IceMan

And I've been wondering too, the guys who imported my car fitted a derestrictor/convertor from Amber Performance (supposedly for the Supra) but the steering feels scarily light and means I drive quite slowly as I don't know what will happen in corners - the rear end stepped out without me expecting it the other week. Note: I have got low-profile Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres (265x35zr18 on rear and 235x40zr18 on front) which help the confusion!

No-one replied to my original post on this so I thought I'd try again! Can anyone please help with these questions? 1. I noticed the ALT-S fuse had blown. Searching on the web this may be related to the alternator or the traction control. Anyone know for definite? I've replaced it but it didn't seem to make much difference! 2. I need to remove the black plastic cover inside the boot lid. Where's the best place to start pulling at the plastic cover? It feels quite strongly attached and like it may crack if I pull it in the wrong place. Are either points shown in "bootplastic.jpg" correct? 3. The trim under the driver door has come unattached (see "annoyingclip.jpg"). It appears the white plastic clip is meant to be slotted into a slot then turned 90 degrees but this doesn't seem physically possible! Or can the white clip be prised out from the car body, put into the black trim (and rotated 90 degrees) then shoved back onto the car body? 4. My Vertec Manaray Sport wheels are going quite nasty (see "skankywheel.jpg") - it looks like the lacquer on the silver parts is chipped or something, resulting in this crack type effect. Is there a simple way to try and tidy them up without having to dismantle the wheels?! Thanks in advance for any tips! Ice

I learnt that Supras on muddy icy roads need to be respected a little more! Full post here: http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?t=34291 Ice

please?!?

Shared Mum's Volvo 340 Ford Escort 1.3 (2 door in red) Ford Fiesta Frascati 1.3 (ex-Mum's still got!) Toyota Supra TT Bit of a jump, but why not?! Ice

anyone?

Thanks for all the help last time folks! Here's the remaining few issues: 1. I noticed the ALT-S fuse had blown. Searching on the web this may be related to the alternator or the traction control. Anyone know for definite? My car has been idling too low recently but still seems to be 500rpm or less on the verge of stalling since replacing the fuse just now! 2. Regarding the "pulling it off" thing above (ho ho ho!), where's the best place to start tugging at the rear boot plastic cover? It feels quite strongly attached and like it may crack if I yank it hard. Are either points shown in "pullingitoff.jpg" correct? And how many innuendos can I fit in this one message? Heh! 3. The trim under the driver door has come unattached (see "annoyingclip.jpg"). It appears the white plastic clip is meant to be slotted into a slot then turned 90 degrees but this doesn't seem physically possible! Or can the white clip be prised out from the car body, put into the black trim (and rotated 90 degrees) then shoved back onto the car body? 4. My Vertec Manaray Sport wheels are going quite nasty (see "skankywheel.jpg") - it looks like the lacquer on the silver parts is chipped or something, resulting in this crack type effect. Is there a simple way to try and tidy them up without having to dismantle the wheels?! Cheers for any more advice! Ice

Sorry for any confusion, when I say there's a good couple of mm left I mean over the markers that show when to change tyres, so got 4-5mm on right tyre still. Ice

My rear left tyre is down to the tyre markers that I guess indicate "change it now"! The rear right doesn't need changing as it has a good couple of mm of tread or so yet (left had a puncture before right needed changing so it's older - not ideal situation I agree but I don't wanna fork out for 2 tyres at the mo!). Anyway... I got 265/35 ZR18 Goodyear Eagle F1 (GSD3) on at the mo. The cheapest (with VAT + fitting) locally I've found is about £165. Does anyone know any reputable dealers online where I could get one cheaper?? Also noticed my front left is low psi compared to right - both are fairly new (since about August) with loads of tread left - if it turns out to have a slow puncture can tyres be patched/fixed or would I need to hurt my bank account further?!?

What's the long term prognosis on those bubbles? They weren't there 2 years ago when I got the car and seem to be getting more pronounced...

UPDATED - NEW PHOTOS needing help with! -------- Got a few small things that are bugging me on my Supra so I thought I'd show pix of them on here for people to Photoshop (or Paint!) over the top of to show me what to do, so I don't break anything! In order of attachments: SORTED: Interior light (interiorlight.jpg) - how do you open this? I've heard stick a knife under it and lever it open, but where whould I stick the knife? Rear wing (wingbubbles.jpg) - my rear wing has these blisters - is it rust? I didn't think the wing was made of metal? And how can it rust where the paint has no blemishes/cuts in it?! SORTED: Rear speakers (rearspeaker.jpg) - mine "crack" a bit on bass notes so I want to inspect them but how do I remove the speaker grille/cover? Another knife/lever operation? And again where should I stick the knife? MORE BELOW: Boot plastic lining (bootplastic.jpg) - this rattles annoyingly (had boot rubbers replaced, it's definitely this as I wedged a folded piece of paper under it and it was silent!). How do I remove this cover (without snapping/breaking anything)?! Thanks! There's a couple of other queries I have but I'll show those later when the car's cleaner (as I live up a muddy bridleway ) Ice

Well I thought maybe when power cut out totally when I turned the key last night it reset the ECU. Clock inside was reset to 0:00 too... that would explain the car not knowing the "stalling point", however I drove it more than 10 miles since then (normally the amount before the engine remembers things accurately!). As for the rattle, how do you remove the black boot lid cover on the inside? I don't know where the clips are and don't want to break it by forcing it! Someone on here must have removed it at some point to get to rear windscreen wiper motor etc. As for the door trim, I don't mean the plastic step inside. I actually mean the black trim underneath the door sill. The front clip has come off and the area fills up with mud, forcing it off more. The clips appear to have a flat plate which is supposed to be slotted through a hold in the body then rotated to lock them in place but I'm not sure how you'd achieve that! Unless the clips can be removed from the trim and twist locked into the body then clipped back into the trim. I mentioned this before as people changing the side skirts will likely have removed this trim, and someone said it's a nightmare to clip it back on ...I actually unscrewed all the screws underneath but the trim still wouldn't move! Any advice/photos/links would be much appreciated! Ta for all the other info too. I should also add that I need to check my derestrictor again as it managed to come back on (I got an Amber Performance(?) derestrictor/km->m convertor) and when I last tried it stopped at 120mph. Having said that it didn't recently at 125mph but I need a clear stretch of road to test further! Ice

Well got into Toyota by left foot braking whilst holding accelerator so revs stayed at 1000rpm or thereabouts, lower than that and it just dies away! Anyway they had the car to replace shocks (all rattles gone!) and boot rubbers (me=lazy!) and when I got the car back they said they tested the battery and alternator and they were fine. He said they had trouble getting the car in the garage but after the engineer revved it hard and took it for a hard drive and after that it didn't stall any more. Same story when I took it home, though the revs are still a little low at 500rpm idling, but crucially just above the stall point! They thought maybe choke wasn't working and revving it cleared it out ... me I'm not so sure so I'm keeping an eye on it! Only things now wrong to resolve are: - "WOOO" sound from enigine at medium revs - need to visit rolling road to identify methinks! - light plastic rattle from rear which I think is black plastic surround on inside of boot lid... though need to confirm that... - rust spots on tiny stone chips (where's the touch-up kit I ordered Toyota!). - driver's side door trim come unclipped, pain to replace apparently... - passenger reading light bulb blown! Ice

Toyota haven't been too bad on me overall, they seem to keep costs down a bit as I visit them regularly heh! Better still are the few small jobs I got them to do but they were too tired to bill me hehe! Ice

I hope I can make it to Toyota! Definitely think it's battery - car revs drop then it turns off at low revs! Switching any electrical system on dims lights and makes power steering heavier. I went out for band practice then the car cut out totally when started... and when it started later after practice the clock had reset... The only problem tomorrow is the traffic jam to the Toyota dealership... I'll have to hold on brake and gently hold accelerator to prevent it stalling! Wish me luck! Ice

hmmm... very interesting. A few weeks ago the arm/catch over the battery came loose and started rattling until I screwed it back down. But I did notice a black tubed wire(?) under the battery is forced in a sharp v-shape back on itself... could this be related? Will investigate further soon, or let Toyota have a look as the car's in on Thursday for new shocks. Ice

A couple of times now with all electrics on (stereo, air con/heating, headlights) the power's cut out and alarm came on! One time was on my drive but today I flashed full beam in case any cars were coming round a dodgy narrow corner and the car totally died with alarm going off! Is this likely to just be a failing battery or something else? I notice at low revs the rev gauge is slipping lower than usual and the lights dim a bit... Ice

From what I've seen the grey Jap ones are TRD Bilsteins. I couldn't say what the difference to yellow Bilsteins is! Ice

Yeah Toyota say they are the only parts they have available. Did the UK cars have Bilstein shocks as default? Anyone else I should throw e-mails about this? Cheers for the help so far! Ice

Feedback from Toyota: "Both 48530-09015 and 48510-09015 are available on 48 hrs stock but wait for it, the prices are very high. Front are £142.80 each + fitting + V.A.T. Rears are £174.49 each + fitting + V.A.T." Apart from the Ebay auction above, does anyone know of a cheaper supply? These are the yellow Bilsteins I think. ALSO: I have to drive up and down a pot-hole ridden track (slowly mind you!) every day. Might it be a better idea to swap to standard suspension or will the car roll then give me nightmares? Cheers, Ice

The subject pretty much explains the situation! Except to add that the front suspension is rattling a little (nothing compared to rear). Toyota say they only have standard suspension on list. Hunting through the Search on this forum I found potential part numbers for Bilstein shocks here: http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10711&highlight=bilstein ...and totally different part numbers here: http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28013&highlight=bilstein So what am I looking for, where can I get them (cheapest ) and is there anything else I should know about? Cheers all! Ice

Secondly, my Vertec Manaray Sport VR5 alloy wheels are looking a bit second hand, a combination of stone chips (I think) and some weird white squiggley marks! Any thoughts/ideas on restoring these? Or do they look a lost cause? Ice

Just noticed a few tiny rust spots due to stone chips on the edge of the wing where it meets the bonnet. What should I do? The car's silver which I hear is a bitch to match paint wise (and a rough touch up the Jap guy who had it before me did to the wing mirror stands out!)? Should I just dab some Kurust on it or what? Sanding the whole thing down and respraying it seems a bit much... Ice

It this good enough??! Ice

I told them once, and even kept checking back... nothing! They're a bit lazy see. On my service they said the brake fluid probably needs changing but didn't change it and said the air con needed doing when I had it done a few months ago :-P Ice