PLEASE tell me it isn't precat related... it's white?!?!

markiii · June 22, 2006, 20:13

Stu has a brand new cat for sale at the moment.

sitting in my garage

Anonymous · June 22, 2006, 23:04

I'm pm'd him but, brand new?!? he's gonna want a fair bit for it I imagine?

Anonymous · June 23, 2006, 12:55

Quote from: "jamesr1"I'm pm'd him but, brand new?!? he's gonna want a fair bit for it I imagine?

just spotted this cat & backbox for £50 on ebay:

m http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 4653451770 m

Good luck,

Richie.

Anonymous · June 24, 2006, 02:25

cheers for that, but I've got the car back now and think i'll wait for either Adam to get hold of one, or for one of my local breakers to get me one...

Interestingly enough, it was my left hand precat that went, I know that's been mentioned on a couple of other threads, not sure of the significance though. I completely forgot to take photos as well, sorry! s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

Upending the main cat also produced a load of precat material that had ended up there. With me not being able to get hold of a permanent main cat replacement in time though (thanks for the offer though Spit, much appreciated! s:)

s:) ), and needing the car back on the road, the garage have done a bit of a cowboy job with my current main cat, and basically removed all the contents of it. Needless to say I appreciate I'm now technically MOT-less, but it'll keep me going for a week or two til I get a replacement. (It does sound like a tractor though, which certainly ain't good!! definate motivation to get a replacement cat!!! s:(

s:( )

It doesn't seem to have lost any power though, which I guess is the main thing. I'll just have to keep a very[/b] close eye on the oil level... s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

I'm not sure if it'll make any difference, but what I'm also planning on doing, in light of what rollazuka (was that his username?!? s:oops: :oops: s:oops: ) said on the other precat thread, is to have an oil & filter change halfway in between services as well, to try and prevent these oil drain holes (or whatever they are!) getting clogged up, if indeed they haven't already. I can't see anything else I could do to try and prevent that happening other than getting a modified short block assembly and piston/rod set, which I'm certainly not keen on forking out for s:? :? s:?

Needless to say I'll be writing to Toyota UK regarding their £18k sports cars that don't even last 6yrs/80k miles, although I doubt I'll get anywhere... always good to let off steam though i suppose. I'll keep ya posted on whether I start losing horses and / or copious amounts of oil! s:? :? s:?

Anonymous · June 24, 2006, 09:48

Good luck with writing to Toyota GB and let us know what (if any) reply you get. As i've mentioned in the other precat thread my oil consumption is pretty high but its been like that since February and the important thing is that it has not got any worse. I am now in the habit of checking the oil daily.

Anonymous · June 24, 2006, 16:45

hmmm, not good. Just been out for my first real drive since getting it back.

Now, this may just be due to the total lack of any sort of Cat, but when i've been engine braking/decelerating for a bit (eg. down a hill) and then give it some gas, I'm getting a suspiciously blue-white puff of smoke out the back.

Is this as bad a sign as I think it is, or is this 'normal' for a car with no cat? what do you think?

Anonymous · June 24, 2006, 21:15

Glad you've got it back now mate, s:D

s:D

As for the smoke, i'm not sure (someone will know) but you've technically got no smoke filtration at all now with no cats of any sort, so what comes out your exhast manifold is whats gunna come out the end of your exhast pipe.

Keep a eye on your oil though, i have to put a small amount in every month now, it drops from full to 3/4, so its not really that bad. (did that make sense?)

Is there any loss in power at all now?

Anonymous · June 25, 2006, 08:16

Quote from: "jamesr1"hmmm, not good. Just been out for my first real drive since getting it back.

Now, this may just be due to the total lack of any sort of Cat, but when i've been engine braking/decelerating for a bit (eg. down a hill) and then give it some gas, I'm getting a suspiciously blue-white puff of smoke out the back.

Is this as bad a sign as I think it is, or is this 'normal' for a car with no cat? what do you think?

Not sure if this will help ease your mind, but being an old fart s:oops: :oops: s:oops: running pre cat engines - much prefer them, there could be two trains of thought:

1. When you have messed about with the exhaust system to the extent you have then there could be a residue of oil in the back box plus what ever's left in the old cat. When you "exhaust" or use "engine braking" this tends to scavenge to system - basically drawing the hot gases back into the system/head which causes what ever has been sucked back to burn and produce smoke

2. Or it could be using oil which is either coming from the bores or the valve guides. Much the same principal as above except it's drawing from the engine.

The question is, the next time you drive the car is it still smoking? if so is it getting worse or less - if its the latter then it could be down to point one.

The reason I suggest point 1 is when I had my exhaust fitted by Blue flame it took a while for the car to stop smoking due to the oils used to manufacture the exhaust still being present.

Hope this helps a little - good luck

Rob

Anonymous · June 25, 2006, 11:15

yeah, that's the way i'm thinking (and hoping) it's going to go. The smoking does seem to be getting slightly less each time I drive the car; I've been trying to put some miles on it with the current exhaust setup so that I can find out exactly whether it is burnin loads of oil or not, as once I get a cat back on there then all traces of smoke will disappear.

I'm happy to report that it's not lost any power. Indeed, it seems quite a lot free-er (spelling!?!) and a bit more lively than it has done for months!! s:D

s:D

I'm guessing that this is because my main cat was gradually getting blocked by all the crap that was falling out of the manifold. s:evil: :evil: s:evil:

I've not really had a car that's burnt much oil before, but a good friend who's always had old cars (most of which have burnt a lot of oil! s:lol: :lol: s:lol: ) such as Escort RS turbo's and stuff, tells me that it certainly doesn't smell as if it's burning oil.

The thing that led me to wonder whether it was anything to do with the welding on the cat was that the smell kinda reminds me of the soldering flux that my brother used to use when he was learnin to be an electronics engineer, i don't know if they use anything like this during welding...

spit · June 25, 2006, 11:28

You can get a lot of bizarre smells and smoke when you're running in after reassembly. Residues, oxides, jointing compound, even greasy paw prints from handling etc etc.

Unsurprising good news that you're revving more free now. Even on a car without precat issues, taking them out makes a noticeable difference.

From what you've said, I'd be cautiously upbeat about the state of your engine. In any case its good to get into the practice of checking your fluids regularly ..... and now you have no excuse s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Keep us posted.

Anonymous · June 30, 2006, 01:35

Right, well, after having kept a close eye on the oil this last week, since it happened, I can say that it's used slightly over 1 litre since last saturday, thats about 1ltr to 300 miles s:shock: :shock: s:shock:

so, am i pretty safe in assuming that my engine really is toast!?!?

obviously i'll be keeping an equally close eye on it this next week, but if I get the same result again then I think that it's pretty conclusive and I need to start looking for an engine.

Anyone disagree??

spit · June 30, 2006, 02:39

Hurrumph s:cry: :cry: s:cry: Thats a fair drop of oil james. s:shock: :shock: s:shock:

kanujunkie · June 30, 2006, 08:04

sorry, no i totally agree, good luck James

Anonymous · June 30, 2006, 08:48

I thought mine was bad at 600 miles per Litre. As i've said in another thread mines not getting any worse so i'm topping up and monitoring until i can get it in the workshop in the winter time.

If for some reason it does deteriorate any further it will go in sooner. Not sure whether to go the shortblock route or just source another 2nd hand engine.

Good luck with getting it sorted anyway James!

Anonymous · June 30, 2006, 11:38

got the mileage slightly wrong, it's 1Litre to about 400miles, not 300, but still... too much oil. s:cry: :cry: s:cry:

I've sourced a cat, which i've already arranged to have fitted next saturday, and I'll be trying to get it in the garage tomorrow for an engine flush and oil & filter change, in case it's that possibility that rollazuka mentioned re: the oil return holes getting clogged up... (is that what they were called!?)

I think I can also get the oil analysed for free as well through a friend, although this is more out of curiosity as i'm not technical enough to be able to interpret the results properly. And I may also be able to get my engine compression tested for free as well, but again, at this stage I think that'd just be to satisfy curiosity as well.

I'll be measuring the mileage a lot more accurately this week to make sure I'm not wrong enough to make a difference (which is pretty unlikely! s:lol: :lol: s:lol: ), although I'm pretty convinced this is gonna end with me trying to source an engine.

I'm guessing that since I haven't seen a drop in performance yet, and as long as I keep replacing the oil it's burning and not let it run dry, then it should keep going for a good few weeks? I'm just gutted that i've got an engine that seems to be performing fine, but is burning this much oil! s:shock: :shock: s:shock:

spit · June 30, 2006, 11:56

Your consumption does seem very high, although it may well be accelerated if you've got tired old oil and gloop in there. (I've had occasions with this engine where I've been due a change and used a litre in 600 miles - after flush and change it holds steady again).

Also, make sure you measure on the same level at the same oil temperature each time to get a good read. Some do it hot, others cold and settled (when its easier to read the stick!)

In any case, a flush and oil/filter change will set you onto a decent playing field for more informed monitoring of the consumption (sorry, I lost track and thought you'd already done this s:oops: :oops: s:oops: ).

I'm still quietly upbeat for you, but I've taken my pills today s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Anonymous · June 30, 2006, 12:56

It was serviced about 3700 miles ago, so I wouldn't have thought the oil would be that bad, although it has started getting darker in colour...

going to phone the garage now to see if they can fit it in tomorrow morning for the flush etc.

Anonymous · June 30, 2006, 20:55

Soz about the bad news mate

Did it use any oil before the pre cat failure?

What type of oil has it got in it? ie 10w-40, maybe putting thicker stuff in ie 10w-50 or 15w-60 would slow the consumption, but get somone on here to confirm that idea first.

Anonymous · June 30, 2006, 23:44

thanks for that, but it's kind of a moot point now. s:shock: :shock: s:shock:

Just come out of tescos at 8.30pm this evening, started the car and saw a puff of smoke, and it felt very 'lumpy'. Not good thought I. better take it VERY steady going home thought I. s:? :? s:?

pulled out of tescos onto the dual carriageway, into third at about 2500rpm, got slowly to about 3000rpm then all hell let loose. no strange sounds or anything, but LOADS AND LOADS of white smoke. absolutely EVERYWHERE!!! s:cry: :cry: s:cry: s:? :? s:? s:(

s:(

Seriously, i've never seen so much smoke come out of a car! Looking in my rearview mirror I couldn't see past the back of my car. s:shock: :shock: s:shock:

Just a shame there was an MX5 directly behind me with his roof down!! s:twisted: :twisted: s:twisted: s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

So, I've just got home about 45mins ago, took me 2.5hrs to get recovered. the lamb joint that was in the oven is charcoal!! s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

what confused me though, is that I always thought oil was meant to burn with quite a noticeable blue-ish colour to it?? but from what I can remember this smoke was white, not really any blue in it at all that i remember/noticed...

Chris_h · June 30, 2006, 23:48

Is there any coolant left?

Anonymous · June 30, 2006, 23:54

I looked at that as I was stood waiting for the recovery people.

It was at the minimum mark on the bottle. (it is the one just inside the engine bay on the left hand side isn't it!?!? s:oops: :oops: s:oops: )

spit · July 1, 2006, 00:09

Yes thats the coolant reservoir.

Gutted for you matey. s:cry: :cry: s:cry: Is there a plan?

Anonymous · July 1, 2006, 00:56

well, the chap from the garage came out whilst the recovery bloke was unloading it, as he lives next to the garage. He seems to think it's too early to write the engine off, and wants to have a look at it tomorrow if he can fit it in.

can't see it working out myself.

Adam had a 10,000 mile engine for £1000, i know another chap who's got a 38,000 mile engine available for £600...

markiii · July 1, 2006, 08:18

get teh 10000 miler

spit · July 1, 2006, 08:25

Yep. there was a time when strip and replace was more cost-effective than shoving a new block in, but those days are gone. Go for low mileage.

Be good to get a diagnosis from your garage but not worth having them spend hours on a strip-down. Let me know what they say though - I could make use of an engine rebuild project for the autumn s:wink: :wink: s:wink: