Exhaust cricket noise is possibly a cracked flexi joint, if it gets loud then then a new cat will fix it, not too expensive. Good luck with the engine, it might just need to blow out the cobwebs a bit.
Does the handbrake work? ;)
@james_ly Thank you, I will keep an eye on it. Handbrake kinda works, although you have make sure it's pulled to its limit, otherwise car will start to roll backwards slighlty, tested in Peak District :D
Plan for tomorrow's service:
- engine flush - I know it might reveal something I don't really want to see but at the same time I want to know real condition of the engine
- engine oil - Fuchs Titan Race Pro S 5W-30 Ester Fully Synthetic Engine Oil
- compression test
- gearbox oil - Redline MT90 75W90
- brake fluid - Ferodo DOT5.1
- oil filter
- air filter
- fuel filter
- spark plugs
- new PCV valve installation
- brake system inspection
- cooling system inspection
- general body condition inspection
I hope I will be able to drive the car back tomorrow evening :)
Thanks,
Phil
Some top spec oil there.
Brake fluid 5.1 ?
I have just posted an item on adjusting the handbrake in our 'How To' section. You may find it useful.
Just a quick update; the car seems to be working fine after the service (but done only 60 miles since then). I will post a detailed description tomorrow, I will just leave these pictures here for now, in some way this MR-2 was quite neglected :-\ :
(https://i.imgur.com/Qu67paA.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZaT2NCx.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/mkiEWn8.jpg)
Thanks,
Phil
Good luck with the car. Although mine had a good service history you'd never guess it from the state of the consumables when I serviced it.
Rings were gummed up on mine. Replaced the engine finally
All right, time to summarize yesterday's service:
Things done to the car:
- engine flush
- engine oil change
- gearbox oil change
- brake and clutch fluid change
- new spark plugs
- new PCV valve
- compression test
- general inspection (mainly brake system)
We didn't manage to get fuel and air filters changed - new air filter didn't fit (it was way too wide, luckily the one that came with the car is in a decent shape), no problems with fuel filter but we simply ran out of the daylight.
ENGINE FLUSHNothing to report here, it didn't reveal anything irregular (so far I guess?).
OIL CHANGENo problems here either, although the old oil was simply disgusting (nothing in it though)and there was a bit of brown residue near the engine oil fill hole. See the picture:
(https://i.imgur.com/TKaiWFW.jpg)
HD PICTURE (https://i.imgur.com/SzQ49iB.jpg)
GEARBOX OIL CHANGENo problems, apart from a fluid transfer pump breaking down, so we spent extra time fiddling with a funnel etc. There were few little metal flakes in the old oil.
BRAKE AND CLUTCH FLUID CHANGEAgain no problems here. The fluid from the clutch was a bit "dirty" but it wasn't terrible. Same goes for the brake fluid.
NEW SPARK PLUGSNo problems getting them out or back in, they looked fine to me although there was a fair bit of "ash-like" residue on them? See the picture:
(https://i.imgur.com/vOKEDUn.jpg)
HD PICTURE (https://i.imgur.com/QKaflkb.jpg)
NEW PCV VALVEThis one is interesting, old one looked really tired and dirty, there was actual oil leaking from it as we were removing it, you can still see a bit of it on the picture:
(https://i.imgur.com/PxxCspz.jpg)
HD PICTURE (https://i.imgur.com/3ua8Fus.jpg)
After we fitted the new valve we let the car run for a while, on first start-up it idled a bit higher (around 500 rpms above the usual 1500 rpms, if I'm correct), after around 3 minutes there was a weird "popping" like sound (very similar to pop boat sound ;D )coming from the left side of the engine - on the next start-up it disappeared and everything went back to normal.
COMPRESSION TESTI don't know what to think about this one. These are the results starting with cylinder number 1 (the one closest to the timing chain or the right side of the car I guess?):
- C1:160 psi
- C2:175 psi
- C3:180 psi
- C4:185 psi
On the second run we got exactly the same results. Obviously the cylinder number 1 looks suspicious to me.
GENERAL INSPECTIONMain focus was on the braking system, in general everything looks ok:
- no leaks
- plenty of brake pads left
- disc are ok-ish, look overheated in few areas
- brake pipes are ok
- all of the seals are starting to crack slightly
- bleed nipple on the right front caliper needs to be changed
- we checked all the main bolts, cleaned them out of rust etc
- I have to keep an eye on the brakes for now, would be nice to refurbish all of them eventually
When it comes to a rust, I'll let the pictures do the talking - I think it's "not great, not terrible", it seems like the suspension elements are the ones that corroded the most. Then we have areas at the back of the side sills and braces of course. Nothing seems to have any excessive play though:
LEFT FRONT SUSPENSION(https://i.imgur.com/S0wnZ9o.jpg)
HD PICTURE (https://i.imgur.com/9jjClLI.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Xmj4M4M.jpg)
HD PICTURE (https://i.imgur.com/eJFE0f9.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/RVGs6sX.jpg)
HD PICTURE (https://i.imgur.com/DpXAzLc.jpg)
RIGHT FRONT SUSPENSION(https://i.imgur.com/140pWL7.jpg)
HD PICTURE (https://i.imgur.com/oCoQmV5.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/qyH6Y3Q.jpg)
HD PICTURE (https://i.imgur.com/5j21Ubu.jpg?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/v8L0ocq.jpg)
HD PICTURE (https://i.imgur.com/MOkvy97.jpg)
LEFT REAR SUSPENSION(https://i.imgur.com/DGVXcdi.jpg)
HD PICTURE (https://i.imgur.com/WzGGhFv.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/WVOABYN.jpg)
HD PICTURE (https://i.imgur.com/o2vwTCT.jpg)
RIGHT REAR SUSPENSION(https://i.imgur.com/svGiIUU.jpg)
HD PICTURE (https://i.imgur.com/BW2tqPd.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/9M1Mrn4.jpg)
HD PICTURE (https://i.imgur.com/BxfQgbx.jpg)
REAR SUBFRAME:(https://i.imgur.com/VrK1XTz.jpg)
HD PICTURE (https://i.imgur.com/8CeloLv.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/pyZZC5P.jpg)
HD PICTURE (https://i.imgur.com/SGBENCk.jpg)
RIGHT SILL:(https://i.imgur.com/2K0NcwV.jpg)
HD PICTURE (https://i.imgur.com/0I3Tcni.jpg)
LEFT SILL:(https://i.imgur.com/VpSRHU4.jpg)
HD PICTURE (https://i.imgur.com/Fyufoyo.jpg)
So far 60 miles done since the service, I'm going to check the oil level today after work to see if some of it went "missing". Then I'll do more driving during the weekend (to get it to something like 500 miles) and more checks afterwards. Also, have to sort out new tyres asap.
Many thanks to my "mx-engineinwrongplace friend" for helping me out with all of that! (or actually getting most of those things done!)
In general the car seems to operate more "smoothly", still have to check if it's smoking when accelerating hard.
Also, I'm going to post hi-resolutions copies of the pictures in the evening.
@Ardent Thanks, was thinking about DOT5.1 as I would like to take it for a spin on a track day at some point - but ended up with DOT4.1 for now - track day in this car seems like a rather distant thing ;D
@Carolyn Thank you for that, unfortunately we run out of time yesterday but I'll add this to my "to-do" list.
Regards,
Phil
So for now I did around 250-300 miles since the service. Yesterday I drove more aggressively - unfortunately the car is still smoking quite a bit when accelerating hard above 4k rpm - the smoke and the burnt oil smell seem to be appearing every time I floor my MR2 after driving calmly at certain speed. With each acceleration it smokes a little bit less and a little bit less until the smoke dissappears completely - but drive it for 10 minutes at 50 mph, floor it again - you get the smoke again. Driving in this manner gave me oil consumption of around 0,4-0,5l per 100 miles. Driving it without flooring it every now and then gives me around 0,1l-0,2l per 100 miles.
Also a check engine light came up yesterday - got 2 codes, P0150 and P0153 - both relate to O2 sensors to my understanding.
As mentioned earlier, I'm not a specialist when it comes to the engines but is seems to me that the oil must be accumulating somewhere? Does it make any sense to investigate this engine more or should I start looking for something else?
Much appreciated!
Phil
I'm afraid it sounds like an engine in need of a rebuild.