Cylinder Head

[Jinxed]

the news wasn't good, thought i felt ill last few days lol add shed load of outlay and oh dear. seems my cylinder heads gotta come off at the very least for a new seal.... got lots of pressure in the cooling system and this is whats caused coolant loss and consequential overheats :( ah well she will be in working order one of these days and ill finally(someday(i really hope(really really(oh crap let it be soon)))) be able to hang up the keys to the 214.... in the dustbin where they belong. plus i think i gonna get a gold membership...discount alone woulda paid for itself after this

any advice would be appreciated on this dilemma.....

its a big job say toyota doing the seal, engine out etc and will cost a fortune in time alone for a 10 pound seal(guestimation prob more like 100) ..... i hate aluminium cylinder heads its always these that go for me.... ive had 3 cars go from them warping now and this isnt gonna be the 4th. they wrap flaming kit kats in that rubbish, yah yah yah more bhp less wieght yah yah... keeps them in business morelike ummm im ranting ooo ooo mood swing back to ok.... stay problem focussed stay problem focussed

due to this cars excellence(ok not my 2's current excellence <_< ) its worth repair and iv'e spent so much i cant quit now.

the dilemma is just let them do the seal, skim head if necessary, and risk it all again in the future....

or

tell them to screw the cylinder head and ask them to source an 'uprated' (this how they referred to it) one and just do the seal and put on new/2nd hand uprated head....

or....... was just looking at a site selling engines and the cost of a cylinder head and fitting was 495 and the cost of a recon engine and fitting was 695..... worth asking toyota about just sticking a recon engine in?

anyone know what they mean by uprated? i kinda fancy jus a nice metal one not some aly alloy as im gettin this grudge thing happening. was jus looking at a ford parts mag(not for 2 parts of course lol) and noticed that they were offering stage1,2,3 prepared cylinder heads. is it possible and worth getting something like this for the 2? will it result in a more solid less likely to warp situation? will it add any hp? yup im clueless as far as engines go but if im gonna be paying best part of a grand for a stupid seal ( <_< ) then a grand and a half/ 2 grand doesnt seem really bad for a more solid engine and maybe more bhp.

ah well guys n gals thanks for any help and advice ...... one day the sun will come out on this, things gotta change and ..... who the frick am i kidding lol jus want my 2 back next week they said i prob can have back ...... oh jesus not a week in te 214 it its really crap now. me cos if i hafta drive that crock longer than a week ima be soooo despondant i could do anything, police u have been warned..... (all units we have a maniac in a 214 doing 135 in a 30 zone in a blindfold screaming ITS AN MR2 IM TELLING YA ) J/K but i am pretty miserable lol and wow i typealot

[TOYMOTA]

I'm getting mine checked out for overheating this friday mate, so I feel for ya.

Shame yours is almost a worse case senario. How much do they wanna charge

you for the job??

I'm praying mine is just a knackered thermostat and NOT the HEAD GASKET or similar, cos the temp stays around half way and then after about 30 mins of normal low rev driving the temp gauge goes close to the red and that buzzer goes off followed by water/steam coming out of the expansion tank.

I think they'll mean uprated, as in uprated internals rather than an uprated head!?!?

What's the 214??

I'll be driving around in my old Pug TD (REAL RAW POWER) although I tweeked her to run at 18 psi (115-120bhp) which is much better than the standard 14 psi and 92 bhp.

Fingers crossed!!! :( :ffs: :!Removed!: :censor:

Try Fensport for a new head by the way. £300 ish I think. Or a completely bare low milage import engine for £700 ish.

[Jinxed]

Im feeling for you also :( really not a nice feeling knowing something possibly bad is up... hope urs isnt same as mine.... the ppl who ghosted the probs on this car should be :censor: :censor: :censor: :censor: ina :censor: box with a :censor: :censor: :censor: :censor: poisonous snake and vanessa feltzs :censor: underwear for gags :censor: :censor:

as for prices .... still waiting for a quote from them but when i know ill post it up.... must admit a new engine low mileage import sounds pretty good as its 600 they said just to do a cambelt so..... if engines coming out .... ummm seems more cost effective

Praying for urs also .... dont want anyone feeling like me at this mom.... bleak bleak black nasty bleack world at mom

and they said uprated head.... figure theyre meaning a performance upgrade one ... like the stage 123 ones i seen for the fords .... just hoping whatever it is will leave me happy regardless of spending lizzies on it

What's the 214?? ............bane of my life lol a rover..... serious woah value, man the ppl turn to look at that.... girls faint, grandads admire with reminiscing at days gone by ....i ...well i :censor: hate it lol it was really raelly :censor: before but now its tantamount to having something apauling. the mr2 did this to me lol im gettin fussy rofl

your Pug TD sounds really nice in comparison and for this im thankful.... i might as well walk the 214 is that bad. only thing going for 214 is the 1500 watt stereo i put in ><

Fingers crossed for both of us!!! :(

im thinking the whole engine is looking like its attractive.... as long as its not an aly alloy head.... really dont want aly alloy on it.... load of stoopid tosh :censor:

let u know what goes on and let me know how urs turns out... be nice to share ur happyness if u avoid bein where i am :) gl hombre

[Jinxed]

ok just found out they (Toyota) phoned earlier.... i almost coughed my spleen out. defo not good .... brace urselves, pray you never get this, pray for me please i need it lol

to just take engine out, do seal, test head and radiator(which looks new but why chance it?), put it all back and filters oil coolant etc ...... £1920 this is including 16 hours labour at £65 an hour :censor: :ffs: :o

oh :censor: oh :censor: oh :censor:

im in wrong line of work, must be, ffs

going to ask them whether they can sort a recon engine and fit that and how much instead. figure its the best way of sorting all potential problems at once seeing as aprox 600 of that 1920 is engine out and back kinda cost. oh man the stuff im prepared to endure to make this 2 like new. if it all means i get my 2 back and shes sweet for next 5/6/7/up years i can justify it to myself. planned on modding body. ice and nice new paint job anyhow in hopefully not so distant future(meaning next 2/3 years ) ....im hoping all works out and that im wrong about living in hell already(that would explain a few things for me ;) ) ill keep the forum apraised and ....with luck ill be getting her back in few weeks most depending on availability of an engine and a non too exorbitant cost. ppl want me dead over this lol my bank manager most certainly!

[TOYMOTA]

OUCH, that price would make me I think. Was that a price from Mr T, or a local garage???

If you do go down the recon engine route, have you considered trying to fix the engine yourself in your spare time?? And then obviously sell it on once it's fixed. That way you'd get alot of your har earned / spent money back.

[JustJJ]

Wishing you the best of luck Jinxed..... its never good when these things happen :(

[ZeroBlade]

Heh its well steep that, to be expected thought from Mr T! You can have a whole engine inc. the labour of the transplant for less that that!

-Z

[Bobby-H]

ok just found out they (Toyota) phoned earlier.... i almost coughed my spleen out. defo not good .... brace urselves, pray you never get this, pray for me please i need it lol

to just take engine out, do seal, test head and radiator(which looks new but why chance it?), put it all back and filters oil coolant etc ...... £1920 this is including 16 hours labour at £65 an hour   :censor:  :ffs:  :o   

oh :censor: oh :censor: oh :censor: 

im in wrong line of work, must be, ffs

going to ask them whether they can sort a recon engine and fit that and how much instead. figure its the best way of sorting all potential problems at once seeing as aprox 600 of that 1920 is engine out and back kinda cost. oh man the stuff im prepared to endure to make this 2 like new. if it all means i get my 2 back and shes sweet for next 5/6/7/up years i can justify it to myself. planned on modding body. ice and nice new paint job anyhow in hopefully not so distant future(meaning next 2/3 years  ) ....im hoping all works out and that im wrong about living in hell already(that would explain a few things for me  ;) ) ill keep the forum apraised and ....with luck ill be getting her back in few weeks most depending on availability of an engine and a non too exorbitant cost. ppl want me dead over this lol my bank manager most certainly!

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This all sounds a bit dodgy, I dont know for certain but I'm pretty sure that you dont need to take the engine out to get the cylinder head off, I'll look in the service manual when I get home.

Anyway, sounds like they are trying to rip you off, I'd get a second oppinion (dont go to Mr T) or, if you're up do it just do the work yourself (thats what I'd do). I reckon you should only be paying about £500 - £600 for this job (but there is no way Mr T will do it for that much, you will have to go somewhere else).

[TOYMOTA]

The repair manual doesn't mention taking the engine out.

I guess it just makes the whole process a heck of alot easier if the engine is out.

[mikeb]

This all sounds a bit dodgy, I dont know for certain but I'm pretty sure that you dont need to take the engine out to get the cylinder head off, I'll look in the service manual when I get home.

Anyway, sounds like they are trying to rip you off, I'd get a second oppinion (dont go to Mr T) or, if you're up do it just do the work yourself (thats what I'd do).  I reckon you should only be paying about £500 - £600 for this job (but there is no way Mr T will do it for that much, you will have to go somewhere else).

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I was thinking that too - why do they need to pull the engine to get the head off? Perhaps it's down to limited accessability in the MR2 engine bay. I know first hand that the head can be removed by itself from the celica engine bay.

I was 'estimated' around £1500 (90% of it labour) by a Toyota dealer to replace the head gasket. In the end I payed a cylinder head specialist £120 to totally refurbish the head, and I removed and reinstalled it myself. The full gasket set (with stem seals and everything) was about another £100.

Try an independent garage, but make sure they are knowledgeable about the MR2s cooling system and it's bleeding requirements, otherwise you will need another head gasket pretty quick.

[Jinxed]

thanks guys :) its nice to have your input and company.... sadly im over a barrel at the minute. I honestly would feel less vulnerable in a hospital, with a load of trainee doctors watching me get rectally examined by miss brutalsphincter ripper lol still got a sense of humour im glad tho ive come pretty close to losing it

I'm clueless about engines so i really daren't attempt anything on it myself as .... well it'd probably be horrible. given time limits and the imminent death of the 214. its got a bad terminal engine problem too(anyone seeing a pattern here?) thats in fact exactly whats up with the 2 but more progressed, i cant afford to be without the 2 for very long at all. i'd lose my job for sure, sadly prospect of another job in that careerpath would be gone also as im running with a tight upcoming deadline for the particular qualification necessary to continue professionaly with it so ....me and doing it seems not possible.

most of the garages i tried previously were unwilling to touch it or clueless about 2's but brave enough to 'have a go' to which i thought 'have a go at go :censor: yourself' lol i was honestly glad the toyota dealers would touch it .

dont know where mr T's is but ....ones indicating try them another saying dont.... >< not inspring confidence as i really want the 2 to be in as close to perfect working order enginewise as possible for at the vey least the next 12 months(im expecting a lot lol), dont get me wrong im not knocking them as i know they get a lot of mentions, usually with compliments from what iv'e seen. if theyre not up north near me , the cars not got a good prayer of probably getting there given it couldnt manage a 2 mile trip to my girlfriends without blowing white acrid nasty smoke and with it seeming to be ok for coolant 2 days before with little driving after.

looked where rogue systems was... cambridge erg >< would have let them do it but way too far.

gonna cry myself to sleep tonight i think with some !Removed! and a nice bottle of single malt whilst thinking about other ppl getting :censor: lmao j/k j/k the whisky sounds good tho.... hang on heard someone come back.... gona go see if theres a price for total engine yet >< im crossing everything.... might release water miself if i dont and the news is that bad lol chat u all soon guys n my most heartfelt thanks for your contributions

[TOYMOTA]

Just had a look on Rogue Systems web site. They're based in Kenilworth just north or Warwick. Unless I'm looking at the wrong one??

http://www.roguesystems.co.uk/static/home.aspx

[Jinxed]

thx for correcting me toymota .... gonna look where warwick is on a map and quite possibly ring them in morning.... see whether they can be competetive. that sense of humour i had just left me, packed its bags an went. the news was bad..... this is seeming a bit horror storyish.

sorry guys im really angry and depressed at the mom, .... not a good combo. the quotes......

option 1 cylinder head blah blah blah etc etc ..... grand total of 1955 of which 1040 is labour

option 2 whole engine blah blah blah yada yada ...grand total 4160 of which 1040 is labour

im having some very new and disturbing thoughts and feelings now lol

im being told by a confidence undermining relative to go for option 1 as option 2 'theres no guarantee something else isnt going to go wrong'. i coulda sworn option 1 had 'no guarantee either' this is excluding all 12 month warranties that come with the jobs im not seeing his argument.... anyone else? ooo ooo ooo did i get a guarantee im not gonna get hit by a truck tomorrow? <_<

i just thought oh ***** 2 more jobs at 1040 a pop and parts, bang coulda had a recon engine and avoided engine jobs...

[TOYMOTA]

I phoned up an engineering place today that sort heads out. They quoted me £550 + VAT to take a head off, skim it, clean it up, change all the gaskets and refit. I really think you should shop around a bit. You'll save a hell of a lot of ££££!!

[mikeb]

There is also Toyauto centre in Nottingham (gt4 specialists, so they should know the engine inside out), and Chris Wilson in Shropshire. Neither are particularly close to you, and probably won't be cheap, but they should both be more than up to doing the job.

But there must be places near you that can do the job for a reasonable rate. Keep searching.

[Jinxed]

cheers guys :) i value social support and encouragement with constructive feedback..... trying a place in morning down road that I just found out are happy to do mr2's. I guess if theyre cheaper than Toyota esp by a lot and can tell me what they got to do without thinking much then they got a shot. I dont want to lose the 2 or get totally done over for the job, and its a good feeling sharing something so special in common with others, is nice here and i hope to 'get off the doom train' real soon and start getting what i wanted to pay for ....a beautiful piece of human thought made real. I'm seriously withdrawing from that redefined driving experience, it was fun again .

Hats off to toyota for doing what theyve done, but im not anywhere close to being rich enough to have them do this and be able to eat for the next ten years or summat. In fact im just not rich at all lol and have an expensive addiction to cigarettes this was spose to be helping me quit .... so far smoked more esp now is Mr T's the way you guys refer to Toyota dealers? or is it a seperate entity?

The place down road has done a few jobs on cars of mine over the years and a few jobs for relatives and seem good, dunno why didnt think of them. Going to ask them to put in a metal performance gasket, even if i have to wait for it to arrive by getting myself or they get. If all goes well ill sing their praises so anyone local who has a 2 will have some feedback on a hopefully good place to go thats in this area.

ill post a quote when they tell me the damage.... hopefully can afford to maybe get a lil summat extra.... new stereo head unit, dump valve or blitz blowoff valve(if d valve and blowoff valve arent the same, didnt thoroughly try n research yet). If quote and impression is good and anyone has any recommendations as to a sub 300 quid good extra to go with a sports exhaust, not sure what sort at this point but its not standard chuck in a suggestion and if theres a concensus hopefully i can make a silver lining a bit more substantial

heres hoping :) bet i dont get much sleep tho ;)

ill happpily sell my soul to the devil to have my car back in super perfect long term(greater than 20 years) full working order for very little money(under £2.50 hey hey im making it worth it lol), gone an done it now (subject to my signature on a paper contract of which i get to keep a copy) :P

[Bobby-H]

Yes, Mr T = Toyota

[Jinxed]

thanks bobby for clering that up.... :)

well seems my unholy prayer was answered but like all contracts its looking slightly different to what i specified. The devil indeed spoke and said you can have ur car back in really nice order, i dont want your soul its worth about as much use to me as a radio that only does frequencies lower than 96 fm (ooo i have one of those in the tubby ) seems that 4k was a totally brand new engine not a recon and well..... after no sleep and thoughts of no nice car and food or nice car and eating anything i can find lieing at the side of the road i came to a decision.... dont think its gonna change either

.... even if its been totally flattened, though ill hafta pick bones and bits of gravel out of it still it just saves me tenderising it properly and ill still eat it its looking like a new engine practically zero mileage(they better run the thing to make sure its sorted or ....im sensing 'man on fire' kinda response). bye bye holiday, bye bye pc upgrades, bye bye other car mods, bye bye rover 214, bye bye girlfriend(trust me its a good thing), hello baby its great to make u feel nice again

i havent just discarded all the advice ppl have offered and I value the input very much. I even tried to swot analysis the prob with all the factors that have come up.... brand new engine won out even tho the money is a real downer. im trying to see it as investment, and tbh thoughts of an engine that i know the exact history and treatment of from day one are nice. just got to give the go ahead and going to see if i can quickly sign up for a TOC gold membership.

thanks for bareing with me peeps :)

[Bobby-H]

Jinxed, I'm not sure I have understood your posts properly but it sounds like you are going to have a new engine put in at a cost of around £4000!!! Are you really sure you want to do this? £4K is a lot of money, it really shouldn't cost anything like that to get this problem sorted.

If you really need a car while your 2 is off the road it would probably be quite cost effective to get an old car for a couple of hundered quid to use while your 2 is being fixed. You could then sell the old car when your 2 is back on the road.

I really think you should ring round a bit and find someone who can fix your car at a reasonable price. As I said before, I think you could get your 2 fixed for £500 - £600. £4K is way too much!!!

[TOYMOTA]

Jinxed, I'm not sure I have understood your posts properly but it sounds like you are going to have a new engine put in at a cost of around £4000!!!  Are you really sure you want to do this?  £4K is a lot of money, it really shouldn't cost anything like that to get this problem sorted.

If you really need a car while your 2 is off the road it would probably be quite cose effective to get an old car for a couple of hundered quid to use while your 2 is being fixed.  You could then sell the old car when your 2 is back on the road.

I really think you should ring round a bit and find someone who can fix your car at a reasonable price.  As I said before, I think you could get your 2 fixed for £500 - £600.  £4K is way too much!!!

←

I wouldn't bother with a dump valve or blow off valve (unless you want it purely for the noise they make) With one fitted you'll notice more turbo lag and it'll be stuttery when changing gear. The standard one recirculates the air which helps keep the turbo spinning I believe. Removing it for a dump/blow off valve will reduce the pressure.

I'll second what bobby just said, but if you do go down the new engine route, make sure you get your old engine back. I might make you an offer on it, as I've always wanted to wack a 3SGTE into an old Corolla GTI like Dawsey has done. (Would be a nice little second project for me)

[Jinxed]

I wasnt kidding when i said im clueless :( ....tho im insane enough to be quite happy a lot of the time even when i get bad news wish i coulda just hit a goldpot for once and not had to go thru any of the upset surrounding the 2, has been a lot of strain. Dont get me wrong i love that car, I think the 2 is .... one of the sexiest cars ever created. please dont think me ignorant, the problem is ...it isnt me making the decisions anymore.... its been taken away from me and somebody else isnt listening to anything i say like they never did.....

the rest of the story is funny in a black comedy kinda way lol maybe one day soon ill be able to buy you guys a drink and ill be able to give you guys a good belly laugh from maybe hearing the more amusing side of it all.

I hope i can be a valuable member of the TOC community(just signed up for gold waiting for confirmation), i cant provide accurate tech help, but i might be able to do something even if its only give you guys a laff at times :) thanks guys .... u rock. nicest bit.... i dont mind you guys sayin woah there thats not good choice and you have..... and you all didnt just pat me on the back and say well done or say nawwww itll never work out like that to all ....hope that makes sense if not now maybe in future.

I believe..... go ahead being given tomoz.... car done sometime next week. heres hoping i can end this bad chapter in that timeframe and be back to fun fun fun

Cheers, TOCS benefits didnt convince me to join .... the people in it did without ever saying join !Removed! or we kill u lol :D

p.s if the engine comes out and we get it back...not sure what toyota or main controller are gonna say/offer... your welcome to come have a look :) ... im not expecting any set value .... so your probably sweet just offering what your happy with... might even give it you for jack if you catch me on the day i got the 2 back and im elated ... well arrange summat when i know the scrip k :)

[TOYMOTA]

It's your engnine mate. Not up to Toyota wether you keep it or not.

That would be like going and getting a nice new set of alloys and the guy that fits em says that the old ones are his now. Doesn't work like that in my book.

If you get a discount on the new engine as a result, then I'd let em have it tho.

[Bobby-H]

It's your engnine mate. Not up to Toyota wether you keep it or not.

That would be like going and getting a nice new set of alloys and the guy that fits em says that the old ones are his now. Doesn't work like that in my book.

If you get a discount on the new engine as a result, then I'd let em have it tho.

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Yeah, you should definately make sure they give you your engine back.

[Jinxed]

Toy mate :) u guys rock and i unequivocally appreciate all the input. i really tried to get the controller to look at whats going on but he's being a sod.

I meant that close familly relative mate gone all uber controller mode. He's paying too. Debts mine, paying up fronts his and theres this nice dichotomous swing thing between he doesnt know anything about them but he knows exactly what to do. Yup i know your probably scratching your head at that one lol took me years to understand theres two parallel universes for him and his brain rests between both. generally hes a good guy but he has moments where hes someone else i dont know

If he listened to a word i said without throwing super tantrums every time i blink cos i blinked id make the effort to get him to consider the bits i havent tried to get him to see. he likes the sound of his own voice tho sadly

I know aspects of how this will pan out, well one general one... hell decide whats best to a certain extent and ill have to go along with it all or face wrath, he's one of those volcanic people who when he doesnt get his way goes all scorched earth policy and i wind up feeling like i want prozak.

tho i cant guarantee anything, i want to let him get the car back on road cos i really miss it, get the engine and me be able to decide what happens to it cos in the end the debts mine. If toyota want the engine and give a nice discount in line with their (over)prices they can take it and make babies with it if they like lol (I would :P ) if they offer 20p im going to enjoy asking them (rest of remark :censor: ).

End of the day i value the serenity and peace i can get my soul to feel, i dont want others to feel bad thru my actions and thats why.... if the time comes where iv'e got an engine and its gonna lie around when it should/could be fixed and give someone a wonderful experience im gonna let them either take it if its a bit too goosed, or let them name a price theyre happy with and say yes lets see how things pan out in reality :) hopefully the joys gonna outwiegh the misery in the end for at least 2 ppl ;)

cheers mate for your patience and cheers everybody whose took an interest and either commented or even just read the post as its all developed and thought poor :censor: youve been really unlucky. I look forward to my time here and being able to post up pictures as my baby transforms from a bit of a tired old lady to a pinup itll be a while before complete but she has my time with the ice and lighting and ill be possibly having a holiday in warwick whilst rogue get to make her nasty, and then .... a nice paintjob. gonna be a long while till done but thats my plan :) getting ahead of myself heh. ill keep the forum appraised of what and when and fingers crossed the main pain is over and miss brutalsphincter ripper has left the building lol i say again ...you guys rock

[Bobby-H]

Who is "the controller"???