New Member Located in FL

[C.Jackson]

Hello everyone,

My name is Devin Shannon, I'm 21 and I just bought an 87' MR2. I love it so far, but this morning brought a few surprises. First off, on cold starts it smokes a bit, it seems to be valve seals probably. Also, the car idles at about 1400 RPMs, is this normal?
I hate to be pickey, but I just bought it as a daily driver and it needs to be reliable. Although what can you expect for a $1500 car, maybe invest some cash into it later down the road, but as things are going I just lost my job today!

I've loved these cars since I first saw them, they are cheap (Most of the time) and reliable. Two things that are not availible with sports cars.

Edit: Here are some pictures. The front and rear bumpers are dull, but the rest of the paint is actually in decent condition for 18 years old (if it's original), but it's scratched up pretty bad. The pictures make the car look 100% better than it does in real-life.





Devin

[C.Jackson]

Bump
I was just wondering if anyone could tell me what this car should idle at. And if it's idling high, what could possibly be causing it.

[Mister2.2]

Car looks good and it seems like you got a good deal. Not sure about the idle. As far as the paint goes maybe you could have it buffed out, some Back to Black would probably bring that bumper back to life as well. Welcome to the board.

[blazinmr2]

welcome to the board man.

[C.Jackson]

Back to Black? Never heard of it.
But I do plan on getting some black color match wax, which after some buffing and time should make it look 10 times better.
I went outside a couple of hours ago and let the car idle for a bit (Which I do everyday because I don't have a tag yet, waiting till tomorrow for that), anyway, when you first start it the idle goes up to about 2200 RPMs then gradually falls. Today after about 20-30 minutes of idling it finally came down to about 1200-1300 RPMs. I guess I can adjust the idle, but I'm curious why the previous owner never made an effort to do so.
Also, I have come to the conclusion that the smoke is in fact gas smoke. It is in no way shape or form oil smoke (I concluded this after smelling the exhaust for a while, and well you can tell by the smell and look), although it only does this for about 1-2 minutes on a cold start (Sometimes it doesn't even do it!).

She just got a major cleaning today (interior) and I plan on getting the motor tomorrow with some degreaser. This is an original southern car so it has no rust (Yes I've looked, even under the carpet in the rear)!

It's a very good car and it starts everytime without hesitation. All records were availible and it has a recent alternator and fuel pump, plus recent filters and fluids!
Very good running car for 193k miles!

I have some major plans for this car and all will keep the original motor

Devin

[mymr2turbo]

Back to Black is a product by Mothers that you can use on rubber/plastic. It works decent, not the best IMO, but gets the job done.

Have you given the car a tune-up (plugs, wires, etc), that could be it or the idle could be adjusted a little high. That would bug me also but hell the car has almost 200K on it and still running strong apparently!! It should do it's purpose very well and you can't beat it for the price. Just give the ext. a couple days of good buffing and it should turn out to be a 'beaut.

Steve

[C.Jackson]

Ok, I decided that painting the front and rear bumpers would be best. Eventually I will get a full paint job, but right now I'm kinda low on cash.
Does anyone know the name of this color or possibly the color code?
It's a dark grey color.
I guess the bottem color is just a generic silver?

Any reccomendations on the black trim? The paint is starting to chip off.

Devin

[Weasy2k]

CHeck your idle adjustment screw on teh throttle body, either that or your timing is off...OR you have a vacum leak somewhere.

and WEEEELLLCOME to the board

[Mister2.2]

I think the back to black works pretty good, the key to using it is to do it in a few layers.

[C.Jackson]

Ok, checked the idle adjustment screw and it didn't really help. So going by what Weasy said it's somewhere along the lines of the timing or either a vacum leak somewhere.
So whats an easy way of checking for vacum leaks?
And if that doesn't solve the problem I'll take it to a 'Yota dealership and get the timing checked. I might get the belt replaced if it needs it....

But on a lighter note I have decided that over the next 6-8 months I will start building up funds for a full build of the motor. I decided a long time ago that engine swaps were alot of work (Seen way too many SRT4 swapped Neons), so I decided that I'd just build this motor up to the fullest extent!
Well, I went thru CyberAuto.Com and saw a few things that I'd want to use in my build (Cams, valve train, ect.). I was wondering what the best build would be for a 4AG (Still learning the "lingo" so correct me at any time), and from what I gather I guess the motor is a blue top? because the imprinted "16 VALVE" on the motor is light blue in color.
And when I say build I want to go with higher compression forged pistons (No oversized, would prefer to not bore), new valve train, cams, headers to full exhaust, ect.. I'd also like to port and polish the head, not sure on if it's even possible to port and polish the intake manifold with the T-VIS system.
Anyway, I have a few things picked out so anyone can step in at this point, because I'm VERY new to MR2s and new to Toyotas too!

So any suggestions now will play a big role on which way my build goes....

Devin

[Weasy2k]

CHeck for leaks an easy way is to get some carb cleaner from your local autoparts place and lightly spray it around hoses to see if the revs go up....do not spray too much around electronics and do one area at a time because its highly flamable.

There is lots you can do for the 4age out there as well...i will be releasing cams to the market within the next 1-2mths

[C.Jackson]

I work too much. I'm going to dedicate this coming up weekend to the MR2, because I never get a chance to work on it. So I'll let everyone know whether it's a vacum leak or not. But for now I have a few questions....

What kind of pistons should I use? I want at least 10:? compression.
Does anyone sell aftermarket rods for the 4AGE?
With a build like this I'll probably need a stand-alone fuel and spark system right?
Any recommendations on the top end performance parts?

EDIT: I was bored earlier and I decided to 'chop a picture.



Devin

[Mike Lane]

Shannon, welcome to the board!

[Mike Lane]

If you have any questions or anything, feel free to ask We have a good group of knowledge here!

[C.Jackson]

Bump...

Need answers, I'm putting together a list so I can find out some exact amounts....

What kind of pistons should I use? I want at least 10:? compression.
Does anyone sell aftermarket rods for the 4AGE?
With a build like this I'll probably need a stand-alone fuel and spark system right?
Any recommendations on the top end performance parts?

I've also been throwing around the idea of a swap. Which I would want to spend about the same amount on and would probably be farther down the road than the build, but how hard are swaps and which is the best for an bad ass power to weight ratio?

Devin

[Weasy2k]

Hey,
My advice is to take this too the MKI forums copy and paste what you wrote above there....that way everyone can see this. I will answer some of your questions there..
take it easy

[C.Jackson]

Where are paint codes located? Or does anyone know what colors I have?

I need answers as soon as possible, because I'd like to check the paint codes before the sun goes down (About an hour). I'm going to get some paint and repaint from front and rear bumpers, maybe even my hood because it's scratched up a bit.

Devin

[Ncturnal]

Are the paint codes not listed on a plate in the door jamb?