Picking Up A T-Sport What To Look Out For?

[koe_182]

Im picking up a 51 Plate T-Sport over the weekend, car has done 95k with regular services and oil changes etc.. what should i be looking out for on a relatively short test drive? any easy to spot give aways to walk away?

is this a high mileage or do they run forever? currently have a MR2 and had no problems with that and presume the engines are pretty similar.

Thanks for reading!

[KPARRIS-JONES]

With regular on-time replacements of oil and filters these cars are bullet-proof, just keep up with your services and you'll be laughing with Lift.

Watch for the clutch, if it's slipping then it's on it's way out although these naturally have notchy gearbox's and a high clutch biting point.

Lift bolts are a common one to go on the PFL so you may need to replace them with FL revised bolts but at £1.50 for the pair it's not a problem.

Seat Slider Pins are another one which tend to go so test these.

PFL's have a lot of body roll due to 4X4 suspension but you can sort that with Braces and Springs if you want.

Other than that you are going to be fine, very reliable motors.

KP

[Crossy]

sorry to thread jack i have just picked up a 02 t-sport with leather i am told they are rare? the clutch seems fine as does everything else what are the symtoms of broken lift bolts ?

cheers crossy

[nrgizerbunny]

In order of faff factor:

1. Gearbox, any rattling, whining etc, walk away or haggle.

2. Clutch, if its high chances are its on its way out.

3. Check for any blown hoses in the engine bay.

4. Check the operation of the TSC and VSC systems,

5. Check to see if the O2 sensor on the exhaust is in good nick.

[FoxX]

Check the Heater blows hot air, the older heater matrix's clog up.

You probably wont be able to avoid the squeaky clutch either, both mine have had this master cylinder problem. Its not a major issue, just annoying.

The problem with checking the VSC etc, is that the trader has probably reset the ECU if there was a a problem. So the dash lights might not pop up for a few days.

The 2zzge engine is quite a high tech engine by Yamaha, its worth a read on a wikipedia. I believe it has the best oil flow rate of any previous Toyota installed engine. I think they started putting them in MR2's could be wrong, the older MR2's had 3G-SE's? Sadly the high compression of the 2ZZGE makes them very difficult to Turbo charge, so the MR2 is more tunable in that sense.

Broken Lift bolt, intermittent or no high cam operation after 6200rpm. If the bolts are broken they can be difficult to get out without tapping them.

[Gwelandor]

make sure the lift works!

i own a 51 plate with 65K on the clock. recently been having problems with engine, TCS, VSC lights coming on.

when i took the rocker cover off to change my lift bolts there was alot of carbon build up.

[Mr_T_Sport]

Hi.

As me mentioned make sure lift kicks in at 6200rpm and it revs all the way upto 8250. Dont try this until the engine is upto temp tho as the ecu wont allow it to rev past 6000rpm if not. Common faults are a gap between the dash and the top of the HU. As already mentioned the slider pins might be broke, if this is the case it means if its a 3 door model the seats wont slide forward with the lever and you will have to slide them forward with the handle under the seat. There is a good chance this will be the case, so just try to use it as a bargaining tool with the seller.

[eddieinvader]

sorry to thread jack i have just picked up a 02 t-sport with leather i am told they are rare? the clutch seems fine as does everything else what are the symtoms of broken lift bolts ?

cheers crossy

They are less common than the cloth ones around it was an optional extra that cost quite a bit when new, when I had mine I looked at five or six all with cloth before finding the leather and the cloth does not compare at all much better with the leather.

If the bolts are gone apparently you will have little or no lift after 6200 revs. Also don't use lift untill the car is warm.

Personally IMO I think people on here make to much fuss about these bolts as everything I have read externally claims it was a problem on the early celicas with this engine and that problem was rectified from 02 onwards.

[Mr_T_Sport]

sorry to thread jack i have just picked up a 02 t-sport with leather i am told they are rare? the clutch seems fine as does everything else what are the symtoms of broken lift bolts ?

cheers crossy

They are less common than the cloth ones around it was an optional extra that cost quite a bit when new, when I had mine I looked at five or six all with cloth before finding the leather and the cloth does not compare at all much better with the leather.

If the bolts are gone apparently you will have little or no lift after 6200 revs. Also don't use lift untill the car is warm.

Personally IMO I think people on here make to much fuss about these bolts as everything I have read externally claims it was a problem on the early celicas with this engine and that problem was rectified from 02 onwards.

Lift bolts are too commonly blamed on lift failure! In reality its usually something as simple as a blocked oil control valve! This is a easy fix tho and if the car is properly maintained and lift used regular then even this shouldn't be a problem. IMO cloth seats are better as they don't scold your nuts off in the summer, and you don't slide about when cornering enthusiastically.

[Theorist]

leather isnt exactly rare on a pfl.rarer on a fl.blocked heater matrix is a common problem and slider pins on seats.

[leebo]

id rather cloth then leather

[eddieinvader]

sorry to thread jack i have just picked up a 02 t-sport with leather i am told they are rare? the clutch seems fine as does everything else what are the symtoms of broken lift bolts ?

cheers crossy

They are less common than the cloth ones around it was an optional extra that cost quite a bit when new, when I had mine I looked at five or six all with cloth before finding the leather and the cloth does not compare at all much better with the leather.

If the bolts are gone apparently you will have little or no lift after 6200 revs. Also don't use lift untill the car is warm.

Personally IMO I think people on here make to much fuss about these bolts as everything I have read externally claims it was a problem on the early celicas with this engine and that problem was rectified from 02 onwards.

Lift bolts are too commonly blamed on lift failure! In reality its usually something as simple as a blocked oil control valve! This is a easy fix tho and if the car is properly maintained and lift used regular then even this shouldn't be a problem. IMO cloth seats are better as they don't scold your nuts off in the summer, and you don't slide about when cornering enthusiastically.

Youre right about the seats, cold in winter too for the first couple of minutes you sit on them, I wouldn't swap them for cloth though, I have had to ease off on the wax polish aswell

[KPARRIS-JONES]

Lift Bolts don't prevent lift from working most of the time, it is as mentioned, the OCR which you must unclog regularly by hitting lift. So you have found a car that you must drive hard once in a while.... how sad. Can't say I am complaining. :D

[johnmaher]

how much did you pay for it??

im trying to sell mine, 2003 73000 miles, full service history, leather interior, perfect mechanical order, £3300 ono

[KPARRIS-JONES]

how much did you pay for it??

im trying to sell mine, 2003 73000 miles, full service history, leather interior, perfect mechanical order, £3300 ono

**cough**Traders Subscription?**cough** :P