So I bought another Celica..., And copied Bitter's thread! Options

[richee3]

I just couldn't resist. It's regrettably not a 6th gen. It's a black 2000 GT-S, auto. And Jordan, I'm gonna need you to go ahead and change your sig... I assure you, my GT-S is slower. It can only go as fast as the truck pulling it. Time to bust out dad's camouflaged Silverado again! :embarrassed: However, this makes Celica #6 for me.

Here's the story. One of my friends saw me go through a few Celicas and slowly fell in love with them. He eventually picked this car up a few years ago. The only mod he has on it is a CAI, which I put on. Anyway, he bumped into a deer a few months back which dented the hood. (Deer hate Celicas. Fact. They loathe these cars.) So the deer gets pissed and Spartan kicks the giy's front bumper. No lie. Shoved his hoof right through the bumper. So the body isn't in great shape, but it's acceptable. Then he hit something else, I can't remember what, which ripped his fender liner off and exposed his cold air intake filter. Then in September, we had quite a bit of rain. He hit a puddle of water. Not too deep, but it splashed everywhere. The car sputtered and died. After a few minutes, he got it started again. Drove it to McDonald's and got a McChicken, car ran beautifully, came back outside, and the car wouldn't start.

This is where I come in. I've looked the car over for him, checked all the fuses and relays, did my research, and looked at the car some more. The oil is black and filthy. Not good looking oil at all, but there's not a drop of water in it. When we try to start the car, we get one loud pop from the starter and that's it. I did more research and found out Toyota starters are prone to dying when being covered in water... Just like I told him. Based on what I've seen from this car, the fact that there's no water in the oil, the starter is killed, and the 2ZZ would have a bent rod if he sucked water in the motor. I'm fairly certain he didn't hydrolock it. Just killed the motor with the water either from water on the plugs or the sudden temperature change, and killed the starter by splashing water on it. He drove it after going through the water and it ran fine, indicative of no bent rods. He told this story to a mechanic, who didn't even look at the car. He just told him that the motor is ruined.

Quinten told me he was going to scrap the car. I'm not going to let it happen that easily. I've seen the car, the mechanic hasn't. I got the car for a very good price, but I'm giving him extra to help him out. Down payment for a new car. If nothing else, we've got new wheels, seats, and steering wheel for the BEAMS. I really think I can get it running again for the price of rebuilding the starter though, and have myself a cheap car for work. No more driving the Lexus to work mine construction! What do you guys think? Is it screwed or do I have a reasonable shot?

I have pictures of the car, pre-collision, at my house. I'll post them later. Picking the car up tomorrow or Monday.

This post has been edited by richee3: Dec 31, 2011 - 3:50 PM

[kurt95gt]

Id rebuild the starter an see what happens

[richee3]

Id rebuild the starter an see what happens

Yeah, definitely. The starter rebuild is only $50 and I'm pretty certain it will put the car back on the road. I'm just curious if I'm missing some important factor. The starter is definitely dead, and he had the car running shortly after he splashed through the water. It seems to me that the car is fine, apart from the body. Black 7th gen Celica, I'll be able to find replacement parts in a junkyard pretty easily. It's no BEAMS or 1MZ swapped Celica, but it beats daily driving my IS 300.