Pre-cat /Oval Bore Engine Failure Register

Started by StuM, December 7, 2008, 13:18

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dj2k21

#25
Date vehicle purchased:04/08/2006

Where from: ford / skoda dealership

Year of vehicle registration:2001

How often had you checked your oil level (please be honest here): monthly

Did you notice high oil consumption: one day started it up, lots of black smoke under load, 1 litre a week from then on

Date of Failure: 10/03/2008

Mileage at time of failure:63, 400

Was the vehicle modified at the time of failure: only cosmetic mods

Was the failure reported to Toyota:Yes

If yes, please detail their response: was just out of its 7 year good will cover so were not interested.  £3000 to replace
 
Was the vehicle repaired: yes

If yes, please detail how, and where: new forged short block fitted, head uprated and turbo conversion carried out

If a new/reconditioned engine was installed, please list where the engine was sourced and who fitted it: sourced from mwr and fitted by frd Middlesbrough
Would you recommend their service to other members: very much so

Was the main CAT replaced: removed altogether
 
How many trouble-free miles have you done since replacement: 3500
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SeanieB

#26
Date vehicle purchased: 11/05/2013
Where from (Franchised Toyota Dealer, independent dealer, private, auction): Independent Dealer
Year of vehicle registration: 2000
How often had you checked your oil level (please be honest here): Daily
Did you notice high oil consumption: YES  Approx. 200miles per litre of oil.
Date of Failure: NOT YET
Mileage at time of failure: N/A
Was the vehicle modified at the time of failure: No
If yes, please detail the modifications: N/A
Details of failure (symptoms, progressive or sudden, damaged components etc): N/A
Was the failure reported to Toyota: N/A
If yes, please detail their response: N/A
Was the vehicle repaired: N/A
If yes, please detail how, and where:  N/A
If a new/reconditioned engine was installed, please list where the engine was sourced and who fitted it: N/A
Would you recommend their service to other members: N/A
If the engine was reconditioned, what specifically was changed:
So far, replaced filthy air filter, PCV Valve, MAF, 4x Spark Plugs, De-Catted (01/06/2013.)   Used over 7litres of oil in 1500miles.  I PURCHASED A LEMON!!!!!!!!!!!!

Swanseamr2

#27
I see that a lot of these, if not nearly all are pre facelift. Many people had trouble with post facelift models? Mine is 2004

Beelzebozo

#28
Yesterday was a very dark day, when I had to nurse my ailing '2 home in clouds of acrid smoke...   s:( :( s:(  

Date vehicle purchased: 04/07/2014
Where from (Franchised Toyota Dealer, independent dealer, private, auction): Independent dealer
Year of vehicle registration: 2000
How often had you checked your oil level (please be honest here): Weekly/Fortnightly - depending upon usage
Did you notice high oil consumption: Yes - 1-2 litres per month
Date of Failure: 06/04/2014
Mileage at time of failure: 82000
Was the vehicle modified at the time of failure: No
Details of failure (symptoms, progressive or sudden, damaged components etc):

The car has been using plenty of oil since I bought it, but I have always kept up to it - religiously topping it up whenever the level started to dip towards the lower-end of the gauge. I last topped up the oil 10 days ago, and I've travelled  no further than 150 miles in that time, but yesterday I ran the car out on a short journey, and I felt a sudden, repetitive drop in power, (I assume this is a loss of compression?), coupled with plumes of smoke from the exhaust.

By the time I arrived home 5 mins later, there was barely any oil left in the car. I am fairly confident this is not HGF, as the water and oil are not contaminated, the temperature gauge remained in the nominal range, and it seems to be smoke, not steam, coming from the exhaust. The engine will start up without hesitation, but the idle is VERY lumpy and the exhaust stinks.

Before yesterday, the car was running absolutely fine - plenty of grunt and no hint of a problem, except for the oil usage.

Was the failure reported to Toyota: Not much point for a 15 year old car.
If yes, please detail their response: N/A
Was the vehicle repaired: I spent my last £200 getting it through its MOT last week   s:flame: :flame: s:flame:  . I have nothing left to chuck at it, so it's going on eBay as-is.
If yes, please detail how, and where: N/A
If a new/reconditioned engine was installed, please list where the engine was sourced and who fitted it: N/A
Would you recommend their service to other members: N/A
If the engine was reconditioned, what specifically was changed: N/A
Was the main CAT replaced: N/A
How many trouble-free miles have you done since replacement: N/A
[size=85]"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana."[/size][size=85] - G. Marx[/size]

Wilderman

#29
Quote from: "Swanseamr2"I see that a lot of these, if not nearly all are pre facelift. Many people had trouble with post facelift models? Mine is 2004
Think it can potentially happen to any mk3 Mr2. Mine was a facelift 2003 model and it used loads of oil (1/2 litre every 150 miles). Thankfully i managed to return car to dealer.

kafue

#30
I have just recently purchased a MR2 ( 2002 plate ) with 67000 miles on the clock and so far done 4000 miles. On one or two occassions noticed on de accelerating down a steep hill and then accelerating at the bottom a big cloud of blue smoke comes from the exhaust.

It is using oil and I have been putting in maybe half a litre every 250 to 350 miles.

Doe this problem mean I am about to get a big engine failure or just get the Pre-cats taken out.

Can anyone suggest a garage in the Blackpool area who could give  me advice.

Any thoughts will be appreciated.

tommyzoom99

#31
.
My track project
viewtopic.php?t=51237

Fin

#32
There is a thread somewhere that discusses this exact issue (I think). Iirc, it has more to do with baffles in the oil sump...
Might be worth a search?
The Sun is out, the sky is blue,
The roof is down on my MR2,
And I\'m grinning, grinning ear to ear!

B_Tank88

So as the last comment was a few years ago, let me share my very recent experience.

Date vehicle purchased: Early 2019
Where from (Franchised Toyota Dealer, independent dealer, private, auction): Private
Year of vehicle registration: 2004
How often had you checked your oil level (please be honest here): Once when checking the car on purchase. Oil showed about half way on dipstick. Checked few hundred miles later, oil was holding. Checked 3000 miles later when checking pre-cats, dipstick bone dry.
Did you notice high oil consumption: Yes
Date of Failure: First noticed 3000 miles after purchase of car, alongside checking for pre-cat condition through 02 sensor holes.
Mileage at time of failure: 97000
Was the vehicle modified at the time of failure:No
Details of failure (symptoms, progressive or sudden, damaged components etc): One pre-cat had chunk missing. Ingested by engine. Oil consumption. Both of these could have been historic issues, not sure as I only had the car for few thousand miles.
Was the failure reported to Toyota: No
Was the vehicle repaired: pre-cats replaced with cheap aftermarket manifold with no pre-cats.
If yes, please detail how, and where: Rogue Motorsport. Manifold cost 120 pounds, plus Labor 2.5 hours. Oil and filter change also at same time.
If a new/reconditioned engine was installed, please list where the engine was sourced and who fitted it: No
Would you recommend their service to other members: Yes, labor rates are expensive but fine job was done.
If the engine was reconditioned, what specifically was changed: No
Was the main CAT replaced: No
How many trouble-free miles have you done since replacement: 1500 miles. No worries about pre-cat disentegration now, but oil consumption is around 1L/1500miles. This is manageable as the oil is quite cheap for this car.

Moral of the story and hopefully an end to discussions regarding these failures and facelift cars.

FACELIFT CARS STILL GET BROKEN PRE-CATS!
2004 MR2 Roadster Sable/Red<br />2005 Corsa 1.2<br />2003 E46 M3 Coupe SMG

Carolyn

Quote from: B_Tank88 on October  4, 2019, 11:32So as the last comment was a few years ago, let me share my very recent experience.

Date vehicle purchased: Early 2019
Where from (Franchised Toyota Dealer, independent dealer, private, auction): Private
Year of vehicle registration: 2004
How often had you checked your oil level (please be honest here): Once when checking the car on purchase. Oil showed about half way on dipstick. Checked few hundred miles later, oil was holding. Checked 3000 miles later when checking pre-cats, dipstick bone dry.
Did you notice high oil consumption: Yes
Date of Failure: First noticed 3000 miles after purchase of car, alongside checking for pre-cat condition through 02 sensor holes.
Mileage at time of failure: 97000
Was the vehicle modified at the time of failure:No
Details of failure (symptoms, progressive or sudden, damaged components etc): One pre-cat had chunk missing. Ingested by engine. Oil consumption. Both of these could have been historic issues, not sure as I only had the car for few thousand miles.
Was the failure reported to Toyota: No
Was the vehicle repaired: pre-cats replaced with cheap aftermarket manifold with no pre-cats.
If yes, please detail how, and where: Rogue Motorsport. Manifold cost 120 pounds, plus Labor 2.5 hours. Oil and filter change also at same time.
If a new/reconditioned engine was installed, please list where the engine was sourced and who fitted it: No
Would you recommend their service to other members: Yes, labor rates are expensive but fine job was done.
If the engine was reconditioned, what specifically was changed: No
Was the main CAT replaced: No
How many trouble-free miles have you done since replacement: 1500 miles. No worries about pre-cat disentegration now, but oil consumption is around 1L/1500miles. This is manageable as the oil is quite cheap for this car.

Moral of the story and hopefully an end to discussions regarding these failures and facelift cars.

FACELIFT CARS STILL GET BROKEN PRE-CATS!

Indeed they do.  And stuck oil control rings, which cause pre-cat failure.
Perry Byrnes Memorial Award 2016, 2018.  Love this club. 
https://www.mr2roc.org/forum/index.php?topic=63866.0

Ardent

Going from memory here. But if you have the owners manual, you may find 1l per 600m is deemed in spec. So you are well in.

oneblueyedog

#36
Date vehicle purchased: January 2020
Where from (Franchised Toyota Dealer, independent dealer, private, auction): Private
Year of vehicle registration: 2003
How often had you checked your oil level (please be honest here): Once when checking the car on purchase. As purchased was at Full level on stick on 300 mile trip home.
Did you notice high oil consumption: No
Date of Failure: Prior to purchase unknown.
Mileage at time of failure:  Unknown
Was the vehicle modified at the time of failure: No
Details of failure (symptoms, progressive or sudden, damaged components etc): Strange swirling sound  at high speed ( Pre Cat pieces whirling around in main Catalytic Converter?). View through O2 ports on Precats showed left had a small divot of 2mm round by .5mm approx. deep. Grid looked aligned. No through holes in the grid.

The right pre cat was intact.

Removal of manifold and view through flange revealed that the left cat was missing 2/3rds of the matrix grid and had melted grid blobs all the way up to the top plane that looked intact except for the divot seen from O2 port.

The right pre cat was intact.

History of car had no mention of engine trouble but also found that the coolant tank interior was melted.

Removed main cat and emptied out the cat material that went down stream from the left cat. This material was melted like stones with matrix bits with solid closed voids. Will inspect with endoscope for damage to the main cat since the broken matrix was free to swirl and damage it.
Was the failure reported to Toyota: No
Was the vehicle repaired: pre-cat matrix and matting removed from exhaust manifold. Awaiting diagnosis of main cat.
If yes, please detail how, and where: Pending, self maintained.
If a new/reconditioned engine was installed, please list where the engine was sourced and who fitted it: NA
Would you recommend their service to other members: Yes but I'm not available for hire.
If the engine was reconditioned, what specifically was changed: NA
Was the main CAT replaced: Pending inspection
How many trouble-free miles have you done since replacement: NA

pistol pete

Date vehicle purchased: MID 2019

Where from:  Private but knew it was an oil burner when purchased as i already had a spare engine

Year of vehicle registration: 2001

How often had you checked your oil level (please be honest here): Once a week, it was a burner and only a weekend toy for a friend, I looked after the car for her

Did you notice high oil consumption: Yes

Date of Failure: 06/01/2020

Mileage at time of failure: 79000

Was the vehicle modified at the time of failure: Yes Toyo Manifold fitted

Details of failure (symptoms, progressive or sudden, damaged components etc): Purchased the car as an oil burner, someone got it back on the road and MOt'd it, was taken off road before due to burning oil. As she does not do many mines it didn't really matter. Lasted 9 months burning through oil (i Kept topping it up every5-600 miles) did not smoke at all.. then one day way to work it spun a bearing..  Still drove to work and drove home again (good ol toyotas)

Was the failure reported to Toyota: No

Was the vehicle repaired: Yep.. Fitted a face lift engine out of my 05 which is now a 2zz.

If a new/reconditioned engine was installed, please list where the engine was sourced and who fitted it: I went over the engine before fitting, came from my car and was driving perfect before

Would you recommend their service to other members: I'm far to busy :)

If the engine was reconditioned, what specifically was changed: No

Was the main CAT replaced: No

How many trouble-free miles have you done since replacement:200 so far.. but engine was good before i put it in

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