First Supra, looking for advice

[mousehousemoparman]

I recently bought a 1990 Toyota Supra turbo/ targa top. It has an automatic. When at an idle or when first started it seems to smoke alot out the tail pipe. It is blue smoke and I think it is valve seals. The car has 170,000 miles and got a new short block 60,000 miles ago. I got most of the maintainence records with the car. The steering seems sloppy and I'm not sure the turbo works. What other areas should I look at that may need attention? Thanks.

[pgiller]

Have u smelled the smoke that comes out of the exaust? I would do a tune up and go from there.

[mousehousemoparman]

I have smelled the smoke. It does not have the smell of a blown head gasket. It is definetly oil. I was wondering on the steering if it is common for these cars to need new rack and pinions at this mileage or if it is probally just inner and outer tie rod ends. I have not been driving the car since I bought it. However when I did drive it home I stood on the gas and saw the boost guage go up but the car really didn't take off. It accellerated but not like I expected. I have driven Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupes and Dodge Daytona Shelby Z's. Both are turbo cars. The Tbird set you back in the seat and the Dodge had so much torque steer that it was a challence to keep it pointed strait. I expected something similar out of the Supra except for the torqe steer as the Supra is rear drive.

[bgrieger]

racks are more rare than pumps, but are not unheard of either. I'd check the inner and outer rod ends first as all of them combined are cheaper than a rack. The most common problem we have is fluid leaks in the crimped/hard lines on the rack. Some owners forget the manual and add PS fluid instead of the ATF our cars require, and that will end the pump and rack in short order.

As to oil burning, valve stem seals are very common internal leak points.

If you're showing boost (6 psi abouts) that's all she has. Acceleration stock would have been a little slower than the tbird supercoupe given the 300+ ft/lbs they had from the factory, but the cars weights are almost the same. You have 170+/- on yours and I wouldn't be surprised to find poor owner maintainence/wear is behind the sluggishness. If a tbird turbo coupe or a daytona put you in your seat, I'm going to say from having driven both that they couldn't have been stock, or that supra is in need of some help.

[mousehousemoparman]

Hi Bob; Thanks for the reply. As to the Ford and the Dodge, both were showroom stock. I was a salesman for a Ford and Dodge dealership in 1987 and had the opportunity to drive both cars, but have not driven a Turbo since. Compared to everything else on the road at the time both cars were impressively fast. I suspect my Supra may have a problem but I guess I will address the problems I don't have an answer to after addressing the ones I do have an answer to. I've got to change the lights/wiper switch on the column as that is broken. I was able to find that on Ebay as well as the spoiler. The bone head that owned the car before put screws thru the spoiler rather than get it repaired correctly. I will also deal with the power steering leak, I think it is the high pressure hose but have not confirmed it yet. I will also change the valve stem seals too. I will then deal with the RH window that doesn't go up or down. I was able to find a rust free car that was adult owned and not modified and I got it for $1100.00. I looked at the maintainence records and it seems that the Supra is a very high maintainence car.

[bgrieger]

They aren't bad on maintainance, but you again have a higher milage example and it seems that the work performed was half assed where possible. Rust free shells are hard to get however, and everything else is repairable for the most part. Sounds like a decent buy and recoverable. For used parts, you might swing by supramania.com as the for sale section always has cars being parted out that you can get things from fairly inexpensively.

If you have steering leaks, take the hoses to a local hydraulic shop and have them make a set for you. You'll fall over at what Toyota wants for them.

[pgiller]

I would also thik about getting or making yourself a set of hardpipes. Because u might have a boost leak.

[mousehousemoparman]

I don't mean to sound ignorant, but what are hard pipes? This is my first turbo and mt first Supra. I've had Corollas and a Starlet before as well as many other non Toyota. I have a factory Toyota repair manual. Are they refered to as hard pipes? Thanks Gregg.

[pgiller]

The only ignorent question is the one not asked. Hardpipes are aftermarket pipes that replace the factory rubber pipes that go from the intake to the intercooler and from the intercooler to the turbo. Oh and they are made of thin metal like aluminum or stainless. I bought a do it yourself kit off ebay and made them myself, but if u arnt able to do that u can go to VENDOR SITE LINK DELETED. but they get pretty pricey. Do u have a factory or aftermarket intercooler?

[wambus]

Check your bushings; mine were exceptionally loose. Wheel bearings were bad as well. I have not found that the steering parts are bad, other than the leaking system.

[mousehousemoparman]

I have not had any time to go out and work on the Supra but I will check the plumbing to and from the Intercooler which I believe is stock and also the front end bushings and the wheel bearings. Thanks.

[pgiller]

I would take the plubing off and check it for leaks. U might not see them while the hoses are on/hooked up. Good luck bro.

[Jeeves]

Originally Posted by pgiller

I would take the plubing off and check it for leaks. U might not see them while the hoses are on/hooked up. Good luck bro.

You do realise that every Mk3 out there doesn't have a boost leak, and he's given no indication of having that problem. Do you sell hard pipes or something?

[pgiller]

No I dont sell anything, He said that he was lacking power. Mine did that and it was a boost leak. Then he said that he was going to check his plumbing, all i said is take it off and inspect it because u could over look a crack if u leave the hoses on. Calm down dude.

[Jeeves]

@pgiller, He said he thought he was lacking power compared to showroom condition vehicles, then you offered him the identical suggestion you've offered the last 3 people who've had problems and told him a place to purchase them without even having symptoms similiar to yours. He has a service manual, and is clearly compotent so I don't see a correlation. My point is that you shouldn't offer solutions to problems that someone doesn't seem to have. "Lacking power" is a very vague description and there are many far cheaper things to diagnose and look at before suggesting a person purchase intercooler pipes.

I am calm thank you. Have a good one.

@mousehousemoparman, at 170,000 miles most of the bushings will be gone or very very close to on their way out. It's the nature of the beast. If someone has replaced the engine or done major mechanical work, there's a lot else that could have been done in the bay without being written. This goes without being said of course.

The window switches are notorious for failures and they are run in a relatively odd series configuration. When one fails (the drivers door usually) the passenger door will not work. Often, you can take apart the switches and clean the contacts and the switches will resume operating nomally. I would take both out (one at a time to minimize the possibility of mixing up the small components that are in each) and clean them. I've got a diagram I drew up, posted here:

power window glitches

As Bob mentioned, the stock Boost gauge displays boost in a rather slow fashion, and it may only show between 4-6psi depending on your altitude and configuration (auto/5spd, gear, etc.) and that's normal for stock trim.