1990 supra turbo partial rebuild. Please Help!!!
 

I just got a 1990 supra turbo. It has a few problems that I need help with

1. The valve cover gasket is leaking oil I saw that all the valve cover bolts are philips head?? I would think that this would cause alot of leaks due to the fact that you can't torque them like a hex head. I would like to know if there is any replacement bolts I could get to fix this leaking problem.

2. Ok the turbo boosts still to about 5 or 6 psi (is that normal boost or should it be higher?) but it seems to only be within 3000 and 4500 rpms or so, once it pases this point it doesn't seem to pull verry hard. It does have 237k miles on the car and the turbo was never rebuilt. And theirs also an exhaust manifold gasket that is blown and I'm almost positive that the cats and exhaust system is cloged. Would this cause the slugishness to happen?


I'm sure there's more I just can't think right now. Please help. Thanks : )

Sorry if there are typos I'm using a phone

Replace the valve cover gaskets first. They're probably stock in which case they've most likely compressed over the years.

You may replace the screws with M6 bolts. The philips head screws were used in order to prevent over tightening and make it easier to service. The torque spec is only 22 INCH lbs. Do not over torque them or they will leak again. Also don't forget to put a small dot of RTV in the corner where the #1 cam cap rises up from the head.


Yes, an exhaust leak before the turbo can cause low boot. Another possibility is a weak spring in the actuator. As far as I know you cannot get a replacement actuator... you can add an aftermarket universal if yu fabricate a custom bracket or you could add a boost controller (a manual boost controller can be built very cheap!). Get the exhaust leak under control first.

Is the #1 cam the one closest to the fire wall or the one closest to the radiator.
How would I go about building a manual boost controller? I. May have the turbo rebuilt by powerfab with a bigger wheel inside for a little more boost and that way I don't have to modify the flange.

Another thing I wanted to know is how do I put a blow off valve in I live the sound of them and would like to incorporate it into the stock set up with aluminum piping instead of rubber hoses. Is this possable with the turbo being internaly wastegated stock from factory? This is my 1st supra and first turbo vehicle please correct me if I make any mistakes this is something I really neeed to learn.

The culinders and everything else is numbered front to back. Anyway, it's the only thing the valve cover goes up over, you just need to add a little dab of RTV silicone to the tight corner where it comes up.

Google "diy boost controller"; if you're unsure of the accuracy of the instructions you find post a link and I'll look it over.

I am unfamiliar with that company; Make sure they do reliable work. I (as well as most Supra owners) advise not going larger than a 57 trim. Personally, I'd go with a company that has a lot of experience specific to the CT-26.

BOV and WG have nothing to do with one another... neither one will affect the operation of the other. There's nothing to installing an aftermarket BOV, install pipe with proper flange, mount BOV, connect the vacuum hose which ran to the stock BPV, plug BPV's return and the opening on the manifold where the pressure was venting from.

Do keep in mind that loud BOVs are cop magnets (ugh) and you may experience issure when letting of the throttle (stumbling or stalling) as the ECU thinks it's about to receive air which has actually been purged.

Heh, oh we will. :naughty:

If you run the vacuum hose correctly the air flow sensor will pick up the air flow changes and there should be no stutter from the engine when letting off the gas from hard accel, learned from doing it wrong the first time ;p

WTF? You've just DUMPED a large quantity of air. The 7M doesn't use any sort of meter which can see this loss... thus many people experience problems. And vacuum has nothing to do with it at all... Interestingly some people just see heavy richness and some occasional backfiring (postignition). If you have a fuel controller this can usually be compensated for.

Thus he got me, lol all I know is I only ever felt a stutter once that was the first time I installed my apexi blow off valve mechanic told me I had it on wrong moved a few hoses and bam it ran perfectly!

Quite simply: Overly rich = bad. The goal is NOT to run overly rich when you shift... it causes a big power loss when you finish shifting and get back on the throttle. Personally, performance is more important to me than some cute little whistle.

Some people compromise by installing a BOV AND keeping the stock BPV. This cut's the over rich condition down quite a bit as not all air is being dumped. There's still a loss though.

Anyway, if your car isn't stalling and you're not worried about squeezing every last bit of power out then go with it.... just pointing out that you may experience issues. And if you are looking to squeeze out every last bit of power then you really need to look into a fuel control system anyway (most of which will let you tune out the over rich issue).

Oh. I was under the assumption that a blow off valve was a waste gate just mounted away from the turbo itself.

Ok so today I took off the valve covers the came look great verry little scoring and pretty clean but I'm going to degrease the valve covers and the cwhile I'm in there.. I also found a few verry dissappointing things in this process ;(

First off there are a few cremped hoses that need to bbe fixed ( no big deal). But then there's a hard pipe type hose that goes from some type of valve into the manifold that crosses over the block. It was hard plastic and wraped in electrical tape. Idk what to call it to get it ordered.

Then after I got all the clutter off the valve covers I took the wires off the sp plugs and 3 of the wires that run from the coil packs broke off on the plugs and on the inside where the plugs are its flooded with oil. What the heck dso I do about this? Iv heard its some what normal for it to happen but its quite a bit of oil in there. Any idea where the oil is leaking in from?

Then I decided to look in the trunk and discovered it is not in existance the entire spare tire holding area is rusted through I can see the muffler and gas tank from the back seat when the cover is out. And the area a little to the right by the fuel pump is starting to rust through to : ) idk what to do about this. This car is turning into more of a project everytime I try to fix something...

Thanks for all the replys by the way . Thewy have been verry helpfull

I'm only going to cover a couple point, hopefully someone else will chime in with more info for you.

If you need help with a part, post a picture.

Oil in the plug galley is not unusual when the valve cover gaskets are leaking. That is the most likely source. The other source is the four massive plugs holding down the central cover. Start with getting as much oil out of there as possible with rags and perhaps siphon, then pull the spark plugs and just let the last few drops in each plug recess to empty into the cylinder (I hope there not a lot of dirt in there with the oil). Clean the plugs and wires thoroughly, reinstall the plugs (DON'T OVER TIGHTEN THEM) and run the engine to burn off what drained into the cylinders.

As for the rust, I don't know... The easiest fix IMO would be to cut out what's bad and weld in new sheet... otherwise, if it's more extensive either just cut it all out and weld in a new custom trunk bed or cut one from a chassis at a salvage yard and weld that in.

Check the rear tire wells for rust damage as well.

Your hatch seal is probably leaking if that much water's been accumulating in there.

Yes, cars this old are rarely easy on the wallet.

I havnt checked the fenders verry well yet I will after school and post some pics of the hoses I need

I read some where in these forms that you can takee the allen bolts out of the head and get an oil drain plug gasket and install it with the bolt to prevent leakage into the plug gally.

I'm not really sure if the turbo needs to bew rebuilt or not. I'm sure it does its been in the car sence it was built in the factory 20 years and 237000 miles ago. Tonight were going check the coolant for oil it seemed really dirty and a dark dark green color to it.

The oil/intercooler for the turbo has water in it doesn't it? I'm not sure if its leaking or if the over flow spilt onto it.

Is standard engine degreaser safe for use on the cams and valve covers? I want to spray them down and clean them up with some s.o.s pads and a wire brush.

Another thing I wanted to knpw is What other parts for the turbo should I replace while its off getting rebuilt? I am not familliar with the valves and actuators that may be external from the turbo that should be serviced like the turbo.. I'm willing to replace it all to get my baby runnng 100% : )

Ummm.... why would you even bother trying to degrease the cams? They're sprayed with oil when the engine's running. Leave the cams alone.

Clean the valve covers with anything aluminum safe (degreaser is fine), wash thoroughly and dry thoroughly before reinstalling.

You mention scoring on the cams, post pics.

The oil cooler and IC do not use coolant... if they're getting wet with it it's coming from the overflow tank or a leak in the rad.

Dark coolant is usually the result of rust. Sometimes it's due to other contamination such as oil but that usually separates enough that you can tell it's oil beading up on the top of the coolant. Clean out the system and replace the coolant. Check oil for signs of coolant and look under the oil cap for light brown sludge.

The shop servicing the turbo should check the wastegate and actuator.

the cams have like small sctatches on the parts that actually rub i was told theres nothing to worry about they are fine.

the coolant did have rust in it im going to flush it when i get her running again. im in the process of taking off the turbo (not as easy as it looks. i have taken the elbow off the turbo and the exhaust and unbolted the turbo from the exhaust manifold but theres a little tube looking thing i cant get off the bottom of the turbo....

ohh and i found that some of the IC tubing was tirwraped on and half way off the flanges its suposed to be connected to. and all my IC tubing needs to be replaced it is absolutly trashed any suggestions??

I heard that sometimes if the rust is bad enough and it builds up over a long period of time it could ruin the lower end of the engine... don't quote me on it but it sounds legit ;p

I'd flush it ASAP, or atleast drain the radiator and put some fresh coolant in there.
Also if the total repairs for the "engine" are more then $1500, you may want to look into a 7MGTE complete engine from suprastore for $1500

im only spending like 700 or so its 350+ to rebuild turbo i spent like 250 on gaskets and 100 on random stuff ill have to buy while putting back togeather.

are suprastors engines rebuild or just sold the way they were found?? im kind of skeptical iv heard they were a good site but i dont even get to see what the engine looks like.

im almost ready to put the top end back togeather all i need is over sized oil drain plug wasshers and my spark plug wires that have yet to come in... should be here on the 21st


ohh and note to all oreily autoparts sucks dick! they told me all the parts i needed were dealer spacific( plug wires, and vacume line tube with a valve on it) so i went down to advanced autoparts and they had every thing just needed to order it due to the car being 20 years old.

anyone have sugestions on a intake system for the supra turbos? the whole stocl box on mine is in pretty bad shape it was sucking things into the turbo i could see pits and bent blades in the turbo along with coolant running down the intake tubes

You may find what you're looking for in my post from earlier on "Rubber Intake Armlet" there were some good links in there for parts of the intake system

After 4 days of work i have finaly goten the turbo off. not an easy job

i need a link to a repair manual can anyone help me with that? alot of things are harder to do without a manual lol

i need to take the exhaust manifold off now and replace the gasket and ill soon be putting things back togeather. i checked the old plugs today and they were all nice and even everything looks good so far : )

Sounds like that store/parts guy in particular sucks, because the O'Reilly's I work at here in MT has 3 different sets of plug wires and plenty of vacuum lines/one way valves in stock... In any case, it unfortunately all depends on who you talk to.


Probably your best repair manual on line is the TSRM. Factory repair manual for a 90, but almost all of it applies to all MKIII Supra's.

Ok I'm having a hard time finding replacement parts for my supra. I need the oil lines for the turbo and I still can't find oem innercooler hoses...

For both of the lines you're looking for you can order online at most places that sell hose, cut to fit... or you can buy a ceap aluminum IC pipe set from EBAY for about 80 bucks. Look and you shall recieve

Iv seen ic piping kits but didn't know if they would be a direct fit from ebay. And. Have looked on plenty of sites for the oil return line or pipe what ever you want to call it ( the oone the one that connects to the turbo and has 2 pieces that goes to the oil pan and engine block) and I have yet to see it any where. I would just re use it but there's a hole in it[/PHP]

About all the kits you find on ebay are gonna be somewhat universal... Did a quick search and found these oil line kits for the feed and return. Can't vouch for the quality as I still have my stock ones on there.

I prefer name brand hose and fittings. Places like SupraSport and HorsePowerFreaks sell line kits as well; But I trust that I'm going to get better quality and reliable parts.

For the IC hoses you can just replace the old ones with hoses from SiliconeIntakes.com. Excellent prices.

The E-Bay "universal" IC piping kit sold as "CX Racing" (I can't remember the vendor's name) is nice quality. The kit was labeled as being for our year Supras... it takes a little work to get it all in properly and one or two cuts. I had to order a couple extra couplers which I ordered from SiliconeIntakes though. SI also sells vacuum tubing but I don't think they sell a kit for our cars... it's worth it to replace old vacuum hoses.

Yeah I looked at the ebay hoses they won't work without a lot of modification I was really looking for new stock oil lines but I got a friend at power fab ordering it for me.

That silicone intake place looks pretty good I think I'm just going to order the tube I need for now then convert to hard pipes once I get some money saved up again.

And yes there are many vacume lines being replaced atleast 10 or so. Some were kremped and others were riped open during removal due to bwing dryrotted.

Ohh and it turns out I'm getting a new ct26 for around 650 my other turbo was shot the inside of the housing and alll the berings were pretty bad

Thanks for all the feedback guys you have saved me so much time with all this help

ok im still in a bind here guys.... i need to find a exhaust manifold stud kit i found out one is missing and i would rather not reuse all the ones i took off the nuts were not tightened down enough and neither were the studs ( any solutions on putting them back in?)

i cant find the right hose for the turbo/intercooler link either. and the STOCK oil line is imposable to find. i need the gasket for the turbo elbo/turbo mating surface the turbo flang gasket and the both oil line gaskets for the block and turbo end and i might as well just replace the water line gasket to so i need that as well. do any of you have any helpful sites i can find these items on?

if looked around at 3 different autoparts stores and they dont have any of them and i tried to go to toyota and noone would even stop to tell me what time the parts section closed, just looked at me and walked off.they pissed me off so bad i bought my first pack of cigarettes in 3 months on the way home.

not a good day for me here any help would be amazing!!! please and thank you for all the help

Most of what you're looking for will either have to come from the dealership or you'll at least need to go to a performance shop which caters to the Supra. Locally, you're probably stuck with the dealership... online you've got a couple choices.

No idea what a turbo/intercooler link is... post a picture if you don't know the name... or at least be far more descript.

I'll get back to you with the part numbers for the gaskets later... then you may order them from the dealership or Champion Toyota.

that would be an amazing help

i found the sd card for my camera but idk where the cord is for it ill try to take a picture as soon as i can. the only discription i can give is it connects to the bottom of the turbo (below the exhaust manifold, this one does not go to the aircleaner system just the intercooler) and it goes to an angled metal armelet that has a hose connected to it on the other side to the stock FMIC

i think i may have found it on a site but i have no idea it has an option for a short and long but theres no pictures of it...

ill brb going to look for the freakin cord to this camera

Here, it takes some getting used to and a little bit of poking around to learn how it workd, but it'll save you a lot of time:
http://www.cygnusx1.net/Supra/Library/EPC/291420/

If you're unsure of a part post the link to the page it's on along with the five digit number on that page and I'm sure someone will help you verify parts.

When you find a part on a page you can click on the 5 digit number to get the part number.

Turbo water pipe gasket 16347-42020 http://www.cygnusx1.net/Supra/Librar...spx?F=1603&P=2

Turbo oil inlet gasket 15471-58010 http://www.cygnusx1.net/Supra/Librar...spx?F=1701&P=2

Turbo oil outlet gasket 15473-42010 same page as above

Your turn... here's the page with the intake piping... there is NOTHING called an 'armlet' on a Supra... no idea why, but that word is really bugging me... :hand: http://www.cygnusx1.net/Supra/Librar...spx?F=1703&P=2

i saw armlet used somewhere else in the forums and thats as close to an armlet i can think of lol

This is the hose i need
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...1/100_0779.jpg
http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...t=100_0779.jpg

Random Pictures
 

This is the oil lines im looking for
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...1/100_0783.jpg

Close look at the cams

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...1/100_0776.jpg

Closer look...
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...1/100_0778.jpg

Cleaned valve covers with new seals installed
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...1/100_0773.jpg

sludge from the oil leaking into the exhaust manifold
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...1/100_0775.jpg

Engine bay (sorta)
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...1/100_0774.jpg

You are a fucking god!!!! i love you!!! i got every single part i need from these links : )

How did your turbo oil line get a hole? When I had to pull the cyl. head off my '90, I gave up trying to get the bolt out and just cut the lines off--big mistake. I thought I'd be able to weld or braze threaded fittings on them for future disassembly, but that didn't pan out.

I ended up buying a used line assembly from someone on this forum.

You need to be aware that nearly all Mk 3 Supras get head gasket leaks--BHG, or blown head gasket. The problem is that Toyota didn't use enough torque on the head bolts. I bought my '90 when it only had 65,000 miles on it and the prev. owner had retorqued the bolts tighter. At ~80,000 the gasket let go between 2 cyls.

If I ever had to replace another head gasket on a turbo Supra I would pull the engine rather than do it in the car, and reinstall as much stuff as I could while the engine was bolted to a stand.

Remove all the oil around the spark plugs, then pull the plugs. Use a good flashlight and look at the top of each piston. They should be dry. If you see water you may as well fix it before you put it back together.

well we had to use a "persuasion tool" and a 3foot screwdriver to get it off and it punctured the line. you wouldnt happen to know here i could get a used one like you did do you? its $186 from the dealership its freakin rediculous.

The headgasket must have been re torqued because all the freakin bolts were hand tight... i was rather pissed off hen i found out. its lasted 237k milesit must have seated right lol

thats hat i did i stuffed shop cloths into the plug wholes untill most of it was gone then i used a socket to get the rest out about 90% came out. i cleaned all the threads and the spark plug gallary before i stuck my new NGKs in

You can get a better turbo oil feed line from Driftmotion.

http://store.driftmotion.com/static/...oftlinekit.php

Still cheaper than dealer and better.

wow that looks alot better than whats on there to. i looked all over for that little shit and i couldnt find anything other than a universal one.

thanks alot!

That kit looks great--wish I had found it before I got my gasket job finished.

If your cyl. head bolts were really only had tight, I don't think there's any way the gasket could survive. What torque did you use when you retightened them?

Here's the problem--the gasket leaks either between cyls. or cyl. to water passage. The engine will still run, but it will use water/coolant and tend to run hot. Coolant will get into the oil, which is bad for the crank bearings after a while. The hot combustion gasses will slowly cut gouges in the head and block, eventually ruining them.

I didn't see any white water/sludge in your photos, so you might luck out.

the header bolts were hand tight and thetop turbo stay bolt were also. and the exhaust manifold staybolts were gone so im guessing he had it serviced and they didnt tighten anything right and lost bolts or everything vibrated loose from the bad turbo and no suport from the exhaust manifold stay.

the oil was fine there was no coolant in it and the coolant was also good it was a little rusty from the water the previous owner put in it but it was oil free. im having it flushed once i get my turbo back and all the parts from toyota.

yeah yhe only sludge was from the oil that was leaking into the exhaust manifold. it was melting the gasket and mixing with the oil its in wome of the pictures i have posted. i was afraid it was the head gasket when i say it bit it was inside the exhaust manifold also so im thinking its safe to assume that the HG is ok.

some of the IC piping kits on driftmotion look pretty good too. i jsut dont know if im going to need more piping to complete it or not, and do i use the factory aluminum elbows that are on the car with these pipes or do i remove them and make new corners with the piping.

You already have the valve covers off, so get a GOOD torque wrench and check the head bolt torque. IIRC, stock bolts should be good for ~72 ft. lb., far better than the original 58. Take a good look at a bolt head and see if it says SPS or ARP. Those are aftermarket bolts and will take a little more.