Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 03:39 pm, by: Tobias Trinks(Toby)
Hi. I am just about to pick up my Soarer from the garage. On Thursday one of the radiator hoses between engine block and firewall broke. First I did not notice it, but than the temperature gauge was climbing up to max and the warning light came on. I was only a couple of hundred metres away from the next fuel station so I drove the car there (probably should have stopped immediately) and called RACQ. They towed the car to their garage. Took them til Monday to replace the hose (apparently bloody difficult to reach). They started the Soarer on Monday and it was misfiring badly so they figured out that all the spark plugs were flooded with coolant. They let it dry out overnight and also had to replace the all spark plug cables. Then on Tuesday morning they called me and told me that one of the cylinders was still misfiring and that it is possible the head gasket or worse. That was quite a shock, because spending a couple of thousand bucks on repairs is the last I would need at the moment. They did not have much experience with the motor so they advised me to go to a Toyota dealer. I drove the car to the dealer yesterday. Was running perfectly as long as it was cold, as it got warmer it started misfiring. This morning they tested the head gasket/cylinder head and could not find anything wrong with it. They changed all the spark plugs and now it is running without any troubles. What a relief!!! The first thing I will do now is replacing all radiator hoses. The car is twelve years old and the hoses get really brittle and are not flexible enough. Already ordered a set of 8 hoses at Castle Hill Toyota. So, if anybody is still driving around with the original hoses, think about replacing them all. Will save you a lot of trouble...
Best thing to do when your hose breaks is just to stop immediately there and then. There's no point driving another 500 metres just because the station is there as you may do a lot more expensive damage. A friend of mine had learnt it the hard way hehe.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 07:09 pm, by: Tobias Trinks(Toby)
Yeah, I know I should have stopped straight away. Well, fortunately it didn´t cause any further damage. Will teach me a lesson. All that worrying about blown head gasket... Just celebrating the rebirth of my Soarer with a couple of beer. Prost!!!
Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 07:57 pm, by: Tobias Trinks(Toby)
Don´t ask Paid some $500 for the first mechanic (fixing of the coolant hose, replacing the spark plug cables) and some $300 for the second one (testing the cylinder head for leaks and replacing the spark plugs). It's always a rip off. A friend of mine recently paid $1200 to get all the radiator hoses of his Pajero replaced... Ridiculous. The problem is I just moved up to Townsville so I have no idea which mechanic is good. It's more trial and error. And I don't think that anybody up here knows a lot about Soarers anyway. Usually I do all the servicing by myself...
Neil Griffiths Trader NSW I have MORE Soarers than Hayden :-)
Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 08:31 pm, by: Neil Griffiths(Aussiesc)
If the coolant is kept in good condition,,the hoses will last a very long time..Most cases the life of the car The main reason they blow is from Stray Current and corrosion ( From lack of correct coolant )
Rust on the inside of the hose ( From no coolant ) helps the stray current travel along the inside of the hose, in turn this causes cracks to form..then at the right pressure,,it goes ka-boom.
See,,Coolant Servicing is just as important as Engine Oil Servicing
Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 08:48 pm, by: Tobias Trinks(Toby)
The problem is you never know how the car was treated before you bought it. I service my car every 5000km. I just flushed the radiator a couple of weeks ago, put in new coolant (original Toyota red) and a new TRD thermostat...
Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 09:10 pm, by: Edward Engerer(Edward)
hey guys my 32 is showing 142000 got the good green coolant in it and all hoses seems to be nice and firm not soft but i noticed that on cool and hot days the temp gauge is showing about two notchis down from half my last 31 always showed half even my friends shows half could it be the thermostat dont like cold engines city and hway driving
Don Bagnall Moderator New Zealand I have LESS Soarers than Hayden :-(
Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 09:29 pm, by: Sam Schreck(Schreck300)
HA! It just hit me! Yesterday I was driving up Cotter Road, about to go through a roundabout, when this guy puts one arm and hand(of course)out his window and lifts it up and drops it repeatedly. He was doing that ... COOL.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 10:11 pm, by: Edward Engerer(Edward)
thanks don i will do it after i will repair the front struts cannot stand the bouncing any more it can be very scary when going over a bump or drivewayit sould take me a couple of days
Monday, April 03, 2006 - 09:08 pm, by: Edward Engerer(Edward)
hello guys in my 32 [91] model ive got the phone connections on my left hand eide of steering wheel and dial up through the emvand other things was that an option with this model why i am asking because the actual phone is missing i like to get one if possible and how is the reception is it good thanks
Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 07:49 pm, by: Edward Engerer(Edward)
thanks mark for that info do you or anybody knows where i can get tpi insurance for my 32 i have seen a page somewhere for it but cannot find it two years ago i paid somewhere around $800 for my 31 company no longer exist by the way i am well over 25 thanks guys.
Monday, April 24, 2006 - 08:45 pm, by: Edward Engerer(Edward)
hi guys finally i got my struts done, screwed inn one way valve at the bottom of the strut i took it to a guy i know he charged me $20 each to gas put the struts back on bled them took it for a ride and all the bounce is gone very proud with the job. ps:if you cant find a good strut place write to me and i'll give you his name and place with thanks edward
Monday, April 24, 2006 - 09:01 pm, by: Michael Howatt(Howatt)
Sounds Good Edward. Can you please put this person and appropriate comments, here at/on this post: Soarer Central Mechanical - Common The Great Aussie Soarer Mechanic Guide
Tuesday, April 25, 2006 - 08:28 pm, by: Edward Engerer(Edward)
hello Micheal could you help me here, this is my first time. Regarding the struts do Igive the info under machanical common on this page with thanks edward
Tuesday, April 25, 2006 - 10:05 pm, by: Edward Engerer(Edward)
hello mark hope you can help me out, i went to load the cd stacker heard clicking noise inside the stacker kept going for app 30 sec thought it was the load mechanism took it apart came across a mr2 stacker load mec and laser seemed to be the same but not mother board i think changed load mec fitted ok put stacker back in car put ignition on cd icons did not appear on emv all i got was eject button flashing did i stuff up somewhere or should i send it to you
Wednesday, April 26, 2006 - 10:47 am, by: Peter Nitschke(Pen)
Edward, we are trying to lift post presentation on the forum to that expected of primary school children. We expect a reasonable effort from all members to use reasonable punctuation to at least makes posts readable.
You tendency to just put one word after another without thought for commas, sentence breaks, or capitals makes them difficult to read and reflects badly on you.