Help! Celica Gt Sudden Death / Recon Engine?

[Mikey Silo]

Hey everyone

I'm hoping that you might be able to give me some advice since I'm desperately in need.

I've been driving a '94 M reg Celica GT for the past 9 months. I bought it with 83k on the clock, allthough the mileometer doesn't work, so it could be anything. With that in mind I had it all serviced and the timing belt & kit changed just after buying it. Although there were things that I was told would need doing eventually and that I should keep an eye on, there were no obvious signs of any major problems. I've been driving it around quite contently without any issues since then. The only thing I had noticed was that the clutch might be a bit worn and need seeing to soon.

Now... this might be totally unrelated... but last week I had a gearbox problem, and then last night it dies on me completely, and in a dramatic way :( One day last week it started popping into neutral if I took my foot of the gas in 5th gear. It did it consistently, but only for one day. It hasn't done it since, although I noticed there seemed to be a noticable whirring noise on most gears. I had an appointment to get this looked at. But last night, on my drive home, there was some sort of major engine failure. I heard a noisy rattling, which I thought as the gears getting worse. Within a minute of that all the lights came up on the dash, I lost all power on the throttle, and it died. There was a LOT of white, steamy looking smoke coming from under the hood, not around the radiotor but the engine block itself, which was sizzling like a fryer?! I let it cool down, topped up the oil (which was admittedly v low, but only just since it was checked 2 weeks ago)... and then it started again. It got me the remaining mile or 2 home, but it's now making a loud rattling noise, seemingly from underneath (or so it sounds), and the temp starts to fly up - it was running still, but starting to smoke again by the time I got home, and I have no doubt it wouldn't have gotten much further.

Now... I've been told a few possibility on what's wrong, but I'm lost as to what to do once I know for sure. Having searched online, spoken to a friend who is a mechanic, and also spoken to the garage I use and trust, it sosunds like it's likely to be either...

- Burning coolant or maybe oil (but unlikely since smoke is white/grey), or otherwise has water in the engine, which means it may be a blown head gasket.

- There's a crack somewhere and the engine is doomed.

So, there's the problem, but my real question is this....

If it's not repairable, how good an idea is it to get a reconditioned engine put in? Or if it can be repaired, what should I make sure is checked?

One guy told me that if the head gasket is to be repaired, then the garage doing it should pressure check the head to make sure it's not warped...or something like that? I've also been warned away from recons or 'remanufactured' engines by someone, who basically told me they're a con, warranty or not He specifically warned me away from a placed called 'Heathrow Engines', but he thinks they may have changed their name. I've requested a few quotes for engines, but only had one back so far - £995, supplied and fitted with a 6 month warranty on the engine and labour.

As you can probably tell, I'm not really very in the know about these things. So what do you think? Any experiences or opinions? I'd really appreciate your input.

Cheers

Mikey

[Leeky]

How much did you pay for the car? I wouldnt bother trying to mess about locating the source of the problem as it sounds like a knackered engine and gearbox to me.

I would budget £1500 to get a engine and gearbox from a breakers and get someone to fit it.

If you paid around £1500 for the car then i dont think its worth it, i'd scrap it or sell it as spare or repair.

[SWISER]

type 3sge into eBay £749.99 supply and fitted ( low milage he's got about 40 )

[Mikey Silo]

Hi guys, thanks for the advice :)

Leeky - I paid £1k for it, but I've put in another £500 since getting it serviced,new brake discs, cam belt kit, and a bit more. I've I'm looking at the cost you've mentioned, then i agree... it's just not worth it :( I love the car, but i don't have that sort of cash free to pour into it.

Swiser - Thanks for that too. I'll look it up :) Do you know who the seller is and if he's reputable?

Anyone, the plot has thickened slightly... I had the car running on Thursday night for near on an hour. I checked the oil and water - all good. Eventually it started to overheat again, nearly hitting the red on the gauge while just sat there. I also noticed the fan behind the rad never came on. I then left the car at my parents at the weekend while I stayed with my girlfriend. While it was there my dad had a guy look at it who came out to fix a problem on his own car. This guy reckons that it's the radiator, which is admitedly rusty. But I've been keeping an eye on it. There's always water in the overflow bottle, and I've topped it up a few times, including just a day or so before this guy looked at it. He told my dad the rad was bone dry. So, is it leaking?... not from what I can tell by looking under the car. BUT, the car still has the engine fairing underneath it, and that does have what looks like rusty residue from when the radiator may have leaked in the past.

Anyway, he topped it up with coolant. I gave it a run last night and it seems fine. Same today. I'm just going to need to keep an eye on it and keep topping the radiator up, but it'll be looked at within the week anyway. So, fingers crossed... it might just need a new rad.

One thing I'm unsure of is how the rad was 'bone dry' 2 days after I checked it, even without signs of leakage... but then could that be because I'm topping the radioator up via the header bottle on the side, which if the rad was virtually dry wouldn't make much difference? Should I always be topping it up through the radiator cap itself?

[Fawbs]

Yes if the radiator has a cap on it you always fill it up thru there and fill the expansion tank up too, system will start to chuck out coolant when its hot until it gets to its natural level.

I would be surprised if the gearbox has gone but not knowing the mileage who knows. My mates VW Transporter van did 250k before his fifth gear went it started making a whirring noice when it did that. i really think you need to stop driving it around i think you are just going to make it worse esp if there is noise coming from the internals. Not being able to look at it i would guess the engine could possibly be knackered its not helping with it constantly over heating.

750 quid supplied and fitted is a great price, just got to hope its not the gearbox. If any noises come out of it again get a flat blade screw driver preferrably a long and bulky one, listen for the noise and put the tip against where you think it is coming from and put your ear on the other end. You should be able to hear clearly where any noise is originating and hunt it down until ur in the correct location.