newbie with a mr2 rev3 turbo powered lexus is 200

[chri5]

evening ppl
not sure if in right section or not so apologies if not.

just recently bought a lexus is200 with an mr2 turbo conversion
was very pleased with it until a week or so ago when it gave up with suspectected head/headgasket problems
so i have signed onto you guys in the hope i can sort this

hope you dont think thats too cheeky

[rhamps]

you got more details and pics?[/quote]

[chri5]

here are some pictures of the car and some of the spec







True 301BHP and 280 Torque with Dyno graph to prove. See photo.


Engine is a Rev 3 JDM spec 3S-GTE from the MR2 turbo.
Engine

3S – GTE Engine (Rev3) - re-built (and installed) by Toyota GT May 2009


Modified baffled sump – extra oil capacity
Altezza RS200 manual gearbox
New starter motor
Fensport uprated clutch
Huge Front mount intercooler (good for 500BHP)
Stage 3 CT20 Turbo – refurbished Aug 2009
APEXI Power FC ECU + hand controller in car
Electric power steering
Electronic boost controller/gauge – in car
3” straight through stainless exhaust
Subaru Prodrive back box
Dump valve



Suspension/handling
Koni coilovers – 35mm drop, adjustable damping
TTE Up-rated ARBs
18” Aero AlloysAltezza Rear LSD Diff 3.9:1 ratio. Just been serviced with new oil and a good clean.
Race Logic traction Control

[toxo]

Looks familiar Hi Chris, welcome to the club!

[chri5]

hi mate how you doing
not forgotten about the parts mate.
but hanging on until i get payed again unfortunately

[rhamps]

so what are the problems you are having?

[Steve Horrocks]

Welcome buddy, lovely looking toy, bet that's nice & fun (well, when it's working!)
good luck on the fix!

[chri5]

so what are the problems you are having?

ok i'll try keep this briefish lol

yesterday i was going to inlaws (35miles)
when i set off from mine i noticed that my heater was blowing out colder than an eskimo's freezer on a winters day.
so with this is in my mind i thought it'd warm up soon as i'd only given it 5mins anyway. but i did think the chill should of been taken off the air being blown through.

so onto the motorway i went at no more than 60-70mph and still no heat but car was driving spot on so i put it down to a broken heater system or something stupid.
after my 15-20mile trip down the motorway i pulled off to my inlaws and when i got to the roundabout my car cut out.
so i bumped started it to get it off the roundabout and she seemed ok.
got up the road and dipped the clutch to change gear etc and it cut out again. at this point i stopped the car called the RAC and the guy came out.
oh and filled the car back up with water.

RAC man took the radiator cap off turned over the engine and the water shot out with a force.
so i was trailored home....
needed to start the car to move it and it started fine. bit lumpy but fine and it didnt try cutting out or anything.

so today i've explained all this to wayne (guy who helped with repairs) and followed his advice of topping the radiator up and allowing to run to temperature etc oh and starting the car with the radiator cap off. (yep another fountain)
left running for around 10mins and it seemed ok but lumpy.
so allowed to cool and checked fluid (about 1/2 pint max used) but i also checked my spark plugs to find number 1 caked in oil,number 2 looked like it had seen oil but not anything to worry about and 3+4 were bone dry.
there is milky residue in the oil cap and white smoke out of exhaust which is all signs of headgasket but why do i have oil in my cylinders???

[chri5]

so today i started on the removal of everything.
and as i've never done this i took a few pictures for reference on the reversal of this.
all in all its taken me around 4-5hours but i wasnt rushing so i am quite pleased with myself :smoke:
as you can see there is a lot of oil in the cam area where oil isn't meant to be so i think a new rocker cover is needed???

nice milky oil residue in the underside of the rocker cover

is this normal on headgasket failure???
there is a lot of water in cylinder 2+3


the underside of the cylinder head but why is number 2 cylinder partially open on the inlet side???


right so thats that apart but now i am confused
the H/G looks perfect with no obvious signs of defects???
when i was doing this 4 of the cylinder head bolts were uber tight
3 were uber loose and the other 3 were just tight.
so now i need to get somebody to pressure test and skim the head,(anybody know of anywhere to do this??) get new gaskets (H/G and rocker)
do i need new head bolts???
then refit and happy days to be had again i hope :thumbup:

[bobhatton]

You should be able to see if the head gasket has gone that bad to fill the cylinders with water.
Check the bores, there may be a split in the block.
You also need to check the pistons for broken rings and lands.

Bob

[chri5]

isnt the water from when i seperated it from the block???

are the rings and lands visible or do i need to remove more???

[toxo]

You'd need to take the pistons off the conrods to see the state of the rings. So, crankshaft out, rods out, etc etc

[chri5]

That sounds a lot and tbh out my league.
What's the chances of piston ring damage etc???
Just want to get this fixed now so I can get rid.
My hearts not in it anymore
spent all the money I had and some I didn't have to get it just for it to xxxx up within a week.

[sjm1984]

How much boost was it running?

Could be a cracked block or a stressed liner?

[toxo]

It's turned down, I think 1BAR? Unless Chri5 has turned it back up to 1.2

TBH, considering you found the head bolts were loose, I would throw it all back together to the correct torques and tolerances and see if it works Loose bolts could cause the head to lift and then water could get all sorts of places without any head gasket failure.

[timmomr2]

if your running extra power on a bigger turbo etc could it cause to much stress for standard bolts? might be worth getting some ARP bolts while its all apart

[chri5]

I was lead to believe it's still running at 1.2bar.
And although the fact of having loose head bolts would explain failure but how come no problem has shown before then???
Can't say if it lost power cos I didn't even have it a week before this happened.
But my other concern is why was #1 or #4 (nearest water pump) (my engine sits other way round remember) covered in oil on the thread and tip???
I know the rocker gasket is stuck down with some form of sealant and I'm not convinced that it was flat but would it cause that???

If it's looking like bores or pistons would it be cheaper to get a new engine???
If so what year did rev3 start at??? And is there any difference between uk an jdm???
Mine is currently 1996 rev3 engine

[toxo]

I expect your engine has had modifications made to the cooling system and oil flow system to faciliate inline mounting. I know at the very least the water outlet for the thermostat is different and the sump design is different. I would fix yours rather than throwing a new engine at it.

However rev3 started in 1994 and all turbo engines are JDM.

[Rogue]

However rev3 started in 1994 and all turbo engines are JDM.

October 1993, and don't forget that the 3SGTE was also available in the UK in the Celica GT4...

[toxo]

Ah yeah, my bad