this is no celica i realize, but i think the idea lagos is getting at is to find some weak spots people have encountered with their 3sgtes and their swaps in general, so heres some of my ordeals since ive owned my car over the last year:
-key in the speed gear cracked. common problem, dont go streight to the dealer with part numbers for the whole assembly as i did... do a search on MR2OC and you will get the parts numbers list, only buy the 2 keys, they are like 2 and 4 dollars... the entire assembly is 300 bucks... it is very costly to be impatient. (cruise control will not work w/o speedgear)
- bolts fell out for alternator belt adjustment. i believe this is one of the differences between the celica and MR2 motors. the MR2 uses the positioning of the alternator to provide tension to the drive belt. there are 2 screws that hold and lock it in place, if they fall out, you will get an attrocious belt squeal and may even have trouble starting the car because it is low on amps. please correct/confirm if the Celica 3sgte uses the same system or if a regular belt tensioner is used.
- turbo bearings went, turbo wastegate actuator broke. not much you can do about a bad turbo. just check it often and catch it early.
- grinding second gear syncro. the MR2 transmission amplifies imperfections in the syncros because of how notchy it is. if you didnt rebuilt the transmission, i would suggest keeping the factory length shifter.
- Fidanza flywheel does not mesh well with the factory MR2 starter. this is a known (and stickied) problem over at the MR2OC boards. the factory denso starter tends to slip quite a bit with the fidanza flywheel, go here for more info:
http://www.mr2oc.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=270ill post more when i think of them.
OH AND DONT OVERTORQUE BOLTS!!! TORQUE TO SPEC. it aliviates ALOT of headaches down the road.
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