Check your crossmembers

[Anonymous]

Until today I hadn't bothered trying to check the crossmember as I assumed you couldn't see it, but turns out if you're willing to hug the ground the visibility is quite good.

I was quite surprised at what good condition it is in, considering I was told it wouldn't pass the next MOT there is only a little rust. See the pics, what do you think?

Mine wasn't that bad - I replaced it.

You should plan to replace in the next few months.

[Anonymous]

For reference, this was Radu's Xmember a couple of weeks ago just before it was binned. Exactly as it came off a car that had sailed through the MOT.   s:shock: :shock: s:shock:  



Rear toe bar could be displaced by hand and was almost completely free.



Can't really say this enough times: Check your crossmembers. Please don't assume that a 12 month ticket means your car is safe to drive.

Holy shi.....

That's the worst I've seen. They are covered by the nappy but not even an advisory? Poor show.

[gaffer1986]

That's terrible, I can see the crossmember quite clearly even with the nappy on. I have every intention of replacing it, it just wasn't as bad as I imagined. I've already bought a new one but found out that the inner nuts and bolts for all arms, outer ball joints for arm 2 and cat gaskets are £69, in two minds whether I should order them as there are hundreds of nuts and bolts in the workshop and I'm wondering are they really special sizes or would any nuts and bolts the same size will work.

[Anonymous]

There is a good used, blasted and powder coated one for sale in the forsale section. It's for a face lift but that is fine for a preface lift car

[StuC]

  s:shock: :shock: s:shock:    s:crazyeyes: :crazyeyes: s:crazyeyes:    s:shock: :shock: s:shock:    s:crazyeyes: :crazyeyes: s:crazyeyes:    s:shock: :shock: s:shock:  

It is a wonder how the car went in a straight line.

[spit]

..... found out that the inner nuts and bolts for all arms, outer ball joints for arm 2 and cat gaskets are £69, in two minds whether I should order them as there are hundreds of nuts and bolts in the workshop and I'm wondering are they really special sizes or would any nuts and bolts the same size will work.

The inner no2 bolts are profiled to work the cams, so you'll need to use the genuine article for those. You'd be lucky to find a generic match for the others too.

£69 is significant though. Think I've already suggested this - if you have the time, assess what you can re-use. Cleaned up, the old stuff works fine. You just need to be sure it comes off OK.

[gaffer1986]

..... found out that the inner nuts and bolts for all arms, outer ball joints for arm 2 and cat gaskets are £69, in two minds whether I should order them as there are hundreds of nuts and bolts in the workshop and I'm wondering are they really special sizes or would any nuts and bolts the same size will work.

The inner no2 bolts are profiled to work the cams, so you'll need to use the genuine article for those. You'd be lucky to find a generic match for the others too.

£69 is significant though. Think I've already suggested this - if you have the time, assess what you can re-use. Cleaned up, the old stuff works fine. You just need to be sure it comes off OK.

Thank you, I intend to have a proper look sometime this weekend, also want to check the pre-cats. I've already seen the inner bolts and they definitely need replacement. I will just have to buy them I think.

[bluesmoke]

They sell the ball joints separately for the rearmost arms? Didn't realise they came off.

[Anonymous]

Don't believe they do?

[Wabbitkilla]

Never seen them taken off and Toyota don't list them separately.

[bluesmoke]

Obviously misunderstood what the ball joints mentioned in gaffer's post were for.

[gaffer1986]

I thought they were the ball joints that appear to be permanently attached to the lower arm closest to the rear of the car. My crossmember was finally delivered today after nearly 2 weeks wait. Paul (mechanic) has had a good look and says I don't need to buy new bolts, he will take a laser cutter to the crossmember near the inner bolts and press the bolts out and he can use the original ball joint. I'm surprised the ball joint still works, it all looks so rusty.

[gaffer1986]

The ball joint definitely looks fixed to me.

[blueleaf04]

Fellas, for us less mechanically minded, could you explain where to look and how to inspect a cross-member on the car? These pictures of corroded ones are great (and worrying) but perhaps someone has a wider picture of the underside of an MR2 they could just draw an arrow on so we know what we're looking for?

Ta!

[MartinC]

Best place to start is opening the engine cover, and look down past the exhaust manifold.  The 6 inch or so wide piece of metal that runs left to right at the bottom is the cross member.  

The black bar running left to right in the picture below.
 This photo was taken looking down through the engine bay.

[blueleaf04]

Legend. Thanks