02 gen 7 advice

[WezP]

Hi guys, 

I just got myself an 02 celica vvti, I'm absolutely loving the car so far, it's only done 70k miles and it's been very well looked after but it has a few issues I'm looking for some advice to rectify. I'm hoping you guys have more expirence with these cars than me and can give me some tips. 

There's a lot of corrosion on the underbody, particularly by the rear subframe but it's all surface corrosion, I've had a good poke at it all with a screwdriver and it passed its mot last month with no advisories. I'm thinking of scraping all the surface rust off with a wire wheel and wire brush, using a rust converter and then coating it in waxoyl, however people seem to have mixed views about what the best way to deal with this is. I'm hoping to stop the corrosion progressing and becoming more serious. 

It also suffers from excessive oil consumption due to the clogged up oil control ring problem the 1zz is plagued with. I'm eventually planning on stripping the engine down and putting new rings in it and drilling more oil drain holes in the pistons but I'm not ready to do that just yet as it's a massive job. I've heard a lot of people say you can use seafoam to keep the problem at bay for a while, which would be great for me until I get round to sorting it permanently. The problem is I've also seen a lot of people say it can damage seals and cause oil leaks. Just wanted your thoughts on if I'm better to just keep adding oil for now or to try seafoam. Also if I do try it, what's the best way to use it. Spray through the throttle body or liquid (third in intake, third in oil, third in fuel). That one sounds a bit dodgy to me. 

 

Any advice would be appreciated

[gezhenry]

Sounds like you've got a great car and well worth keeping and treating, however it does suffer from the 2 main Achilles heels of the earlier models.

Generally the oil burning probs, bar the engine/change work you could always do in the future, potential things you can try, keep a regular eye on the oil level it only becomes a problem if you run out or v low, bear in mind high revs will burn more oil, run premium fuel, additives in fuel, regular oil changes and good flushes, seafoam (or water) sprayed into the throttle body or through the pcv hose, a piston soak ie. leaving seafoam etc to soak through spark plug holes, may help, I've tried all with varying levels of success.

Some of these things may damage other things, but the best method of redress long term would be to swap your engine for a later facelift one from 03-06.

Regarding the rust, you've got the right idea there, bear in mind though there are only 2 or 3 places where they rust that are the important ones to treat 2 places on the rear subframe that are hard to see and reach and the rear end of the drivers side sill, it's advisable that you remove and clean under etc the sill covers , make sure the drain holes are clear and you can put stuff in the sills by removing the plastic Celica covers in the doorwells.

 

I've done all the above I can elaborate slightly more or you can find more info on www.celica-club.co.uk

 

 

[WezP]

Thanks so much for the advice, I've been running her on premium fuel for the last 4 or 5 days and put some fuel additive in and its made a huge difference. Ive gone through about half a tank and it's not really burned any oil that I can tell whereas before it would have been noticeable. 

As for the rust I'm planning on tackling as soon as we get a few days without rain. 

Thanks again 

[gezhenry]

Yeah keep using the premium juice and some of the other tips I suggested, and can you keep us posted and report back on how much or what difference they make, that'd be interesting 

Thanks and good luck for now

G

[CAPTAIN SOLO]

On 8/27/2020 at 2:56 AM, WezP said:

Hi guys, 

I just got myself an 02 celica vvti, I'm absolutely loving the car so far, it's only done 70k miles and it's been very well looked after but it has a few issues I'm looking for some advice to rectify. I'm hoping you guys have more expirence with these cars than me and can give me some tips. 

There's a lot of corrosion on the underbody, particularly by the rear subframe but it's all surface corrosion, I've had a good poke at it all with a screwdriver and it passed its mot last month with no advisories. I'm thinking of scraping all the surface rust off with a wire wheel and wire brush, using a rust converter and then coating it in waxoyl, however people seem to have mixed views about what the best way to deal with this is. I'm hoping to stop the corrosion progressing and becoming more serious. 

It also suffers from excessive oil consumption due to the clogged up oil control ring problem the 1zz is plagued with. I'm eventually planning on stripping the engine down and putting new rings in it and drilling more oil drain holes in the pistons but I'm not ready to do that just yet as it's a massive job. I've heard a lot of people say you can use seafoam to keep the problem at bay for a while, which would be great for me until I get round to sorting it permanently. The problem is I've also seen a lot of people say it can damage seals and cause oil leaks. Just wanted your thoughts on if I'm better to just keep adding oil for now or to try seafoam. Also if I do try it, what's the best way to use it. Spray through the throttle body or liquid (third in intake, third in oil, third in fuel). That one sounds a bit dodgy to me. 

 

Any advice would be appreciated

1ZZ oil consumption could be caused by carbon deposit on piston rings and valve seats, causing oil to escape into the valve head, forming sludge.

One way to clean out the carbon deposits, dissolve oil sludge and increase compression is to flush the engine with MOTOR MEDIC's GUNK, about $5 for  a 12 ozs bottle. Follow instructions on the bottle, but I would use it at half strength first.  Add half a bottle into engine oil and idle the engine for 10 min then drain and replace with new oil and filter.  The drained oil should be black and thick like slurry  You may have to flush a few times to completely clean the engine. Clean engine would run smoother, cleaner with more power and lower fuel and oil consumption.

I flush the engine every time I change oil to keep it clean.  My 2002 GTS' 2ZZ engine is nice and clean with fresh oil, no sludge under the valve cover.  The car has 320K miles with rock-solid original engine and auto xmission, still runs strong and smooth with no problem.  It has never failed on me even after lots of abuses. I routinely cruise on long trip at 90-100 MPH.   Guys who own Porsche 911, BMW M3, M5 prefer to drive this car  at high speeds.  It's more stable, controllable, safer and more fun  than other high-performance sports cars. 

Lotus Engineering use the 2ZZ engine in its Elise and Exige due to its proven reliability and durability at high speed. The Evora uses Toyota Camry's V6 3.5 L engine.

 

 

 

[WezP]

That would make a lot of sense seeing as the v power has helped so much. Also I've noticed the oil has gone a lot darker since I've been running it on the premium which makes sense. 

That stuff sounds awesome, I'll deffo give that a go. It's due for a service soon so I'll give it a go when I service her. 

I agree, toyota really nailed the handling and suspension on the celica. Its so much fun to drive, lots of country lanes by mine so I regularly take her for a spin just for the fun of it. Maybe slightly stiffer springs would be an improvement but I guess they didn't wanna sacrifice comfort 

[gezhenry]

Brilliant I'm glad to hear you've made progress keep on top of it and an eye on the oil level, remember it's only a prob if it gets really low or runs out, beware that if you go on a long spirited drive that can be the problem as it burns a lot more at high rpm, so that 'll be when the risk is.

I always give mine a good flushing just in case cos it's cheap and easy (I just use diesel and the like), despite the advice on some models of cars they argue against it.

And regular oil changes using only fully synthetic.

Oh and really high prolonged engine temperatures can cause oil burning too so that's another thing to try and avoid.

Keep us posted on your progress it d be interesting.