Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - 01:49 pm, by: David Eberhart(Orphan)
Hey guys,
My car is off the road as I don't need it for transport for at least the next 5 months and I figure I may as well get it all back up to scratch while I don't have to worry about needing it for work the next day.
Car is a 91 GT-L with ~140,000km on it. Sticker in engine bay says timing belt changed at around 70,000 from memory so not due for a while unless they just put the sticker there and didn't change the belt..
The main issues with it at the moment are a tiny bit of play in the steering rack, I already have a replacement, just have to put it in which I will probably get a local shop to do as I hate trying to work under a car on ramps/jacks, everything is about 10x more difficult. One of the nuts inside the frame rail that the sway bar mounts bolt to has come off and the mount has cracked, I am not sure how to tackle this, I guess I will need to take the inner wheel guard off and see if I can get in there to have a nut welded back in place. Those are the two non engine related issues.
As for the engine its doing quite well. It does need a shim job will I will attempt to tackle after I have fixed the minor things. I need a new oil filter stalk as the sway bar has made contact with the filter due to the cracked mount and bent the fitting a touch so the filter doesn't seal 100% which will be done after the mount is sorted out. Other then that there is at least one pully bearing in need of replacing as its starting to make a bit of noise, can't say I know which one yet so I may just do the lot with a new belt to just do a full job of it. Going to do the basic stuff like adjust the throttle cables etc as I noticed some slack in them. May as well do spark plugs and leads at the same time as well as a new battery connector as one is a bit corroded from when I got the car, couldn't find anything passable at any auto shops for the job so I will just order a toyota one. Will be changing diff and auto fluids as well as I have no idea when they were last done. Other then that its just a few interior things like new window electronics and getting those capacitors in the dash replaced.
Can anyone else think of any things worth doing while it is off the road? I want to get all the more minor stuff done first and order in the valve spring compressor etc to do a shim job, I have the time and that sound annoys the hell out of me. Car has been serviced every 5-6,000km since I have owned it.
The goal is a combination of learning as much as I can mechanically on this car as well as to end up with it being better than when I got it. It has been a great car and I would like to keep it that way regardless of its less than perfect cosmetic side (damn people with shopping trollies - my poor door panel). I want to be able to do everything myself on the next car which will be getting some track time.
Any suggestions for cleaning oil/grime off the subframe? The P/S rack has made a right dirty mess down there as it has been leaking out of the side with play due to a broken boot. I was thinking of just putting it up on ramps with a tray under it and a few cans of degreaser and some rags. Is spraying it down with water after fine? Should the battery be disconnected first or is that not a worry?
I just want to try and put a rough list together so I can organise parts and make sure I have the right tools and start tackling them one by one on hopefully a weekly basis.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - 03:08 pm, by: Ali Saeed(Ali)
well bleed the p/s system, transmission, coolant system and brakes, so you can have fresh fluid in everything. i would suggest having a look at the bushings. detail the engine bay if you must? check for exhaust leaks?
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - 03:58 pm, by: David Eberhart(Orphan)
P/S system can be done when I swap the new rack in - has been replaced twice by now with how much has leaked from the rack - got new o rings etc around 2 years ago, coolant was done only a few thousand km's ago, full flush, new thermostat and toyota coolant + distilled water and new top radiator hose - should have done both at the same time for good measure.
The brakes are a definite must do, thanks for that.
I know the rear bushings are not in the best nick so I will check that out.
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