mr2-digest Wednesday, December 24 1997 Volume 02 : Number 018 MR2 Speedo Oil and Turbo Question MR2 MKII NA Synchros Re: MR2 leafcharger reply Re: MR2 MKII NA Synchros MR2 Re: Ariboxes (was: Levin Search) MR2 ALternator- Turbo?? Re: MR2 MK1: TRD 272 cams, ITS ALIVE!!! Re: MR2 re: leaf blower Re: MR2 MK1: TRD 272 cams, ITS ALIVE!!! MR2 mk1 ground effects/ cheap RE: MR2 MKII NA Synchros MR2 re: another tire question MR2 MkII Exhaust Manifold problems MR2 source for "MR 2 Parking Only" signs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 09:41:12 -0500 (EST) From: HOWARD W FERSTLER Subject: MR2 Speedo Oil and Turbo Question Here are some interesting points and questions concerning my 1991, MK II turbo, 5-speed, with the E-153 transmission. First, has anyone here ever had problems with the "speedometer driven-gear oil seal?" Symptoms would include oil dripping (slowly, real slowly, because it has to be pushed many feet through the speedo cable) from the back of the speedometer, and possibly an oil film gradually showing up on the instrument panel, under the speedometer face. I have a new seal on order (it costs only a few bucks) and will pull the gear out and change the seal next week. If anyone else here has had to do this, I would welcome some pointers. The manual indicates that special service tools are required, but they do not look so special that substitutes would not work. (Just in case, I am ordering two seals, in case I damage one on my first insertion try.) The manual also does not really tell how to "do" the work, merely noting that the mechanic must pull the gear when doing a transmission teardown, and that the seal should be changed if it looks worn. I assume that there is also a fixed seal around the gear assembly itself, but the parts guy at Toyota told me that that seal is bonded to the unit and the only way to change that if it were to also be leaking would be to replace the whole gear. No, the seal that is leaking in my case is the one that fits around the moving shaft that spins the gear that attaches to the end of the speedometer cable. Once the seal has been replaced and the speedo cable drained of excess oil, I will want to pull the clear plastic panel over the dash to clean off the oil film. The manual shows how to get it out, but the amount of stuff that must be removed is huge (even the steering wheel must be pulled). Is it possible to do the job on a more limited scale, pulling the clear plastic out just a few inches, so that I can swab the instrument face clean with some alcohol? Also, has anyone ever had the emergency brake lock up. Mine did on one wheel some time back, and after diddling with it and discovering that the problem involved the mechanism inboard of the wheel itself, I fixed things by merely spraying some WD-40 oil on it. The problem was immediately fixed. I wonder if this tendency to stick is responsible for some of the excessive pad wear we hear of with the rear brakes. Finally, I am curious if anyone in this group has every had a turbocharger fail. Mine still works fine (30,000 miles), but I would be curious about how long a turbocharger can last. Will it go the distance, and last as long as the engine? If it will eventually need to be replaced, what kind of costs are involved. Incidentally, I currently use Castrol 5-50 Syntec oil, which I hope is a helping that turbocharger to last and last. Howard Ferstler Incidentally, my new book, The Home Theater Companion, has recently been published by Schirmer Books. All you A/V buffs take note. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 10:35:27 -0500 From: "Burns, James B." Subject: MR2 MKII NA Synchros My '93NA gears grind if I shift directly from 3rd to 5th gear. I know this isn't the way you should normally shift, but I have an old habit of accelerating quickly to the speed limit in 3rd, then just going right into 5th. I haven't had a problem with doing this on any other car I've owned. Have any other MKII NA owners experienced this? My car only has 7,500 miles on it, so I don't think the synchros should be hurting too badly yet, however nearly all of those miles have been turned in anger on a racetrack. The car wasn't even registered for the street until I bought it. It shifts up and down through the gears okay, except for the 3rd to 5th shift I mentioned and it is pretty notchy going into 1st gear, especially when cold. I think it currently has Valvoline 75W-90 synthetic in the tranny. I plan to change it to Redline MT-90 which I hope will help. Brad Burns ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 11:06:44 EST From: Sport Ridr Subject: Re: MR2 leafcharger reply In a message dated 97-12-24 07:18:40 EST, you write: << mr2-digest@mr2.com >> actually i have already thought of something a little different. Looking at the housing of the blower, i thought about removing just the housing to the fan, including the shaft that drives it, and mounting a bracket and pulley to it. Then it could be run off the belt drive. Not sure if the belt drive spins fast enough for the fan in the leaf charger to work good enough. Oh well, its fun trying and dreaming of "affordable" power mods for those of us without $3,000 or so for turbo kits. Anyway, i just look at the CART racing indy style toyota cars powered by Normally Aspirated 4A-GE engines that pump out around 300hp, actually i think it was in the high 200's. This incourage's me in my quest for power. They get this power from close to stock specs too. Of course there are some changes, but not many. The article i read about this is in the SCC mag. the Nov. or Dec. issue i believe. Mike Craig 86 MR-2 86/95 ZX-6R ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 08:17:29 -0008 From: TerrySaltzman@home.com Subject: Re: MR2 MKII NA Synchros brad, > My '93NA gears grind if I shift directly from 3rd to 5th gear. I know > this isn't the way you should normally shift, but I have an old habit of > accelerating quickly to the speed limit in 3rd, then just going right > into 5th. I haven't had a problem with doing this on any other car I've > owned. Have any other MKII NA owners experienced this? mine gets alittle "notchy" but no grinding. i have a trd clutch in that is adjusted "tight?" (it engages right off the floor). if i dont depress the pedal all the way to the floor she will grind, but that is just me not disengaging the clutch all the way (fully depressing the clutch). i rode with randy chase a couple of times and he would grind (briefly and shift through it) from 3-4th. you 93 guys are supposed to have the improved syncro setup too. very courious. is it cold where you live? does it improve as the tranny warms up? like you say, maybe a switch to MT- 90 is in order. i have MTL in my 92 (to improve the notchy feel), this it did, somewhat. since ive changed the fluid i have noticed the gearbox is very loud at deceloration and "level" thrrottle applications (gear lash?) this could be three things: 1) the MTL is thinner allowing more gearbox sound to travel through it or allowing more "lash" due to thinner fluid or both. 2) the trd clutch is noisier (at idle with clutch out this is true) 3) could have damaged the gearbox at willow springs raceway. (got into some "clutch engaged" spins.) > My car only has 7,500 miles on it, so I don't think the synchros should > be hurting too badly yet, however nearly all of those miles have been > turned in anger on a racetrack. anger...racetrack? > The car wasn't even registered for the street until I bought it. It shifts up and down through >the gears okay, except for the 3rd to 5th shift I mentioned and it >is pretty notchy going into 1st gear, especially when cold. > I think it currently has Valvoline 75W-90 synthetic in the tranny. I > plan to change it to Redline MT-90 which I hope will help. as an experiment i am going to switch back to the factory fluid and see if "the noise" subsides. "the noise" has not increased and seems to be at a steady state (for now) this has been going on for 4-5 months, so im not to alarmed, just annoyed. the point of all this jibberish is you may or may not experience "the noise" with your mt-90. please let me know how this works out for you. boosting and lashing my way to the New Year - terry (the non-attorney, loud one, with "bonus paint"...actually, i though all attorneys were loud ? ; ) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 18:22:25 +0200 From: "Kostas G.D.Chryssos Ph.D." Subject: MR2 Re: Ariboxes (was: Levin Search) At 19:00 23/12/1997 -0800, you wrote: >> >> Well.. if it DOES suck water.. is that going to damage the engine? >> >> --- >> Tim Rightnour - root@garbled.futureone.com >> http://www.zynetwc.com/~garbled/garbled.html >> >Tim > > Not good to get water in combustion chamber. Others can explain >why better than I can. > >Mo Not exactly, Do not forget Water Injection !!!! Kostas G.D.Chryssos Ph.D. ELFON Ltd., 30 Ikarias str., GLYFADA 16675 Athens, HELLAS (GREECE) Tel: ++ 30-1-9628212 Fax: ++ 30-1-9649833 e-mail: sv1bt@compulink.gr / sv1bt@otenet.gr ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 10:53:18 -0600 From: Kory Yingling Subject: MR2 ALternator- Turbo?? Help! My Battery and Low Oil Level Light came on, is this the alternator, sometimes when I rev it above 4k it goes out, sometimes not, it might stay off for a brief moment if I drive for a few minutes over 4.5k. Also I cannot make more than 2psi of boost. What could cause boost to basically not come on? Could wastegate actuator be stuck open? what could cause this? alternator/battery??? Help! MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Kory ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 12:06:37 -0500 From: Stephen Gunter Subject: Re: MR2 MK1: TRD 272 cams, ITS ALIVE!!! At 08:05 PM 12/24/97 +1000, Robin San wrote: >Hi guys > >Well after 4 days of just stuffing around the beast finally fired up, >with a bit of enouragement. The problem seemed to be the ignition timing >(and stupidity on my part and the need for new plugs) and in particular >the alignment to one particular tooth. Anyway I had to advance the >distributor gear by one tooth before I could even get the damn thing to >fire up hesitantly. > >Thanks to all who replied to my earlier posts, you guys were all right, >having suggested that the distributor was the problem, as usual your >help was invaluable. > >Well now that its in, Ive had a few blasts around the block and it looks >like its about 10% increase on midrange and top end, something still >seems missing. Im running the cam timing at 105/107 and its got about 14 >degrees igniton advance, I havent had a chance to experiment with the >ignition timing much. It seems a bit un-necessary to me for your cam timing to be so far out..7º advance seems a bit much..it should have fired up easily with those cams, with only the idle needing adjustment... >What would be gained by changing the cam timing to 98/100? this is what >TRD suggest for these 272 cams. I tried that but I couldnt get it going, >possibly because of the distributor suff ups and fouled plugs. So I >settled for 105:intake and 107:exhaust, its ok to run this cam timing >isnt it? Im pretty sure I could get the 98/100 going. I think you owe it to yourself, your car and your cams to get the timing right. By advancing the cams you have shifted the effective powerband, robbing the engine of high rpm power... > >Also I have checked the new plugs after a 30 mins of driving and they >seem a bit too clean, so I think the MAF mod to richen the mixture is >called for, how many teeth advanced is suggested for these cams? I believe it is 3-5 teeth. The mod is in full detail on my site, in the 'tech' section... >Also what idle rpm should I be going for? it looks like 1000 is as low >as it will happily go with out idleing really lumpy. I had no problem with a 800 rpm idle with my 272º cams installed..I really think you need to get your timing right. The TRD cam timing specs are on my site as well, in the same 'tech' section. >Thanks to all who offered so much help over the last week or so and >with the broken rocker cover I dint think I was going to make it. Im so >glad that I got the thing running before christmas...thanks for >all your help...thanks Santa for the cams too!!!! Well then, Merry Christmas. > >Ill update the list on any news on these cams, but so far it looks like >a win win situation, there is no loss of bottom end and the midrange is >just so much stronger. The lumpy idle is pretty cool too. > >Merry Chirstmas everyone!!! >Robin San >89 MK1 NA >TRD 272 CAMS!!!! > Stephen Gunter,1990 Levin, icq 285675 http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/7177 home of the Toyota Mods WebRing ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 12:21:47 EST From: Daucott Subject: Re: MR2 re: leaf blower In a message dated 97-12-24 01:13:34 EST, you write: > But i have to admit, it does sound like a fun experiment, and I applaud > those involved. > Although I must admit I had my gas leaf blower in hand right before going to the dyno, and didn't take it last minute due to limited dyno time, but why would this help at all? It's just a big hair dryer and it won't build up any pressure behind the intake valves, so all you're really doing is making sure the engine gets enough air to fill the chamber. It won't pressurize the chamber, so if your intake is decent and allows enough air to get in anyway, this mod shouldn't do anything for power. Dave A. daucott@aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 12:24:42 EST From: Daucott Subject: Re: MR2 MK1: TRD 272 cams, ITS ALIVE!!! In a message dated 97-12-24 04:12:16 EST, you write: > Well now that its in, Ive had a few blasts around the block and it looks > like its about 10% increase on midrange and top end, something still > seems missing. Im running the cam timing at 105/107 and its got about 14 > degrees igniton advance, I havent had a chance to experiment with the > ignition timing much. > You will probably be better off at 10 deg advance on the timing. 105/107 is the timing Web uses, FYI. Dave A. daucott@aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 10:47:24 -0700 From: Mattled@webtv.net (Matt Ledbetter) Subject: MR2 mk1 ground effects/ cheap I called to check on the price of the front ground effects for the mk1 today. They have dropped considerably. $100/ per side. They come color coded, so no added cost there. They were almost $300/side last year. I thought people might want to know. If all dealers don't have the same price as mine, let me know and I'll get you the phone number. - -Matt ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 12:54:30 -0500 From: "Burns, James B." Subject: RE: MR2 MKII NA Synchros terrysaltzmansaid: >you 93 guys are >supposed to have the improved syncro setup too. very courious. I think that only the turbos got the improved synchros for '93. I think the NA got the engine improvements but no tranny changes. >i have MTL in my >92 (to improve the notchy feel), this it did, somewhat. since ive >changed the fluid i have noticed the gearbox is very loud at >deceloration and "level" thrrottle applications (gear lash?) In my turbo I've used the stock fluid, 75W-90NS, 75W-90, MTL, and MT-90. I noticed no significant difference with any of them, but my turbo always shifted great anyway (except when the pressure plate broke at 15K miles). I have now settled on MT-90 and plan to use the same in my '93NA. One thing interesting about the NA's, though, is that in '91 Toyota recommended ATF for the manual tranny, and in '93 they recommended 75W-90. This is curious since they didn't make any changes to the NA transaxle that I know of. FWIW, my Acura (and most other Hondas)recommends 10W-30 motor oil in the transaxle and MTL works great in that. A lot of Honda owners swear by MTL. >> My car only has 7,500 miles on it, so I don't think the synchros should >> be hurting too badly yet, however nearly all of those miles have been >> turned in anger on a racetrack. > >anger...racetrack? Just an expression :-). I haven't had the NA on the track yet, but I'm eager to. Probably March or April. Brad Burns ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 13:15:07 -0500 From: "Miller, Bill [PRI]" Subject: MR2 re: another tire question Hello, was looking for some tires, well wondering around Sam's Club... Found a cheap tire that sounds good, will the mosters fit. BFG 235/60/14---$59.00 At another Sam's I had got 195/60/14. I want to get a fairly nice tire, these 195's have been good, they are 60's but at only $49.00 each it was a deal. Ive put 5k on them and the edges are holding very nice. Now I see they have the 215/60/14 and the 235/60/14 for both at the same price $59.00 Which will fit, is this a good deal, and would a 235/60/14 outperform a 195/50/14 in anyones opinion...??? One last thing, who the hell makes a car with 14's that will take this monster 235/60/14 anyway...???...This would be alot of rubber on a Celica GT, 4 wheel burners...yeee haaa. You don't say which BFG tire these are. I'm guessing they're Radial T/A's or Touring T/A's. As far as fitting, I can't see the 235/60/14's fitting on a '2. First of all, your side wall will now be 20% taller w/ the 235's. Also, you should probably have at least a 7.5 if not an 8 inch wide rim to put them on, which, w/o serious offset will probably rub on any '2. I'm guessing that the application for these cars is on older american cars (70 Nova for ex.) that came w/ 14 x 7 or 14 x 8 inch Chevy Rally wheels. I have a friend w/ said Nova w/ 215/60/14's on the front and 235/60/14's on rear, 7 in wheel in front, 8 inch wheel in rear. Car looks very nice. If I remember my old bias-ply tire sizing, I'm guessing that a 235/60 was either an L60 or an M60 tire. Anybody that remembers this stuff, correct me if I'm wrong. Regards, Bill ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 10:34:32 -0800 From: Troy Pummill Subject: MR2 MkII Exhaust Manifold problems > > >Date: Tue, 23 Dec 1997 22:50:38 EST >From: Daucott >Subject: Re: MR2 Re: MKII Turbo - Ticking and Manifolds/EGR... > >In a message dated 97-12-23 19:49:05 EST, you write: > >> actual experience (my "bonus" steel mist grey 92) with the egr and >> popped studs/warped manifold. i also have had the displeasure of > >Since his car is a '93 the odds are very high it's simply the EGR tube. Has >anyone with a 93+ ever had a warped manifold? I haven't hear of any, and on >my car it was the EGR. > >Dave A. >daucott@aol.com Dave, Although I'm not sure if it was warped or cracked, they replaced the exhaust manifold on my 94T in July. Unfortunately, it is now broken again and will have to go back in January for another fix :-( Troy ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 11:39:00 -0800 From: william brandt Subject: MR2 source for "MR 2 Parking Only" signs I've had several people ask me about this - they are metal- red letters/white background "parking signs". I have one next to my hanging piston & connecting rod (from a 4A-GE of course). I have ordered one for Falco - and since these are custom made - they say allow 6-8 weeks for delivery - Anyway if anyone's interested in my "source" it is a small gift shop in of all places, Virginia City, Nevada. This is a "ghost town" now tourist town. The gift shop is called Sundance Gifts - I spoke with a woman named Billie. Cost is about $25 with shipping - and they do NOT ship overseas. I forgot to ask if they ship outside the US - phone number is (702) 847-0100. A warning - - at night (when they are closed) you'll dial long distance and after 10-20 rings get a modem - so hang up after 5 rings. I think they open at 10AM Pacific time. They will be closed tomorrow (Christmas) Hm, this does sound like "spam" - but it isn't. Just thought the rest of you might be interested. Full message is "MR2 parking Only - All Others Will Be Towed" Bill Merry Christmas/ Frohe Weinachten/ Happy Hannaka William L. Brandt wbco@wbco.com Sacramento, CA ------------------------------ End of mr2-digest V2 #18