1985 MR2 Burning Oil

fizbancor · 03-11-2009, 06:02 PM

Hi Everybody,
I have wanted a 1st gen MR2 for awhile now. I found one locally, a 85 with 184k in pretty decent cosmetic shape. Does not really seem to have much rust, all of running gear seems to be pretty good. Seems to run okay. Mechanic said steering/suspension/brakes/tires/body all seems okay.

The main problem I have noticed is just that it is burning oil. It burns under hard acceleration starting around 3-3.5k rpm on up. Can't tell if burns on the highway, as wasn't able to see. It did burn quite a bit when tested in first gear.

From looking on here, it appears this would be a broken piston ring or ring landing. Do the rings on these ever just wear out normally, or do they normally just break? Is the vehicle reasonably long-term driveable like this? Would driving it like this cause something major to fail? I know that alot of vehicles you can drive them with smoking and it won't get drastically worse quickly. I'd like to get at least 10,000 miles out of it before doing major work.

I am basically looking for a cheap and fun little around town, backroads and auto-x car. The guy is asking $1400. I offered $1200 which he accepted, whick I now believe is probably a mistake. We haven't finished the deal and I haven't paid yet. We will do that tomorrow morning. I would appreciate your feedback.

If I do go through with the purchase, what would be a reasonable price? I'm no looking to put over $2k into the car this year for a general budget.

Thanks, Ross

ebouwman · 03-11-2009, 07:05 PM

ya, the rings usually don't just go in these cars i don't think. Ask him if he'll get a compression test done. And how are you telling that it's burning oil? Is the cloud of black smoke actually big enough to see?

You see the real problem is that this car makes all it's power above 3.5 thousand rpm, as you probably noticed...

It could be the valve stem seals leaking also. And find out how much oil it's burning. I wouldn't want to drive that car 10,000 miles before doing anything to fix it, although i guess that all depends on how bad the problem actually is.

Pull the spark plugs to check if they're oily. And also check the oil and coolant for cross contamination, because the problem could be the head gasket. I wouldn't buy that car if you don't plan on getting that fixed soon, or at least properly diagnosed

fizbancor · 03-11-2009, 07:35 PM

Hi,
I guess I assume it is burning oil due to the quite a bit of blue smoke that is coming out of the exhaust. I had my friend accelerate in 1st while I watched. The oil did look okay. I didn't really check the coolant, I can take a look and see if it is oily. I'll see if I can take a look at the sparkplugs.

I guess it kind of depends on how he takes it that I'm having second thoughts on the deal. Maybe I'd be better off getting one on ebay. Though I gotten some good deals on vehicles and some really bad ones on ebay.

Ross

ebouwman · 03-11-2009, 07:37 PM

oh! ok i thought you were noticing the burning oil from the drivers seat

I was imagining a big billowing cloud of blue or black smoke

Ya if it's just a bit of blue smoke it probably isn't too bad, and as long as the oil consumption isn't bad it should be alright, haha

If you buy the car then try checking the compression, if thats ok, then it's probably the valve stem seals, not sure how often the valve stem seals go, but when i had my head off after 250,000 kilometers on the engine, the machine shop told me they were pretty well falling out.

And if there's no cross contamination then it most likely isn't your head gasket, otherwise it'd show.

fizbancor · 03-12-2009, 10:55 AM

Any other thoughts? Thanks, Ross

ebouwman · 03-12-2009, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fizbancor

Any other thoughts? Thanks, Ross

If it runs with no problems and there's not much rust then i think it's not a bad price. And you didn't mention about the fifth gear pop out, does it have it? If not then thats pretty good for an 85.

To bad nobody else here seems to want to give an opinion

328FTW · 03-13-2009, 05:23 PM

I'm always a a little cautious of smoke. Smoke can mean bad things, at the same time it can just mean that it smokes. Another thing is I have never had 5th gear popout syndrome on any of my cars, I have driven mr2s with it but none of mine have that problem. Then again most of them have corrolla boxes.

How thick is the smoke because if it is just wisps of it wouldn't worry about it too much. I've had it to the point of turning it off at rest so I didn't drown in smoke and everyone around me, still ran like a dream somehow.

fizbancor · 03-15-2009, 09:28 PM

Hi Guys,
I went ahead and bought the car. It does not have the 5th gear popout. The shifter moves a little when on/off accel, but not too bad. I'm not too worried when/if it goes out. The car is basically a backroads/auto-x/play car for me.

The smoke is pretty decent bit, but not huge. It doesn't smoke at all at idle or on startup. It isn't enough that I can see it out the rear when accelerating. The engine seems to run well despite that.

It pulls well, but doesn't really seem to accelerate quicker after 5000 rpm. How peaky is the hp curve? Then again, my other toy is a r6, so I'm pretty used to peaky engines.

The third gear synchro seems to be going out. Is the Redline MT-90 the recommended oil?

Thanks, Ross

jdchmiel · 03-16-2009, 02:59 PM

synchromesh

ebouwman · 03-16-2009, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdchmiel

synchromesh

?synchromesh?

muffinman · 03-16-2009, 03:29 PM

a lot of people seem to really like the MT-90. I have an 86 and i've never experienced the 5th gear pop-out so i don't think it's that common. GL

ebouwman · 03-16-2009, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by muffinman

a lot of people seem to really like the MT-90. I have an 86 and i've never experienced the 5th gear pop-out so i don't think it's that common. GL

In 86 they switched over to the c52 tranny vs the c50 in previous years. The c52 is stronger or something, and generally considered more reliable, and less likely to get the 5th gear pop out.

Not sure about how they actually modified the transmission though

muffinman · 03-16-2009, 03:47 PM

85-86 had the c-50 , i believe it wasn't till 87 that they switched to the c-52

ebouwman · 03-16-2009, 04:14 PM

oh* i must be mistaken, i was thinking, geez i thought muffinman would know that :P

jdchmiel · 03-16-2009, 06:08 PM

synchromesh instead of redline. Its cheap, and it makes the tranny shifct a whole lot better. Some people have better luck with a mix of synchromesh and regular gear oil.

tagtmeyerMR2 · 04-27-2009, 10:35 PM

anybody have a problem with second gear grinding if you shift too hard. dont know if its c-50 or c-52 because its had like two or three transmissions put in it with this same problem. i have an 85 but dont know how to tell the transmissions apart, if they all did the same thing maybe its a problem with the linkage

03-11-2009, 06:02 PM	#1 (permalink)
fizbancor No Skills Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	1985 MR2 Burning Oil Hi Everybody, I have wanted a 1st gen MR2 for awhile now. I found one locally, a 85 with 184k in pretty decent cosmetic shape. Does not really seem to have much rust, all of running gear seems to be pretty good. Seems to run okay. Mechanic said steering/suspension/brakes/tires/body all seems okay. The main problem I have noticed is just that it is burning oil. It burns under hard acceleration starting around 3-3.5k rpm on up. Can't tell if burns on the highway, as wasn't able to see. It did burn quite a bit when tested in first gear. From looking on here, it appears this would be a broken piston ring or ring landing. Do the rings on these ever just wear out normally, or do they normally just break? Is the vehicle reasonably long-term driveable like this? Would driving it like this cause something major to fail? I know that alot of vehicles you can drive them with smoking and it won't get drastically worse quickly. I'd like to get at least 10,000 miles out of it before doing major work. I am basically looking for a cheap and fun little around town, backroads and auto-x car. The guy is asking $1400. I offered $1200 which he accepted, whick I now believe is probably a mistake. We haven't finished the deal and I haven't paid yet. We will do that tomorrow morning. I would appreciate your feedback. If I do go through with the purchase, what would be a reasonable price? I'm no looking to put over $2k into the car this year for a general budget. Thanks, Ross

03-11-2009, 07:05 PM	#2 (permalink)
ebouwman Curve Hugger Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: BC, Canada Posts: 1,390 Thanks: 18 Thanked 48 Times in 48 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	ya, the rings usually don't just go in these cars i don't think. Ask him if he'll get a compression test done. And how are you telling that it's burning oil? Is the cloud of black smoke actually big enough to see? You see the real problem is that this car makes all it's power above 3.5 thousand rpm, as you probably noticed... It could be the valve stem seals leaking also. And find out how much oil it's burning. I wouldn't want to drive that car 10,000 miles before doing anything to fix it, although i guess that all depends on how bad the problem actually is. Pull the spark plugs to check if they're oily. And also check the oil and coolant for cross contamination, because the problem could be the head gasket. I wouldn't buy that car if you don't plan on getting that fixed soon, or at least properly diagnosed Last edited by ebouwman; 03-11-2009 at 07:13 PM.

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03-11-2009, 07:35 PM	#3 (permalink)
fizbancor No Skills Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	Hi, I guess I assume it is burning oil due to the quite a bit of blue smoke that is coming out of the exhaust. I had my friend accelerate in 1st while I watched. The oil did look okay. I didn't really check the coolant, I can take a look and see if it is oily. I'll see if I can take a look at the sparkplugs. I guess it kind of depends on how he takes it that I'm having second thoughts on the deal. Maybe I'd be better off getting one on ebay. Though I gotten some good deals on vehicles and some really bad ones on ebay. Ross

03-11-2009, 07:37 PM	#4 (permalink)
ebouwman Curve Hugger Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: BC, Canada Posts: 1,390 Thanks: 18 Thanked 48 Times in 48 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	oh! ok i thought you were noticing the burning oil from the drivers seat I was imagining a big billowing cloud of blue or black smoke Ya if it's just a bit of blue smoke it probably isn't too bad, and as long as the oil consumption isn't bad it should be alright, haha If you buy the car then try checking the compression, if thats ok, then it's probably the valve stem seals, not sure how often the valve stem seals go, but when i had my head off after 250,000 kilometers on the engine, the machine shop told me they were pretty well falling out. And if there's no cross contamination then it most likely isn't your head gasket, otherwise it'd show.

03-12-2009, 10:55 AM	#5 (permalink)
fizbancor No Skills Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	Any other thoughts? Thanks, Ross

03-13-2009, 05:23 PM	#7 (permalink)
328FTW 3vzfe tinkering Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: New Zealand Posts: 1,531 Thanks: 12 Thanked 99 Times in 83 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	I'm always a a little cautious of smoke. Smoke can mean bad things, at the same time it can just mean that it smokes. Another thing is I have never had 5th gear popout syndrome on any of my cars, I have driven mr2s with it but none of mine have that problem. Then again most of them have corrolla boxes. How thick is the smoke because if it is just wisps of it wouldn't worry about it too much. I've had it to the point of turning it off at rest so I didn't drown in smoke and everyone around me, still ran like a dream somehow.

03-15-2009, 09:28 PM	#8 (permalink)
fizbancor No Skills Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	Hi Guys, I went ahead and bought the car. It does not have the 5th gear popout. The shifter moves a little when on/off accel, but not too bad. I'm not too worried when/if it goes out. The car is basically a backroads/auto-x/play car for me. The smoke is pretty decent bit, but not huge. It doesn't smoke at all at idle or on startup. It isn't enough that I can see it out the rear when accelerating. The engine seems to run well despite that. It pulls well, but doesn't really seem to accelerate quicker after 5000 rpm. How peaky is the hp curve? Then again, my other toy is a r6, so I'm pretty used to peaky engines. The third gear synchro seems to be going out. Is the Redline MT-90 the recommended oil? Thanks, Ross

03-16-2009, 02:59 PM	#9 (permalink)
jdchmiel No Skills Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: raleigh nc Posts: 280 Thanks: 4 Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts iTrader Rating: (1/100% )	synchromesh

03-16-2009, 03:29 PM	#11 (permalink)
muffinman Brain Surgeon Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Ft. Lauderdale Posts: 1,797 Thanks: 24 Thanked 102 Times in 99 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (1/100% )	a lot of people seem to really like the MT-90. I have an 86 and i've never experienced the 5th gear pop-out so i don't think it's that common. GL

03-16-2009, 03:47 PM	#13 (permalink)
muffinman Brain Surgeon Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Ft. Lauderdale Posts: 1,797 Thanks: 24 Thanked 102 Times in 99 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (1/100% )	85-86 had the c-50 , i believe it wasn't till 87 that they switched to the c-52

03-16-2009, 04:14 PM	#14 (permalink)
ebouwman Curve Hugger Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: BC, Canada Posts: 1,390 Thanks: 18 Thanked 48 Times in 48 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	oh* i must be mistaken, i was thinking, geez i thought muffinman would know that :P

03-16-2009, 06:08 PM	#15 (permalink)
jdchmiel No Skills Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: raleigh nc Posts: 280 Thanks: 4 Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts iTrader Rating: (1/100% )	synchromesh instead of redline. Its cheap, and it makes the tranny shifct a whole lot better. Some people have better luck with a mix of synchromesh and regular gear oil.

04-27-2009, 10:35 PM	#16 (permalink)
tagtmeyerMR2 No Skills Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ft. wayne, IN Posts: 28 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	anybody have a problem with second gear grinding if you shift too hard. dont know if its c-50 or c-52 because its had like two or three transmissions put in it with this same problem. i have an 85 but dont know how to tell the transmissions apart, if they all did the same thing maybe its a problem with the linkage