Hello all!

[greggessex]

Hello all,

New to the MR2 scene. Haven't picked one up yet, but hopefully by the end of the week will be a proud owner, If and when I pick her up I'll post some pictures. Few questions I've got, probably gonna make me sound like a complete

What does the AW11 and the 4age stand for in alot of the descriptions I'm seeing? Other than the rust issues I'm reading about, anyother things I should be looking for when purchasing one?

Thanks for any info!

Gregg

[Rob1966]

Hi Gregg

Rust is definitely something to look out for. Also some have a tendency to slip out of 5th gear, discs can also warp on earlier cars causing shudder on braking, i am sure there are other things and someone will advise soon, What year is the car you are looking at?

Rob

[greggessex]

Looking at a 1988, I'm assuming that wouldn't be classed as an earlier model so shouldnt have issued with warping discs. Thanks for advice.

[sloopeh]

aw11 is the factory code for mr2 mk1
4age is the engine model number - also used in other toyota cars



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^^^^

loads of buying guides on the net - here's one. it's a bit old so take a bit more heed of the rust advice than anything else


http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/kb.php?mode=article&k=47

[greggessex]

Finally!! I have an MR2!! Not without headaches though! Like 10 minutes after picking it up, steam starts bellowing from the engine! All sorted though and well chuffed with the car.



Only 3 previous owners. 67k on the clock. Rear arches have been redone. Already got a few ideas what I would like to do to it. New wheels, change the speakers in there, possibly a stainless exhaust. No doubt I'll be posting more on here asking questions and what not.

Gregg

[sloopeh]

well done mate - welcome to the club - red ones are faster apparently

[Kateg28]

Til they go pink Ha Ha.

Oh, I now have a red one, need to be a bit more careful what I say.

Welcome, you will see we will start becoming a bit more active over the Summer months and we are starting to get a few in the northern home counties so I might even see if we can organise a get together.

Keep the questions going, a mine of information on here (not with me, I am useless. Keen but useless )

[forkmantorch]

Congrats, I just joined the fold as well.

What was the problem causing the steam?

[greggessex]

I was originally set to pick it up around 3 weekends ago, but the guy I purchased it contacted me to tell me that one of the engine cooling fans had seized and that he wanted to get it sorted before he sold it to me, I thought that seemed fair enough and waited. My dad being a little bit of a skeptic and always assuming the worse immediately questioned why would a cooling fan, which rarely comes on be seized? I on the other hand just said its one of those things, sods law if you like and I'd be prepared to wait until it was fixed.

Anyway got a message from the guy to say the fan had been sorted and that we could go pick it up. We arranged a day and travelled up to collect the car. I went for a short test drive, seemed fine. Exchanged cash, done paper work etc and drove off. Needed to get fuel at a services, so pulled in and that's when, when slowing down my dad, in the car behind noticed the steam. Stopped, popped the engine cover and noticed that the radiator over flow expansion tanks water was boiling away and that the lid, which was damaged anyway, was hanging off. After it cooled down, we made a makeshift electrical tape seal to get the lid in place, filled it back up with water and slowly set off again, 10 minutes down the road the temperature gauge started creeping back up, so we pulled over again. When we looked at the water level in the radiator over flow expansion tank, it hadn't really moved, which we found odd, that the car wasn't losing water, so we felt around the pipes in the engine bay and discovered that the pipes leading to the thermostat were red hot, but the pipe coming away was cold, suggesting that the thermostat had gone. We nursed the car back, at 40mph to my sisters, about 45 minutes away, went Halfords, picked up a new thermostat, fitted it and touch wood sorted it. We tested the old thermostat in some boiling water and it wasn't doing anything.

Turns out that the reason, we believe the cooling fan had seized is because it was constantly running trying to cool down the engine because the thermostat wasn't working. After fitting the new thermostat and driving home for 4 hours its been fine!

I've fallen in love with the car already!

[forkmantorch]

Ahh nice, I love when all it is is replacing a thermostat, such a simple fix to such a scary problem.

And I know how you feel, I love my car already and its got a slipping clutch and warped front discs, can't wait for the clutch to be fixed so I can find some nice long tunnels and hear the car purr.