MR2 MK3 PROJECT
Discussion
Hello all,
have a build on this over on mr2roc.org but thought it may be of interest to people on ere!
So the mr2 mk3, common comments hairdressers car, under powered, wrong engine etc etc.
Well im sorry but after owning one I think the majority of comments are very very wrong its a great little thing and used on the right roads the power is spot on for good old fashion fun.
They are currently very cheap to buy, something I cant get my head around. However be warned the £1000 car you all see on eBay will more than likely require full suspension, certain bushes a good service or two and other such things over the first few years of ownership.
Another positive unlike most Jap stuff from this ere they dont seem to suffer from rust like most mine has hardly any and most of that is surface stuff you'd see on say a 3 yrs old car. Not sure if this is down to only being used on summer or what but seems to be common to all.
have a build on this over on mr2roc.org but thought it may be of interest to people on ere!
So the mr2 mk3, common comments hairdressers car, under powered, wrong engine etc etc.
Well im sorry but after owning one I think the majority of comments are very very wrong its a great little thing and used on the right roads the power is spot on for good old fashion fun.
They are currently very cheap to buy, something I cant get my head around. However be warned the £1000 car you all see on eBay will more than likely require full suspension, certain bushes a good service or two and other such things over the first few years of ownership.
Another positive unlike most Jap stuff from this ere they dont seem to suffer from rust like most mine has hardly any and most of that is surface stuff you'd see on say a 3 yrs old car. Not sure if this is down to only being used on summer or what but seems to be common to all.
first things first.
Myself and a couple of mates decided to do some driving trips and all have the same car for it.
After talk of big old mercs, huge petrol engines etc we got a bit more real and had a list:
Simple to work on / maintain
good handling
cheap to buy
cheap to fix
reliable.
Petrol
Loads of stuff was thrown around including the Toyota MR2.
Two days later we had a call one of the lads had purchased a MR2 MK3. That was that then and the search was on for MR2's
After looking around I saw a rather unloved example in s
horpe a quick drive a a bit of back and forth on price. i had myself a mr2.
Myself and a couple of mates decided to do some driving trips and all have the same car for it.
After talk of big old mercs, huge petrol engines etc we got a bit more real and had a list:
Simple to work on / maintain
good handling
cheap to buy
cheap to fix
reliable.
Petrol
Loads of stuff was thrown around including the Toyota MR2.
Two days later we had a call one of the lads had purchased a MR2 MK3. That was that then and the search was on for MR2's
After looking around I saw a rather unloved example in s
horpe a quick drive a a bit of back and forth on price. i had myself a mr2.The drive home was myself in my car and a mate driving the mr2 back for me.
All was going well, but 5 mins from home and with my friends flooring it from a roundabout saw a huge plume of black smoke ! ! Bugger eh, but it was always a worry.
For those not in the know the mk3 mr2 is a very reliable little beast they do use a small amount of oil (ill get into why later on). The key to keeping good is regular oil changes to prevent the oil ring / escape holes (not the correct name lol) in the piston blocking up and giving oil no place to go and hence burned with the fuel.
Basically i needed to take engine apart and sort the gummed up rings.
I started to the the engine out the following week
All was going well, but 5 mins from home and with my friends flooring it from a roundabout saw a huge plume of black smoke ! ! Bugger eh, but it was always a worry.
For those not in the know the mk3 mr2 is a very reliable little beast they do use a small amount of oil (ill get into why later on). The key to keeping good is regular oil changes to prevent the oil ring / escape holes (not the correct name lol) in the piston blocking up and giving oil no place to go and hence burned with the fuel.
Basically i needed to take engine apart and sort the gummed up rings.
I started to the the engine out the following week
unfortunately I lost some pictures during photo bucket changing the rules but basically it was taken out along with the box and to be honest was very easy to work on.
Things like the radiator being at the front and as such out of the way helped with ease and space during work
anyway it was the stripped.
Things like the radiator being at the front and as such out of the way helped with ease and space during work
anyway it was the stripped.
I should add this is my first time ever working on a engine. If you can do something like this you learn so much. The piston on this car basically has 3 rings, this explains for us novices : http://www.riken.co.jp/english/pistonring/piston/c...
These are the seal against the bore of the engine.
The first two are just rings to create the seal, the 3rd ring (lowest down the piston) is a oil ring (that's what I call it) this itself is 3 rings !
this link shows what it looks like: http://www.riken.co.jp/english/pistonring/piston/o...
As the piston moves up and down this third ring, the oil ring catches oil being flung around and keeps the bores lubricated. the ring sits in a groove on the piston, this groove has holes in it so oil can escape and run back down the inside of the piston. On my mr2 the oil ring was gummed up a little and more importantly the holes in the piston fully blocked giving the oil no place to go and as such being burnt.
hopefully this picture helps :
These are the seal against the bore of the engine.
The first two are just rings to create the seal, the 3rd ring (lowest down the piston) is a oil ring (that's what I call it) this itself is 3 rings !
this link shows what it looks like: http://www.riken.co.jp/english/pistonring/piston/o...
As the piston moves up and down this third ring, the oil ring catches oil being flung around and keeps the bores lubricated. the ring sits in a groove on the piston, this groove has holes in it so oil can escape and run back down the inside of the piston. On my mr2 the oil ring was gummed up a little and more importantly the holes in the piston fully blocked giving the oil no place to go and as such being burnt.
hopefully this picture helps :
with all the bits and engine out it was stripped.
I had the block honed, not sure if needed but thought why not ?
the bottom half of engine was put back together and i started work on the head.
valve stem seals are a git to take off
All in bits, the Cans of Stella are a mechanic friend who agreed to come and show me what to do provided I picked him up and dropped him off so he could have a drink as it was boring to him.
I had the block honed, not sure if needed but thought why not ?
the bottom half of engine was put back together and i started work on the head.
valve stem seals are a git to take off
All in bits, the Cans of Stella are a mechanic friend who agreed to come and show me what to do provided I picked him up and dropped him off so he could have a drink as it was boring to him.
Edited by Ilovejapcrap on Wednesday 25th July 10:36
Edited by Ilovejapcrap on Wednesday 25th July 10:48
Once engine in the box was stuck in and all bolted back together.
A day later was the big start !!!!!!!!!
spark check, fuel check, voltage check.
Ready to go CRANK CRANK CRANK CRANK
2 hours later, oh this isn't going to go !!!
loads of internet research and testing showed low compression ???
Now the only thing I didn't do was skim the head, the reason behind this is everyone I spoke to (all from the mr2roc forum a very helpful bunch) hadn't needed to and and no issue. Now in my head im wondering if I've done the valve regrinding for seal right, if I've got the tolerances right or if my head is warped !!
quick call to mechanic mate.
ME: Maybe I've got rings in wrong.
MATE:Nope its fine i checked
ME: maybe I've got valve seal crap and its passing
MATE: no they looked spot on
ME: maybe its wrapped
MATE: Doubt it
ME: I think ill have to take head back off and get it checked
MATE: I cant see that being issue waste of money, you ll need new stretch bolts again.
Hmmmm
A day later was the big start !!!!!!!!!
spark check, fuel check, voltage check.
Ready to go CRANK CRANK CRANK CRANK
2 hours later, oh this isn't going to go !!!
loads of internet research and testing showed low compression ???
Now the only thing I didn't do was skim the head, the reason behind this is everyone I spoke to (all from the mr2roc forum a very helpful bunch) hadn't needed to and and no issue. Now in my head im wondering if I've done the valve regrinding for seal right, if I've got the tolerances right or if my head is warped !!
quick call to mechanic mate.
ME: Maybe I've got rings in wrong.
MATE:Nope its fine i checked
ME: maybe I've got valve seal crap and its passing
MATE: no they looked spot on
ME: maybe its wrapped
MATE: Doubt it
ME: I think ill have to take head back off and get it checked
MATE: I cant see that being issue waste of money, you ll need new stretch bolts again.
Hmmmm
again some of the pictures missing.
I bit the bullet and took the head back off, obviously whilst in the car.
This was sent off too a specialist for a rebuild. On pick up it looked very very clean, like new to be honest.
I was a bit annoyed when he said that did not need skimming and your valves where spot on, as i passed over the money
This was met with a told ya so by my mechanic mate the git.
He did ask about my head gasket and said he had a land rover owner using the same make with issues akin to mine.
He sold me another make i cant recall did have a picture but lost. it was German make i know that.
Home the head was bolted on, new gasket another set of new head bolts and a fight with timing chain.
The next day after faffing around with a leaking injector it was attempt no 2.
CRANK CRANK CRANK....brrrrmmm great stuff, just a note it was a good 25 mins of cranking on and off with a few splutters now and again. to me it sounded same as before but mechanic mate who turned up for this said he could tell it was going to go!
difference between a novice and someone who does it all the time I guess.
I bit the bullet and took the head back off, obviously whilst in the car.
This was sent off too a specialist for a rebuild. On pick up it looked very very clean, like new to be honest.
I was a bit annoyed when he said that did not need skimming and your valves where spot on, as i passed over the money
This was met with a told ya so by my mechanic mate the git.
He did ask about my head gasket and said he had a land rover owner using the same make with issues akin to mine.
He sold me another make i cant recall did have a picture but lost. it was German make i know that.
Home the head was bolted on, new gasket another set of new head bolts and a fight with timing chain.
The next day after faffing around with a leaking injector it was attempt no 2.
CRANK CRANK CRANK....brrrrmmm great stuff, just a note it was a good 25 mins of cranking on and off with a few splutters now and again. to me it sounded same as before but mechanic mate who turned up for this said he could tell it was going to go!
difference between a novice and someone who does it all the time I guess.
With the engine now running I turned my attention to the rear cross member.
This is another known issue on the mk3 mr2, they have a spot that seems to sit water and rots causing a hole.
It cant be seen MOT time if all the under covers are on (until its very bad)
Mine had a very small hole. The assumption seems to be a new one is needed as it cant be welded for MOT. I found a second hand one in good nick and had painted.
I have since been told by a MOT inspector that a cross member can be welded as long as its a welded item from the factory which the mr2 one is, as such im having the bad cut out of mine and new patch welded, if anything it will probs make it stronger in that area looking at it.
new old one for strip and paint
new one powder coated next to old one
im going to have fun getting arms of old one! i just dont know it yet
This is another known issue on the mk3 mr2, they have a spot that seems to sit water and rots causing a hole.
It cant be seen MOT time if all the under covers are on (until its very bad)
Mine had a very small hole. The assumption seems to be a new one is needed as it cant be welded for MOT. I found a second hand one in good nick and had painted.
I have since been told by a MOT inspector that a cross member can be welded as long as its a welded item from the factory which the mr2 one is, as such im having the bad cut out of mine and new patch welded, if anything it will probs make it stronger in that area looking at it.
new old one for strip and paint
new one powder coated next to old one
im going to have fun getting arms of old one! i just dont know it yet
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