Steve W

NOT QUITE RIGHT... The OLD Ford 1.6 and 2.0 OHC/'Pinto' engines (Sierra/Capri/Cortina) don't damage any valves if belt goes. I KNOW 'cos I had an old mkIII Cortina and the belt went at ~60mph and after I cruised to a stop I turned it OVER + OVER + OVER before thinking "OOOHH wonder if it's the belt ?" Not sure about OHC 1.8 - I'll check. (very few OF them though) All the CVH engines (1.6, 1.4, 1.3 and 'Yankee'1.8 [different type of CVH altogether] ) bend valves when belt goes. In fact the Ford Pinto is one of the only engines we EVER see where valves don't bend with belt failure. Martin, are you SURE the valves won't touch on a 2JZ ? (VERY NICE NEWS if they don't - OBVIOUSLY)

THANKS EVERYBODY . . . . Checked mine today, same as some of you - I think := With any of the lights on (side/dip/main) if I turn the key right off and remove, ALL LIGHTS SELF-EXTINGUISH. Then, if you turn Light Stalk 'OFF' and on again (still with key removed) lights WILL come on - I suppose so you CAN leave car with side lights on and lock car ? ? Seems strange BUT very logical when I think about it . . You CAN'T leave lights on accidentally, even if you ignore a warning buzzer. [ However you can't just jump out of car and leave lights on to warn other cars, unless you OFF/ON ] Key-in-switch with door open = BUZZER. THANKS AGAIN.........

AND ANOTHER QUERY . . ? ? How many of you have actually had a Timing/Cam' Belt break ? ? At what mileage/age did it go ? ? OR... How many miles/age on same belt ? ? I KNOW THE "BOOK" WILL GIVE AGE/MILE LIMITS BUT THESE ARE SOMETIMES GROSSLY OPTIMISTIC AND SOMETIMES GROSSLY PESSIMISTIC. [ Generally Peugeot's seem to go on 'forever' on same belt, whereas Ford 1.8D seem to break just as you leave the garage after having it (AND all the pulleys! ) changed ] Steve . . .

So, you mean the light 'stalk' is switched to ON but the lights go out ? ? ?

Stupid question perhaps: Is there SUPPOSED to be any 'Lights On' bulb/warning buzzer or anything in the Soop' There's the High-Beam 'blue' bulb, but no other side-light/dipped headlight warning ? ? YES, I'm not blind, I can see the're left on once I've locked up 'cos I always check doors/hatch anyway ('walkaround') But most/all cars have side or dipped warning bulbs (OR buzzer) ! Surely mine's just missing a bulb/buzzer-relay or something ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

If you look on mkIV.com: > > Specifications, > > New Car Feature Book '93, > > Page 134 ( ncf134.jpg ) It says BOTH 'A340E' - type boxes, but fluid capacities and some internals (ratios/number of discs etc) are slightly different ? ? Different diam' torque convertor ? But don't know what any of it means ? ? ?

Just noticed on the MKIV.com tech' info' pages (Toyota COPIES !) that I'm supposed to use "T-II" A.T.F. , NOT "Dexron-II" - which is just the 'normal'/'everyday' A.T.F. Who uses 'normal' A.T.F. OR, Who uses this "T-II" type ????????? Haven't actually FOUND any of the "T-II" yet if 'you all' use it... where stocks it ?? Or is it all bolony and 'normal' will do...??

Pre-Mix IS a mix of Anti-Freeze/"Summer Coolant" and De-Ionised Water. The very reason Toyota (and most BIKE manufacturers i.e. performance machines) only recommend pre-mix is so you're not tempted to use tap water. It's the 'coolant' which inhibits the corrosion by the water. We get LOTS of work from everyday car drivers who think Anti-Freeze is only for the winter !! The first/main item to suffer is usually the water-pump because it's cavitating the water and so causes electrolysis around it's blades/bearing/housing. WE JUST LOVE PEOPLE WHO DON'T USE ANTI-FREEZE . . ! ! [sort-of-pays for my Supra . . . .] BUT, YES, will also corrode the ally/alloy head/block/housings FAR less if reasonable amount of Coolant kept up. The main reason for not using tap-water is to prevent radiator/heater-matrix from blocking (the 'blockage' is part rust and part 'scale' or 'hardness'). De-Ionised = NO hardness.

All the info I've found (manufacturers/sites etc.) list only: N/A (and early Jap' TT) = 16 x 8 front (225/50-16) 16 x 9 rear (245/50-16) Which IS what I've got (early Jap' TT) UK/USA TT (and later Jap' TT) = 17 x 8 front (235/45-17) 17 x 9.5 rear (255/40-17) Does/DID anybody have anything different as STANDARD ???

Just sat and worked out: 1)Rears would be ~3/3.5% smaller circ' ie. lower geared (+speedo!) 2)Rear would be ~0.5" lower therefore: 3)Car would ride pointing high ?? (less downforce?) and obviously 4)Less grip(225 v 245) [ plus slightly higher fuel consumption ! ] In my opinion the seller CAN'T claim this to be a 'SET-of-4' They DON'T fit the car as advertised ('96 Supra) and still leave it "legal" i.e. what would the insurance company say ?? What do you think...??

Has anybody ever tried/fitted a front Jap' wheel ( 16J X 8" ) to the rear ( which SHOULD have a 16J x 9" ). ?? I KNOW it's too small, BUT, does it actually go on AND clear the rear caliper ?? I've "won" a bid on E-Bay for a 'SET' of 16" wheels and tyres which are supposed to be from a '96 Supra... BUT it turns out that they're ALL 16J x 8" i.e. all fronts !! The seller swears they're off a '96 model and it WAS driving around with them on... Well that's OK as long as they FIT ??? I'm not buying them if they won't FIT as a SET...

Starting to sound like the 'Shopping Channel' ? "I USE IT ON ALL MY HOUSEHOLD SURFACES AND IT BRINGS THEM UP A' TREAT EVERY TIME"

Starting to sound like the 'Shopping Channel' ? "I USE IT ON ALL MY HOUSEHOLD SURFACES AND IT BRINGS THEM UP A' TREAT EVERY TIME"

No... I only did the door speakers after turning it off. Didn't touch the dash or top-light-'rail'. EITHER there really IS an airbag fault OR you need to do it a couple of times ?? OR as you say, a loose plug to top-left-cluster.

WELL... Tried it this morning with mate watching light, TC-AB-TC-AB about 10 times and it flickered THEN off.... Comes on with ignition and goes out after ~5 seconds (sounds OK ? like a 'check light' ?) [ side-track >>>] Then spent rest of the day RIPPING front speakers out of the depths of the doors and putting 6.5" ON the doors - had to carve great holes out of each of the 'boxes' BUT left the basic shape of the box just because the window 'guide runs up+down a groove in the box. THE DIFFERENCE IN QUALITY IS REALLY, REALLY WORTH THE AG' OF DOING THE JOB. Now it shows the rear speakers up quite badly - I've had to bias most to the front otherwise you NOTICE the sound from the back (EERRGGHH!). [back-on-track >>] UNFORTUNATELY, after doing all that I've just started the car to make sure I hadn't run the battery down and THE BLOODY AIRBAG LIGHT SEEMS BE ON AGAIN ?!?!?! (Edited by Steve W at 5:53 pm on April 1, 2002)

Thanks Gavin, I'll go out right now and give it a try.. [Well I'll put some 'strides' on first !!] Is there a connector by the 'fire-wall' as the article says or do you have to use the one beside the inlet plenum chamber ?? Steve

Martin, THAT is where I read the thing in the first place... [Caught my eye as my AB light's been on since I got the car!] Mycroft(?), Do you a) Disconnect battery during resetting. b) Battery connected, BUT ignition OFF. c) Ignition ON, ie. so you can see AB light ? Steve.

Thanks Martin, I'll wait till someone has definitely done it (more annoying than anything - my head's not going anywhere in an accident anyway, it's touching the roof as it is !!) Don't fancy sticking the wires-in-holes till someone on here says: "It didn't go BANG".

Has anybody RESET their Airbag Light using the method on mkIV.com i.e. Shorting-Out AB + TC connections in plug alternately ?? Don't want to start shorting things out UNWISELY... Do they mean do it with the ignition ON or OFF ? [They say "watch the light while your doing it"]

My Mongoose cat' back is VERY quiet BUT I still have both cats in place. The Mongoose IS straight-through BUT where most of the PERFORMANCE sytsems seem to have a rear silencer and a 'bomb' in the centre; the Mongoose has 2 'proper' silencers (middle and rear). I think it's probably that which makes a lot of the difference ?? ps. as long as you want to keep an exhaust for a long time Stainless Steel has another major advantage over galvy-steel :- It's MUCH easier to reweld if something DOES break - hard to weld to galvanising OR RUST ! ! The only DISADVANTAGE is you just can't make it roar like a Blitz or an HKS [without cats' ???, we'll see]

SORRY Martin, I hadn't said anything because it's 'FESTERING' at the moment. Mark Kass (Romford Toyota) plugged in the diagnostic and after a quick 'wip-wap' up the dual-carriageway ... BING "!" and Management Lights on.... gives 3 fault codes. 1 appears to be Throttle Position Sensor(s?); 1 APPEARS to be Airbag; 3rd not sure. BUT before they commit themselves they want the Fault Codes from Lexus (Hills at Woodford) BECAUSE - ? - the Supra was NEVER brought into the country by Toyota ONLY by LEXUS outlets ?? That's news to me, but they have to request info etc. from 'Lexus'. All sounds a bit like "Don't Know" to me. but if there's a chance it's something tangible (?) like Sensors etc. then may as well get Toyotas to do/guarantee the work and get the Mazda dealer to pay THEM. The REALLY annoying thing is that 'Soopy' still starts/drives/pulls-like-a-train/is as smooth as that cream stuff that you.... ... .. . SORRY, lost it for a moment. Yours, EASTERLY, Steve W.

Thanks Phil (I'll look there tomorrow). I'd have to try a Soop with the 17's first, BUT, if there IS no difference then the 17's are liable to be easier to get tyres for ?????? I know when I drove RS's with anything bigger than the standard 15's the ride become EVEN HARDER and MORE skittish round bumpier corners ! ! (maybe a feature of cheaper Ford suspension BUT makes me wary of losing TOO much tyre flex).

Probably my last question on the subject: [everybody breaths a sigh ?] Has anybody got Pressures for 16" tyres on soop ? I haven't got a handbook YET, and even when I do will it list 16" (Normally Aspirated ?) or not ?

Useless Information #43286: At present (as received): Fronts = Bridgestone Turanza ?? Rears = Goodyear Eagle ZR50 ?? Old tyre models, or, Jap' spec ??

I think I'm sensing some sort of underlying ill-will towards one of the tyres mentioned... or perhaps I'm wrong . . ? ? I certainly like the LOOK of the F1's - all that Assymetric/Directional/Left-Right stuff looks really technical; just the thing to impress people with (if you can get them to lay on the floor and 'bog' underneath !) Are the F1's the "quiet" ones as well ? Already noticed 'Soopy' suffers a bit on some surfaces (not terrible though). It's got some import tyres on it at the moment I think - Bridgestone 'Terranza's' or something (TOO dark I'll check tomorrow)