Overpressure in radiator system + ABS and Tracs problems + odometer
 

Hi!

I dont know if I put this thread right but I give it a try. Im new to supras, never owned one but thats about to change. Superpumped about that! :wavey:

I recently came across a 1998 TT Targa LHD 6 speed with a good price that Im looking to buy but the problems are that there is a overpressure in the radiator system and the owner suspects a blown headgasket, no radiator fluid in the oil he says. If it is a blown headgasket then I not se any problems in fixing that. But it could be a few more stuff, like how big are the chanses that maybe the head or even the block got a crack in it?

The car got 62K or 100K miles on it if I understood the owner correct. Is it easy to turn the odometer back? The car is from US but have been driven in England before coming to Sweden. The speedometer shows KM/H and the odometer should show Miles?
And what I know the car only have a FMIC and 3" exhaust besides that it is stock.

The other problem is that the Tracs and ABS lamps do lit. I dont care about the Tracs so maybe I just disconnect that but what I understand they have the same databox. He also said to me that the ABS light beacuse there are no sensor at the hub so that should make sens but why would you want to remove a ABS sensor?

He dont know to much about the car but I will se if I can get in contact with the previous owner tommorow. Sorry for my english, being from Sweden makes that my second language. Im a special auto mechanic so
Im not afraid of getting my hands dirty.

Thank you! :bigthumb:

Best Regards Fredrik / Sweden

It is not possible at all to run back the odometer. I really hope that your are not wanting to run it back, not only can it not be done but is illegal. Mileage is important to help show the cars health and use of all components including suspension not just the engine. 60 or 100k?? That is a big difference.

It is unlikely that the head will crack but could warp from overheating but nothin a little machine work and a thicker headgasket wouldn't fix. The block will not crack it is built from a really strong Cast Iron.

There are still a few things that could cause the car to pressurize the radiator.

Im not going to turn the odometer back, just wanted to make sure it cant be done so I dont have to worry about that. Okey thats good. If it have 100k Miles on it maybe thats not bad either, I have heard these engines can go for a long time. As soon as I get the VIN I will do a carfax check on it.

Is there any supra that has a odometer in KM/H? He thinks beacuse the speedometer is in KM/H that the odometer is that to, but I think they just have put a plate over the speedometer that shows KM/h.

It's not easy to run back the odometer I agree - HOWEVER it is possible to disable the odometer for a time, thereby accumulating zero mileage while driving. One could also swap in another odometer from a different car. Clearly this would be illegal, but it is possible nonetheless.

Although an aluminum head won't crack, detonation can blow chips of metal out of it... I've seen this damage first hand, and know for certain that it is not only possible - it is likely to happen if you run too much boost with too little octane. Yes, this could cause combustion pressure to leak into the cooling system.

Also, it's quite unlikely that the aluminum head is warped unless something really stupid was done (eg. run the engine without any coolant). However, I strongly disagree that machining and a thicker headgasket would fix a warped head. Try this and the cams won't spin in the journals.

These engines can only "go for a long time" if they are properly maintained and always run sufficient octane to match the boost level.

Yes, Japanese-spec Mkiv Supra Turbos show km and km/h not miles or mph. Also, TRD makes a 320km/h speedometer with no mph scale on it at all.

The Mkiv Supra Turbo (2jz-gte) never had any issue with blowing headgaskets, so this is very unlikely to be the issue.
You need to verify the no coolant in the oil thing yourself, after some very hard driving.
If the car has an FMIC, most likely the boost was raised using aftermarket parts. You need to have a compression test done on the engine - preferrably a leakdown test too if you can arrange it.His answer don't make sense. The computers store the codes, and the trouble codes need to be diagnosed (not ignored).

No worries - glad to help. Keep the questions coming! :)

Big thanks from sweden to you pwpanas! :D


It's a Euro Spec so the odometer most likely records Miles. Beacuse it only has 3" exhaust and FMIC I dont think they have ran too high boost.

The thing is that I have not brought the car yet, haven't seen it IRL yet. He is 250 Miles from me. Ofcourse I will do a Compresseion and Coolant system pressure test if he agrees. Both me and my dad are mechanics so if there is work to do there is no problem, parts costs a lot. We acctualy have acces to a pretty special tool when it comes to checking head gaskets. Ofcourse they could have changed the oil and claim there where no coolant in it.

You said the GTE motor dont have problem blowing headgaskets, lets say it's blown could I expect more that the car have 100K than 62K on the odometer and that it has been driven hard or without coolant? If so I will rip the whole motor apart and do a overhaul.

My thought about the ABS is that the car have been crashed and they replaced the hub with one without ABS, unfortunaly the seller says he dont know much about the car at all.

/Fredrik

Glad to help, Fredrik. :)

What you should expect is that...given the FMIC modification...it may have been run on high boost without high octane fuel - this damages the ring lands and chips away at the metal in the cylinder head, which in turn negatively affects compression (and blow-by). If it fails the compression/leakdown tests, you're definitely looking at a new shortblock (to me, don't try to rebuild it - the 2jz-gte tolerances are far too precise to measure with plastigage). Also, don't think about aftermarket (forged) internals to solve any problems - the oem internals are good to 1000hp as long as you run enough octane in the fuel. Insufficient octane however will detonate and destroy any forged internals just as easily as it will destroy the oem internals.

The ABS issue likely does not have to do with an accident. More likely it has to do with poor maintenance. Just check the codes and troubleshoot accordingly.

Thanks again!:D

What is the max boost that the stock Euro spec turbos can handle? Trying to figure out boost vs fuel octane. In sweden we have 95 and 98 octane, unfortunaly the car haven't been driven here, only 5 miles if the seller is correct. Not sure what fuel octane England are using.

No idea. However:
1) Motor octane is MUCH more important than research octane. You have to find out how the octane of your local "98 octane" fuel is measured, and it's *motor* octane number.
2) With a US-spec Mkiv Supra Turbo, the max safe boost with local 93 octane fuel (calculated at ((R+M)/2)) is about 16psi. Anything more than that gradually destroys the engine (not the turbos).
3) With the US-spec Mkiv Supra Turbo, the oem boost level is about 11.5psi. This of course is very safe with the recommended 93 octane 'premium' fuel.
4) The turbos won't die quickly unless you're running in excess of 28psi. HOWEVER at anything over the stock boost levels, their longevity will be impacted. The more you push them past the oem boost levels, the quicker they'll fail.
5) Again, (I can't stress this enough) the engine is what gets damaged FAST with high boost on pump gas - not the turbos. If you're going to run high boost, use race fuel or methanol injection.

Yes, thanks!

Like you said the hard thing is to know how hard the engine have been pushed, put that's the think with every car. I want to have a good base to start with like a LHD Targa 6 speed TT 1998 which I belive is the best base, of course less miles would be better but that also cost and I will upgrade parts after they break. If the motor is bad I saw Suprastore selling OEM motors with auto trans for 3k shipped. So the motor is cheper than the 6 speed trans, and to convert a auto to manual is going to cost more.

I heard that Canadian cars have KM/h like we have here in sweden, how can I se on a Supra if it is from Canada or US?

Best Regards Fredrik

You can probably determine this from the VIN# (vehicle identification number). Share this number with Toyota and most likely they can help you track down the original selling point. Here's some more information on VINs:
http://www.mkiv.com/techarticles/read_vin/index.html
http://www.mkiv.com/techarticles/read_vin/supravin.html

Thanks again! Still waiting for the VIN from him. If a stock supra got 160 000 Miles on it, how bad is that? I dont know how good or bad the car have been serviced or driven...

/Fredrik

Service/maintence records are critical. If it's been driven hard, 160K miles will likely mean some significant maintence. Things like the oem coils and the oem harmonic dampener will likely need replacing, along with the standard items shown in the owner's manual (eg. timing belt). The turbos likely won't be able to push 24psi or more like brand-new oem twins will (with the appropriate octane of race fuel, of course). Again, be sure to do compression/leakdown tests to measure the health of the engine itself.

:DOkey thanks, motor seems to be almost the cheapest part. Being a beginner when it comes to supras. What about the transmission (6 speed), rear end, suspension and stuff like that? How will they take 160 000 miles. I know it depends on maintence and how hard the car have been driven. I have nothing against to get my hands dirty and do job on the car that's no problem at all, just fun, it's the costs that scares me. Of course a more expensive car will have less miles but it dont say that the interior is in top shape so it's hard but I hope I find one very soon. Anxious to start the journey.

Best Regards Fredrik

The V160 is a rock. It's been proven to handle 2000hp! Really! Worst case, the owner had no idea how to shift and the 2nd gear synchro is gone. Unlikely, but possible.

The Mkiv TT rear end is a rock too. No issues there. Please check/change the fluid - 160K is too long if it hasn't been changed yet.

Suspension - also no problem, unless it was roadraced every weekend. Then the bushings might be showing some wear. I regard the shocks as a consumeable - kind of like tires. They very well might need to be changed too *shrug*.

Again, good luck. Please keep us informed.

Thanks!

Not sure if you can se this:

http://www.carfax.se/show-report/f06...#DetailSection

Well so I got the VIN number from the guy and it have 25 carfax reports.

Brought in Louisiana, Tennesee at the end of 1998.

Looks well serviced to 25k miles then I cant se any more,

Hit a guardrail in 1999, minor damage.

2009 hit a tree, airbag deployed very servere damage reported to front. Maybe that's why the car have a FMIC

Later in 2009 the car was exported from New York to United Kingdom and it have been in sweden in a little bit more then one year acording to the seller.

If the car have been repaired good I see no problem, I dont know how crash freindly supras are, how hard it is to get everything to fit properly just beacuse it says very servere damage dosent mean it was that bad I think. And the airbag, how can I tell on a supra if they have fixed that? like replaced the center of the steering wheel and stuff like that and if they just removed them, early supras do not have airbag, am I right?

/Fredrik

CARFAX report
 

08/04/1998

NICB
Vehicle manufactured
and shipped to original dealer


10/30/1998
27
Louisiana
Motor Vehicle Dept.
New Orleans, LA
Title or registration issued
First owner reported
Registered as
personal vehicle
Loan or lien reported


11/27/1999

Louisiana
Damage Report
Accident reported
Involving left front impact
It hit a guardrail
Minor damage reported


02/29/2000
10,544
Service Facility
Oil and filter changed


11/22/2000
13,803
Service Facility
Vehicle serviced


01/25/2001
14,955
Service Facility
Recommended maintenance performed
Air filter replaced


03/02/2001
15,491
Service Facility
Vehicle serviced


06/09/2001
16,865
Service Facility
Oil and filter changed
Tune-up performed
Air filter replaced
Throttle body cleaned/serviced
Engine cleaned


09/10/2001
17,842
Service Facility
Vehicle serviced


04/12/2002
20,412
Service Facility
Oil and filter changed


12/12/2002
21,908
Service Facility
Vehicle serviced


02/19/2003

Louisiana
Motor Vehicle Dept.
New Orleans, LA
Registration issued or renewed
Loan or lien reported


09/08/2003
22,358
Service Facility
Vehicle serviced


10/20/2003
22,690
Service Facility
Vehicle serviced


03/09/2004
23,096
Service Facility
Vehicle serviced


01/14/2005

Louisiana
Motor Vehicle Dept.
New Orleans, LA
Registration issued or renewed
Loan or lien reported


09/16/2005

CARFAX

This vehicle was registered in a county declared a flood disaster area by the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ).



01/26/2006

Lakeside Toyota
Metairie, LA
504-833-3311
lakesidetoyota.com
Two tires mounted and balanced
Four wheel alignment performed
Oil and filter changed


11/04/2008

Louisiana
Motor Vehicle Dept.
New Orleans, LA
Registration issued or renewed
Loan or lien reported


12/30/2008

Tennessee
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Memphis, TN
Title #78810595
Title or registration issued


05/04/2009

Tennessee
Damage Report
Accident reported
Involving front impact
It hit a tree
Damage reported to:
Front
Very severe damage reported
Airbag deployed CARFAX Airbag Tips
CARFAX began reporting this information on 03/23/2011.



06/06/2009

Damage Report
TOTAL LOSS VEHICLE


06/06/2009

Tennessee
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Title or registration issued
to insurance company


06/06/2009

Tennessee
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Memphis, TN
Title #N0081837
SALVAGE TITLE/CERTIFICATE ISSUED
JUNK TITLE/CERTIFICATE ISSUED
DISMANTLED TITLE ISSUED


08/17/2009

Vehicle Exporter
Vehicle exported from
New York, NY
and imported to
United Kingdom


Thanks! /Fredrik Sweden

Started new thread, for one specific Supra for sale