Today I did something to my car (volume 2)

shietpilot

That's just shoddy! Did the garage tell you they broke the starter?!

Cheensbo

shietpilot wrote: »

That's just shoddy! Did the garage tell you they broke the starter?!

Yeah and showed me the broken one, to be fair shít happens, but leaving the actuator without a vacuum source did not impress, could have easily over boosted to its demise.

There were a few other things that weren't great -
For instance the clutch wasn't bled properly so the master cyl was overflowing, and I have trouble getting from 3rd to 4th at full chat sometimes, where before the work I could flick between gears with one finger - reckon it's air related.

fancy pigeon

Cheensbo: I had a similar issue with one of the 406's, wheel and arch destroyed in gloop. Turned out to be a broken power steering pipe that was seeping down the side and shaft, thus making a mess everywhere when moving.

That had too much innuendo

Cheensbo

fancy pigeon wrote: »

Cheensbo: I had a similar issue with one of the 406's, wheel and arch destroyed in gloop. Turned out to be a broken power steering pipe that was seeping down the side and shaft, thus making a mess everywhere when moving.

That had too much innuendo

Do you know you might be spot on sir, I've noticed a slight increase in whine from the p/s pump in the last few days, I will be sure to investigate further.

If you're right I owe you a coke!

shietpilot

Cheensbo wrote: »

I have trouble getting from 3rd to 4th at full chat sometimes, where before the work I could flick between gears with one finger - reckon it's air related.

I wonder if it's possible to adjust the gear linkages to sort that! I also wonder if the correct spec gearbox oil was used. I had a bad experience of putting GL-5 spec gearbox oil into an old GL-4 gearbox which was messing with the synchros. Having said that I only had problems downshifting and had to double clutch it and rev match otherwise I'd be grinding gears :mad:

Cheensbo

shietpilot wrote: »

I wonder if it's possible to adjust the gear linkages to sort that! I also wonder if the correct spec gearbox oil was used. I had a bad experience of putting GL-5 spec gearbox oil into an old GL-4 gearbox which was messing with the synchros. Having said that I only had problems downshifting and had to double clutch it and rev match otherwise I'd be grinding gears :mad:

Perhaps, now that you say it, I think there's some adjusters on the top of the gearbox ill have a sconce later !

Re gear oil, was way ahead on that one - I brought a drum of correct spec synthetic gear oil to the garage, they showed me the empty so with faith one can't but assume it was put in there!

I need to look after everything really well in this car, it's got a lot of model specific stuff going on one example being gear ratios (gearbox from any celica gt4 will bolt on and work but they're not the same) and there is no parts available for it here, closest I can find one for parts is nz/Japan. A guy in Scotland has one but ain't willing to take much off it as it's spares for his own.

I spend a lot of time trawling through Russian websites to find out information on them & interchangeability of parts. It's a pain, but fun and rewarding when you find out that the rear axle setup is pretty much identical to a lexus rx300, of all things.

shietpilot

Cheensbo wrote: »

Perhaps, now that you say it, I think there's some adjusters on the top of the gearbox ill have a sconce later !

Re gear oil, was way ahead on that one - I brought a drum of correct spec synthetic gear oil to the garage, they showed me the empty so with faith one can't but assume it was put in there!

I need to look after everything really well in this car, it's got a lot of model specific stuff going on one example being gear ratios (gearbox from any celica gt4 will bolt on and work but they're not the same) and there is no parts available for it here, closest I can find one for parts is nz/Japan. A guy in Scotland has one but ain't willing to take much off it as it's spares for his own.

I spend a lot of time trawling through Russian websites to find out information on them & interchangeability of parts. It's a pain, but fun and rewarding when you find out that the rear axle setup is pretty much identical to a lexus rx300, of all things.

Good to hear about the oil.

On my car at least you have to lock the gear level into 4th gear, disconnect the gear linkages, un-clip the locking pins on the gear linkages, connect them up again and lock the pins. This adjusts the gear linkages to correct length I guess. Maybe you might be able to find the correct procedure on Google from a repair manual for your car

Cheensbo

shietpilot wrote: »

Good to hear about the oil.

On my car at least you have to lock the gear level into 4th gear, disconnect the gear linkages, un-clip the locking pins on the gear linkages, connect them up again and lock the pins. This adjusts the gear linkages to correct length I guess. Maybe you might be able to find the correct procedure on Google from a repair manual for your car

Thinking further about it, I've absolutely no difficulty at low rpm, only occurs at near redline changes from 3-4, I'm almost convinced it's clutch related, might give a go at bleeding it, apparently it's a pig of a task!

I have a repair manual, 2 actually, one in Russian and one in Japanese, it can be very frustrating using the Google translate app for such large amounts of text

JakeBell

Cheensbo wrote: »

I have a repair manual, 2 actually, one in Russian and one in Japanese, it can be very frustrating using the Google translate app for such large amounts of text

Scan the relevant section and get somebody on Fiverr to translate it for you.

eringobragh

Somemore MR2 TLC - Time for a coolant change - second since I'vr owned it - I dont think this was flushed on the last change, even though I requested it to be done.

Its pretty brown even for 4 year old coolant, 3 more flushes and I think it should be good.



Level her off!



Coolants just over 4 years old now



Tried draining rad via connector.



Blocked and couldn't shift what was blocking it so pulled the plug altogether




Draining the pipes - they were blocked and had to punch a screw driver through them.






Batch no. 1



Batch no. 2



Easy way of extracting from the overflow bottle without the hassle of pulling the bottle (purchased from ebay for little money)



cable tie hose to the float



Retired for the night




Afterthoughts:

I decided against using the drain plug on the engine block as its advised against

Its VERY VERY slow refilling, first drain I got 8 litres out,second 7 litres...I suspect there was airlocks so 8 litres should be the *true* amount

I'm changing out the thermostat, so I think I'm going to pull it tomorrow and do some further flushes without it in place as I think the thermostat bleeder hole is a bottleneck here...thoughts?

wotzgoingon

That is the very reason I didn't buy a cheap MR2 in the end after I was going to from reading forums which said the cooling can be problematic with the mid engine and radiator in the front.

Yours looks to be in good nick though very little rust.

eringobragh

wotzgoingon wrote: »

That is the very reason I didn't buy a cheap MR2 in the end after I was going to from reading forums which said the cooling can be problematic with the mid engine and radiator in the front.

I changed the Radiator in it when I first got it due to a war wound and had to do a second coolant change - once you've bled the system, followed the instructions to the T, its quite straight forward just very time consuming.

Did you buy a Mk2?

CorkMan_

eringobragh wrote: »

.....I'm changing out the thermostat, so I think I'm going to pull it tomorrow and do some further flushes without it in place as I think the thermostat bleeder hole is a bottleneck here...thoughts?

I'd definitely recommend doing it without the thermostat. Any time I change coolant I take out the thermostat and have the top and bottom hose disconnected from the rad, (I flush the rad on it's own), and stick the hose in the top and just let it run till it's just water coming out of the bottom hose.

eringobragh

Back to it today

Pulled the thermostat earlier to speed up process and yes it does signicantly help





Bleed line





Stuff coming out is alot better noww clear stuff coming out of it (after 5 flushes of 7 litres through it!)





Ready to go - no harm in wrapping the threads in PTFE tape - doesn't mention it in the BGB but I think it will give a better seal - torque to 17nm afterwards



Toyota for life red (imported from UK because Toyota Ireland are only doing the pink stuff now)

..Thats my mate in the bush waiting for me to finish this job!



Onto the themostat next - was all set until I opened the gates box and was greeted with this FFS



Grr on furter research it should be a 64mm thermostat vs the 56mm I ordered the gates autocat is wrong not me!

In future I'm going to cross refernce parts with the ToyoDIY diagrams

For reference the Toyota Part no

90916-03100

Gates Autocat

TH31282G1

It Should be

TH31182G1

Feckin nuisance!

I'm car-less now until the new one arrives, I know I could have gotten away with the old one but its small money to change it out and the hassle of bleeding the system, etc makes it worth swapping out especially since its a 4-5 year change


On the upside got a Genuine Toyota Thermostat and Gasket for €25 delivered

On the rothar Monday Morn

I've to do my rear droplinks - which should be in my parcelmotel locker in the morning

Cheensbo

Great work! 3sge is it?

http://jp-carparts.com is also a great site for part no referencing

eringobragh

Cheensbo wrote: »

Great work! 3sge is it?

http://jp-carparts.com is also a great site for part no referencing

Cheers - Yeah the very one - bullet proof!

Ive used that before for the valve cover seal packing (Toyota wanted €70 for the FIPG!)

I needed it a while ago and couldnt find it for the life of me - cheers

Ded_Zebra

All the brown sludge in the cooling system is from mixing non compatible coolants i think. Should be OK since you flushed the system properly now and I assume you'll fill it with just the one type this time :P

eringobragh

Ded_Zebra wrote: »

All the brown sludge in the cooling system is from mixing non compatible coolants i think. Should be OK since you flushed the system properly now and I assume you'll fill it with just the one type this time :P

Ive always used Toyota4life red - Cant say the same for the 11 years before I got it

Its like cement I cant shift the feckin stuff!

pablo128

The missus arrived home the other evening with a death rattle from her Yaris. On inspection the water pump was making a racket.
The pumps in these were updated a few years ago. The originals had a thinnish steel plate as a body, allowing a bit of flex and causing premature failure. The newer one has a thicker cast alloy body.

They really are simple to change with a lot of room to work. The only tools I needed were a half inch ratchet, 12 and 14 sockets, a torch and a jug to refill the rad. Genuinely it took me 45 minutes start to finish including running it up to temp to check for leaks.

Diabhalta

BMW E30

600ah battery problem

bought an expensive battery last year in december in Halfords for my e30.

everything going ok up until recently. Last sunday I was thoroughly cleaning the interior and left the doors with boot open (3 small bulbs on the whole time). 1,5 hours later when finished I wanted to move the car and the battery was flat. Had to roll the car down from the hill and start it.

Next day rolled it down from the hill again and went to work. Drove about 3km and left the engin running for about 10 minutes when I got there. Started fine after work.

Went to Halfords, fella tested it and it was showing approx 470ah

Thursday, I left my phone in the charger for about 2hrs and later the battery was flat again. Had to jump start it to get the car home.

This morning again flat battery.

I have no radio in the car and I turned the alarm off as it was giving trouble. There is nothing else that could drain the battery.

I will check the alternator if it's charging the battery buy something is very wrong here.

Hal1

Parasitic leak?

Skip to 20 seconds.
ETCG explains: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF1gijj03_0

Diabhalta

handy video, thanks

I have a reading of 14V (or 13.99) from the alternator so alternator is working fine and charging the battery

It is weird that a parasitic draw would happen out of nowhere just like that. E30 is a very simple car and considering I have no radio and no alarm there is not much than can go wrong. Like a month ago the rev counter died. There is a small battery at the back of the clocks that needs to be replaced. But since this happened everything was ok.

Diabhalta

I have some basic multimeter and what I can see is minus(?) 14.25 milliamps. That's probably wrong.

crasy dash

If you swap the leads around(not at the meter) that negative will disappear.

You can check the meter is working by turning on an interior light see if the ma value changes.
Then start by removing one fuse at a time.till you find the draw.

Hope it helps

pablo128

As said, you have the red (positive) lead on the negative terminal.

You should connect the battery up, start the car and see what volts you are getting on the multimeter. Ideally you should be getting around 13.5 volts on tickover and 14.5 volts on a high rev. 3k revs would be fine for a high rev.

pablo128

I changed the front left foglight on my Avensis earlier. The bulb holder had broken on the original. Now on a petrol car I could have lied on my back and took it off via 2 Philips screws. Being a diesel, the intercooler and associated vents were in the way. The back of the lamp actually sits into part of the vent. I had to go pulling one side of the bumper out, the screws were pretty rusted too.

Job done anyway. Apologies for no pics, but I was getting a bit agitated as it was awkward. I did herselfs water pump yesterday and it was less hardship.

Anyway at least I don't have to cover both foglights in black insulating tape to pass the nct this time!:pac:

Diabhalta

well, I destroyed my multimeter when opened the door to have a look at the fuses diagram ... the interior light came on and that was it... It was a cheap crappy multimeter from china for a tenner anyway.

I did 2/3 of the fuses and rest of them were heated seats and stuff I don't have in the car. There was a drop when I pulled out the dash fuse but that was the interior clock and also a very tiny drop when I pulled out the central locking fuse.

I will get some better/proper multimeter and do the test again but I don't think there is a parasitic draw. And even if there would be some bulb on overnight it shouldn't use all the power from the battery. It's a big battery so it should keep the bulb turned on for like 20 hrs.

Hal1

Halfords do a basic multimeter for €9 or something. I would start checking earth points and cleaning them up. If you have a manual like haynes it will make finding them easier. Bad earths can cause a whole world of pain when trying to diagnose electrical issues.

Foxhole Norman

My alternator decided it didn't want to live on this planet anymore today, managed to nurse the car from Blarney to Maryborough Hill with almost every light flashing at me and the gearbox in limp mode, very fun trip :rolleyes:

Swapped the alternator from the estate and all good!

Donor De-Alternatored



Dropped into the saloon



About 2 hours to take both apart and put back together, not too bad a job.

Special Circumstances

Well, took a bit longer than I had hoped but finally got my gearbox and rear diff oil changed.
Picked up 5L of Millers CRX 75W90 NT (bling bling) from EARS motorsports in Mallow a while back. Great to deal with over the phone by the way, thumbs up.


Anyway. There are no pics, my phone and cameras are perfectly fine without the distinctive "cat wee and rotten onions" buzz of gearbox oil.

Rear diff... opening was a bit of an issue, apparently the temperature sensor is made of bakelite or something. Oil was pretty black, no lumps or fuzz in it though. Just a small amount of "graphite paste" stuff on the magnet. Filling was slow.

Gear box.. opening was fine, no problem. Again, just some smooth grey paste no chunks or fuzz on magnet. Fluid murky but not terrible looking. Fill was a pain. Intercooler off, fluid burping up through funnel. Sooooo slow. Spilled some. (Think it smells bad when it's fresh? Wait till it burns!!!)

Intercooler put up some resistance to getting back on (grrrr ).


As for the results, yeah the fresh oil is noticeable. Need a few more runs from cold to confirm.

It says "competition use" on it... should I notify my insurance I wonder....