Dell Optiplex SFF All-in-One Stand information (FDXW3)

I had a client interested in the Dell Optiplex 7010 Small Form Factor All-in-One stand, but I had a tough time finding out any information about it. I bought two and here’s what I’ve learned:

  • The new one I just bought in 12/2012 is 73DH9 (073DH9) and it may be the same as FDXW3 (0FDXw3)
  • I know this one is made for the Optiplex 7010, but I read that it should work with 990, 790, 390 (SFF only, of course).
  • Here’s a very good source of pictures or here is Red Planet Trading’s cache of photos.
  • It will only work with Dell monitors with their special “clip-in” system, such as the 1908FP or P190S.
  • This stand will handle up to 13.2 lbs (6 kg).

Here is a better picture showing the monitor mount:

And here is what it looks like if you remove that metal piece and put it against a 10 CM x 10 CM VESA mount screw holes:

Here are the fancy instructions (click to enlarge):

[SOLUTION] Dell Latitude E5420 white screen

A client brought me a Dell Latitude E5420 that had just a white screen – no POST, nothing. If you hooked up a monitor, everything was perfectly fine.

I found some forums like this one that talk about the problems with this model:

http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/148598-dell-latitude-e5420-high-failure-rate?page=1

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/p/19411044/19965108.aspx#19965108

In spite of all of that, I brought it to a laptop repair expert and he quickly removed the monitor bezel, unscrewed the LCD screen mount screws, looked at the back of the LCD screen to find that the video cable was disconnected! He popped it back on and my client is back in business!

Here is a decent-looking guide to doing it yourself: http://www.insidemylaptop.com/replace-screen-on-dell-latitude-e5420-laptop/

I wouldn’t be surprised if this design flaw would make the video cable pop off of the motherboard or damage the cable so as to require replacement.

Please comment if this helps or if you can provide more help!

iPhone 5 searching – won’t connect to cellular network at all

Last night my iPhone 5 started to lose my connection to AT&T. I am in downtown Pittsburgh on the 9th floor, so I’m in no fringe.. I turned off LTE when it started happening and it would switch to 4G, but that quickly stopped working, too, and it just shows “Searching…” Sometimes now it will show 4 bars for 10 seconds, then 1 bar, then Searching.

I read some discussion about the issue and:

  1. activated Airplane mode and deactivated
  2. turned off the phone and booted it back up, with no success
  3. did a Network Reset (Settings > General > Reset > Network Reset), but that did nothing other than delete all my wifi network passwords.
  4. did a hard reset by holding in the sleep and home buttons for a while
  5. popped out the SIM card with a paperclip (right side of phone) and pushed it back in
  6. swapped the SIM card

Here are some threads with similar issues:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1452223

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1450043

Here’s what it looks like:

20120929-083535.jpg

CONCLUSION:

After visiting an AT&T store in Cranberry Twp, PA and swapping the SIM card with no change whatsoever, we have concluded that there is a problem with the iPhone 5 connecting to any SIM card. Thanks for the good experience there, Roger.

To check to see if this is your problem go to Settings > General > About and check to see if you have a ICCID line:

My ICCID line will appear if it shows AT&T in the top left, but disappears when it says “Searching..”

(If you have this happen, make sure to show the Apple Store tech as this is the smoking gun.) So, my iPhone 5 can’t read the SIM card. Now the question is whether this is isolated of will show itself like a timebomb. Is it SIMgate??

Next I went to the local Apple Store and Play Store Download Matt did some quick diagnostics and didn’t find any known issue, so he pulled out on the 16 specially-packed non-retail iPhone 5s in stock for this type of situation. He had me backup to iCloud, restore on the new one and off I went. Despite taking some time, AT&T and Apple really took care of this well.

PLEASE COMMENT IF YOU HAVE THIS PROBLEM AND WHETHER REPLACING THE SIM WORKS.

[UPDATE 3/17/13] Here is a site with some good suggestions on what to do if you have this problem. If the ICCID is gone, I suspect replacement is your only cure.

Kyocera default Administrator Number

Here is a snippet from a Kyocera manual:

The factory default administrator number is either 2500 (25/25 ppm model), 3200 (32/25 ppm and 32/32 ppm models) or 4000 (40/35 ppm model).

So — take the first two numbers of the model and then two zeroes.

In case it might help, here are some good guides to help with you with setting up scanning with FTP or SMB:

http://www.advanceddocumentconcepts.com/downloads.php

[SOLUTION] Adobe Flash updater with Internet Explorer Script Error

A client was trying to update Adobe Flash to 11.4 (down with Adobe and their rage-inducing update policy), but she got a pop-up windows in the final phase of the update:

Internet Explorer Script Error

An error has occurred in the script on this page.

Line: 1

Char: 18292

Error: Object expected

Code: 0

URL: http://127.0.0.1:1821/app/_js/index.js

What this means — I don’t know. But here is how I worked around it – visit this page:

http://helpx.adobe.com/content/help/en/flash-player/kb/installation-problems-flash-player-windows.html#main-pars_header

On this question in the Adobe help there is a download link for Flash Player for ActiveX. I ran that and it updated fine.

Please comment if this did or didn’t help.

 

[SOLUTION] The VPN client was unable to setup IP filtering

In the Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client my user would get “The VPN client was unable to setup IP filtering. A VPN connection will not be established.” and “AnyConnect was not able to establish a connection to the specified secure gateway. Please try connecting again.”

This happened after being infected with malware (ZeroAccess trojan to be specific). After cleaning, it still wouldn’t connect to the VPN. Thanks to a hint here, I found that the cause was because the trojan deleted the Base Filtering Engine service.

I got it back by following the instructions from my preferred antivirus company, ESET.

If you can’t find the SubInACL.exe, get it from Major Geeks here.

Please comment if this DID or DIDN’T help.

[SOLUTION] Windows Update and BITS services missing

You get: “Windows Update cannot currently check for updates, because the service is not running. You may need to restart your computer.” on Windows 7 when checking for updates.

In my case, this happened on two computers that both were infected with the ZeroAccess trojan. The reason this message appears is that the malware deleted the registry keys for Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) and Windows Update (wuauserv).

I searched and searched today, but came up empty trying to find a utility or easy fix. Thankfully, I previously figured this out and here is what to do:   (this is an advanced fix and I highly recommend leaving it for professionals; I cannot support you if this causes problems)

1. Run SERVICES.MSC after hitting WINDOWS-R and look for Windows Update and Background Intelligent Transfer Service in the list of services. If they are missing, keep going.

2. Visit Smartest Computing’s cache of registry keys. Click Download at the top and save the SEVEN.ZIP (or adapt this if your OS is different) and pull out the bits.reg and wuauserv.reg, double-click each one and restart the computer.

3. Leave a comment if this worked or not. There are times when the files have been changes or removed that this wouldn’t work.

[UPDATE 4/2013] If this doesn’t work for you, Tweaking.com has an All-in-One Windows repair tools that has had success with some: http://www.tweaking.com/content/page/windows_repair_all_in_one.html I’m interested in feedback on that tool.

[UPDATE 11/2013] Some users have been able to repair Windows XP with this advice here:  http://www.philmorgan.net/techie-tools/windows-update-bits-background-intelligent-transfer-service-fix-batch-file-for-windows-xp

How to fix Dodge Grand Caravan rear blower motor resistor – with pictures

I have a 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan and the rear blower for the air conditioner stopped working except for on the highest setting. From my quick checking it looks like this should also apply to 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country.  Here are my instructions on how it fix it yourself:

Pickup the resistor (when the fan is on 4, it bypasses the resistor), so you must replace it. I bought it at the local Dodge dealer — part number 5019189AA. The list price is shown to be $21.20.

Grab yourself a 5/16″ socket and ratchet and get started. It only took me about 10 minutes. This grate pictured below is where the blower motor is located:

Pull this plastic strip straight up, it will pop off. Pull the whole thing off and set it aside.

Then pull the side panel off. I had some trouble getting this off and could only comfortably get the bottom clip off, so I just replaced it by bending the panel back like shown.

This is the blower motor resistor. Remove those two screws with your 5/16 socket. Be careful not to drop them in the nest of wires.

Pull the resistor out and pull back the red tab to unlock the thumb lever and push down on that lever and pull:

This is the old resistor…hmm that goo coming out the side can’t be good. Put in the new resistor (you can handle that). At this point, go test the blower motor to make sure you did it right. Make sure to try both knobs if you can’t get it to work (front and rear).

I pulled this white clip out of the metal and placed it back in the plastic panel. Make sure the one above it is correct, too.

I first put the front flaps back underneath, then popped in the clips in the back.

Make sure that the weatherstrip is over top of the panel.

 

That should do it! If this helped or you can help make this better, please comment below.

 

Dell Latitude E6430/E6530 Frequent Crashes & Blue Screens

I decided to recommend the latest and greatest Dell Latitude to my client a month ago, the Latitude E6530. I know the E6520 is reliable and stable, but I figured I’d go for the next generation of processor and USB 3.0. Well, that was a mistake. Ever since I put 4-5 hours in prep time to get it ready, it crashed over and over — about 5 times per day. It would generally just restart on it’s own and leave a crash dump. Sometimes it would happen when it was idle, sometimes when it was in use.

I called Dell (thankfully I bought ProSupport), and they redirected me to a special team of 10 technicians that are in charge of support for brand new models. The agent didn’t seem to have seen this issue before. We checked all the drivers and updated a few, although most drivers were still at “A0”, which means the first release. The problem continued. I changed the settings so that the computer didn’t sleep or hibernate at all, but it would still happen while using it. The tech recommended that I reformat the hard drive and start over. To me, that it like someone going to the mechanic with a stalling problem. The mechanic looks at it and recommends removing everything in the engine compartment and putting it all back in. I would think that they would want to get to the bottom of what is causing it.

So, on my own, I swapped the RAM I put in with the OEM RAM and disabled the USB 3.0 controller in the Device Manager. I did have the wireless mouse receiver and HP OfficeJet 6700 plugged into the USB 3.0 ports, so I moved those to the USB 2.0 port on the back and the eSATA port, respectively.

That did it — perfect for 5 days. I went back and re-enabled the USB 3.0 port and moved the HP back to it and it crashed multiple times that day. I’m headed back to reinstall my RAM.

Sadly, Dell could be learning from this and working with Intel to remedy it, but nope. PLEASE, if you have this problem, too, comment!

[UPDATE 8/14/12] FASCINATING! Check out this comment where the same exact issue is reported, but only on the Latitude with an HP OfficeJet 6700! So, is this an HP problem or Dell driver problem??

[UPDATE 8/18/12] This is quite fascinating and disturbing: “Make sure your not plugging the USB into a USB 3.0 port. HP printers don’t work with USB 3.0 connections and that can keep the computer from seeing the printer.” – HP support site (thanks Jason)

 

Using a problem called WhoCrashed, here is the crash information:

On Thu 8/2/2012 10:41:12 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\080212-14632-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Thu 8/2/2012 10:41:12 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\memory.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: iusb3xhc.sys (iusb3xhc+0x63F2B)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\iusb3xhc.sys
product: USB 3.0 Device Driver
company: Intel Corporation
description: Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: iusb3xhc.sys (Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver, Intel Corporation).
Google query: iusb3xhc.sys Intel Corporation KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED

On Thu 8/2/2012 10:29:53 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\080212-15350-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F1C0)
Bugcheck code: 0x3B (0xC0000005, 0xFFFFF80002C059BC, 0xFFFFF88007C2BE80, 0x0)
Error: SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that an exception happened while executing a routine that transitions from non-privileged code to privileged code.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Wed 8/1/2012 6:19:25 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\080112-15568-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Wed 8/1/2012 4:06:57 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\080112-40716-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Tue 7/31/2012 2:29:22 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\073112-14679-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F1C0)
Bugcheck code: 0x3B (0xC0000005, 0xFFFFF80002C049BC, 0xFFFFF88007F4DA80, 0x0)
Error: SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that an exception happened while executing a routine that transitions from non-privileged code to privileged code.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Tue 7/31/2012 1:09:42 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\073112-21980-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: tcpip.sys (tcpip+0x63D7B)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\tcpip.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: TCP/IP Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.

On Mon 7/30/2012 4:28:03 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\073012-26582-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Mon 7/30/2012 3:25:56 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\073012-15662-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Mon 7/30/2012 1:44:15 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\073012-14024-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Sun 7/29/2012 7:22:41 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\072912-13462-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Sun 7/29/2012 4:34:18 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\072912-12620-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Sat 7/28/2012 10:18:09 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\072812-15210-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Thu 7/26/2012 10:54:52 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\072612-13260-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Thu 7/26/2012 4:33:53 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\072612-13509-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.


Conclusion


18 crash dumps have been found and analyzed. Only 15 are included in this report. A third party driver has been identified to be causing system crashes on your computer. It is strongly suggested that you check for updates for these drivers on their company websites. Click on the links below to search with Google for updates for these drivers:

iusb3xhc.sys (Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver, Intel Corporation)

If no updates for these drivers are available, try searching with Google on the names of these drivers in combination the errors that have been reported for these drivers and include the brand and model name of your computer as well in the query. This often yields interesting results from discussions from users who have been experiencing similar problems.

 

2012 Toyota Camry roof clunking

In my new 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid XLE (here is the first report I’ve seen from a 2013 Camry owner), there is a terrible clunking, clicking or popping noise coming from the roof around the sunroof, particularly when going over bumps or turns, particularly when the car torques. (This is in addition to many loud dash rattles.) The dealer says that Toyota knows about it now and is working on a fix, but no estimate was given for when. I took it to the dealer September 2012 and the service bulletin finally was released in October 2013. Please comment if you are experiencing the same thing and what you are doing about it. (Oh, and I just hit 9,000 views of this post on January 2014.)

Here is a recording I made one hot day. I’d like to make a video of the noise, so if you can capture a video of the sound at its worst, send it to me in an email using the address on my home page or comment.

Here are some reports from other owners of the same thing:

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/310-7th-generation-2012/418639-2012-camry-xle-roof-noise.html

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/310-7th-generation-2012/427628-2012-camry-se-moonroof-knocking-noise.html#post4021184

http://www.schiffner.com/my-2012-toyota-camry-is-a-lemon-and-toyota-doesnt-help/

ADVICE FOR UNTOUCHED CARS:

My current advice would be to have the service rep type into your record that you have a terrible clunking noise in your roof at the next scheduled service appointment (as long as you are under warranty for a while). Start a log for yourself to record everything that happens with dates, mileages, names and comments from the dealer.

[UPDATE 3/9/13] Here’s an interesting comment written by the technician working with a Toyota field tech, “found welding slag in between the seam of the moon roof opening and in between the pinch welds. during body roll and over bumps the slag would creek and make noise. removed headliner and moon roof assembly to access and clean out the space between the spot welds on the pinch weld opening of the moon roof. inserted shim stock and in between the space after cleaning out the slag and also installed felt in between the roof and folded over section of the opening. was helped by FTS to properly install the shim stock, reassembled and verified repair”. In my talking with a tech, they don’t provided enough shims for all of the welds, so they can only do some and in some cases they spray foam in the roof, like mine.

[UPDATE 2/1/14] From Toyota Nation forums. Toyota finally released a service bulletin: TSB-0151-13. When you go to the dealer, tell them about this TSB and ask whether they have experience doing the repair. I would only have someone do this repair that has successfully performed at least one or two. It is a long and difficult repair that can go horribly wrong. I would talk to the service manager as well to tell them about what you know from this site and that you would like him/her to supervise the job and make sure it is done right. Assume that your car will be ruined and plan accordingly by protecting yourself and being ready for arbitration. Many have gone that route and have been successful, but you must prepare.

ADVICE FOR “REPAIRED” CARS:

DOCUMENT EVERYTHING! Write notes based on every visit, every conversation, every person’s name, every comment, everything. You may need it in arbitration and/or trial. Other than that, I’m not really sure what else to suggest. If it’s not fixed after the first time, there are too many stories on this blog of it getting worse after bringing it back over and back, not to mention the headliner and trim damage. Based on my reading of this article, it looks to me like Toyota could lump this problem into a minor noise problem rather than a substantial defect, which may make it hard to win a Lemon Law case. If we could prove that this is a safety hazard (in the event of an accident), we may have a better chance at winning a trial or getting publicity. I just don’t see any way we could prove that. I think it could be proven that it hurts the value of the car, but that would probably be an uphill battle, too. For some reason, we must go through arbitration before taking Toyota to trial and those that have gone to arbitration that have commented here have gone silent, so a non-disclosure agreement must be forced upon them for any kind of settlement.

FOR 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 CAMRY OWNERS:

Since I’ve gotten some comments about 2007-2011 roof noise, I did a little bit of research. Here is my advice for you: Toyota does know about this problem and they have a kit and instructions on how to fix it (despite what the dealer might tell you). Tell the service rep to look up this service bulletin on Toyota’s TIS website: T-SB-0088-12. It describes the problem well and gives full instructions on how to take the roof apart and fix the problem. I’ve heard that it is a very difficult job and some dealers might not want to do it. This should be covered under warranty if you are under the 36 months/36,000 miles. If the service rep is unhelpful, talk to the service manager. If they don’t help, call up Toyota corporate to complain. Just make sure to get it in the records before the warranty is up.

THE END

I found this whole situation hopeless with the roof problem that seems to be unfixable, the dash rattle that the dealer couldn’t fix, my check engine light came on and my fancy JBL touchscreen intermittently would go dark. My car is A LEMON pure and simple. I traded it in the fall of 2013 for a 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid. The Fusion feels like a 10 year leap ahead in technology and interior design, albeit smaller inside. I feel much relief getting rid of this piece of crap. Shame on Toyota for handling this so poorly and slowly and not fixing the problem on the assembly line early.