tonyhawk

All you need now is some reception to use it with...

Just been told by an Irish friend of mine that to tax a Supra in ROI it's €1109 (£832)!!! http://www.dublincity.ie/Images/Motor%20Tax%20Rates_tcm35-8791.pdf

Just been told by an Irish friend of mine that to tax a Supra in ROI it's 1109 (£832)!!! http://www.dublincity.ie/Images/Motor%20Tax%20Rates_tcm35-8791.pdf

I have been with Vodafone since 1994 (then analogue) and customer service or price aside, the signal seems to have degraded rather than improved.. :o( Perhaps it's something to do with them not keeping up with demand, or too many subscribers per base station, but what ever the reason I'm looking to move. I live in London, which is supposed to have 99.something % coverage, but it's noting like that; I am forever finding holes in the reception, and forget about heading south! I visit Bromley every weekend and reception is simply diabolical; fishermans nets have fewer holes; driving from one side of Bromley to the other causes my phone to drop the call no less than 3 times, and sometimes more. In case you're thinking "change your phone", this has always been the case (although worse lately), and I change my phone every 6-12 months (often different vendors). The price deal I have is competative, and the calls I've made to customer services have been ok, but the lack of reception is driving me mad.

Sorry geez, no offence meant or taken. Indeed, infection is difficult to convey. To be honest, I wasn't sure whether it would do what it said on the tin, but I figured any extra couldn't hurt?

Fair comment. Perhaps I could simply ask any remaining bits of free radical swarf to pop out for a minute and then respectfully put my case forward, in the hope that they will agree to live elswhere? Like I said, without another strip and re-build it's nigh impossible, so I guess I'll just have to suck it an see?

Oil problems suck. Magnetic oil filters; gimmick? Not sure, I take your sarcasm, but I'm of the school of though that "you never know", and "every little helps", although I don't regularly shop at Tesco's. All I'm saying is that I've checked the filter, the pump, the oil I took out of the engine, the inside of the cam covers, the ends of the turbo oil supply pipes and the sump plug; but found no swarf. Unless I take the engine out again, strip it and clean it all, I can't be 100% sure, but I'm fairly certain. I could try an engine flush, but that does little for the metal bits; I'd climb in myself and run a rag through it, but at 6' 6" I'm a little large to get into the oil filler, and I've run out of nano-bots. Any other suggestions would be welcome though.

I take your point, and it does concern me a little, but there was only two flakes in the oil pump, and a nasty scratch on the valve so I'm lead to believe one came from the other. The reason I'm not too worried about swarf in general is because all they did was stip the engnie, replace one rod and the crank. The shell had been faulty (assumnption, but there was no oil starvation and no adverse wear on any of the other shells) and it had damaged the rod and journal. As such, there was no honing, or head work done that would create such nasty bits of metal. I was also running a TRD magnetic oil filter, which upon inspection did not yeild any other bits.

It wasn't really a theory as such because I had to damn near wrench the valve out of the barrel, and as I said, there were scoring marks on the valve and swarf in the pump, so I'm fairly sure it was, at the very least, a contributory factor. I totally agree about being careful though, which is why I've bought a sandwich plate so I can add the oil pressure gauge which is sitting on my dining room table. I bought the gauge when the problem first occurred, but struggled and finally gave up trying to get it to fit into the existing pressure switch recess. After searching these forums I found that everybody else agrees that it is far more hassle than it's worth trying to get it to fit in the original spot (including Toyota, who changed the design on the '98 model to use a modified union bolt), and the solution is to use a sandwich plate (or a '98 union bolt) behind the filter, or a filter relocation kit, both of which have additional taps on them for fitting a gauge (or two). My reaction when the light flickered on was to stop the engine there and then and look for clues, which is how I found the problem with the pressure release valve. Having sorted that particular issue, I will rebuild it, add the gauge and go from there. Thanks for the warning though, very much appreciated, and having had engines go bang from oil issues before, very much agreed! The warning light is my friend.....

Cheers for that; I was not best pleased, but I guess it was better that it happened while I was pootling along, rather than screaming it? Unfortunately I've just read your reply and I've already cleaned up the valve and put it back in the car... :o( I too was a little puzzled as to why the light came on when revved, but I can only think that it was because the valve was stuck, not at the top, but a few mm from the bottom, possibly restricting the flow? However, I did have another good look at it just after I added my second post yesterday, and there was a significant 'blob' of metal which looked like the aftermath of a bad scratch. I cleaned up the surface and then had a look at the chamber itself; it was smooth, but I did find a few metal shavings in there (after much probing with cotton buds!), which I removed. I then cleaned out the pump with a little petrol, put some oil in there and started to re-build the front of the engine. I haven't completed the job yet because I am awaiting the sandwich plate, and it will be a lot easier to fit with the air con and power stearing pumps detached; it's bad enough trying to change the oil filter (relocation kit on my Christmas list...), let alone trying to fit the plate and couple up a pressure gauge! I'll post my progress when I get the parts. Thanks again for responding.

Ok, I might have been a bit premature on the condition of the valve itself; having just checked it again in daylight, rather than the dim, useless fluorescent tube in my garage, there are several virtical scratches all around it on the surfaces that contact with the housing. From this I think it might have been a tad tight perhaps? I'll attack it with a peice of emery and smooth it down a bit.

I have an oil pressure problem that I could really use some advice on. At tickover, the engine sounds and runs fine, but when you rev it, it develops a slight knock at the top of the engine, as if the oil isn't getting there, and the oil pressure warning light flickers on. When the revs drop the noise goes away, and the light goes out. Some background: The engine has recently been rebuilt (by good engineers, whom I trust); I received it as a built lump and I fitted it into the car. As part of the rebuild, the oil pump was replaced with a new part from Toyota. Once the engine was in, I ran it for about 30 miles with no problems, then suddenly this noise appeared (as described above). I suspected possibly the oil pressure release valve had become stuck, so I decided to take it out and have a look. Upon removing the restraining bolt and then the springs, I tried to take out the valve using a magnet (on a stick), but it was quite hard to lift up. At first it wouldn't come, and even pulled the magnet off of the telescopic handle, but with some wiggling (and swearing), it finally came out. Now here comes my first question: should the valve be so hard to remove? I thought that it should slide easily within the chamber? I have checked for swarf or other objects within the chamber, but nothing, and the walls seem smooth. The valve itself is smooth with no sighs of scratching or anything? My second question is, if this is not the cause, what could it be? I was a little skint before, but I have now been able to purchase a sandwich plate and an oil pressure gauge, so I will be able to see exactly what is going on, but I am reluctant to put it back together again if there is somehthing I should check with it in pieces? Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks Tony

Thanks for that, it explains it perfectly. It was driving me mad, but it makes sense. Thanks again. Tony

I'm sorry to appear like a mechanical dunce here, but can someone please offer an explanation as to how the turbo configuration works? Specifically, I'm referring to the actuators; there's one at the top of the engine that I'm lead to believe controlls the sequential setup, then each turbo has one, and the main wastegate has one (I'm assuming that the butterfly valve situated at the point where both exhausts meet is the wastegate?) I'd like to understand what all these components do, but more over, I trying to understand why the garage who fitted my HKS EVC V connected the pressure control pipe to the actuator on turbo #1? Is this correct? If so, how does it affect the output of turbo #2? Any help would be very much appreciated Thanks Tony

Does anybody have an electronic copy of the EVC V manual; HKS are less than helpful, and the shop who fitted it won't give me a copy! Thanks Tony.

Cheers, I'll give him a bell. Why is it all the good dyno guys are "up north"? Is the south not able to spawn tuning skills?.... ;o)

Is it this PTS?... P T S Motoring Unit C & D, Kingsway Ind Est Kingsway Luton Bedfordshire LU1 1LP Tel: 01582 731733 I'm not sure if I'm fault finding or simply tuning, I suppose what I'm really after is someone with a rolling road who really knows Supra's.

Well, I've tried 0 degrees on both cams, +3 and -1 on exhaust and inlet, and about 10 other combinations, but no luck... :o( I get the same results (a burbling which comes in around the 4k mark, under load) with slight variation on when it comes in. It's driving me mad.... I have given up for now, but I'll give G-Force a ring in the morning; I get the feeling that there is something else awry here, and without a dyno, I don't think I'll find it! Thanks to everyone who has offered help, it's been much appreciated, and I'm sure it won't be the last question I'll have! Ta. T.

Thanks for all the feedback. I will certainly re-gap the plugs because they're running on a larger gap than 1mm, that might help? Terry, with the cam's on 0 degrees, the idle is extremly rough; I'm used to a poor idle with high profile cams, but this required a hike in idle rpm, and a sudden release of the throttle sometimes causes it to stall. Is this normal? I have seen comments on other sites that the combination of a 256 inlet and 264 exhaust doesn't upset the idle? I know I have posted a seperate question for this, but does anyone know a good rolling road in the SE? Preferably soneone who doesn't fret at the mention of a Japanese car? Ta. T.

The Denso's that are in there are: SK20R-P11, are these suitable? Are the HKS plugs simply re-badeged Denso's or just built to the same spec? Sorry, when I say standard timing, I mean that the adjustable wheels are set to 0 degrees, as they were from the box. I assumed that this was the same as the original Toyota wheels, as the teeth and locating hole lined up? Do you know what the Toyota stock settings are? Ta. T.

The choice of gasket was in preperation for the turbo upgrade (yet to be decided upon). As I had the engine out, I wanted to do everything needed then, so that I didin't have to take the head off again later. I am currently using the Denso Iridium plugs; I didn't think that 1.2 bar warrented the HKS plugs. Any ideas? Ta. T.

While I am searching for a trustworthy rolling road in Kent, could anyone suggest some good base Cam timing settings for the following: I have just fitted a 256 degree inlet, and 264 degree exhaust cams, with adjustable cam wheels. The engine (Jap spec) has been re-built, with a balanced bottom end, JE pistons, 2mm HKS head gasket, polished/ported head, HKS EVC boost controller, but with standard fuelling (except for an uprated pump). Since putting the cams in, I am getting a misfire at full throttle, which comes in at about 5000rpm, or .8 bar boost(ish). I am assuming that since the cams are the only change, that it is their current standard timing that is at fault (hope is probably a better word than assume I suppose... ;o), and so, until I can get it on the dyno, I was wondering is someone with a similar set up might be able to advise on a good timing starting point? Any help would be much appreciated. Many Thanks Tony

Could anyone suggest a "good" rolling road in the SE, because I am struggling to find someone to tune my Supra. I have spoken to a couple, and they either don't seem to know what they are on about, or wont touch Supra's? I have done a search on these forums, and I have found plenty in the North, but none close to me. Any help would be very much appreciated. Ta. Tony.