Servicing in Dorset - Chilli Girl / Fawtytoo

[carspath]

Hi ,

I am looking for someone reliable and experienced in servicing a Mk 3 MR2 .

I live near Dorchester in West Dorset , but am prepared to travel to get to an experienced MR2 mechanic .

I see that Chilli Girl ( Salisbury ) and Fawtytoo ( New Forest ) live close to me , and would be keen to know who you both use to service your cars .

And any other recommendations for good reliable MR2 technicians within say 100 miles of Dorchester would also be gratefully received .

Thank you all

Path

[Ardent]

Although nice to have.

A specialist is not required.
These are simple cars  if just uncommon.

Any competent mechanic should be able to do what is required.
Reliable, long established local garage.

Not unknown for owners to go to garages armed with info from here. To point in the right direction.

[Chilli Girl]

Hi @carspath - unfortunately I don't own one now but it won't help you sadly but I took mine to a family business guy in Somerset of all places so not local to you at all.  I know @fawtytoo has recently changed garages so hopefully he can give you some advice.  As @Ardent says, they are not difficult cars to work on and if you can find someone that you can trust and who won't rip you off, that'll be helpful.  Sorry I can't be of more help.

[Ardent]

Hi ,

I am looking for someone reliable and experienced in servicing a Mk 3 MR2 .

I live near Dorchester in West Dorset , but am prepared to travel to get to an experienced MR2 mechanic .

I see that Chilli Girl ( Salisbury ) and Fawtytoo ( New Forest ) live close to me , and would be keen to know who you both use to service your cars .

And any other recommendations for good reliable MR2 technicians within say 100 miles of Dorchester would also be gratefully received .

Thank you all

Path

Any particular work you looking to have done?

[carspath]

Hi Again .
 

Thank you Chili Girl and Ardent .

I,m hoping to get the following standard servicing done :

Oil and filter
Brake fluid
Coolant
Spark plugs

The car has a TOYOTA FSH , but I always talk to any mechanics prior to booking a car in for a service and the nearest Toyota dealership did not seem overly enthusiastic about servicing my 2006 car ... they barely seemed to know that a MR2 Mk 3 existed and that worried me .

I'd also like to '' tighten up '' the suspension ...... I don't know if I am asking too much of an MR2 here ..... so that the car is more stiff and rolls less .
It is for this reason that I wanted someone experienced in MR2s to drive my car    And assess it , in case I am asking too much of it and unfairly comparing it to much more hardcore cars

Thanks again and if anyone else ( and Ardent of course ) has any further advice I,m all ears

[J88TEO]

The 1st 4 items - a fairly competent mechanic can do that ( I do them myself as I was a mechanic until I gave up 20 years ago ).
Tightening up the suspension - depends on what you wants to do. To reduce rolling then you need stifer ARBs and maybe harder springs...

[fawtytoo]

I'm not having much luck. Both Martin Pilley Services in New Milton and Toyota in Christchurch refused to change the SMT fluid even after I told them how. Toyota actually believed it wasn't necessary.

The garage at Lymington Pier is better but refused to clean off some underseal to adjust the rear wheel alignment. That was completed by my local tyre centre instead.

There's still some more options in my local area yet.

But as @Ardent says, you don't need a specialist, just someone competent who's willing to carry out the work.

[fawtytoo]

It is for this reason that I wanted someone experienced in MR2s to drive my car    And assess it , in case I am asking too much of it and unfairly comparing it to much more hardcore cars

If you want to chat, we could meet up if you like. Somewhere half way?

[Ardent]

@carspath

I've never been a mechanic, but regularly do the oil, filter and sparkies. Done the brake fluid last year as well.
Very simple. A leisurely sat morning would see those three done.
Cannot comment on the coolant.

[Joesson]

@carspath

I've never been a mechanic, but regularly do the oil, filter and sparkies. Done the brake fluid last year as well.
Very simple. A leisurely sat morning would see those three done.
Cannot comment on the coolant.

Having had some experience of attending to the coolant in our vehicles I can comment :
In the first three years of ownership Mr T was entrusted with it's servicing. As an extra £94.99 (June 2012) to the routine service cost the coolant was changed
The service manager told me that changing the Roadster coolant was time consuming to achieve although that was a fixed price.
But, Mr T hadn't checked the condition of the radiator, the car was on SORN for the winter , in the Spring I found a leak! I lost One litre of fluid changing the rad.

I then lost  all of the coolant when the new radiator failed when out of Warranty,
I refilled  with low cost aftermarket long life coolant. A lot less costly than Mr T's.
A couple of years ago I drained the coolant again and drained and flushed very thoroughly with a hose. I measured what came out a couple of times to determine actual volume and then premixed the correct amount of  coolant and refilled.

The engine block has a drain tap, there are two drain points around 1/3 the length of the car from the front, they should be treated with care. I applied a small amount of copper grease / anti seize to the threads each time I have removed them.
 I also took both hoses off of the rad to drain and check direction of flow when flushing.

The front of the car should be lower than the rear, that is the rear should be raised. The slope of our drive suited well enough. The expansion bottle wants to be higher than the top of the rad.
Refilling is via the expansion bottle, slowly, with all drain points closed and hoses replaced, bleed screw at top of rad open and once a goodly amount is in the system start the engine.

NB.The rad you will have checked to be in good condition BEFORE you start. They typically start to break down in the rear left bottom corner.

As the Toyota guy said, and he wasn't wrong, it can take some time but is not a difficult process. Expect some wetness when draining and flushing!

[carspath]

Thanks everyone .

Fawtytoo I,ve sent you a pm re your v kind offer

Take care

Path