Supra Opinions Wanted

MZDA5274 · 05-11-2009, 09:16 PM

Hey Guys,

I'm a new member obviously and was just looking for some info and opinions on how you guys would handle this.

So I see this MKIII Supra on the side of the road, no plates or anything. I call this guy up and it turns out he wants $500 give or take.

I go and look at this thing today and $500 seems a bit much for me, but then again I drive a chevy with a 350.

I pull in there and start to look around. It looks like it was in a little fender bender, NBD I'm not expecting much for $500. Then I start to really look.

No Frame rot, sounds good! The hood is popped so I look. This guy told me he starts this thing every day, YEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH Right. First off there's no coolant resevoir hooked up. The hose coming off the top of the radiator broke off and the resevoir is just hanging out there.

I start to check around the valve covers, yeah there's a leak in the corner for sure, it looks like some oil has piled up there. Then I notice the exhaust sagging, yep, it rotted out.

The engine looked good though, but I'm no supra expert which is why I'm here.

It's an 86 MKIII, automatic turbo V6. 86,000 on her. I'm thinking of offering this guy $300 for it.

What do you guys think?

mirage83 · 05-12-2009, 01:42 AM

$300 sounds about right for an initial offer, but I can't tell what kind of shape the interior is in from the photo's.

Check the drivers door-frame though, as I think that car is either an '87 or '88 since the turbo wasn't an option for '86's. It is it is possible that an owner did a GTE swap at some point in time, so I'd check to see what it started life as. The spoiler also indicates something after '86.

Check the oil, check the turbo for play. If all else fails $300 would work for a parts car if the interior is in decent shape.

shaggydude1111 · 05-12-2009, 01:49 AM

300- 500 totally fair even if it is only for parts. in fact i'll give you a hundred for that spoiler.

MZDA5274 · 05-12-2009, 02:27 AM

Thanks guys!

I'm gonna call him up and talk to him about what I saw tomorrow. I want to hear this sucker run.

Can you guys show me how the overflow container for the radiator is rigged up? Because the one there isn't connected but I think if I do connect it it would start up.

I did check the oil and it was dirty but full. I also checked under the car for any leaks or drops and there was nothing. I looked and it seemed like the transmission was a little wet with oil but who knows.

As for the interior, It looked good to me. The head liner was falling down and the radio was unhooked but that's no big deal. There's a sun roof as well. It's missing the window moldings for the rear windows so I don't know if that would result in leakage.

There's some ghetto audio gear in there as well, I'm thinking if I tell him to keep it he might drop the price. I don't have any use for subs or anything like that in a supra.

if indeed I do get this bad boy started what should I look for? I heard of the tell tale smoke from the exhaust pipe on start up.

What else should I look for? fluid leaks from under the hood? Any where specific? I should probably keep an eye on where I thought there was a valve cover leak.

Mirage - Thanks for the info!! if you can see in the picture the fan by the radiator says "87 Supra without turbo".

It's obviously a repaint, it looks like it was red in it's past life.

That dent would bondo up perfectly and the bumper could just get some rattle can.

any other opinions from anyone else?

If it runs I'm thinking of buying it and giving it some TLC that it needs. Supras are sentimental to me. Call me stupid but my pop had one, but too bad he wrecked and almost killed himself. I loved that car.

mirage83 · 05-12-2009, 12:06 PM

The overflow sits just in front of the radiator support frame and over by the radiator cap area. Should be some bolt locations over there iirc.

Did the oil look good? No sign of milkiness or other gross contamination on the dipstick?

Check your turbo for shaft play, radial and axial. If there's just a little radial play (side-to-side) you're okay. If you've got radial and axial (in-out shaft play) or just a lot of radial play it'll need to be rebuilt or replaced.

The valve cover gaskets tend to leak as you already found. Check the plug valley too, as the #3 gasket there can leak as well and leave oil in the plug wells. None of that is a really big deal.

That fan with the tag on it that says 87 without turbo is a n/a fan, not a turbo fan. (I know, duh), but if you're going to drive it you'll want to replace it with a fan (and fan clutch) off a turbo car. That one shouldn't have been there at all on a turbo engine.

When (if) you hear it run listen close for any signs of rod knock. If he's run it with low oil the bottom end could be bad. Drive it, make sure you take it up to 2k-3k rpms as sometimes they don't knock till you're in that rpm range.

If you've got white-ish smoke it's a sign of water in the cylinders. Bad news. Grey-ish is oil being burned, could be from bad turbo seals, bad valve seals, bad rings. Black would be from running rich.

IHateHacks · 05-12-2009, 12:16 PM

Stop hallucinating. You can start and drive a vehicle with no overflow bottle whatsoever.

In fact, you can start and idle a cold ambient temperature vehicle several minutes without a radiator before it starts to heat up.

MZDA5274 · 05-12-2009, 05:43 PM

I also noticed that the coil pack isn't bolted down and the two pipes around the "3000" aren't either.

What size nuts are these that go on the bolts?

MZDA5274 · 05-12-2009, 05:45 PM

I don't know what's up but I made a post earlier with some pictures..

What are those two lines there for? What are they supposed to be connected to? Are the tranny cooler lines?

It's in okay shape. HOpefully he takes my offer ($300 + camera)

Vacationtime247 · 05-12-2009, 07:54 PM

Buy a kit at the local auto parts store to check for a blown head gasket (BHG). You'll take a sample of the coolant and the kit will tell you if you have a BHG. Pretty common problem with the MKIII 7M-GTE's. $300 is a pretty good deal, even with the known problems. But be aware, if you do have to replace the head gasket, you'll likely spend double to triple what you spent on the car to just get it running well. Might even be a better option to purchase a used engine and install it. Fixing a 7M the right way involves decking the block and head. Otherwise you may have another BHG very soon. Not something you want as these cars are a pain to work on. Lots of hard to reach areas and pain the rear type of diagnostics for the electrical.
VT247

MZDA5274 · 05-13-2009, 01:40 AM

where is the oil cooler supposed to be? Is there even supposed to be one in there? Are those lines oil cooler lines?

05-11-2009, 09:16 PM	#1
MZDA5274 Stock Join Date: May 2009 Location: MA Posts: 16	Supra Opinions Wanted Hey Guys, I'm a new member obviously and was just looking for some info and opinions on how you guys would handle this. So I see this MKIII Supra on the side of the road, no plates or anything. I call this guy up and it turns out he wants $500 give or take. I go and look at this thing today and $500 seems a bit much for me, but then again I drive a chevy with a 350. I pull in there and start to look around. It looks like it was in a little fender bender, NBD I'm not expecting much for $500. Then I start to really look. No Frame rot, sounds good! The hood is popped so I look. This guy told me he starts this thing every day, YEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH Right. First off there's no coolant resevoir hooked up. The hose coming off the top of the radiator broke off and the resevoir is just hanging out there. I start to check around the valve covers, yeah there's a leak in the corner for sure, it looks like some oil has piled up there. Then I notice the exhaust sagging, yep, it rotted out. The engine looked good though, but I'm no supra expert which is why I'm here. It's an 86 MKIII, automatic turbo V6. 86,000 on her. I'm thinking of offering this guy $300 for it. What do you guys think?

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05-12-2009, 01:42 AM	#2
mirage83 12psi boost Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Georgia Posts: 359	$300 sounds about right for an initial offer, but I can't tell what kind of shape the interior is in from the photo's. Check the drivers door-frame though, as I think that car is either an '87 or '88 since the turbo wasn't an option for '86's. It is it is possible that an owner did a GTE swap at some point in time, so I'd check to see what it started life as. The spoiler also indicates something after '86. Check the oil, check the turbo for play. If all else fails $300 would work for a parts car if the interior is in decent shape.

05-12-2009, 01:49 AM	#3
shaggydude1111 Stock Join Date: May 2009 Location: watkins glen ny Posts: 4 Blog Entries: 2	agree 300- 500 totally fair even if it is only for parts. in fact i'll give you a hundred for that spoiler.

05-12-2009, 02:27 AM	#4
MZDA5274 Stock Join Date: May 2009 Location: MA Posts: 16	Thanks guys! I'm gonna call him up and talk to him about what I saw tomorrow. I want to hear this sucker run. Can you guys show me how the overflow container for the radiator is rigged up? Because the one there isn't connected but I think if I do connect it it would start up. I did check the oil and it was dirty but full. I also checked under the car for any leaks or drops and there was nothing. I looked and it seemed like the transmission was a little wet with oil but who knows. As for the interior, It looked good to me. The head liner was falling down and the radio was unhooked but that's no big deal. There's a sun roof as well. It's missing the window moldings for the rear windows so I don't know if that would result in leakage. There's some ghetto audio gear in there as well, I'm thinking if I tell him to keep it he might drop the price. I don't have any use for subs or anything like that in a supra. if indeed I do get this bad boy started what should I look for? I heard of the tell tale smoke from the exhaust pipe on start up. What else should I look for? fluid leaks from under the hood? Any where specific? I should probably keep an eye on where I thought there was a valve cover leak. Mirage - Thanks for the info!! if you can see in the picture the fan by the radiator says "87 Supra without turbo". It's obviously a repaint, it looks like it was red in it's past life. That dent would bondo up perfectly and the bumper could just get some rattle can. any other opinions from anyone else? If it runs I'm thinking of buying it and giving it some TLC that it needs. Supras are sentimental to me. Call me stupid but my pop had one, but too bad he wrecked and almost killed himself. I loved that car.

05-12-2009, 12:06 PM	#5
mirage83 12psi boost Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Georgia Posts: 359	The overflow sits just in front of the radiator support frame and over by the radiator cap area. Should be some bolt locations over there iirc. Did the oil look good? No sign of milkiness or other gross contamination on the dipstick? Check your turbo for shaft play, radial and axial. If there's just a little radial play (side-to-side) you're okay. If you've got radial and axial (in-out shaft play) or just a lot of radial play it'll need to be rebuilt or replaced. The valve cover gaskets tend to leak as you already found. Check the plug valley too, as the #3 gasket there can leak as well and leave oil in the plug wells. None of that is a really big deal. That fan with the tag on it that says 87 without turbo is a n/a fan, not a turbo fan. (I know, duh), but if you're going to drive it you'll want to replace it with a fan (and fan clutch) off a turbo car. That one shouldn't have been there at all on a turbo engine. When (if) you hear it run listen close for any signs of rod knock. If he's run it with low oil the bottom end could be bad. Drive it, make sure you take it up to 2k-3k rpms as sometimes they don't knock till you're in that rpm range. If you've got white-ish smoke it's a sign of water in the cylinders. Bad news. Grey-ish is oil being burned, could be from bad turbo seals, bad valve seals, bad rings. Black would be from running rich.

05-12-2009, 12:16 PM	#6
IHateHacks 20psi boost Join Date: May 2006 Location: New Haven/Hamden Posts: 793	Stop hallucinating. You can start and drive a vehicle with no overflow bottle whatsoever. In fact, you can start and idle a cold ambient temperature vehicle several minutes without a radiator before it starts to heat up.

05-12-2009, 05:43 PM	#7
MZDA5274 Stock Join Date: May 2009 Location: MA Posts: 16	I also noticed that the coil pack isn't bolted down and the two pipes around the "3000" aren't either. What size nuts are these that go on the bolts?

05-12-2009, 05:45 PM	#8
MZDA5274 Stock Join Date: May 2009 Location: MA Posts: 16	I don't know what's up but I made a post earlier with some pictures.. What are those two lines there for? What are they supposed to be connected to? Are the tranny cooler lines? It's in okay shape. HOpefully he takes my offer ($300 + camera)

05-12-2009, 07:54 PM	#9
Vacationtime247 3" Exhaust Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Muncie, IN Posts: 86	Buy a kit at the local auto parts store to check for a blown head gasket (BHG). You'll take a sample of the coolant and the kit will tell you if you have a BHG. Pretty common problem with the MKIII 7M-GTE's. $300 is a pretty good deal, even with the known problems. But be aware, if you do have to replace the head gasket, you'll likely spend double to triple what you spent on the car to just get it running well. Might even be a better option to purchase a used engine and install it. Fixing a 7M the right way involves decking the block and head. Otherwise you may have another BHG very soon. Not something you want as these cars are a pain to work on. Lots of hard to reach areas and pain the rear type of diagnostics for the electrical. VT247

05-13-2009, 01:40 AM	#10
MZDA5274 Stock Join Date: May 2009 Location: MA Posts: 16	where is the oil cooler supposed to be? Is there even supposed to be one in there? Are those lines oil cooler lines?