Oh, Boy! It works! (Bragging? And a little advice, please...)

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Hachiroku ハチロク - 11 Mar 2007 21:45 GMT

Nice day today. Oiled up the Supra, yanked the charger and rolled it out
into the sunlight for the first time since November.

Had a little "oil seal" smoke, but not as bad as before. I have been using
"High-Mileage" oil in it the last two changes, and I notice when sitting
there is less and less "oil seal" smoke (make that "valve seal)...

It was running a little rough, and after it warmed up it stalled twice
after high idling. Then I shut it down and noticed the TPS connector...
wasn't. Reattached the connecter and fired it up and Voila!

I also noticed, before hooking up the TPS, that there was some smoke
coming from the engine at high idle for a while, but with the TPS
connected it seems OK. Must be just teething problems from sitting all
winter.

Two disconcerting items...
First there was a very, very faint knock from somewhere under the hood. At
first I thought it may have been just parts waiting for the oil to
circulate (I didn't do my trick of disconnecting the coil wire and
cranking to get oil pressure up...). It seemd to go away after 20-25
minutes, and from inside the car it sounded like a water pump on the way
out. We were going to replace the WP 2.5 years ago when we did the timing
belt, but it is not driven bu the timing belt, so it's not really a biggie.

Then the big concern on my mind. After I rolled the car back I found a
bolt on the floor, near the fron of the car...it looks like it broke off.
Now, I can't recall dropping any bolts when I had it apart, and everything
went together as it should, so before it goes back on the road it's going
on the ramps and get checked out. I'm hoping it's just a body bolt...

And now, to the advice part of our program. It's been 2.5 years and about
20-25,000 miles (I guess...the Odo's broken, and I'm guesstimating
8-12,000 miles per year, depending on the number of sunny days...)

Since it looks like the water pump is coming out anyway, and it has been
over two years since the last complete coolant drain and fill, is there
any advantage to switching over to Toyota Red AF? I understand the
benefits for the new cars, and I think the radiator is original, but I
also know the girl that had it before me spent $1100 on the cooling
system, and I'm guessing a new HG. Should I switch (let's put it this
way...is there an advantage to switching on a car this old?) or should I
just fill it back up with green and drive on?

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Ph@Boy - 12 Mar 2007 04:05 GMT

> Nice day today. Oiled up the Supra, yanked the charger and rolled it out
> into the sunlight for the first time since November.
[quoted text clipped - 39 lines]
> way...is there an advantage to switching on a car this old?) or should I
> just fill it back up with green and drive on?

If the engine has hydraulic lifters, one could have bled down in storage
and that was the slight knock you heard until oil pressure and
temperature pumped it up again. If it has solids, and the knock went
away after reaching operation temperature, it's rather normal. As far as
the coolant, I would go with what specification the manual shows.
Coolant only "wears out" with repeated heating and cooling cycles, you
may need to change it due to foreign colors and or contaminants (rust,
ect.) in it as well. If you are going to keep the car I would make sure
you had the recomended coolant in it IMHO.

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Hachiroku ハチロク - 12 Mar 2007 04:14 GMT

>> Nice day today. Oiled up the Supra, yanked the charger and rolled it out
>> into the sunlight for the first time since November.
[quoted text clipped - 47 lines]
> pumped it up again. If it has solids, and the knock went away after
> reaching operation temperature, it's rather normal.

It's an OHC engine, with shims between the lobes and the valves. I had it
apart this winter, everything looked OK. I meansure a couple of them and
they were within spec. Like I mentioned, I think it might be the water
pump...

> As far as the coolant,
> I would go with what specification the manual shows. Coolant only "wears
> out" with repeated heating and cooling cycles, you may need to change it
> due to foreign colors and or contaminants (rust, ect.) in it as well. If
> you are going to keep the car I would make sure you had the recomended
> coolant in it IMHO.

Yeah. I was just wondering if there's any advantage to the pink (red?)
stuff, other than $10 more a gallon...!

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Ray O - 12 Mar 2007 04:51 GMT

> Nice day today. Oiled up the Supra, yanked the charger and rolled it out
> into the sunlight for the first time since November.
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
> belt, but it is not driven bu the timing belt, so it's not really a
> biggie.

I don't think a water pump noise would go away. A loose timing belt can
make a sound that sounds like knocking, and flexing it may make it go away.
If the noise does not return, don't worry about it.

> Then the big concern on my mind. After I rolled the car back I found a
> bolt on the floor, near the fron of the car...it looks like it broke off.
> Now, I can't recall dropping any bolts when I had it apart, and everything
> went together as it should, so before it goes back on the road it's going
> on the ramps and get checked out. I'm hoping it's just a body bolt...

It is tough when extra parts are left over! Keep the bolt in the glove box
so you will not need it. If you throw it away, then according to Murphy's
Law, the missing bolt will become critical.

> And now, to the advice part of our program. It's been 2.5 years and about
> 20-25,000 miles (I guess...the Odo's broken, and I'm guesstimating
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> way...is there an advantage to switching on a car this old?) or should I
> just fill it back up with green and drive on?

If the car is '"virgin" and has only had Toyota red, then there is an
advantage to sticking to it. Once silicates have been introduced, there is
no advantage to using silicate-free. Fill it with good quality green and
drive on.

Signature

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

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Hachiroku ハチロク - 12 Mar 2007 14:45 GMT

>> Nice day today. Oiled up the Supra, yanked the charger and rolled it out
>> into the sunlight for the first time since November.
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
> make a sound that sounds like knocking, and flexing it may make it go
> away. If the noise does not return, don't worry about it.

It has sat for a while. The timing belt was replaced 2.5 years ago with a
Gates. I picked Gates because when we removed the Gates belt from my '95
Tercel with 70,000 mile on it, it looked NEW! I 'played' with it for a
while; no cracks, notches, etc. Real good shape!

>> Then the big concern on my mind. After I rolled the car back I found a
>> bolt on the floor, near the fron of the car...it looks like it broke
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> box so you will not need it. If you throw it away, then according to
> Murphy's Law, the missing bolt will become critical.

I'm hoping it fell out of my bin of Toyota nuts and bolts...but I don't
think so. It was way up near the front of the car, so I'm really hoping it
wasn't suspension! When it get warmer and more chance of sun than snow,
I'll get it up on the ramps. This worries me a lot more than the knocking!
After sitting 5 months, there's bound to be some noises...

>> And now, to the advice part of our program. It's been 2.5 years and
>> about 20-25,000 miles (I guess...the Odo's broken, and I'm guesstimating
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> is no advantage to using silicate-free. Fill it with good quality green
> and drive on.

Thanks! I didn't really want to spend the $$$ unless there was a good
advantage to it!

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Ray O - 12 Mar 2007 16:54 GMT

> I'm hoping it fell out of my bin of Toyota nuts and bolts...but I don't
> think so. It was way up near the front of the car, so I'm really hoping it
> wasn't suspension! When it get warmer and more chance of sun than snow,
> I'll get it up on the ramps. This worries me a lot more than the knocking!
> After sitting 5 months, there's bound to be some noises...

Suspension bolts generally have a 17 mm or larger head. If it is a 10 mm
then it is probably holding a trim body part, and if it is 12 or 14 mm then
it is holding something more substantial. Also check the bolts holding your
caliper brackets.

Signature

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

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Hachiroku ハチロク - 13 Mar 2007 01:40 GMT

> <snipped>
>>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> then it is holding something more substantial. Also check the bolts
> holding your caliper brackets.

I'll have to look again, but I believe it's a 14mm...

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Danny G. - 12 Mar 2007 20:05 GMT

Before I replaced the timing belt on my Supra (@ 90,000) it was making a noise that
sounded like that too. But I thought the sound was from the distributor and there so close
to each other I wondered also. One other thing I noticed was that my timming light was
showing the ignition timming bouncing around just a little.

I was suprised when the old timming belt looked perfect but replacing it did in fact make the
noise go away and the timming steady as a rock again.

Hopefully helpfull
Dan

BTW:) Seems unlikely a bolt would break or fall off when its parked without help.

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Hachiroku ハチロク - 13 Mar 2007 01:39 GMT

> Before I replaced the timing belt on my Supra (@ 90,000) it was making a
> noise that sounded like that too. But I thought the sound was from the
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> Hopefully helpfull
> Dan

Timing belt has <25,000 miles...

> BTW:) Seems unlikely a bolt would break or fall off when its parked
> without help.

Well, *I* sure didn't help it!!! ;)

I'll have to have a good crawl around underneath before moving ahead Warp
1...

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