New to this and Newb Questions Options

[bradshaw75]

So I'm looking to get into this whole Celica Scene for a commuter vehicle and had a couple of questions.....

First I'm looking to buy a 1994 Toyota Celica St with 215k on the body and about 115k on the motor which I'm told is the 4A-Fe and stock 5 speed Tranny.

Now down to the business of everything Celica related, What kind of gas mileage should I be pulling? Also what would you think is a proper price? The body is in good shape and clear is faded but not too bad. And are there any problem areas I should be made aware of when I go to look at it like popular rust spots or weak parts?

Sorry for all these questions but I've always been a Camaro man and I know little to none about imports and 4 bangers. Thanks for any and all input no matter how small or simple. I need all the help I can get haha

[96stgreendemon]

that engine is smaller than mine and i get about 30 to 35 mpg

[bradshaw75]

Awesome, I figured it would be a good car to make the hour and a half drive back home for the weekends.

What do you think would be a reasonable price and are there any problem areas I should watch for? Working on V8's all my life have caused me to take no interest in smaller vehicles but with this drive the weekend warrior has to stay at home

[SwissFerdi]

First off, welcome. Second, you'll get all the help you need here.

That mileage isn't ridiculously high for a '94, but it's not low by any means. Your best bet is to go on kelleybluebook and see what that says.

Gas mileage will be very very good, especially with a manual. I do upper 20s in the city and mid 30s on the highway, and that's with an auto. Rust spots will in the door sills and behind and around the wheels.

That engine you name is NOT the stock USDM engine...you probably either have it confused with or meant to type 7A-FE, which is the stock ST engine for the US market.

[HaysoosKreesto]

Welcome to the site!

^What Swiss said. and to answer your other question, I believe somewhere in the range of $1500-2500 should be ok.

[bradshaw75]

I know it's not the stock engine, it was a swap but I haven't been to look at it for myself I'm just going off of what the owner told me. I won't actually be in town to check it out for another week so I was trying to get some information before hand. And thanks for the responses so far.

[bradshaw75]

Ok so I got a picture of the engine bay today and it looks like an 4A-FE



One more question though, what car could I use to find parts for this motor? Would it be best to just run the block codes and trace it to a car or were these all the same in the different applications?

[6gen91]

was it repainted cuz the inside of the bay is red n the outside looks white but I can't really tell

[SwissFerdi]

Nope, I am pretty sure that is a 7A-FE. I'm not seeing the 3S intake manifold, unless I'm mistaken.

Edit: Just popped my hood and took a look. That is a 7A-FE.

This post has been edited by SwissFerdi: Feb 5, 2010 - 3:50 PM

[96stgreendemon]

yup its a 7afe, i only paid 2300 for my car with 170000 miles on it, stick, and had clearcoat damage on the hood, it has come a long way lol

[nics]

4afe and 7afe looks the same. i found a pics of a 4afe, it has a label.

[SwissFerdi]

No, the 4A-FE has the 3S-GE intake manifold. You can see that the intake manifold is different in that pic you posted.

[nics]

i meant they're similar. i noticed that too and the label 4afe

[95CelicaST]

Swiss, the 4A and 7A are nearly identical, and if they used the intake manifold from the 7A you probably couldn't tell a difference. Look up posts by "blakout16" and look at his motor. He did a 4AFTE.

[DGAF]

Anyway. I have the 7A FE on my 97 Celi. And I have donesome calculations and found my car in the mid to upper 30's in fuel economy. Not the only reason that makes me love the car so much but this certainly helps.....



Ps. Welcome to the Forum

This post has been edited by DGAF: Feb 6, 2010 - 1:07 PM

[SwissFerdi]

Swiss, the 4A and 7A are nearly identical, and if they used the intake manifold from the 7A you probably couldn't tell a difference. Look up posts by "blakout16" and look at his motor. He did a 4AFTE.

I know, but why would the 4A-FE manifold not be swapped over as well? I guess maybe he just wanted the bare necessities, just the block and head. I don't know.

[GriffGirl]

Swiss, the 4A and 7A are nearly identical, and if they used the intake manifold from the 7A you probably couldn't tell a difference. Look up posts by "blakout16" and look at his motor. He did a 4AFTE.

I know, but why would the 4A-FE manifold not be swapped over as well? I guess maybe he just wanted the bare necessities, just the block and head. I don't know.

Because if whoever did the swap did so because, say, they threw a rod in the 7A, it'd be a LOT cheaper to get just the block and head than the whole deal. That's what happened with my car before I got it, the prev. owner blew out the clutch and threw a rod through the block (because it's a FASTFAST RACE CAR! lol) and had to have the motor replaced. I spoke with the mechanic who did the work so I could get more history on the FAST FAST RACE CAR! and he told me that ALL he replaced what the motor itself; the tranny, everything else was original.

What's really sad is the kid spent like $1200 on the whole thing. DO YOU KNOW WHAT I COULD'VE DONE WITH $1200!!!! lol

Anyway, back on topic. OP: Since you're coming from the wonderful world of pre-bailout 'murican Vee 8s, I will warn you ahead of time - this car will be slower than ass. I *think* the 4A-FE is even slightly LESS HP than a 7A-FE. Either way you'll be lucky to scrape by at 100HP.

On the UP side, you can reasonably expect to see an average of 30mpg, and a very low maintenance, rock solid engine platform. If the 4AFE is similar to the 7AFE regarding the valve seals, one thing to look for is just a slightly above-average oil consumption. Nothing major though, we're talking maybe add a quart between oil changes, airing on the side of it getting closer to be time to change it anyway.

As for what to pay for the car, I would reasonably expect to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $2000-$2500. Naturally that's going to vary some according to your location and the physical condition of the car, and the availability of any maintenance records and receipts. I'd especially want to see a receipt for the motor work/swap that was done.

[bradshaw75]

Yeah well I don't know anything about this kind of car and the motor is all new to me and they all look the same anyways. I guess I'll just run casting numbers and see what matches up haha.

I figured these cars would be slow as hell but thats kinda the point, this is going to be my commuter to get back and forth from home to school and I'll leave the speed to my 1986 Z28 Camaro That was my DD until I moved 2 hours away and it only gets about 13 mpg highway haha.