Just Got A St185 And I Need Advise Please

[streetcruiser]

well i managed to do a straight swop for a pug 306 for a import celica st185 which i thought i got the better side of the deal. however me and a couple of mates think it is a slow for what it is. it seems to strugle to get over the 100 mark, iam only guessing but i would think it hasnt been dereisticted as its import from japan. another thing its had a new engine put in it along with a brand new head, what we have thought is maybe the head is off the earlie model st165? and maybe the ports are different? i have a spare complete head what come off the old engine which i will inspect later on today. if anyone could share some light on the head side of things to let me know if it possibility that the previous owner had put the wrong head on. i just want to get this sorted before i put it on the track incase something goes bang...

cheers.............

[Fawbs]

First congratulations on getting the gt4, second, congratulations on getting rid of the pug haha. When i put my other engine in and ran it in, i did a top speed run and it wouldnt go passed 120mph. This was strange but drove a bit more and did another run and the top speed managed to sort itself out so could be that. If its limited its usually limited to 112/115 i think but i don't think it should struggle to get there.

Be aware this is only a 200bhp car, you can quite easily make a it more but if it has a standard gasket in it won't last long as they are cut from cereal boxes. Also the ct26 turbo tends to run out of puff towards the higher rpm, where as the ct20 on the 205 is lot better at covering all the revs and is an easy and good upgrade as if i remember correctly, should fit straight on.

As for the head, i am pretty sure you can't put a 165 head on a 185 or a 205.

I used to live in salisbury, parents moved to marlborough now and i live in peterborough, should be down there for christmas, where abouts do you live?

Mike

[streetcruiser]

i was told the head gasket was replaced with a metal gasket and is not standard. my plans are to modify it and use it on track days. i want it ready for jap fest as i been saying that for the last 4 years with my previous car. i left the modifying scene 6 months ago because i spent over 7k on my last car. but driving a non jap car for that period i missed it so managed to get hold of my st185. thankyou for your replt though mike i might get the car on a diaognostics check to make sure everything is running properly. i live very close to the snooker club off southamton road by big tesco.

[Fawbs]

Oh yeh i kind of know where you mean, don't know where the snooker club is though. Oh were you one of those people who meet under the sainsbury's car park at night? Seen a nice skyline and rx7 there once.

[streetcruiser]

haha, i do go to the car park sometimes but the car scene in salisbury has died down in the last 2 years, you probably saw my mates blue rx7 which is a ex dragon performance Shell, and my mates skyline gtr which is a monster.

[paulgtt]

i might get the car on a diaognostics check to make sure everything is running properly.

You can check for error codes by using a paper clip, it might be that an error code is stored and the car is in "limp" mode. Pull the EFI fuse out and leave for 30 seconds and then put it back in (do this with the engine off!) restart the car and take it for a spin.

[Fawbs]

Yeh that rx7 he has put a hole in the skirt or bumper cant remember which one. Yeh that 2 tone skyline, seen that, seen a white gt4 aswell that is always around salisbury. Theres a nippy yellow punto gt aswell and a black toyota levin but i think he meets one or two people on the top of the car park, think he flashed me once and wanted me to follow him. What is that rx7 running? Standard or highly modded?

Might nip down there once ive finished my rebuild, people have meets in the middle of town aswell.

[streetcruiser]

the car revs all the way up, if it was in limp mode wouldnt that stop the car reving to the max?

[Fawbs]

Resetting the ecu is a good idea. When i was in limp mode when you reached high rpm it would, well you could feel the power fluctuate and just didn't want to rev anymore. You could notice the lack of power.

[streetcruiser]

Yeh that rx7 he has put a hole in the skirt or bumper cant remember which one. Yeh that 2 tone skyline, seen that, seen a white gt4 aswell that is always around salisbury. Theres a nippy yellow punto gt aswell and a black toyota levin but i think he meets one or two people on the top of the car park, think he flashed me once and wanted me to follow him. What is that rx7 running? Standard or highly modded?

Might nip down there once ive finished my rebuild, people have meets in the middle of town aswell.

the rx7 is single turbo and is at the 500bhp mark now. used for drift alot thats y its abit beat up. the yellow punto was swoped couple weeks back for a saxo vtr the gt4 is a mate of mine he spent 30k on it just hit 400bhp mark and is now for sale for 7500. and the black levin is my best mates he is selling that for a st185. he is first uk owner me and him went to pick it up jus off the boat last year

[Fawbs]

30k and only just reached 400bhp? i take it he has spent it on exterior and interior aswell. Was going to say im doing my rebuild now and spent well no where near that just a few grand and should be running about 430 - 450 and thats only cause im opting for the gt3071r instead of the gt3076r. I have some new suspension and bbs rims just need to strip the interior really, get some seats etc.

That levin baffled me, i had no idea what it was, kind of looked like a skyline from certain angles bet its a pain to get parts for it. My mate had a toyota soarer and getting parts for that was a nightmare. Ah right should have a few 185's round there then.

[streetcruiser]

this is the gt4 you saw mike

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TOYOTA-CELICA-GT4-ST...=item4a9bd77fe4

[Fawbs]

It might be, can't remember it having a cold air feed in the light though. Where did he get the stuff cryogenically frozen?

[streetcruiser]

i dont know where he got it done, when i see him i will ask.

[streetcruiser]

i might get the car on a diaognostics check to make sure everything is running properly.

You can check for error codes by using a paper clip, it might be that an error code is stored and the car is in "limp" mode. Pull the EFI fuse out and leave for 30 seconds and then put it back in (do this with the engine off!) restart the car and take it for a spin.

this sounds stupid but i cant see a efi fuse, their are 2 fuse boxes under the bonnet but thet are to badly worn for me to know which is the correct 1. could you tell me what it looks like or which box its in.

thankyou

[paulgtt]

Its the long fuse box on the right hand side when you lift the bonnet, next to the Battery.

Its a small blue fuse IIRC, 15 amp??

Sorry can't be more exact!! Its too dark outside for me to check atm!!

You could always take the negative lead off the Battery

**Actually**

Have a look on here mate, gtfours.co.uk.

Go to "How to" and then "reset ecu" thats for the 165 but the 185 is basically the same.

[streetcruiser]

right, so i have followed the instructions for reseting the ecu and starting a fresh (thanx for the link paul). took it up the road and is the same. i checked all the turbo lines / air lines and all is good no splits leaks or nout. took it back up the road and in 3rd gear it hit 4000rpm and is boosting ok then we get near 5000rpm and their is a massive flat spot then about 5-6 seconds later their is a massive rush of power for no more then 2 seconds if that. and now iam lost because i got good spark on all leads, i was thinking of changeing the leads and plugs. (magnecor leads / ngk plugs) and see if their is any difference, but if i allready have good spark i cant see it changeing nout.

any ideas on what else this maybe caused by?

thankyou

[Fawbs]

Use toyota oem leads, they are generally thought as being the best out of all the leads. I got some magnecore ones and if im honest it was awful on start up just wasnt the same as it used to be but it could be down to dodgy rotor arm or dizzy cap so who knows.

[paulgtt]

Mine was missfiring, not as bad as what you've described but I changed leads, sparks, dizzy and arm and all is well now.

Only use GENUINE Toyota, some places list being oem but they aren't. TCB sell the genuine parts.

As for the plugs go for Platinums, 3sgte's don't tend to like Iridium plugs. BRK8E or someting like that are the plugs I have, they are NGK's.

[GTForbes]

the genuine toyota leads are a fortune, magnacore ones are fine, i never had a single issue with them, the big scare stories about them being crap is from one persons well publicised lead failure which could have been down to many things.

plug choice is totally personal, persoanlly i used Iridium plugs and had no issues, a fried of mine had a 450+bhp ST205 and he used copper plugs, the material they are made from is irrellivent to performance, just their lifespan. the ones you have listed Paul are one grade colder than standard, that can sometimes cause cold starting issues but not a big problem.

it sounds to me that your needing to give the car a major service of the electrical items, plugs, leads, rotor arm and dizzy cap. after that i'd be surprised if you still had issues