New owner

[ScottMR2]

Hi All,

Just bought a 1986 C reg white/silver mr2. nearly 160k on the clock!

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2011/04/KGrHqRlwE2FvOfkuBNh0TKtg0Q_12JPG-1.jpg

Its in a bit of a state, no rust on the top half, but the silver part has had a naff spray over at some point, not even lacquered! Windscreens cracked 'big shtyle' and it doesnt drive straight so probably needs some work there aswell (and all over no doubt lol)

came with the obligatory faulty ripspeed dv720 dvd headunit lol. I think ill be its 15th owner :roll: Loads of things wrong with it, K&N, idle up valve blanked off lol. Wax stat is nackered, iso plugs wired in wrong, no spare wheel, bit of a coolant flow issue, some printouts in the folder about HG change procedure etc. And as for the chap selling it, i could go on...

all in all, a poorly old girl that needs some propper work doing to it.

Look forwarding to checking out the wealth of knowledge on here and hopefully get this car back to serviceable condition!

[ScottMR2]

Well certainly lots to do to this old girl!

investigated the coolant issue last night/today, took 4 litres to top it up! small leak at the thermostat housing thing above the gearbox, doesnt even look like a gasket is there, small leak from the return pipe to the tank aswell. The front fans and rad swtich all work as expected which is good news. Still got air in the system, but no point in bleeding until the leak is sorted...

Front rad got a bit of paint on it when the bumper was sprayed. Usually id say thats a bad thing, but given the lower half of the rad is missing its fins, its not the end of the world, will stop it rusting away i guess.

Wax stat is still a bit suspect, but strangely getting better the more i use it, idles high at 1900rpm but will eventually drop down to 1200, but its still to high. Might get away with an adjustment bung in the TB opening, as its not completely shot just yet, base idle needs adjusting upwards aswell, as if i cover the whole in the TB, it conks out, even when hot...

door light switch wasnt earthing propperly, no retaining nut on the back of the b piller, so had to 'jam it in' with some hammered/folded up tin foil, not the best fix, but works perfectly, might even do the other side...

Got a new bulb in the 'door' warning light, after reading on here that it helps illuminate the ignition barrel. Couldnt get a small bulb so its not perfect, but better than nothing. Ive seen some bulbs come with little diffusion caps (white rubber), might try and get hold of one of those.

Noticed that ive lost heater fan speeds 1 and 2, presumeable the resistor pack is nackered, but dont need to sort that out now. Switch works as i can hear the idle up valve kicking in.

Need to remove the petrol tank breather as the smell in the cabin is quite bad. It looks like its always been there, could people really have driven this car, from new, with that smell? I dont like the idea of venting it directly to atmosphere, what do people do here? Is it possible the inline valve is faulty? Is it supposed to let the tank breath in or out?

found something under the drivers seat, not sure what it is, only a small multiplug on it? about the size of an ECU, but not enough wires going to it for that?

Next major jobs are to get the windscreen sorted out and the track rod ends at the front, as there is a large amount of play which makes the handling very vague.

Otherwise, for 160k, the engine is very strong. Gearbox im not so keen on. From cold start up, there is a bad gauling sound from the engine bay which dissapears when the clutch goes down. Strangely enough, if you catch it just right , its fine. Presume this is the input shaft bearing or similar. PErhasp the box oil is very old. Further trouble with the box is suspected as the speedometer has a tendancy to 'drop out' , more so under hard load, possible differential bearings? Was a big problem on the rovers and that was the first sign of trouble, but could just be the wire cable...

Going to get it on some ramps later and check what the underneath is like, and work out if its a keeper, otherwise come september is will be gone heh.

Overall though, im loving it (just not at high speed yet!)

[Kateg28]

Hello :wave:

Where are you?

What is your history with cars (what have you driven before?)

What made you get an MR2?

How many questions am I allowed to ask?

Welcome ot the club and this is one of the friendliest forums I know. Lots of help and support. As soon as we know your locaiton, members near to you will be offering loads of help. Hope you get it running properly soon so you can come out to play at a meet.

Kate

[ScottMR2]

Hi,

Im about 10 miles away from oxford.

History with cars has been fairly rover related, rover 820 mk1 turbo, rover 620 turbo, some more rover GTIs (metro 16v and 216 honda twin cam) and at some point a jaguar xj6 sport in bright turquoise.

I think i have a thing for square cars, or cars that are white (both the rover turbos were white).

Car is perfectly-ish driveable, quite enjoying twiddling the spanners as its been a while since i had an old car, but after replacing a friends head gasket over christmas i realised i missed tinkering (And cutting myself, or getting rust in my eye etc), so jumped in at the deep end with a '86 ! There is more that works than is broken to be honest, so im quite happy.

Would be good to see some other cars at a local meet up, think there is one happening soon so should be able to pop along!

Cheers,

Scott