Another Noob's MR2 journey

[rocco26]

Glad it all worked out.
Cheers

[voxson]

Glad it all worked out.
Cheers

Thank you again. It was a big lift for my car.

[voxson]

Toyota rang yesterday with my little parts order, so I picked a few missing tools and went to work!

Overall I'm pretty pleased but it was a little nerve wracking having never replaced a rocker cover gasket before. It was however 100% enjoyable poking about and learning, so much so that I completely lost track of time and wife & I ended up being late for our appointment tonight.

I meant to also do the alternator gasket & dust ring, but just didn't have the time, maybe tomorrow, if I can figure out the best way to attack it.

I really struggled with the wiring for the injectors, trying to get them out of the way to get to the rocker cover bolts under the T-VIS. I ended up taking off the wire shroud, unplugging the injectors, and pulling it up to the gasket. It was out of the way enough... I hope.

There was a lot of bits of old silicon sealant around the cover, and the old gasket was in pretty bad shape too. Looked like someone ran silicone sealant all around the T-VIS side, and all over the cam gear humps.

Phone also went flat before I cleaned and refit anything, but good news is that she starts & idles. Torqued to specs found in the workshop manual, and only siliconed per manual as well.

More photos tomorrow

(why do some photos go upside down or rotated when they are all right side up before dragging over?)

[tw2]

Good stuff. Yes you need to unplug the injectors to do the job and lift the wiring harness up out the way depending on how much of the manifold you want to disassemble. Long nose curved pliers work well, those clips are hard to get off.

These engine have ACIS acoustic control induction. TVIS is on the turbo models with dual runners to each cylinder.

[voxson]

Good stuff. Yes you need to unplug the injectors to do the job and lift the wiring harness up out the way depending on how much of the manifold you want to disassemble. Long nose curved pliers work well, those clips are hard to get off.

These engine have ACIS acoustic control induction. TVIS is on the turbo models with dual runners to each cylinder.

Mines pre-ACIS isn't it? (1990 JDM), edit - nope you are right

I couldn't get the top plate of off the ACIS chamber due to something funky with the end bolt/spline that comes out of the top of the plate on the alternator side. It just didn't want to bulge (I could lift all other points), and I didn't want to risk breaking it.

Unplugging the injectors was actually not too bad - I had used pliers, so must have done it right. The injectors that feed 2 &3 are somewhat easy to turn in their housing, where as both ends are very stiff. I didn't notice an obvious fuel smell at any time though, including a little test idle after everything was back together.

Have you done your distributor O-rings? Whats the best way to get it off? Just unplug leads and the bigger single bolt on the left side of the distributor and pull?

[voxson]

More pictures - Spark plugs I pulled, which were oily at the top, and a little nasty at the spark points (expected build up?), and everything back together after yesterdays fun.

[tw2]

Whoa, those spark plugs definitely need replacing.

Yes take the high tension leads off the distributor, then undo the two 14mm bolts and slide the whole distributor out. You can take the cap and rotor off first but it is probably best to leave it on to protect the inside from rubbish. Apply oil to the inside O-ring before putting it back on, not the large one below the cap. I have some photos on my thread if it helps http://mr2.org.nz/phpbb3/viewtopic.php? ... 1&start=30
The distributor bolts take 40Nm torque and you will obviously have to set the timing again with a timing light or very carefully mark the position it is in already and hope it is correct.

[voxson]

Whoa, those spark plugs definitely need replacing.

Yes take the high tension leads off the distributor, then undo the two 14mm bolts and slide the whole distributor out. You can take the cap and rotor off first but it is probably best to leave it on to protect the inside from rubbish. Apply oil to the inside O-ring before putting it back on, not the large one below the cap. I have some photos on my thread if it helps http://mr2.org.nz/phpbb3/viewtopic.php? ... 1&start=30
The distributor bolts take 40Nm torque and you will obviously have to set the timing again with a timing light or very carefully mark the position it is in already and hope it is correct.

Plugs were done during all of this, not to worry I just put in copper cheapos because I figured something might go wrong / foul them and may need to replace again sooner than later.

That bottom bolt looks.. fun to get to.

Is there a water channel above the bottom bolt? How much can I expect to flood out?

[tw2]

Whoa, those spark plugs definitely need replacing.

Yes take the high tension leads off the distributor, then undo the two 14mm bolts and slide the whole distributor out. You can take the cap and rotor off first but it is probably best to leave it on to protect the inside from rubbish. Apply oil to the inside O-ring before putting it back on, not the large one below the cap. I have some photos on my thread if it helps http://mr2.org.nz/phpbb3/viewtopic.php? ... 1&start=30
The distributor bolts take 40Nm torque and you will obviously have to set the timing again with a timing light or very carefully mark the position it is in already and hope it is correct.

Plugs were done during all of this, not to worry I just put in copper cheapos because I figured something might go wrong / foul them and may need to replace again sooner than later.

That bottom bolt looks.. fun to get to.

Is there a water channel above the bottom bolt? How much can I expect to flood out?

No it is just a blind cavity full of years of crap, nothing will come out. The bottom bolt is ok, a 1/2" drive socket set with a medium extension is all you need.

[voxson]

Well. I found a pretty reasonable oil leak and a few ungood suprises - pics to follow when Im done.

That electrics plug under the distributor was a challenge, ended up having to push a baby screw driver through the clip and hammer it off with a wrench, didnt break it so that is good

[voxson]

OK. That was surprising, and rewarding. But there is still a bit to do...

I couldn't figure out how to get the plug off the bottom of the distributor so took off the cap to give more room, only to find an unwelcome surprise. The nasty was well built up inside the cap too, and it was amazing that the car ran as well as it did.

As expected the seals were garbage, the oil seal in particular had gone solid and very brittle, so snapped off easy.

Cleaned everything up, and put back in. I didn't put it exactly how it was because clever me cleaned off the twink marks I had put on the distributor and head... I think it is very close because I had the forsight to take before pictures of everything, including where the distributor sat vs the mounting bolts. I will get timing done at some point though. * edit - doesn't the ecu override the timing when the ecu is not jumpered?

Speaking of bolts, I think PO may have been going for quick select timing changes, because I only have one....

If anyone has a spare distributor bolt (bottom one, if it matters), please let me know!

[voxson]

And now I have 2 bolts on the distributor

[tw2]

Most leaks are from the valve cover gasket so hopefully stays clean now. That was an impressive amount of crud, looks great now.

[voxson]

Most leaks are from the valve cover gasket so hopefully stays clean now. That was an impressive amount of crud, looks great now.

Cheers man! Has been very rewarding.

When I popped the engine lid to put on the missing bolt I did expect it to be a little yuck, but it was still good thankfully.

No obvious leaks so far- I've not yet degreased under the distributor, so there is plenty of nasty still attached to the car likely still to come off.

Next job is transmission fluid and the roof/?B pillar & under car rust.

Hey, where did you get your redline from?

[tw2]

After lots of searching, I went with "redlinevip" on trademe who is just redline performance. $40 per bottle. You need 3 of them. Shipping was $9. Same price as their website https://www.redlineperformance.co.nz/c/ ... dline-oils but it was easy just to use the paynow feature of trademe than sign up to another website I will only use once every 5 years.

As you know you will need a hose to pour it into the filler. It is an 18mm bolt so get the largest tube that will easily fit (about 2-3 feet) and a funnel. I only had a small tube and it took ages to fill. If you want to borrow my 24mm 6 sided socket you are welcome to. I had it made after rounding the transmission fill bolt on my celica many years ago.