Looking to buy an MKIII

[RawrXTC]

Hey, I'm new to this forum and just had a few questions. Just today i went to look at a 1989 turboed supra i saw on craigslist. Overall it was alright, but he said the electronic suspension doesn't work because the owner before put in aftermarket struts. I was just wondering if there was a way to fix that and is it really a big problem? Also the oil pressure gauge wasn't working, but i thought it's an old car probably doesn't work because of that, but i wanted a second opinion about it. Also he said the drain plug was messed up i'm assuming by messed up he meant the threads are gone causing it to leak, but worse case scenerio if the pan was stripped how hard and expensive would it be to replace the pan? After test driving it i noticed the radiator light was on, but the temp gauge was normal and he said there were no overheeating problems over the 6 months that he owned it. And the hood and trunk dampers don't work is there a good place where i can get them from? And anything specific i should pay extra attention to? Thanks

[btwilson86]

As for the suspension, the aftermarket struts are probably not TEMS compatible, as there are only a few that are. That would be why that probably doesn't work. To fix it, either get OEM struts from Toyota or there are some Tokico (I think) struts for around $110 a piece. Check out jscspeed.com for those.

Oil pressure gauge not working could be many things. The sending unit is on the exhaust side of the engine, below the manifold towards the front of the engine. The most simple thing to check is to make sure it's plugged in. There's a single wire with a rubber boot that should slide onto the oil pressure sending unit.

Radiator light might be on because many people forget to add coolant to the overflow bottle in addition to the radiator. The coolant level sensor is in the bottom of the overflow bottle, so if it's empty the light will turn on.

Only suggestion I can think of to find out about it is to see if the headgasket has been replaced, and if there's any paperwork to back it up.

[RawrXTC]

Thanks for answering helped a lot. I forgot one more thing. After driving it my friend said he heard a flutter sound from the turbo releasing the pressure. I'm not sure if the car had a BOV or not, but i remember hearing that a flutter sound usually meant a compression surge which is bad for your turbo. Any inputs on that?

And the AC is it suppose to run only on low and medium and not high? because when i pressed the high button the AC light went off and wont turn back on.

Thanks

[btwilson86]

Well, I don't personally own a turbocharged vehicle, but I am pretty sure that we'll need a better description of the sound. Also find out if there's an aftermarket BOV on it.