Celica Vvtl-I Minor Problems (I Hope) Any Help Please?

[Simon Williams_42232]

She's a Jap import end of 1999 model.

1) Ok, so sometimes lift wont engage, but I think I know roughly why. If I leave the car ticking over, after about 10minutes the revs drop from 1500 down to 700-800, this is normal I know, but then if I drive for a bit, when I come to a stop the revs are at 1500 again. Also the oil temp gauge will go up and down throughout my journey.

So I'm thinking this could maybe be a problem with the thermostat?

Also I don't think I've ever seen the engine fans on... Maybe this is because the engine thinks it's cold when it's actually hot.

2) The coolant level always drops down very low. If I top it up to MAX then drive for a bit it will drop down to about 1cm above the bottom pipe, but then if I take the lid of the expansion bottle coolant comes back in up to the MIN mark.

Maybe an air bubble in the system??? Any ideas how to sort this?

3) Sometimes the car seems to stutter around 3000RPM. For example, sometimes I go to accelerate, (not hard) in 2nd and at around 2800-3000 she seems to feel a little restricted and it feels like the power comes and goes for a second before I shift gear and then she's fine.

This seems to be an intermittent problem, drove this morning and that didn't happen at all.

Spark plugs or fuel line maybe??

4) The heater only blows out cold or slightly warm air. I think this is a case of needing to flush out the heater matrix as I've found a thread on here where a lot of people have had the same issue.

Please help, Thanks

[edwardio]

Sorry you are having problems.

Hopefully these may help.

1) Have you ever got it into lift? As you have a pre-facelift 190, the lift bolts are prone to snapping. If you are talking about the temp gauge on the dash, its coolant temp & not oil temp. It's possible you have an air lock, so you need to 'burp' the system.

2) The radiators are prone to wearing out in the bottom corners, so mine be worth having a good check. You won't see a big pool under the car, because of the way they tend to fail. Really examine the condition of the fins.

3) When was it last serviced? Trying cleaning your MAF sensor & then resetting your ECU.

4) This is probably linked to point 2 & possible airlock.

Anyway I hope this helps.

[Simon Williams_42232]

Thanks for your reply edwardio, seen a few posts from you on these boards, true legend!

Yes she has gone into "lift", she takes off in 2nd gear! :)

As I said a lot of these problems are intermittent, for example, I will get lift, then few miles down the road I wont. But then all this bank holiday weekend she has been fine, "lift" as and when. (Although some numpty on a dual carriage way today pull out in front of me just as lift engaged... That didn't please the missus)

I'll have a real good look at the radiator when I get some time this week, but could you explain how to "burp the system" or point me to some instructions please. Also cleaning the MAF sensor and resetting the ECU?? Although I will goggle this now.

Big thanks for your help so far!! ;)

[edwardio]

If you have intermitten lift, your oil feeds might be a little blocked. I would suggest that you change your lift bolts as they are probably worn anyway. They're not expensive, only a few quiz I think for the parts.

To burp the system, leave the engine running with the rad cap off & try to get the reservior as high as possible. Plus massage the rad pipes. The Celica doesn't have a bleed valve, so you have to do it the old fashined way by burpping it.

Cleaing the MAF is easy. All you need is some carb cleaner or WD40 & a cotton bud. Remove the MAF, spray it with cleaner/WD & then very carefully clean the sensor with the cotton bud.

To reset the ECU, follow this guide:

http://www.celicahobby.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/267456/ECU-How-To-Reset.html

[Simon Williams_42232]

Right, cleaned the MAF and burped the system. MAF is lovely and clean and the coolant level stays high now :D big thanks Edwardo. And checked the radiator everything looks fine :)

Still get the intermittent lift though and I know when she will and wont engage lift. When the revs drop down to between 1200-700 then I will get lift and the coolant temp will be about half way, but drive a few miles and the coolant temp will drop down and the revs will go up to between 1500-1700, then lift won't engage. So how would I go about checking the thermostat? Could that be causing it?

[edwardio]

Ok this is a little strange. Lift will not engage until the engine is a least on the 2nd temperature bar. Lift will then engage at over 6k revs.

I don't believe I've heard of Lift playing up like this before. Saying that, you might have worn lift bolts of a the oil feed pipe is a bit blocked. Sorry this is a bit out of my knowledge.

[Simon Williams_42232]

What about the revs though?

I understand that as the engine warms up the revs drop down to around 700-800. Is it common for the revs to go back up to around 1500 as they are when the car is first started?

[edwardio]

Did you reset the ECU ok?

Is the idle stable at the various temps?

[Simon Williams_42232]

I assume so, pulled the fuse and then replaced it a few seconds later.

Assuming the temp needle is flat, 90 degrees to the left is point 1, then at this point she idles around 1700, then if left to tick over the temp will go to point 2, the rev are around 1000, then at point 3 the revs will be around 700-800.

But then a drive down the road and the temp will go back to point 2 and revs will be somewhere between 1000-1500

[ThePermanentProject]

If i understand what you have written simon, it screams dying/dead thermostat to me..............

How does this size up............

Sounds as though it has leaked wax, and now can't regulate engine block coolant temp properly once the coolant pressure rises to levels seen at full operating temperature.

Once at full operating temp, thermostat allows too much hot coolant out, engine coolant temp drops, engine temp sensor picks up on this (believes the engine is getting cool) so brings choke back in - in an attempt to try and warm itself up again. Thats why after a few minutes idling the temp goes up....... because the pressure of the coolant in the engine block had dropped as it got cooler.....

Do you have a multimeter? If so, test your engine coolant temperature sensor when the engine is at full operating temp. Should be around 290 ohms if i remember correctly....

If it reads as that (+/-10%), your coolant temp sensor is reading correctly (more or less) - and what i have written above should be good theory. If not, time to start looking elsewhere.........

This is all said assuming the coolant system has been thoroughly bled of air. If not, all sorts of wierd symptoms can start appearing......

I have a spare Toyota (known good) thermostat here going cheap here if you want it?

[simon_williams]

Assuming it has leaked wax what would be the solution? And how difficult is it to change the thermostat?

Also, how long should new lift bolts last?

Thanks for all your help.

[armoredfist2002]

New lift bolts should last the life of the engine, as they are a newer design to the old ones, these are easy to change and cost around £2-£3 from toyota also known as flange bolts.

Thermostat shouldn't be to bad to change,

Have you checked for any leaks from the water pump, you are better off taking the plastic off on the bottom of the drivers wheel arch and looking at the pulleys, easier to see from here than from the top. If you still have the toyota pink coolant in and it's leaking there will be pink crystals around the pulley and where it's leaked to.

Have you checked the bottom of the radiator as edwardio said, these tend to start leaking after a few years in the bottom corners.

If all the above is fine then change your thermostat, the only way to find out what the problems are is to eliminate them one by one, or take it to a mechanic to look at

[simon_williams]

It was quite a while ago I started this thread and since have had to replace the radiator and fitted new lift bolts.

Regarding the coolant level everything is good. But the car has gone back to intermittent lift and I'm not overly confident the thermostat is working properly so was thinking I would replace this anyway. So anyone know of any guides to this or step by step instructions?

And regarding the intermittent lift, how would I go about fixing a blocked oil feed?

Thanks in advance, really appreciate everyone's help on this.

[armoredfist2002]

I would also consider checking the oil control valves if you haven't already

heres a guide on where to find them and how to remove

http://www.newcelica.org/forums/showthread.php?t=250432

Couldn't find one for the thermostat