Re: Oh, Boy! It works! (Bragging? And a little advice, please...)

Hachiroku ãƒ?ãƒ?ãƒ*ク wrote:[color=blue]
> Nice day today. Oiled up the Supra, yanked the charger and rolled it out
> into the sunlight for the first time since November.
>
> Had a little "oil seal" smoke, but not as bad as before. I have been using
> "High-Mileage" oil in it the last two changes, and I notice when sitting
> there is less and less "oil seal" smoke (make that "valve seal)...
>
> It was running a little rough, and after it warmed up it stalled twice
> after high idling. Then I shut it down and noticed the TPS connector...
> wasn't. Reattached the connecter and fired it up and Voila!
>
> I also noticed, before hooking up the TPS, that there was some smoke
> coming from the engine at high idle for a while, but with the TPS
> connected it seems OK. Must be just teething problems from sitting all
> winter.
>
> Two disconcerting items...
> First there was a very, very faint knock from somewhere under the hood. At
> first I thought it may have been just parts waiting for the oil to
> circulate (I didn't do my trick of disconnecting the coil wire and
> cranking to get oil pressure up...). It seemd to go away after 20-25
> minutes, and from inside the car it sounded like a water pump on the way
> out. We were going to replace the WP 2.5 years ago when we did the timing
> belt, but it is not driven bu the timing belt, so it's not really a biggie.
>
> Then the big concern on my mind. After I rolled the car back I found a
> bolt on the floor, near the fron of the car...it looks like it broke off.
> Now, I can't recall dropping any bolts when I had it apart, and everything
> went together as it should, so before it goes back on the road it's going
> on the ramps and get checked out. I'm hoping it's just a body bolt...
>
> And now, to the advice part of our program. It's been 2.5 years and about
> 20-25,000 miles (I guess...the Odo's broken, and I'm guesstimating
> 8-12,000 miles per year, depending on the number of sunny days...)
>
> Since it looks like the water pump is coming out anyway, and it has been
> over two years since the last complete coolant drain and fill, is there
> any advantage to switching over to Toyota Red AF? I understand the
> benefits for the new cars, and I think the radiator is original, but I
> also know the girl that had it before me spent $1100 on the cooling
> system, and I'm guessing a new HG. Should I switch (let's put it this
> way...is there an advantage to switching on a car this old?) or should I
> just fill it back up with green and drive on?
>[/color]
If the engine has hydraulic lifters, one could have bled down in storage
and that was the slight knock you heard until oil pressure and
temperature pumped it up again. If it has solids, and the knock went
away after reaching operation temperature, it's rather normal. As far as
the coolant, I would go with what specification the manual shows.
Coolant only "wears out" with repeated heating and cooling cycles, you
may need to change it due to foreign colors and or contaminants (rust,
ect.) in it as well. If you are going to keep the car I would make sure
you had the recomended coolant in it IMHO.