St205 Engine/mileage

[boghopper]

hi guys and gals, i`m looking at getting a gt4, this will be my first turbo aspirated car, i have found 1 with 77,000 miles on the clock, and the price reflects the mileage.

my question is this, how sound are the engines in relation to higher mileage, basically is this engine good for the usual 150,000 miles that toyota engines generally go on for. or is it an engine that will be problematic from here on?

any info would be great and very welcome.

thanx in advance

glenn

[dawesy]

first off is it an import, jap cars are better serviced than uk ones. also what is the service history like?

i have seen GT4's with 130,000miles that still sound sweet.

if you dont mind me asking how much is it offered for and has it got any mods (obviosly the life of an engine goes down with more power)

also if it has had a boost increace listen for a scoobie type drum to the engine note, if this is present thent most likelypiston ringlands. other symptoms of this are a lot of vapour from the oil filler cap when removed with the engine running and a lot of oil around an atmospheric dump valve if fitted

[boghopper]

first off is it an import, jap cars are better serviced than uk ones. also what is the service history like?

i have seen GT4's with 130,000miles that still sound sweet.

if you dont mind me asking how much is it offered for and has it got any mods (obviosly the life of an engine goes down with more power)

also if it has had a boost increace listen for a scoobie type drum to the engine note, if this is present thent most likelypiston ringlands. other symptoms of this are a lot of vapour from the oil filler cap when removed with the engine running and a lot of oil around an atmospheric dump valve if fitted

i`ve have purchased the car now, it has 121000km/75,000miles on the clock, totally standard car with no mods at all. the car is sound in all aspects, bodywork is mint and engine isn`t noisy or smoky in anyway at all, it`s a 94 jdm import and i paid £5000 for it, i have looked at 5 or 6 so far for this sort of money and they where in very poor con compared to the 1 i got coming. it comes with 6 months warranty, 6months tax, twelve months mot fully serviced new cambelt fitted, new tyres on front and diff plate replaced. oh and de-ristricted, mph conversion and a new cat 1 alarm/immobilser.

not a bad deal in my eyes :)

[andy7reg]

dawesy

just like to add, why do you think that all imports are better than uk, you dont belive that all they do in japan is polish theyer cars and drive them to the corner shop! my advise to anyone is look for the best car you can afford with asmuch, if not all servis history,

also boghopper

has the `super-strut` being sorted, as on that mileage it is goeing to need replacing soon

at a cost of about £900, if its a `fresh-import` which it sounds like, you may want to find-out,

taking the purchase price on near £6000,

[dawesy]

i have stripped many 3S-GTE engines and from what i have seen the jap engines are cleaner inside with uk ones being covered in a tar like substace that even after a hot alkaline bath is still there. this is evidence of poor quality oil/ servicing.

plus the general underbody condition is better. with uk ST-205's aproaching 13 years old they tend to be corroding underneath where as imports tend to be like new, dont forget were about the only nation that still puts rock salt on our roads!

this is merely my opinion based upon my experiances, yes there are mint uk examples but they are few and far between.

boghopper sounds like you have found a good en, hope it all works out for ya.

(remember to post pics for us )

[boghopper]

andy

figure 8`s felt nice and tight, gave them the roll backwards and forwards treatment, and no knocking noises on test drive.

dawesy

i`m hoping that i have found the right one aswell, all seems good with it, i suppose time will tell.

and yes, when i pick it up in 2 weeks time i shall be posting a couple of pics for the whole world to see. :D

ps. can any of you guys recommend a turbo timer that isn`t over expensive but will serve me well, and also i have been looking at dump valves/ blow off valves, there are single piston and twin piston, can anyone tell me which one the gt4 needs or what the differences are, and again, any recommendations would be great.

cheers

glenn (boghopper)

[Sketchy]

ps. can any of you guys recommend a turbo timer that isn`t over expensive but will serve me well, and also i have been looking at dump valves/ blow off valves, there are single piston and twin piston, can anyone tell me which one the gt4 needs or what the differences are, and again, any recommendations would be great.

Re turbo timer, cheapest one in my experience is your brain..

As for dump valves, which ever you like the sound of best. ST205 has a map based control system so we don't get any of the overfueling problems assosicated with AFM systems. Common choices are Blitz Supersonic or HKS SSQV

[dawesy]

sard R2D2 are good and can be got for around £70 from fleabay ( ive got mine off there and no probs

[Jones~32]

How does the SARD sound Dawesy? more like the HKS or the Blitz?

:)

[boghopper]

so can i fit a single or dual piston dump valve? i have heard the normal whooshing sort of sounding ones, and also one that produces what i can only describe as a fluttering sort of sound, any ideas which is which? does the st205 gt4 have an afm? also don`t bailey dump valves come recommended anymore?

i personally prefer the fluttering sound. and sorry for so many questions, i should know better at 35 years of age:-)

[andy7reg]

dawsy

i do agree that imports are genarally better body wise than uk, but as for servis

any car `import or uk` can be looked after or not, the hard part is finding a

car thats been looked after for 13 years!

just making the point of not buying a car cos it `look nice`

as been said before `you cant afford to own a bad one`

boghopper

glad your `super-struts` fine, sounds like youve got a good car there,

hope to see some pics soon,

[Sketchy]

so can i fit a single or dual piston dump valve? i have heard the normal whooshing sort of sounding ones, and also one that produces what i can only describe as a fluttering sort of sound, any ideas which is which? does the st205 gt4 have an afm? also don`t bailey dump valves come recommended anymore?

i personally prefer the fluttering sound. and sorry for so many questions, i should know better at 35 years of age:-)

You can fit either a dual piston or single piston dv it's up to you, the fluttering ones are twin piston like the HKS SSQV.

If your after the single piston whoosh, save yourself some money and just disconnect the stock recir dv from the airbox then cover the airbox hole with a metal plate or similar, and hey presto you have a free single piston atmospheric dv

The ST205 doesn't have a afm, fuel and ignition calculations are based mainly on MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure) and engine speed readings.

Bailey's are great if you have a ford rs tubby :P seriously thought alot of people have had problems with them leaking etc.

[dawesy]

r2d2 sounds very nice cant describe the noise but apparently its 110dB so it makes itself heard, holds pressure well to giving that nice flutter sound commonly mistaken for wastegate chatter.

as i said from the engines i have stripped (over 40 now) both uk and jap the jap engines are cleaner inside than uk cars, and its not down to that they are lower mileage either as most are of similar milage. if there are carbon deposits built up inside the cam cover it dosnt bode well for the state of the oil galleries. using good quality oil with good detergent properties at regular service intervals will keep the engine cleaner.

think about what happens if chunks of fat break off in your arteries, now think about that build up inside the engine!

also what good is good servicing if the underneath of the car is full of rot!

[Jones~32]

r2d2 sounds very nice cant describe the noise but apparently its 110dB so it makes itself heard, holds pressure well to giving that nice flutter sound commonly mistaken for wastegate chatter

Cool... might get one Be a bit different...

[andy7reg]

also what good is good servicing if the underneath of the car is full of rot!

i do agree with you there, but also whats the point of haveing a car with a nice body

thats been ragged too-death, with or without a servis history, im goeing off experience aswell,

it doesnt mean becase a import looks nice its had a easy life!

it took me 8 months to find my car though the rubbish out there, import and uk

and now with the sva even easeyer on the older cars, alot more rubbish is out there!

the idea of me posting is hopefully to help newcomers to the pit-falls of buying imports,

not put people-off! my advise is if your buying a import is buy from a good BITMA dealer

it will cost more but youll have peace of mind that THEY have done they homework on the car,

and if you have problems with it, they will be eager to sort it!

the bigest problem is most people want a cheap car, which is what alot of imports are, but the

saying goes `you get what you pay for` i just dont want newcomes to buy a `dream car` which

turns in to a financal nightmare!