MR2 Turbo Restoration Barn find

[Grenade]

You don't need a loan, you need some ebay parts, a giant container of beer and a really good buddy that knows how to wrench on stuff. ;)

Otherwise- really nice car.

[thomp1983]

I'd be confirming the headgasket failure, if the coolant warm you will get a big air release and coolant spewing out as it's a pressurised system.

I'd remove the heater matrix pipes in the frunk and flush the matrix both ways with a hose till it runs clear then rebleed the system, how are you bleeding it?

[cdwood2010]

I replaced the guides and re hydrated the rubber seals with a pot of Vaseline. There is an improvement but it does still leak in slightly. Im absolutely certain it is the rubbers that are on the edges of the glass tops.............
in other news. I took her out for a spin around the block last week. I noticed that the matrix was blowing cold, never a good sign. either an air lock from when I fitted a new radiator or Head gasket has gone.
Today I spent a good half hour bleeding the system, I took her for a drive around the block, the matrix was once again blowing cold. i removed the coolant cap and an absolute mountain of excessive pressure was released.
This now makes complete sense to me as when I purchased the car the original radiator was leaking, this would have probably been the cause of the gasket failing and the car was parked up in storage some 9 years ago and never repaired.
I have trawled through the mountain of service history I have with the car and can not find anything relating to the car ever having the cylinder head gasket replaced in its life......
so thats where I'm up to so far.
Im now going to have to do a bit more over time to pay for this repair, plus I need to replace the timing belt, water pump and tensioners.
does anybody fancy giving me a loan???

I would assume blockage before head gasket also.

Remove the rad, blast the fat pipes through until it runs clear, the long metal pipes under the car can get a bit sludgey.

Then do the same with the two 19mm pipes in the engine bay, see how it behaves after that. Make sure the heater is set to hot, and it should blast through.

c.

[Goldy]

The mr2 coolant systems are a bitch to bleed, you need to have the temp controls set to hot, you should follow the bgb procedure and bleed the heater matrix with two clear pipes on it clipped to the bonnet. Give all the soft pipes a good squeeze to push any air out and then I normally fire it up with the coolant cap off and keep topping up as they air is pushed out, can take about 30 mins to get all the air out

[Phaeton]

Helps to have the arse in the air, the cars not yours BTW

[jonnyboymills]

Thanks guys. I changed the radiator first job when I bought the car as the old one was leaking. The water did look a bit brown. I spent about half an hour bleeding the system last weekend with the arse end up in the air. Bleeding it through the matrix until it ran clear and was blowing hot/ warm. I was continually topping up the water at the arse end. I would put my life savings on the head gasket being blown.
I have some money set aside and one of my friends is calling in this Sunday for a look and a tinker. If he comes to the same conclusion as me then we will be getting to work on her ASAP.
Thanks for the advice, it's much appreciated. I will keep you all posted.

[jonnyboymills]

Had a quote off a local performance Toyota specialist. Engine out, strip down, competition head gasket, new gaskets and bearing seals all around, valve stem seals, valve seat, pressure test, head skin, new head bolts, timing belt , tensioner , water pump. Basically the full hit. £1700. It's a lot of money to fork out and I'm afraid there will be another £1000 on top of this as I might as well have forged pistons and rods fitted while I'm at it. Nearly £3k to shell out........
Do I get more overtime in for the next 4 weeks or sell Japscrap???
I think it's gonna be more overtime

[jonnyboymills]

Had a quote off a local performance Toyota specialist. Engine out, strip down, competition head gasket, new gaskets and bearing seals all around, valve stem seals, valve seat, pressure test, head skin, new head bolts, timing belt , tensioner , water pump. Basically the full hit. £1700. It's a lot of money to fork out and I'm afraid there will be another £1000 on top of this as I might as well have forged pistons and rods fitted while I'm at it. Nearly £3k to shell out........
Do I get more overtime in for the next 4 weeks or sell Japscrap???
I think it's gonna be more overtime

[Grenade]

Pull that engine and rebuild it yourself.
Many people are here to help. :)

[cdwood2010]

Pull that engine and rebuild it yourself.
Many people are here to help. :)

Yeah, this ^