspension components  seem compatible. I may have to try my luck with it at an autocross of two this coming season. 

If anyone familiar with the 2zz that has any recommendations for that to watch for please share, I will admit I didn't do a ton of research before purchasing but the car was in such good shape I couldn't help myself lol. I will share some better pics once I have a chance to clean it up. 

I’ve always liked these. Hope it works out well for you!

Nice.

Early models have a tendency to burn oil. So keep an eye on the level.

There's two solenoids which control oil pressure for the lift and duration cam change overs. They have a filter behind them which sometimes gets clogged. If you can't rev it over 6500 rpm that's the best place to start.

The original version of the rear backing plates have a recessed hole for the parking brake shoe pivot points. For some godawful reason the heads don't sit flush so they collect salt and debris and rust out.  They're 220 dollars a piece an there are no aftermarket reproductions which pretty much makes them the most expensive components on the car to replace.

The stock airbox has a trick little flap which opens under vacuum to flow more air at higher rpms. Unfortunately it's actuated through a tiny little plastic nipple on the rear side of the box which likes to get brittle and break off if you ever try to remove it. You can just plug the line with no CEL issues if need be.

The idle air bypass metering pin and orifice on the throttle body collects gunk so if you start having idle problems or stalling look there first.

Make sure the passenger airbag was changed. It's a Takata special.

The clockspring on the steering wheel is a known weak point. You can get an upgraded one from monkeywrenchracing which fixes the issue for good for about 80 dollars if yours goes bad.

Other than that they're stupid easy to work on and pretty fun to drive for a cute Ute.

All great tips, thanks for the info TheOretical!

I noticed a bit of an oil leak behind the engine, which was creating some oil burn on the exhaust. I was able to investigate yesterday, seems that I am suffering from the typical Toyota timing chain tensioner O-ring failure. Also looks like the power steering return hose is seeping, seems that it had been noticed prior and "fixed" by adding a second hose clamp upstream of the factory clamp...LOL

Obviously this is not a lasting repair and my Toyota is slowly oil undercoating itself (in New England, not necessarily a bad thing) 

So much for the car being sold "PrOblem fReE!" 

Hoping to knock out both fixes tomorrow once the Toyota parts counter opens. 

Pics of the oily mess I've discovered:

So before repairing the oil leak, I knocked out another project that needed tending to, replacing the 13 year old stereo with some new modern bits.

Because you know, priorities 

This particular car is equipped with the base model 4 speaker stereo, as well as a double din style factory head unit. Since this is my new daily driver, I wasn't to be able to connect via Bluetooth for calling/music etc. I was planning to only do a head unit but the speaker were quite the screaming deal, and well worth it in the end. All said and done, the entire install was just under $200, Crutchfield supplies all install materials (Metra speaker plates, adapter harnesses and din kit) for free with purchase, which saved quite a bit of money, and I opted for some open box specials to save a few more dollars. 

Pioneer digital media unit, Rockford components for the front and coaxial for the rear on the menu: 

Head unit was an easy install, I've gotten lazy (or smarter) with my audio wiring these days, opting for butt connectors instead of messing around with the soldering iron. Pioneer includes a nice little microphone unit to use for Bluetooth calling, instead of using the ugly plastic clip included and running the wire all around the dash, it found a nice home being flush mounted into the radio bezel. 

Din kit doesn't fit very well but looks okay installed:

Next up, front door speakers, factory speakers are riveted into the doors made short work removing by drilling out the rivets. 

The Metra speaker plates needed some cutting to properly fit them in the car, and given the lack of space in the mirror caps, I decided to surface mount the tweeter pods. 

Being careful to not tear or remove the vapor barrier, everything was wired up and reinstalled looking quite factory!

Sound difference is night and day! quite pleased with the upgrade, now on to repairing the oil leaks tomorrow and on to packing on some more miles! 

I don't have much to sdd, but awesome. I have a 2004 XRS. Love it. Watching for info. Sport Compact Car magazine did a turbo build up on one when they were new. It seems like Celica GT-S suspension bits worked. 

So, still love the car, and the car still loves to leak... you guessed it...OIL! 

I replaced the seal on the chain tensioner as well as the power steering pump return hose. I "thought" that should have remedied all the leaks (wrong). 

About a week later post engine bay clean up, I began noticing oil drops once again, now not minor oil drops, like 6-10 after an overnight sit. Like enough to have to check the oil every couple days leak...

After reading the horror stories of failed chain tensioner repairs and their perpetual leaks, I was also most certain this was the case. The remaining fix there is to pull the tensioner once again (semi PITA on the 2zz) and stuff the flanged end with FIPG and pray. 

I was all ready to do this on mothers day weekend, however upon closer inspection, the chain tensioner appears not to be leaking! (Yay) 

However, it is for sure coming out elsewhere: 

Now given the state of the oil pan, (looks a bit dented) I want to say its either a botched former repair, or someone jacked up the car by the pan, probably the same person who jacked up the sides of the car improperly and cracked both the side skirts....sigh. Probably the same person who "repaired the valve cover gasket leak" prior to reselling it (still seeps) 

Alas, the car has no rust..

Any how, i think I've found the remaining cuprit area, wind causing oil transfer to the CV, which then flings oil....everywhere. Fortunately, the pan does not look super involved to replace and reseal.

Over the next week or so I will tackle this project and may scoop some STR.T struts before Koni's promo sale ends, along with some lowering springs. I picked up a set of new Dunlop summer tires, take offs from a WRX that will spice up the daily commute a bit and the rehabbed suspension should give the car alot more road feel. Much excite!

Looks like fun! A few years back I had a Matrix XR, always kinda wished it was an XR-S. Going to have to follow this one...

Man you make me feel bad about how I treat mine...

I need to yank the passenger side backing plate and perform some JB Weld reconstructive surgery and the engine has been leaking oil pretty much forever. I fixed the valve cover but I'm pretty sure the it's also my chain tensioner that's a problem.

Also Andy Neuman definitely didn't see me push a RX-7 partly into my garage with the front end

So, I've put another 10k miles on the ole girl, and plan for many more now that the winter months have retired my BRZ and PGT from duty. 

The last oil leak fix was a fail. Did not do a bit to remedy the leakage. So, I geared myself up for a timing cover seal job. 

Managed to disassemble most of the car (including dropping the wretched exhaust manifold with the EGR pipe the COVERS the timing cover.) and then, I found this: 

So I stopped here, (also because a stripped power steering pump bolt hindered removal of the timing cover) and replaced the crank seal, along with the the leaking exhaust manifold donut gasket. Took the time to replaced the botched valve cover seal and clean up the excessive amount of RTV used to install the previous one, thanks shady used auto dealer..

250 miles later, it seems to be doing okay, finger crossed. 

While I was feeling motivated I also took the time to rehab the suspension as I had a leaking strut. 

Installed a set of Corolla Koni STR.T's, which require the lower ear mount holes to be enlarged to take the Matrix strut bolts. Found a cheap set of Tein S-Tech springs as well to kill some wheel gap and replaced the boots and mounts as well. 

Car needs an alignment but it rides quite a bit better now and looks great! 

Several months ago, I also scored a borla axle back on craigslist for $60, seller had also already purchased a new mid pipe for it as well, and included instructions, score. It sounds quite nice and makes some nice burbles. 

Hoping the car stays somewhat reliable, it makes a nice daily commuter with the additional touches. Next up it everything stays golden will be some shifter rehab. 

In reply to Ironsides :

Looking good! I'm trying to figure out what happened to your old crank seal. I see there's one there, but it looks like it's not touching the sealing surface on the crankshaft. Did part of it go missing? What the heck?!

Welcome to the club!

I drive a Vibe GT- the uglier sibling of your car. 

Its the best combination use vehicle I’ve ever had. The 2ZZ makes it just enough fun while grocery getting!

Enjoy!!

dculberson said:

In reply to Ironsides :

Looking good! I'm trying to figure out what happened to your old crank seal. I see there's one there, but it looks like it's not touching the sealing surface on the crankshaft. Did part of it go missing? What the heck?!

 The crank pulley is missing in this case ;) 

SVreX said:

Welcome to the club!

I drive a Vibe GT- the uglier sibling of your car. 

Its the best combination use vehicle I’ve ever had. The 2ZZ makes it just enough fun while grocery getting!

Enjoy!!

Thanks! Makes for the perfect grocery getter :)

I'm at 105k on my XRS. Still love it, and use it like a truck. Mine's an '04, and last year, on my birthday, none the less, I hit a black cat, and ripped the front porn stache bit off the passenger side, so the whole bit had to go. All in all, it has been a great ride. I believe mine was a flood car, and have had some issues (AC clutch, brakes, radiator, Cat), but I am satisfied. It handles nice, is big and comfortable in my book, and most importantly is a Toyota.

These are nice. What kind of mpg does it gets? 

Any cheap(ish)LSD available for it?

In reply to physician :

I get 28 on the back roads and 32 on the highways if I drive it conservatively.

Bear in mind that your supposed to run premium through them. They don't seem to mind mid as long as you're not attempting to put it into lift/duration over 6500 rpm.

A Toyota helical LSD is about 700 bucks refurbished. Thats the cheapest I've seen.

3000 mile update! 

Valve cover gasket seems to be seeping again where the RTV seal goes. Not too concerned here, I was a bit hasty to put everything back together. I can tend to that when it warms up. No major oil leaks though so that is a major win! 

Am noticing a weep/drip from the rubber hose that returns the power steering fluid to the reservoir, also extremely slow so I can't be bothered. 

Suspension feels great still, have yet to get an alignment (shame on me) It can be a little harsh when cold, over the rough stuff. I might need to trim the front bumps back a hair. 

New development is the CEL, pulled a P0010, or cam position actuator circuit code, this seems pretty common. 

I think the solution for this is too clean the OCV filters like The0retical mentioned. I have not tried to get into lift lately so I haven't noticed. 

Any tips for cleaning the filters? I've found several write-ups/you tube vids of similar processes. 

In reply to Ironsides :

The filters are pretty straight forward. The only issue I ran into is the duration actuator is a bit tough to get clear.

You can just pull the top bolt from the alternator but the spring clip for the valve cover rebreather that mates to the hard line to the rubber line is pretty far down under the intake manifold. I didn't have enough room to move it aside so it had to come out.

The process is a lot easier if you're using one of those spring clip tools that have a long reach with the cable. It's tight with just a needle nose.

I'd start with the lift actuator on the driver's side. That should be the first to engage under hard acceleration and it's really easy to get to. If you're still having an issue afterward clean the duration actuator.

Another year another 20K miles! Currently Sitting at 160,000 miles, which in matrix land seems to still be middle aged. 

No large developments, currently no driveway drips, we have a slight exhaust leak from somewhere, not sure if the donut seal I replaced (felpro) failed again or if it is at the manifold. Not a concern at the moment though. 

The ride with the koni shocks and tein springs to me felt very harsh after becoming intimately acquainted...so about 6 months ago I replaced the koni's with a set of sachs touring shocks. This seemed to give me the placebo effect thinking it improved...but now I feel that the real culprit is the tein springs. Expansion joints are quite harsh, as are basically anything other than smooth pavement. 

I am now commuting about 85 miles a day which is beginning to rack up significantly more mileage, but the trix is still providing me with a consistent 30mpg.

Despite it's toyota dependability the ole girl needs a bit of love in order to keep piling on the miles. The clutch is beginning to slip, the passenger CV inner boot is torn, the gear oil is far past due, the motor mounts are tired and the shifter is sloppy and vague. 

Given the new commute I had be entertaining retiring the car and moving onto a more modern commuter but it cleans up so nicely and really hasn't given me much grief. Short of towing, it functions well as the do it all utility vehicle for home depot trips, tire hauling and parts runs.  

That said, its time for the necessary recipe to get me another 50k miles, on the menu:

- Clutch kit (Excedy stock replacement)

- Flywheel (avoiding resurfacing the stocker for convenience) 

- Trans flush (Redline MT90 seems to be the go to for the C60)

- New CV's 

- Axle seals

- Install the energy suspension poly motor mount inserts while im in there

- Shifter bushings (gearbox side)

- MWR short shifter (convincing myself this is necessary but obviously more of a enjoyment upgrade) 

- H&R Progressive sport springs to replace the tein s-techs and save my spine. 

A few months ago I acquired a quickjack from a friend moving across country so I'm looking forward to taking it for a spin, as well as christening the new home base of operations. 

Anyone done a clutch job on one of these? I'm armed with the factory service manual and I've got a few fwd clutch jobs under my belt so I feel somewhat prepared. Once the parts begin to arrive and the weather breaks, I'll pull her into drydock :) 

The motor mounts inserts made a huge difference on my celica. Shifting, steering, percieved throttle response. 

Synchromesh felt much much smoother than mt90 for me. Mwr recommends it too.

https://www.monkeywrenchracing.com/product/pennzoil-manual-transmission-gear-oil-synchromesh-1-quart/

You might not need to do shifter mods after the above 2 are taken care of.

I'm on oem springs so can't comment on aftermarket. You could try adding crash bolts ( a few dollars) and dialing in -1.0 camber in the front to help front end grip since you'll need an alignment after the springs anyway. Consider a bigger rear sway bar if it's not enough for you. 

I've also replaced the donut gasket between the midpipe and header every 2 years. You definitely lose torque the motor can't afford to lose with that leak. 

​​​​​​Sorry nothing to offer on the clutch job, farmed that out.

Beautiful car, hope all this housekeeping keeps you in the car.

RedGT did a clutch job on mine before I bought it from him. He said it was a bit of a pain in the ass but I don't know the details.

Do you need the FSM procedure for it? I have the manual kicking around.

Thanks guys, parts have started rolling in and since I'm working from home next few weeks I'm going to have at this. 

I do have the FSM in digital format, but they usually only get you so far, from what i understand the biggest huddle is the fact that the 2zz does not use a pilot bearing, rendering the clutch alignment tool useless and you have to eyeball the clutch disc position (ive done this before so not super worried) 

Good tip, on the oil choice, I suppose I should have done my diligence before ordering the redline, I will give it a shot for the summer months and see what happens. 

I did the donut gasket about a year ago, but I also read after doing it the felpro gaskets don't seem to last, maybe i'll try an oem? I can't tell if the leak is at the manifold or donut seal but both could be probable. 

My car also pops and bubbles quite a bit when coming on or off the throttle, its done this since I bought it, car runs fine otherwise so IDK if that is normal or if I have some sort of vac leak causing this. 

If its spitting fuel into the exhaust causing the bubbles it would make sense why the donut gasket fails often. 

About part way through my clutch replacement, taking advantage of the time luxury due to the current state of world affairs. 

The project has required several additional parts orders. 

(Original Order) The excedy clutch kit I ordered came with the wrong tool (excedy supplied an FE3 tool which seems to be for a mid 90's ford), now this would seem to be a non issue since the 2zz does not have a pilot bushing. But my original intended plan was to 3D print myself a centering plate to reference the pressure plate opening, to avoid the old clutch disc eyeballing. 

After the following frustration of A: Not being able to get the right tool from rockauto since they do not list the tool itself.

And B: Not even being able to get a person on the phone to explain my situation...(Rockauto apparently does not take customer service calls anymore) 

I printed a return slip for the excedy and ordered a South Bend HD kit from Summit (Order #2). 

Low and behold, the South Bend kit appears to be the SAME kit as the excedy, wrong tool and all, with $100 red paint added to the pressure plate cover. 

Order #3, I now have the ACT tool (K73) which includes a plastic bushing for the flywheel (remains there even after clutch install) to center the disc, pretty nifty. I've read some back and forth whether or not to leave the plastic bushing in there(no way to remove onces clutch is installed) 

ACT notes it remains in place, and I read a few Lotus builds where they have left the plastic bushing with no harm done. So I decided to move forward. 

Order #4, I was not aware that the flywheel bolts are noted TTY, so thanks MWR for the quick shipping on some replacements. 

The removal of the gearbox went pretty smoothly. 

Clutch that i removed actually seems to be a cheap Luk replacement? Slippy none the less.  Surprisingly the $100 paint on the pressure plate seems rather generic... 

ACT's fancy faux pilot bushing:

New flywheel bolted up @36ftlbs +90 degrees:

Making progress now: 

Unsurprisingly, the drivers axle cup did not want to part ways with the gearbox. Which lead to order #5: a slide hammer CV puller, which should be here tomorrow so I can commence with reinstalling the gearbox (1 man vs 1 86lb gearbox who will prevail?) 

Also observed, one of the shift cable bushings was fused to the shift gate, which likely contributed to my awful shifter feel. I have some nice sealed bearing replacements from a guy on ebay that should butter things up. 

Installed the guilty pleasure MWR short shifter prior to all of this fun, I hated it for the first 30mins. But Now that I can find all the gear locations and have gotten used to it, I love it. The matrix H pattern is angled about 30 degrees off center towards the front left of the car, which is quite strange but once you make the picture in your head it all makes sense. Added a short shifter extension to make up for the shorter stick height and a nice new weighted knob. 

Hoping to have this all back together this weekend. 

Nice work, I've always liked the look of these.

That's a wrap! 

My slide hammer arrived this past Friday and despite the claw being undersized, was able to get enough meet on the axle cup to yank it out after a few cracks. If you haven't used one of these on stubborn CV's, you're really missing out. (So easy it can be done in slippers and sweats!) Won't be the last time this see's use and it was only about $60 from Summit. 

Unfortunately the axle seals I ordered (National) Didn't look anything like the OEM seals so I skipped replacing them and crossed my fingers I wouldn't have any leaks. 

Gearbox went back in without much drama, just a lot of gymnastics and swearing but after about 20 minutes I was able to wrestle it in. 

Installed the energy suspension mount inserts for the front and rear engine mounts, I've had these for over a year but never had the motivation to install. Fairly easy to slip in place and then dropped right into the mounts brackets. (Cleaned up the mount threads with a wire wheel before going back in the car) 

One of the other fun bits was the shifter bearings from ebay vender TCS. These replace the bronze sleeved + rubber shift cable bushings. As mentioned before the original bushings were fused to the shift gates, not even rotating as intended. TCS provides a nice little kit even with sandpaper for cleaning up the shift gate post and replacement washers and clips. Instead of a bushing TCS included a sealed bearing of the same diameter, which in theory provides a much smoother linear shift motion. Install was very easy. 

Original bushing:

TCS bearing kit: 

Here they are installed without the final washer or clips:

New axles installed, everything else bolted back up. The C60 gearbox has a front fill hole that is a bit tricky to position a funnel. I used a cheap harbor freight transfer pump right out of the gallon of MT90 and in went about 2.3Qt's before it began spilling out. 

Initial startup was comical, since I forgot to plug the MAF back in....made it about 200ft from my driveway before the car shutoff shifting into second. About 5 mins of head scratching and I found my mistake. 

I've only gotten about 25miles on the new clutch, pressure plate feels a bit lighter than stock (or whatever was in the car) but is very grabby. 

Seems a bit chattery but I'm sure it will bed in after some miles, it may be the increase in NVH from the mount inserts. 

The mounts did add a bit of vibration, but also improved throttle response quite a bit some I am pleased. The gearbox now shifts like butter with the fresh oil and new bushings. Overall very happy, will report once I get some miles on, hoping break in is smooth and uneventful.

100 mile update. So it drives pretty well and the clutch feels nice. But i'm finding a pretty noticeable shake, most prominent in 3rd and4th gear from 2600-3700ish rpm. 

It does also vibrate a bit when adding steering angle on throttle.

It feels a bit more than would be expected from poly engine mounts, I'm suspecting 1 of 2 things:

- Oem engine mounts (160k) are pretty tired, the poly inserts are amplifying their sloppiness. (don't feel it much when free reving while parked)

- Cheap axles are crap 

I'm leaning towards the axles being the culprit. I used a pair of "Surtrack/TrakMotive" brand new replacements. They look the part but from a quick google seems like replacement axles, not remans can often cause similar feeling? Anyone run into this before?

I should have known better ($45 per cost of entry, no core) I'll give the car another once over this weekend to make sure I didn't miss anything, I'm typically pretty thorough with details and torque specs, but we are all human. Any ideas from the hive?