thermostat is kaput !

sigh, the thermostat has died after 88k miles and in the middle of winter to boot. Bl00dy brilliant. Tomorrow will be spent checking if I have the tools and access to the thermostat housing in order to change it. Plus the appropriate number of buckets to catch the 13L of coolant likely to leak out in the process. Ho hum

Still it was a white christmas so I'm not bothered at the moment ;¬) Enjoy it everybody

car wash and insurance news -

first off the insurance renewal. Decided that in the next year I will fit an Electronic Boost controller or at the very minimum the chargecooler I have sitting in the box room. Renewal time is apon me so I decided to ask around and get some quotes on std as the car is and then after I had added the above mods. Surprisingly Norich Direct, Prestige and Elephant all said no to the modifications I was planning and even the std car was going to be rather expensive.

I spoke to Adrian Flux and they quoted me very nicely and even the planned mods would be no bother either. Oddly enough I took them up on their offer before they changed their minds. Woo hoo

Washed the car today as the amount of grit on the road is turning the car a sh1tty shade of brown and I'm having difficulty seeing out the sdie windows. Ho hum. Now its winter up here in bonny scotland and the last few days have ben somewhat cold. Nothing out of th ordinary for this time of year just plain old cold. So i turn up at the jetwash and its frozen. Go to the next one and its frozen too. What is wrong with these places that they can't keep the jetwashes operating in cold weather. Not even snow on the ground just a bit cold. At this point I'm running out of options and daylight so plan Z is hatched. head to the parents!

Now normally I would be quite happy just to wash the car using bucket and sponge but because of the grit and mank on the car from the roads I wanted to jet wash the blighter first and then sponge it down. So headed off to my parents and set up their hose and soaked the car. Upon applying the soapy water with the sponge I realised the soapy water was actually freezing on the car body! Ok, now thats cold. Of course the water that was on the car was freezing meant that the water that was falling to the ground was.... yup its was freezing on the ground too. Mmmm maybe this wasn't such a good idea afterall???

Got the car washed without breaking my neck and it looked pretty good I have to say.

The weather is pretty cold as I have said and the roads are just greasy and horrible to drive on so I am taking it really carefull out there and just crusing round the corners and only giving it the gas when I know its all straightened up. Don't get any prizes for digging a hole in the crash barrier or the tarmac.

let there be music -

indeed the stereo is back in the car but I have mounted it in the upper DIN slot instead of the previous lower. Why? I reckoned the LED temp gauge would be better masked by the overhang of the radio making the gauge easier to read in daylight.

Took a fair length drive tonight and car feels quite stable. Very nice indeed

fog light switch -

its now fixed and back to its clicky operating self. Fantastic all I need to do now is clean the car and it will be looking good.

back to the garage again -

this time the front fog switch has been broken so the fogs don't work. Ho hum, at least this won't cost me anything

well its back -

new sensors fitted and the wiring done properly (how can I tell?) Seems to work ok but never tempt fate.

The tracking was slightly out but has been straightened anyway. Cool. Now I need petrol :-(

groan -

turns out the alarm was missing a bonnet sensor and the passenger door did not trip the alarm either. Now fixed and just the tracking to be done

will it be fixed ?

well the alarm system is again getting looked at after the re-wire and hopefully this will resolve the current issues. I'd like to think it will resolve all the issues but not likely.

I'm getting the tracking looked at also since it feels slightly out to the left so hopefully back to its true steering self.

Coming back from a car meet on Sunday there the front undertray decided to get close to the road. At 70mph the last thing you want is the front tray falling down. Its now a little shorter than it was before and completely bent at an obtuse angle. Hopefully be able to straighten it out with a little heat and patience.

Also, JohnO has an ECU reader than runs from the diagnostic port for his mini and it may fit mine too. Something to try in the near future methinks.

A

yea - the ignition works

shame the immobiliser doesn't. Ho hum, getting that fixed tomorrow.

Also will need to get the tracking looked at as I feel the steering wheel is not quite straight ahead for driving. Weather pretty cold and very greasy on the roads so I have been driving very gently as I have no wish to end up in the ditch or the crash barriers.

Roll on the summer ; - )

good news bad news -

turns out the fault with the car electrical system is down to the main ignition cables being glued onto the ignition barrel and not attached using the connector block. Bl00dy 'ell. Someone in the past has either broken or actually cut the connector off and then to fix the fault glued the ignition wires back onto the bottom of the barrel lock. I still have yet to think of a reason why this would be done let alone a good one to justify it.

Have ordered a 2nd hand loom for fitting on Monday coming but if the barrel lock is damaged on the connector end then I'm looking at getting a new barrel lock for the ignition. The problem with that is a new key as Toyota will not supply a lock cut for the existing key. So if the barrel lock needs changing then I have to consider the option of changing all the locks in order to keep to only having one key.

Oddly enough this does not fill me with happiness and no amount of Cadbury's is going to change it. Becks maybe but not mere chocolate

radio out of the car -

still same fault happening though with a slight difference. This time I had hit a fair sized bump on the m74 and the pas light blinked then the power started to disappear and the rev counter / speedo droppped to zero. Still at this point no warning lights.

Fcuk it I thought - dipped the clutch turned the ignition off turned it back on and all the warning lights came on cranked the engine and popped it back into gear.

This is beginning to seriously pi$$ me off

groan -

the car stopping electrical fault is still alive and distinctly unhealthy. Car cut out again on way home from work. Loads of crackling type noise from the radio area, turned the radio off and the noise was still there dashboard lights all a flashing then the whole lot died.

Quick crawl onto the hard shoulder of the M8 and restart the car which it does no problem of course. I've had a look round in the gap and can't see the problem and it definitely sounds like its coming from under the radio area or it could be the radio itself.

Anyhow I'm taking the radio / cd player out and seeing if the problem returns. Process of elimination begins once more. Groan

so that's what is behind the dash board then -

indeed I have taken apart the dash board, well centre consule anyway and the tray under the steering column in an effort to find the source of that crackling noise that causes compete power failure. I found a couple of things that gave me pointers to the source of the problem

• a couple of connector blocks that had some strands of copper reaching out


• all the radio cables and boost gauge cables were getting crushed behind the centre consule


• a couple of other wires that lead to nowhere

So I taped up the connector blocks removed any pointless wires and tidied the wiring so nothing was getting crushed. Have been for a few drives and no problems noted.

Will keep my fingers crossed that the problem is sorted

oh dear engine cutting electrical fault --

yeah the car has developed an annoying and potentially dangerous fault.

Driving along at like 50mph on the motorway - honest - and the rev counter and speedo starting dropping to zero and then climbing back to normal and then dancing between the two points.

The car looses power at this point too and starts slowing down and not responding to throttle inputs

a strange crackling like noise from where the radio sits - turned the radio off and could hear it quite clear

the engine is still running at this point - I know cause I turned the started motor on and it screamed as it hit the still turning startor teeth (oops)

then the warning lights come on and the engine is stopped

Oddly enough I turned the ignition off and recranked the engine and it fired up so I carried on.

very strange and has now done this on the last three journeys but only two have actually dropped the ignition completely. Think I'll check the connections behind the radio for loose ones

MOT is go go go -

indeed folks the blue dolphin has a brand new MOT. Passed with flying colours except for a minor blip on the old emissions testing. It actually failed the CAT test but that's cool.

As the MR2 turbo was never offically imported into UK and my car is registered before 1 August 95 I get the non CAT emissions test for the MOT. Funnily enough me and the MOT tester went through the DOT car book and could not find an exact match between the chassis SW20 and the engine model 3S-GTE so hey presto a completely legal NON CAT test was done.

It passed, like a mini adventure but with a better car ; ¬ )

Road Tax pah! -

nothing of note recently except paying out for Road Tax.

The charge cooler is getting painted when ever I can be bothered getting the can out and spraying the blighter. Having said that I have been informed of a mk2 V6 conversion and it sounds awesome. Absolutely amazing sound and the grunt will be fantastic

tyre update : -

the new Yoko's are certainly confidence inspiring both in out right grip and feedback. Surface changes no longer have the car skirming and even camber changes under power in the rain are a no fuss affair. Very happy.

Need to fit some go faster parts to the car now. heh heh

Yokohamas are go -

oh man these tyres seem sooo good at the moment. Went a little scrubbing run to Glen Coe (177 miles return journey ) today along the A82. Full tank of Optimax and I headed off to the Fort William road.

Of course it being a Bank Holiday weekend every man and his slow car was out on the road but hey ho that's life. Now I have a quick car and along Loch Lomond I could have easily passed the whole queue of traffic by the time I got to Tarbet - except the blighters were bumper to bumper for the entire queue of 20 odd cars. Yes I could overtake but I had nowhere to pull back in so I just chilled and droned along at 40mph. Yawn

Took the Fort William turn off at Tarbet and so does the Audi TT Coupe in front. Cool. Wee bit of a play along the road but its a really tight and twisty road that follows the side of the loch and is always wet with the water running off the hill down the rocks onto the road and then into the Loch itself. Even so still had a wee play with the TT until we ran into traffic that just couldn't be overtaken ( not if you value your life anyway ) First impressions WOAH the rear just grips and direction changes happen like - flick. Cool though now the fronts are pushing!!! Really impressive

So get onto the main Fort William road just after Crianlarich which is just a divine road for driving and I start to give it some stick. Oh man the whole car just clung to the road and the rear was really impressive. Soo much fun that it showed really just how crap the previous setup had been - almost 10 months like that. Flipping nora.

Anyhow I pull into Glen Coe quite breathless and very happy and get out to check the tyres. Front Goodyear F1's ok bit warm but nothing to note really. The rears Yokohama A022's - quite warm to the touch. You like - whoa they're hot man.

I strongly suspect these tyres are going to be gubbed very quickly. Ah well sh!t happens - we've still got the return leg to do. heh heh. Bloody brilliant, just what the car was designed for. I love living in Scotland just for the roads we have.

Time for a drink methinks - A

yokohama A022 first impressions -

well they are round and black and look good on the wheel rim. Haven't tried to push them hard since they are brand new however I did notice something odd when I parked up from coming home tonight. Even though it was motorway driving I did the rear tyres were WARM to the touch.

Now in my book warm tyres means grippy tyres. This is good news that and surface changes were taken without a waggle on the wheel. I think I may have to do some backroad testing this weekend. Heh heh

fuggin Clifford alarm system, oh hello shiny new Yokohamas -

yes indeed the old alarm system decided not to let me in yet again. After much swearing and shouting and shooting the darned car with both key fobs getting the bleeding the alarm manual from the flat and generally stamping my feet it finally let me in.

Took it to Drivers in glasgow and they checked it over and reset the memory of the main unit. They also added a new ariel unit so hopefully that will solve the problem. I have me doubts to be honest.

Yokohama A022 225 x 50 x 15 yes indeed I have bitten the bullet and thrown the Toyo Proxies ( poxies?? ) away for a pair of really grippy yoko's. Will they do the job, can't tell since they are just out of the mould but more to follow.

A wee drive at the weekend methinks to scrub them up and then next weekend a good blast for testing purposes. heh heh

Clifford Alarm systems and chargecooler radiators-

it takes it apon itself not to let me in! Every so often the key fob doesn't ( or at least has no effect ) let me in. So if I walk away and come back five minutes later it lets me in first blip. Darned electrics..........

Dunno why that happens and it can behave perfectly for weeks on end then for a week or two nothing but grief.

Chargecooler news

I have since found out that a Fiat Cinquecento radiator fits in at the front even with the old air con stuff up there. This is really good news as the Fiat part is about GB£30 brand new. Good news at last.

Tyre choices

- still not happy with the rear tyres and after some chat on IMOC it seems that the Toyo tyres are used mostly by people running larger diameter wheels and smaller profiles. This means they are not affected by the softer sidewall of the Proxies.

Speaking to a few garages and the good folks on IMOC the recommended tyre seems to be the Yokohama A022. Apparently just like the old Bridgestone S02 - fantastic grip and a mileage of under 10k. Still they are a cheaper tyre and grip is more important to me that mileage. That and tyres are cheaper than insurance excess and new bodywork.

However, the current rear tyres have at least half their tread left so with me having no money they are staying for a good bit longer. Major drag man :(

wash and polish?

yup I actually washed and polished the car at the weekend there. Looked good for about 2 days then the usual bird doo all over it :( Not a happy bunny


No sign of the charge cooler being fitted for this year though that might change

so it still doesn't handle then -

well the new suspension didn't seem to be doing its job when I started pushing the car. Infact it darned near spat me off when I hit a bump going up a fly over at way normal speeds.

It was bouncing all over the place at speed also so I knew what was wrong. Tyre pressures way sky high. Lowered them down to 30psi and tried again. mmmm no bouncing but hardly brilliant and not what I remembered from buying the car.

In a fit of inspiration I dropped the pressures on the rear to 25psi and then drove the car. Oh my god, crap like you wouldn't believe. All over the shop but it did prove one thing. The lack of control was in some part to the tyres / pressures.

Yesterday I'd had enough and decided to drive down the road I knew I could compare like with like. So full tank of petrol I headed for the A701. Guess what?

Even though the roads were a bit wet the car handled really good after a couple of miles which leads me to think that the tyres, Toyo Proxies, need a bit of abuse to get heat into them to make them grip more. I also think the sidewalls are not at stiff as the Goodyear F1's that were on before and nothing like the Bridgestone S02'a that were on all 4 corners when I got the car.

Still, it was confidence inspiring to know the car actually does handle and its just the rear tyres, fronts are F1's, that are holding it back. It also means all that money spent on the suspension was worth it

later

charge cooler 1 socket wrench 0

indeed, taking apart the throttle body I had sent in from the states I broke one of my sockets on my rachet. Nearly went through the flat door as the darned thing gave way. Still I have had that cheap tool set for over 10 years so it lasted well. Time for an upgrade methinks

Friday night guess what I did? Changed the oil on the car. Very sad, I had nothing else to do and it was a nice night.

Changed the install of the temp sensor since it was overreading by about 6degC on start up. Don't know how much over during running but I suspect a little at best. Will monitor it again. Must get a cubby hole for it to tidy the install and reduce the effect of sunlight on the display

New suspension seems to be a lot better but I still haven't pushed the car to find out. Maybe this weekend

The suspension is fitted

and the car really does handle very well. Took it for a quick blast to Dumbarton then over to Drymen then down to Bearsden. Seems to really dig in and turn those corners. Very happy and relived.

On another note, the car got washed today also. No really it did

A set back then a modification then the wait

well what can I say. I did a dry run for fitting the charge cooler and found out it didn't fit. Turns out I need a new throttle adaptor as well, which the c/c vendor was selling at the same time. Doughnut that I am I didn't buy it there and then. Still hopefully get it ordered in the next couple of days when I get PayPal verified. Ran out of money you see.

The temp gauge is looking well suss in the readings but first a pic.

Dunno what is going on with the readings but they seem to be a little on the high side. The reason I think this is I started the car up this afternoon and the temp was displaying 28degC. Not bad for a car sitting in the shade in a multi-storey carpark for 9 hours. I suspect the metal element is touching the alloy of the intake pipes so yet again a quick strip down is in order.

On the bright side the new std replacement shocks get fitted tomorrow in about 9 hours time. Oops

temp gauge installed - sensor moved to intake pipe

Ok, so the temperature gauge is installed in the car and the expected problem arose almost straight away. Its an LED unit which means in bright sunlight, I can't see the damned thing! A little modification of where the units sits is going to be required.
 
However since I haven't actually mounted it anywhere this is not such a problem. I also changed the position of the temp sensor. Previously it sat in the brake duct of the manifold but now I moved it so it sits directly in the path of the air entering the manifold. How long it lasts under that pressure it debatable but it sure is more animated than before.
 
I'll post some pics when I get round to taking some.
 
 
Also 'fixed' was the aforementioned brake pipe. I had put the temp sensor there because the pipe came off easily so it seemed less hassle to use that one. However it dawned on me like 11 months later that the reason the brake pedal MIGHT be spongy is because the pipe on the manifold doesn't seal properly. So today I bought a proper jubilee clip and replaced the spring clip and guess what? The brakes are immediately stronger and more responsive.
 
Result.

suspension has arrived

yup its here and ready to go on the car. Fitting is scheduled for the 23rd so hopefully after that the car will be back to its previously go karty self. I live in hope

the gauge has arrived

eventually! Will post some photos here when I get the digi camera. Looks like my mate john is going nuts on his fiat coupe - we lasted so well without modding then all of a sudden - buy buy buy

Funny how that happens, eh John?

No gauge fitting this weekend

and that's due to the darned thing not arriving a full 24hrs after it was posted 1st Class. Royal Mail is pants. I'm fed up with mail items going missing or arriving late or just arriving bashed and late.

SORT IT OUT GUYS!

Rant over. The weather is mince anyway so not such a big deal I guess.

New suspension should arrive Monday, unless it too gets lost in the post. God knows how though. Then its getting it fitted and moving onto the charge cooler fitting. More money........groan

RIP Suspension - long live Suspension

its official - the current suspension is dead - no rebound damping. So with a now empty wallet I have ordered a new set of struts for each corner. Guess the charge cooler doesn't look like such a good idea now.

On the plus side my new digital air intake temp gauge should arrive tomorrow and a quick mount at the weekend should see it in action. Way hay

more good news on the old suspension

ok, the new spring cups have been fitted and the tracking is now set to what it should be. However the suspension dampers have had their fun and now have very little rebound damping in them. Time for an upgrade.

I'll likely just put the standard stuff on as its pretty good with the nod towards comfort. Just as well with the roads round here.

Looks like the charge cooler has arrived so when I go into work it will either be there or sitting in the local post office which is across the road from the office. Handy, oh yes

Ordered a thermocouple display unit which should arrive tomorrow also. Everything happens at once and I haven't got the money to do them all. Groan.

Need to decorate the flat also cause its a mess and long overdue. Groan - more money

Charge cooler is GO GO GO GO

er, sorry about that. Yes indeed I have managed to source a used but working (we will see) charge cooler from a celica. Good old ebay. The unit was sent 30th June so it should arrive early next week. I still need to get some other parts to fit the unit into the car but they will be bought shortly.

Big, actually huge debate on IMOC regarding the usefulness of chargecoolers v normal air to air intercoolers. Usual arguements of £600 so it must be good for the air2air units were cast about. Have any of these people proved anything they have said? Course not. That would be too easy to blow holes through.

Having said that after I do my install I may have to edit my own views. I don't think I will need to but physics has a habit of showing the truth whether it fits you arguement or not.

later

suspension top plates are go!

got the plates and they look....... black and round. Not very interesting to look at but lets hope they sort the handling. Still going to Kenneth Brown to get the parts fitted and suspension checked also

suspension top plates?? Yes we can get them

spoke to Fensport regarding the top spring plates for the troublesome front suspension. They don't have them nor order them in so its off to Toyota.

Now Toyota are bit um, er pedantic about ordering parts for mr2's. They always want chassis number which isn't usually a problem just a pain. However as the turbo is an import, they kinda go a bit funny. So with this in mind I phoned Shields Toyota and expected the worst.

Indeed the conversion went like this
Toyota: Chassis number sir?
Me: Dunno its an M plate rev3 mr2
Toyota: OK, I'll see what the computer has
Me: Ok, thanks
Toyota: Its not a stock item, take 2 days to get them unless its a back order
Me: Cool, I'll have 2 please. Can I pick them up on Saturday morning?
Toyota: Of course, I'll mark them for Sat urday collection. I'll call if there is a delay
Me: Ok, thanks

Very quick and efficient and only £21.50 each + VAT. Quite reasonable since they are the size of dinner plates.

More Later

new turbo hoses - nice and blue

well they have finally arrived and they do look rather nice. Some replacement hoses for the intake piping from turbo to intercooler and then to manifold. Now I just need to get some new clips and fit the blighters. Might wrap them in heating tape first to try to reduce conduction heat into the airflow


_________________________________________

Note: looks like charge cooler conversion may be on the cards instead. Oh yes consistant boost no matter what the outside temp. Ya dancer

so there is nothing wrong with the suspension?? O I think there might be

been having some problems with the cars handling and its now obvious that something is far out.

I had gone for a little blat up the drymen road to stirling on sat afternoon just because it was nice day and I could.

Had a wee blat but nothing daft, just enjoying the drive. On the way back just coming up to the Queens View I decided to pass a couple of slower cars. Got past one, no hassle and settled behind the second one. Pulled out and planted the throttle in 3rd and was going for it. Full boost was there and there was a slight crest in the road but nothing major. As I hit the crest the backend gave an almighty shake and I thought, fcuk me please don't lose it here. I kept the throttle planted cause backing off under full boost (15psi)while the thing was out of shape just didn't warrant thinking about.

Anyways it held together and I got home just fine. Changed me underwear when I got back though.

On another note I also heard a funny scraping noise while driving through Bearsden and got annoyed when I realised it was coming from my car. Checked it out and it was the heat shield on the front passenger brake disc rubbing against the disc. Bent it back away from the disc and it seems now.

thanks for reading

A

hello world

as ever I seem to have got an idea for the web from john. I like to think he is trailblazing and making the mistakes while I just mosey on in there and use it when it works.

Will post some more info when I can think of something to post :D

you can check my website for more stuff about me