Toyota 2005 Scion XB Modifications & Accessories
Recently I purchased a 2005 Toyota Scion XB wagon on e-bay. This notation includes some of the good and bad features and details of some things I have done to the Scion that I believe improved it and may be of interest to some other Scion XB owners. Much of the work can be contracted for by various shops although in this instance I did all of the work by myself. Each item of change or improvement or addition is addressed separately below. This entry is presently incomplete and in time will be added to including digital pictures of the various installations. Main items of addition to the Scion are:

1. CRUSE CONTROL ADDITION. This is an aftermarket unit I installed. Toyota does not offer cruse control as a purchased option although I understand a dealer will install an aftermarket unit for you...at a huge price. There are two types available. One requires drilling a hole and mounting the control in it. I did not like this option as I wanted to maintain the vehicle so that it could be returned to its original condition if I wanted. The other type of cruse control has a radio receiver that is mounted underneath the dash and a very small radio transmitter control box that is mounted directly in the steering wheel. I installed the latter type and am extremely happy with its reliability, ease of operation and manner of control. I actually like it much better than any of the factory installed units I have on other vehicles. The only thing I do not like is that the transmitter is clipped onto the plastic cover just below the steering wheel and this plastic is not extremely ridid so that if I push on the cruse control buttons with anything but light touch then I get the sensation of bending the entire control because of the flexing of the flimsy plastic cover. There are probably some things to be done to correct this but I have found that after using the cruse control for a while I have finally become used to the way it feels and have learned to operate it with just a light touch.

2. SIRIUS SATELLITE ADDITION. I first considered use of the existing 'satellite radio' but Toyota wants over $400 for the installation. I tried to use an aftermarket unit that was claimed to work directly with the Toyota radio using the radio readout...but they lied, it would not work with my particular vehicle so they gave me my money back. For much much much less money in installed SIRUS Sportester 4 using the units FM frequency modulation) signal it provides with it directly connected to the radio using the unit add on that is available from Circuit City that disconnects the normal radio antenna when the satellite radio is turned on and connects the signal directly to the Toyota Scion radio antenna input. It works great. Also, directions have the satellite antenna mounted on the very rear top of the Scion. I did not want to do this and looked for other antenna spots that would work equally well. I ended up mounting the antenna outside in the middle between the windshield and the hood. There is a perfect space there for it just below the windshield wipers. Since that area is plastic and not metal the antenna is positioned using velcro instead of the magnet part of the antenna.

3. INSIDE AND OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE READIOUT ADDITION. This is a simple LCD (liquid crystal display) like can be obtained from any automotive or other supply. It has an internal watch type battery to operate it continuously with a switch to select inside or outside temperature and is selectable to read either degrees F or C. The outside sensor is wire connected and feeds from the unit on the dash through the rubber grommet near the door hinge for the driver door. The sensor itself is stuck on the steel of the door near the driver door hinge.

4. AHOOGA HORN ADDITION.-This includes a push button switch to operate the horn. The switch is mounted next to the fog light switch.

5. MICROPHONE/AMPLIFIER/PUBLIC ADDRESS/RECORDED MESSAGE ADDITION.- The microphone/amplifier is mounted underneath the center armrest. Two speakers are used outside with them mounted almost at ground level in the front of the vehicle on the right and left next to the front wheel wells. This system also includes a backup alarm. Initially I had the backup wired to operate when the automatic transmission lever is in the "R" position. This worked great except was annoying when first starting the car and shifting to "D" since to get to "D" the control must pass through "R" causing a loud beep from the backup alarm. Since in order to shift from park the vehicle is made so that you must also have your foot on the brake I decided to change the wiring to also be controlled by the brake switch so that when shifting from park to drive does not momentarily turn on the backup alarm. I am happy with it now as I can still operate the backup alarm with the lever in reverse position and my foot off of the brake. To make the circuit modification requires use of a relay that is normally closed but opens when the brake is pushed.

6. SUBWOOFER w/100 WATT BAZOOKA ADDITION.- Includes special mounting of subwoofe vertically adjacent to left side window behind left rear seat with subwoofer output facing downward. Also added subwoofer amplifier gain (volume) control below the cigarette lighter. This mounting method for the subwoofer gives what I seem to feel is better output overall sound than the factory recommended position of it horizontally in the middle of the rear storage area. My mounting has the added advantage of not taking anything away from rear storage and allows full use of the cargo area with rear seats laying flat plus the subwoofer does not have to be removed to have access to the spare tire area.

7. FIRE EXTINGUISHER ADDITION.-Mounted on the plastic covering at the bottom of the rear left window between the window and the vertical mounted subwoofer. The subwoofer mounting does not prevent aaccess to the fire extinguisher which, hopefully, will never be needed.

8. OBJECT SENSOR ADDITION. This consists of four (4) sensors put in holes drilled below the rear plastic bumper, an electronic circuit control box mounted on the right side hidden behind the snap out cover that gives access to the right rear tail light assembly, and a switch next to the fog light switch to turn this option off or on. It also involves changing out the rear mirror. In use the four sensors in the rear bumper flash with blue LEDs (light emitting diodes). When an object is within about 6 feet the sensor color changes to red flashing. At the same time the rear view mirror shows in it LED readouts. A left bargraph in the mirror increases its readout as an objects approaches the rear left of the vehicle. In a similar manner a right bargraph in the mirror increases its readout as an object approaches the rear right of the vehicle. If an object approaches the rear middle then both bargraphs give indication. Simultaneously a digital readout in the mirror tells the driver how far the object is away in meters to the nearest tenth of a meter. Also simultaneously there is a tone sound emitted from the mirror. The frequency (rate) of the beeps increases as the object becomes closer to the vehicle. I am considering adding sensors to do this for the front of the vehicle but have not added this feature yet. I was concerned about dirt, ice and snow thrown from the road and rear wheels damaging the sensors or wiring to them at the rear bumper. To reduce this problem I obtained wonderfully easy to stick on gutter material from Lowes building supply store. The material comes in rolls 4" wide by 33 ft. long used normally for self-adhesive waterproof flashing and is called Tite Seal with bar code 0 95959 00433 9 made by Cofair Products, Inc., 7301 North St. Louis Street, Skokie, IL 60076, tel 800-333-6700 or web site www.cofair.com. I am of the opinion that this material can easily also be used in vehicles such as the Scion XB for road noise reduction when applied to the metal surfaces that are allowing noise to enter the vehicle. Perhaps even a better product that Lowes has from this company for this purpose might be their Peel & Seal roll of flashing that comes in a roll 6 inches wide by 25 feet long. The nice part about it is that instead of the outside being black tar-like it is covered with a very thin layer of aluminum. Cutting the pieces is very easy with scissors and it can be pressed with easy sticking to metal surfaces that are even very irregular as you can push on the material with your hand and force it to stretch or double up as needed to conform to whatever shape is needed.

9. FOG LIGHTS ADDITION. This is the standard Scion XB addition...nothing special added.

10. HOOD TURN SIGNAL AND DRIVING LIGHT. -This is done by removing the existing windshield washer units from the hood and replacing them with ones that have built in LED lights. I wired the lights into the right and left turn signals as well as the headlight system. The result is that when I turn on the left signal the left LED flashes red. Similarly the right turn signal indicator flashes the color red. When the parking or driving headlights are turned on(bright or dim) both hood lights are blue. With the headlights on and a turn signal on the side signaled flashes on the hood from blue to red. Washer solution comes out of these light assemblies very similarly to the original unit and can be repositioned to spray on the windshield anyway you want by using a needle inserted in the nozzle and using it as a tool to move the nozzle around to spray as desired.

11. RADAR DETECTOR. - This is just a commercial unit and you can select whatever one you think is best. Originally I made a mount for it in the middle on the dash...not mounted to the glass...and it worked fine....until I mounted the satellite radio antenna outside. Then the direction indicator part of the radar detector always said I was going W (west) no matter how the car was positioned. The problem was that the strong magnet on the bottom of the satellite antenna was too close to the radar detector. At first I thought all I had to do was recalibrate the radar detector. After driving in circles many times doing the calibration and having it still not correct the problem, I relocated the radar detector to the dash area on the left as far as it can go next to the driver. There it calibrates fine and gives good indication and still seems to function just as well for its radar detecting.

12. UNDER HOOD LIGHT. This is a normal incandescent light fixture 12 volts with self contained on/off switch that was mounted in the middle underneath the hood. Plans are to add a mercury switch to turn it on automatically when the hood is raised but neither Radio Shack or other local electronic supply houses have mercury switches anymore, probably due to the hazard of mercury to the environment. I have obtained at a yard sale the old style of furnace thermostat that has the built in mercury switch and may eventually remove it and use it to control automatically the under hood light. I considered use of magnetic reed relay switches but decided against it because when the hood is closed the positioning of it may be inaccurate to reliably operate a reed switch or similar magnetic type of device whereas the mercury switch is extremely reliable in this kind of application.

13, CHANGE OF CABIN AIR FILTER DESIGN. As has been noted in several websites, the cabon filter is not provided for the Toyota Scion XB when the vehicle is purchased but the cavity for it is there just above the blower which is immediately behind the glove compartment. Access is obtained by removing the glove compartment door which is real easy to do by simply opening the door and pulling upward. A filter is available from Toyota but it is an expensive one and of a flimsy paper design that does not filter out odors. Instead, as recommended by other owners, I purchased a furnace air filter that includes activated carbon to remove odors. I tried Wal Mart and Lowes to no avail and finally located a suitable filter from Home Depot described as: WEB ODOR CONTROL FILTER, adjustable carbon furnace/AC filter absorbs smoke, pet and cooking odors, traps pollen, dust and dander-sized particles,and will absorb automobile exhaust, bathroom type smells, cleaning solutions, cigarette smoke odor, mold & mildew, painting & redecorating odors trims to fit filters up to 20"X25"X1", ASHRAE 52.2 with bar code 2140470002 manufactured by WEB products, Inc., P.O. box 3911, Kansas City, KS 66103-1905, tel 800-875-3212. This large filter can be cut with scissors to make six (6) filters to fit the Scion XB using filter dimensions of 7-15/16" X 8-1/5". It is easy though to lay the old Toyota paper filter down as a template and simply cut out the six filters, five(5) of which I put in a large plastic zip lock bag ready for future filter replacement. As the blower pulls air downward the correct installation of the filter is to place the green part of the filter down first and then the black carbon one on top. The black plastic grid provided can also be cut to size and used or thrown away as the vehicle box tray already has a grid to prevent the filter from falling down into the fan. Since I had the black grid though I put one on top and bottom of the filter material just to help hold it down in place. For those not wanting to go to all this trouble and who want to install the specified Toyota provided paper filter it is described as Purolater #C38188 or part number 12208 0551 3 and the one I saw was made in Israel.

14. CENTER ARM REST INSTALLATION. A commercially available arm rest with included compartment was obtained and installed. It seems extremely sturdy even when much weight is rested upon it and it has a ratchet feature so that it can be ratcheted up completely out of the way although I see no real need to do so since the emergency brake is easily reached with the arm rest down in its normal position. I find it a nice aid on long trips to be abe to rest my arm on it.

15. AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID COOLER. A commercially available transmission cooler that looks like a miniature radiator was installed just in front of the air conditioner cooler at the front of the car. I felt this was a desirable thing to do because on occasion I may decide to pull a small trailer with the Scion XB and knew that the very small engine and transmission might need all the help it could get if going on a long trip of this sort even though Toyota has a reputation of having very reliable transmissions. I was also concerned though that if the cooler was in place when not needed then the fluid might get too cool and reduce the efficiency of the unit or be deficient in some way so the cooler used has the feature of essentially bypassing fluid across most of the cooler when the engine is first started and when the fluid might not be up to temperature such as in extremely cold weather. This way the fluid can warm up quickly and help insure that there is full lubricant flow as well as power transfer via the fluid. The particular cooler used having this quick warmup feature does not have any moving parts or valves that can become inoperative so that was an added feature. Another good feature is that by adding the cooler there is a slight increase in the amount of fluid in the total system. At the same time I installed the transmission fluid cooler I also removed the transmission pan and replaced the in pan filter. Prior to doing so though I took the vehicle to a quick lube shop and had them exchange the fluid with fresh via a flush. I felt this was necessary to have a complete exchange of fluid since by removing the pan not all of the fluid can be removed with much of it remaining inside the torque converter etc. Changing the transmission filter and using a new pan gasket was a relatively easy task as there was no need to remove any under car cross bars or get other things out of the way like there is on many vehicles. While I was under there I also changed the engine oil and filter using full synthetic oil

 

This is interesting. Is this one complete item that be purchased or something that has to be pieced together? Can you be more specific? Do you have any pics?

 

The only problem about those is that they are not usually too accurate. Even the factory installed ones are usually off. My parents drive a 05 Sienna with a temperature sensor factory installed, and its constantly 5-10 degrees off.

 

I installed a VDO Vision Outside Temp. It's very accruate, in a Autometer Quad Pillar Pod with Analog Clock, Oil Temp and Pressure.

 

Link with prices please?

 

eGauges.com

 

I'm resurrecting this thread for the moment in case tlentzsr is still around -- I'm surprised this didn't get more comments. I was thinking of something like a rear object detector using little ultrasonic rangefinders, but I was really surprised to find that you've already done it. With bar graphs and sound effects, even. Have pics?

 

HMmmm...