Newb to the site. Have a 91 Supra thats in need of repair. Introducing Myself
 

There's no denying im a newb. The 91 supra was given to me by my father, after he had fixed it, but after my abuse and negligence :( it's un driveable. What had happened to it a lil before it broke down was that I got on a parking lot in the rain and started to slide and try to "drift" (or what i call drifting lol) But soon after, on my way home i started to notice weird sounds, (sounded like if tin cans were scrambling around in the hood) When i stopped at the light, the car felt like it was jumping forward, like giddy upping. As i kept going the noise kept on getting louder. I accelerated harder to see if the noise would go away but..........it made it worse. So eventually on the way home the car shut off on me, and wouldn't turn on anymore. Stupid me I didn't read any gauges, but when i was trying to turn it back on, i saw the temperature gauge go way past the H. My dad was going to change the oil but never did it. He said that happened because the car didn't get its oil changed in so long. Also there was a yellow light that would come on alot on the left hand most side of the dashboard (It looked kinda like a radiator, but i looked it up and the handbook said its the discharge warning light) My name is Joseph, 17 yrs old, live in Egg Harbor Township, NJ, and I don't really know much bout cars but am WILLING to learn lol

I'm just looking for advice on what to do, or what specifically went wrong, any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Out of curisosity, what was wrong with it that your dad fixed before he gave it to you?

From your description and unless I'm mistaken, you've probably got a blown head-gasket (loss of coolant and overheat condition), valve rattle from overheating (rocks in cans sound) as well as possible rod knock (from low oil pressure or volume) allowing your connecting-rod bearing or bearings to get chewed up. That will all have to be confirmed by a competent mechanic, but if it is confirmed you're looking at some pretty significant repairs, up to and including a complete rebuild depending on the actual damage done.

Not trying to scare you as a relative newb, but unless I'm mistaken it sounds like you might want to prepare yourself for some rather substantial repair bills. Find a good, trustworthy mechanic and keep your fingers crossed.

Last time, it was also a blown head gasket that was wrong.

The ironic thing is that my dad is a mechanic but he doesn't have time right now. :/

When you say rebuild, do you mean getting a whole new engine?

An oil change was the least of the car's problems. The light on the left is a coolant level indicator. It indicates how much coolant is in the reservoir... typically this light means you're losing coolant. If you are losing coolant you're going to overheat the engine unless you stay on top of it and keep it filled up... obvious enough. But that's not the end of the problem, the coolant is going somewhere... in this case I'm also inclined to believe that the head gasket was leaking and coolant was getting into the oil. This type of oil contamination alone can cause massive amounts of damage (bearings go and then a rod gets thrown...etc.). The stock temperature gauge is not linear, anything above the middle is problematic really; but,the high mark generally indicates things are hot enough to warp the head if the temp isn't brought down FAST.

Personally, I'm already inclined to believe that the engine is beyond being worthy of a rebuild. Sadly, you won't really know until you get it out and torn down to start taking measurements.

Rebuild = take the whole engine apart, fix everything that's broken and then reinstall.

Thanks for the reply.

but for a newb like me, what do you think is the best thing i could do.

Should I get like a service repair manual thing and start taking things apart?:dunno:

I know my dad is the mechanic but, for now i think it might be a do-it your self job for me, and plus it took him like 7 years (literally) to fix that car last time lol

My personal opinion would be finding someone who has a decent GTE for sale, buy it and swap the engines out. That, or resign yourself to the cost and time and see about rebuilding the engine you have. (I myself went with a reman'd engine with a good warranty). But I gotta tell you, from your description you're going to be putting a lot of money into it if it's salvagable at all.

You definately do need a TSRM (Toyota service & repair manual) if you don't already have one, as they are invaluable when it comes to repairs and maintenance. But for a complete rebuild, that's something you should probably leave to someone who really knows what they're doing with these Toyota engines. They were designed with very tight tolerances, and that makes doing a quality rebuild more critical and more difficult than it would be for say a comparable year Chevy. If it's not done right, you'll be right back in the same boat in short order.

Where would be a good place to look for a GTE engine? Would this forum or craigslist do?

and damn i wanted to stick with this engine cause it only had 56k miles on it.
i dont think i would find another one with that low milage

sorry about all the small stupid questions but i just want to be pointed out in the right direction.

This forum, Supramania, Craigslist, and if you're careful Ebay. I don't recommend getting a JDM engine, as you're likely as not to have to rebuild it in spite of any claims of it being a low-mileage, ready to drop in and run power plant.

There's also a couple of places that offer professionally reman'd units with good warranties, but they are a little pricey most of the time. Your best bet money-wise would probably be finding someone who has a wrecked car and is parting the whole thing out. If the price is right I'd get a whole car and keep it around as a parts vehicle unless it's already been stripped of everything useful.

That is a shame about your engine with it being such a low-miler. And it may not be totally shot. But you're not going to know either way until you either tear it down yourself (ALL the way down) or pay someone to do it. Myself, I'd put it on the back-burner and leave it alone (aside from covering it up from the elements) till you have the spare time and/or money to get into it and for now just concentrate on finding a decent engine to swap into your car.

If i do look into buying another engine to swap it out, how much do you think is a reasonable price. I know it depends on milage and all that but i just want an estimate so I know im not buying ripped-off lol

You could conceivably get one for 300 or 400 dollars if you're lucky, but you shouldn't count on luck. $500 and north of that is far more likely, it just all depends on what you find, what the condition is, and how badly the owner wants to get the money in his/her pocket.

Good luck with it in any case.