mr2-digest Monday, 29 January 1996 Volume 01 : Number 099 Cannon WeatherTech Mats Re: mr2-digest V1 #98 sc Houston Dealers Engine Swaps Drag starts and Shifting Power Assist Steering More pictures New Clutch mkI handbrake mkI disaster (fwd) Re: Transmission Noise Q & A Q & A Re: mr2-digest V1 #98 The Red Line Oil Saga Continues ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Kerry Wood Date: 28 Jan 96 23:30:50 EST Subject: Cannon WeatherTech Mats Michael Samuels writes: >>>Has any of you tried WeatherTech floor mats... Yes, have a set in my '93T. They fit well if you put what is normally passenger mat on driver's side and vice versa. If I remember correctly, I had to trim out a small section on the driver's side to fit around foot rest, but that was fairly easy to do. Note that they do not completely cover the MR2 mats which came w/ the car on the outboard side of each - abt 2" exposed - but not much dirt/trash gets there anyway. The Cannon mats have more than adequately protected both the MR2 mats and the floor carpet which is ivory. The ivory carpet shows even the slightest trace of dirt and so far don't have any showing. I suppose you can consider me a satisfied customer since I subsequently ordered another set for my 4 Runner. The mats look good in both vehicles. I ordered both sets from Griot's Garage along with some other stuff to take advantage of shipping rates. The cost of the mats was the same from either Griot's or McNeil. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Kerry Wood '93T Black (mildly modified) "The more people I meet, the more I like my dog!" _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ------------------------------ From: Daniel Barnes Date: Sun, 28 Jan 1996 22:28:20 -0800 (PST) Subject: Re: mr2-digest V1 #98 > Most cars are geared so that redlineing is neccesary to gain maximum > acceleration, but the point to which you must take the tach drops > with each change... past redline from 1st to 2nd, redline to 3rd.. just > below to 4th.. and so on. The shifting so that the needle drops to > peak torque may just be another rule of thumb. There is a very specifc > way of finding exact shift point, but you need a power curve, and > gear ratio info. I have this info for the MKI N/A's. > > Mark Cool. Being as how several of us on the list have these cars, it would be really swell of you to post it if you have time in the non-geological near future. Dan Under the Smog ------------------------------ From: Gerald San Agustin Date: Sun, 28 Jan 1996 22:33:24 -0800 Subject: sc > >increase but not the low end. My question is can I increase >response at the low end without entering the block. > Would a bigger throttle body or Header really make any >difference. The car you might try playing with cam timing. Advancing generally gives better low end while retarding sometimes increases top end. Since we're dealing with twin cams, lobe separation can also be changed. Usually, decreasing overlap moves the power band lower while increasing overlap moves the powerband higher. Gerald San Agustin 88 Twincharger Cyber Racing, So Cal. ------------------------------ From: Charlie Reynolds Date: 29 Jan 96 00:50:20 EST Subject: Houston Dealers George Hilliker asks about reputable Houston dealerships: Sorry George, I had my 92 NA into both Don McGill and Sterling McCall. Both FAILED to satisfy me. Don McGill's salesmen mislead me (watch the lawyers doublespeak) when I bought the car, and couldn't diagnose a problem with the EFI in 3 visits- They said "No codes, no problem." So I tried Sterling McCall. They scratched my paint, only partially filled my transaxle oil (it whines now, it didn't before I took it in), and spent three days looking for a bad rattle that turned out to be a loose heat shield. I was so frustrated I had to leave Texas (just kidding). I hope you have better luck than I did. Charlie Reynolds '92 NA, 33,000miles ------------------------------ From: uunet!interserv.com!kca Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 00:08:44 -0800 Subject: Engine Swaps >>>>In an old bull-sessions, we discussed the possibility of getting a V6 Camry engine in an MR2 (since it's a front-engine/drive, should be easy enough!), but the problem was that the V6 didn't have DOHC(?), and had no real power capabilities. Then the Lexus engine came out, and the problem was finding a transverse transmission. Has anyone heard of anyone doing this, by someone with way too much money on their hands?<<<< The Ford Festiva -> Shogun with the Taurus SHO 3.0 litre comes to mind. As I recall the car uses the full front suspension and transaxle combo from the Taurus to drive the rears. Might be a little short on power in stock form (220? 240hp?), but it is a strong DOHC engine with a transaxle for front drivers. I'm willing to bet the engine would fit, but the whole rear suspension would probably need to be clipped to accomodate the transaxle. Kip Anderson kca@interserv.com ------------------------------ From: uunet!interserv.com!kca Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 00:09:00 -0800 Subject: Drag starts and Shifting >>>I seem to remember an article a few years ago, back when the magazines did this sort of thing, that concluded the best way to choose shift points was to drop yourself onto peak torque on the next gear. If that meant redlining it, OK, but that it is generally unnecessary.<<< I don't buy it. Goes back to stuff I learned in calculus about area under a curve (the power curve in this case). The way to get the most power on acceleration is to put the car in the range of the power band with the most area under the curve. Assume this worst case scenario where the power falls off very steeply right after the peak. Not much point in shifting onto the peak if you lose all of your torque an instant later. A more practical method would be to shift when power starts to drop off or the engine hits redline (whichever comes first) as the gearing in most cars is usually set up to put you back into a healthy portion of the power band when you shift. The gearing may not be perfect, but I'll bet it will give better results to shift this way than run the revs way out of the power band in order to shift onto the peak torque. My stock MR2 Turbo has a factory determined redline of 7000 rpms, but until I installed the TVVC the power seemed to fall off at about 6200 rpms. I felt that I was getting better acceleration by shifting at 6500 because the next gear yeilded similar power that was headed for the peak of the curve vs. away from it. Here's a more concrete example of what I'm talking about: Say the power curve is nice and smooth within the range of 3000 to 6000 rpms with a peak power obtainable at 4500 rpms. In order to keep the most area under the curve (and get the most overall power), it would be best to shift so that the change in rpms is an equivalent number away from the peak rpms of 4500. E.g. if the gearing just happens to be a difference of 2500 rpms near the best shifting point, the best time to shift would be at 5750 (4500 + 2500/2) rpms. This would put the car back into the power curve at 3250 rpms and yield the most overall power to accelerate. Obviously if the spacing between the gears is closer, you'll want to shift closer to the power peak. Kip Anderson kca@interserv.com ------------------------------ From: "Marc L. Summers-SysAdmin" Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 7:11:03 PST Subject: Power Assist Steering As I received no answer from anyone on the list, I find it very difficult to believe that of all of the MR2 owners, and all of the work that they do on there own cars, that no one, not even one person has changed out the power steering fluid on a 1993 MR2. So if this is true, then I guess I will have to develop a proceedure to change out the fluid. - -- + ------------------------------------------------- + + +++ N E C +++ +++ A M E R I C A +++ + + ------------------------------------------------- + + Marc L. Summers System Administrator + + 3100 N.E. Shute Road Hillsboro Oregon 97124 + + PH: 1-503-681-3338 FAX: 1-503-681-3304 + + Email: marcs@tdd.hbo.nec.com + + ---------- Sic transit gloria mundi. ------------ + + --- "Thus passes away the glory of the world." -- + + ------------------------------------------------- + ------------------------------ From: uunet!arthor.cais.com!scott_maclean (Scott Maclean) Date: 29 Jan 1996 6:00 EST Subject: More pictures Reply-To: scott_maclean@arthor.cais.com (Scott Maclean) I've added a few more pictures to my MR2 "crash" page, showing the wall where I hit, and the skid marks leading up to it. Just in case anyone's interested. :) My home page url is http://www.cais.com/arthor/www/ Scott MacLean CASMEL-I Artificial Horizons BBS arthor@cais.com Aviation! (301) 417-9341 http://www.cais.com/arthor/www/index.html 300-33,600 bps V.FC/V.34+ * Free Access * Aviation Files * Usenet Newsgroups * CD-ROMs Online * ** Via PMail 2.3h Reg#658976 ------------------------------ From: DEMETRIUS LAMAR JOHNSON Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 10:32:37 -0500 (EST) Subject: New Clutch Hello Everyone! I have an 86 MK1, and I was wondering how you can tell if you need a new clutch. My clutch pedal pushes in fine, and it's not spongy or anything. It's just when I get on the gas hard in 1st gear the clutches seems to slip a bit. But once the car is moving I have no problems. This seriously affects the way I drive, because I am not as sure how the clutch is going to act entering in traffic. Any ideas are welcome. Thanks, DLJ ------------------------------ From: "ROBERT C. SHAW" Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 09:41:19 -0600 (CST) Subject: mkI handbrake There has been alot of chatter on the digest about frozen emergency brakes. This also happend to me in my mkI. I took the time to remove the troublesome cable. It is a really funny design: The front half is a regular plastic coated cable, but the back half is a spring around a cable all inside a plastic tube. I guess the back half is supposed to flex as a unit, but mine no longer did. I was angry when I realized what a poor design this was. I fabricated my own cables from common stuff from the hardware store. It's worked great for about 6 months now. If anyone wants the recipe let me know. Bobby 85na rshaw@bit.csc.lsu.edu ------------------------------ From: "ROBERT C. SHAW" Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 10:12:09 -0600 (CST) Subject: mkI disaster (fwd) Driving on I-10 in the wee hours of the morning and I realize my mk1 doesn't have any power as I try an easy acelleration. My oil pessure slowly starts to fall to the middle mark. I take the next exit and it dies as soon as I take it out of gear. When I come to a complete stop my gas light comes on full bright, (what a relief, right?) it had been showing a 1/4 tank till then. I try and crank it but no go. So I run about 400 yards to the nearest station (in the teen degree cold) and buy a gallon of gas. Put it in, and still won't start. Finally I get it started with a lot of throttle. (my gas light has gone out) as I roll up to the station, it dies again as soon as the wheels or middle throttle aren't keeping it going. I check the oil, none to be found except coming out from under the valve covers (ouch!) I was hurt, I'd done everything I could to get this car running good as reasonably possible. It has ~120k miles and I was about to change the timing belt and get the valves adjusted anyhow. Before it died a forth or third cycl. value was making noise; never got a chance to try the high octane gas :( I'll write again once something happens with the shop. The car is in Louisiana and I'm in Houston; another long story, and I figure everyone has heard enough. signed - grief stricken, Bobby 85na - out of commission ------------------------------ From: Jeff Strasser Date: Sun, 28 Jan 1996 14:16:44 -0500 Subject: Re: Transmission Noise Matt, I just had my '91 Turbo tranny overhauled with 1500 or 1 month left on my warranty. I first took it in for a broken speedo. The gear in the tranny had stripped because metal from the case broke off into the inside. They replaced the speedo gear, some bearings and the transmission case itself. Yes, there is a good chance you tranny is going. Have it checked out ASAP. Though my car was at the dealer for 2 1/2 weeks, it is great now. Jeff '91 Aquamarine Pearl Turbo ------------------------------ From: uunet!ukonline.co.uk!david.cole Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 19:11:57 GMT Subject: Q & A Greetings All... After 4 abortive attempts to get digests #95 and #96 resent, (they must be corrupted, because they all keep getting cut off at the same point!) Can anyone forward them to me? A couple of things.. a/ I've joined the ranks of frozen hand-brake cables - man, does it stink! The rear near-side froze up, so how the hell do I rectify it? I haven't used the hand-brake for 3 days now. Someone mentioned that the cable splits and allows water in, so could you use self-amalgamting tape to re-seal it? 1/ Headlights... I replaced my semi-sealed standard halogen bulbs with 80/100W. The shell is still standard, but visibility is really good! (can actually see where I'm going). Neither bulbs or fuses have blown, so am I correct in thinking that I don't need to make any mods to the wiring? 2/ For you guys in the UK, if you need second-hand spares, give Malcolm @ Emetech Engineering a ring... I've found their service real helpful (01803 55 99 63) and prompt. (I'm not connected to them) 3/ Oil... If an engine has been run on "normal" oil all of it's life (83K miles), will the engine accept a synthetic oil? I seem to remember from my bike days that I was told not to switch? Anyone care to shed any light on this? 4/ Exhaust... with regards to the small silencer at the rear of the car, just behind the main end one, has anyone run the car without it? (It's definetely not a cat). Will this increase torque any? The problem would be getting the pipe-work to bridge the gap... but what if I just took the guts out of the small can? (it's already rusting, so a repair job is neccessary) 5/ Sorry about the MR2 write-off... Dave Mk1 (83K miles) david.cole@ukonline.co.uk ____________________________________________________________ |Reply to: | | | |David Cole david.cole@ukonline.co.uk | |Satellite Times Fax: (0181) 677 8223 | |Radio & Listings Sub-Editor | |23 Mitcham Lane | |Streatham, SW16 6LQ | |____________________________________________________________| ------------------------------ From: uunet!ukonline.co.uk!david.cole Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 19:12:24 GMT Subject: Q & A Greetings All... After 4 abortive attempts to get digests #95 and #96 resent, (they must be corrupted, because they all keep getting cut off at the same point!) Can anyone forward them to me? A couple of things.. a/ I've joined the ranks of frozen hand-brake cables - man, does it stink! The rear near-side froze up, so how the hell do I rectify it? I haven't used the hand-brake for 3 days now. Someone mentioned that the cable splits and allows water in, so could you use self-amalgamting tape to re-seal it? 1/ Headlights... I replaced my semi-sealed standard halogen bulbs with 80/100W. The shell is still standard, but visibility is really good! (can actually see where I'm going). Neither bulbs or fuses have blown, so am I correct in thinking that I don't need to make any mods to the wiring? 2/ For you guys in the UK, if you need second-hand spares, give Malcolm @ Emetech Engineering a ring... I've found their service real helpful (01803 55 99 63) and prompt. (I'm not connected to them) 3/ Oil... If an engine has been run on "normal" oil all of it's life (83K miles), will the engine accept a synthetic oil? I seem to remember from my bike days that I was told not to switch? Anyone care to shed any light on this? 4/ Exhaust... with regards to the small silencer at the rear of the car, just behind the main end one, has anyone run the car without it? (It's definetely not a cat). Will this increase torque any? The problem would be getting the pipe-work to bridge the gap... but what if I just took the guts out of the small can? (it's already rusting, so a repair job is neccessary) 5/ Sorry about the MR2 write-off... Dave Mk1 (83K miles) david.cole@ukonline.co.uk ____________________________________________________________ |Reply to: | | | |David Cole david.cole@ukonline.co.uk | |Satellite Times Fax: (0181) 677 8223 | |Radio & Listings Sub-Editor | |23 Mitcham Lane | |Streatham, SW16 6LQ | |____________________________________________________________| ------------------------------ From: uunet!aol.com!NetMutt Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 18:58:03 -0500 Subject: Re: mr2-digest V1 #98 Well, it finally happened.... I was racing a 3000GT-VR4 sunday morning, and as I shifted from second to third, **CRUNCH** **OUCH**. Needless to say, that I did in fact pull away from the Mitsu once I got into third, but.... the next time I shifted into third gear I noticed that I no longer had a third gear synchro. Ok, I thought, how bad can it be. Well, as if that wasn't bad enough, after I pulled into my driveway and tried to back out, I noticed that I wasn't able to get the car into reverse. I think that maybe the third gear synchro broke and shot across the tranny box and is possibly blocking the reverse entry, but I really have no clue when it comes to the inside of the transmission/differential. From what I have been told, the gear used for first is the same gear used for reverse, and such if first works, so should reverse. Anyway, has this ever happened to anyone else out there??? I only have 83k miles on my 91Turbo. My car is off to Toyota on friday, if anyone has any input before I drop it off, PLEASE feel free to e-mail me at netmutt@aol.com Thanks a bunch - -Larry Saccone 91MR2Turbo ------------------------------ From: "Burns, James B." Date: Mon, 29 Jan 96 10:17:00 EST Subject: The Red Line Oil Saga Continues I had switched to RedLine 75W-90 tranny oil for my LSD-equipped '94T, then I found out that the viscous-coupling LSD doesn't need the friction modifiers, so I recently switched to their 75W-90NS. The car has 6000 miles and has had the tranny oil changed twice! One of the main reasons I wanted to switch right away was that the 75W-90 bottle says "not recommended for use in transmissions with copper-containing synchros" and the 75W-90NS bottle says "contains improved copper corrosion protection to prolong the life of synchros". I'm not sure what my synchros are made of, but I didn't want to take a chance with the 75W-90. The manual says the capacity is 4.1 qts., but I could only squeeze in a little less than 4.0 quarts. Based on what others on this list have said, this is pretty typical. The dealer did the last change, and when I removed the filler plug quite a bit of oil came out. It appears that the dealer somehow was able to fill it above the bottom of the filler hole. I rigged up a funnel with a hose on it through the engine bay, then attached a piece of tygon tube from the funnel hose to the filler hole. The tubing was the same diameter as the filler hole which allowed me to squeeze in a little extra oil. I wasn't really quick at removing the tube and replacing the filler plug so most of the extra oil drained out, but at least I feel like I got it as full as possible. I haven't noticed a significant shifting difference between original, 75W-90, or 75W-90NS, but my car always shifted great anyway. Brad Burns ------------------------------ End of mr2-digest V1 #99