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

[richee3]

Lmao turn the lights back off next time you're going to take a pic of the 7th gen. It looked better that way

LOL!!! that's what I thought when I saw the pics too.

Hey! Be nice! Dead Celicas have feelings too!! Those original pictures I posted were taken last year at some point, when the car still looked as good at a 7th gen possibly can. Before any animal collisions. The guy just wanted some pictures so I turned on all the lights I could and handed him a camera and those are what he came up with. Now you see how the car looks today.

Seriously though, lights off.

Get the engine to turn over, check compression, if compression is good it should run. Might need to clean the VVT system filters out.

Yeah.... she's locked up tight as a drum. On the plus side, I got the starter to do more than just one loud click. Downside is I'm pretty sure either the starter or the flex plate just got some teeth ground off. Turning it over by hand didn't work either.

So I drained the oil to see if there was any water. It was all black and water free, fortunately. Downside is it's locked up for a different reason. I just can't figure out why right now. Although I'm sure this can't help...




Let's see here... Subtract 119,760 from 136,643.... Add 3,000 to it for the useful life of the oil... Yeah, it was definitely at 19,883 miles on this oil change. Whoops.

I had initially bought this car with every intention of getting rid of it at this point, knowing this motor cannot be turned over. However... I'm moving at the end of the month and I was intending to change job sites, but I'm now being bribed to stay where I am. If they can get me the money, I'll be driving 130 miles a day. 130 miles a day in the IS 300 isn't exactly my idea of fun, nor is it anyone's idea of cheap. Suddenly, this car is looking more tempting to me. I've gotten oddly good at removing S series engines, unfortunately. The 2ZZ looks more complicated to me but according to Smaay, is easier. I know he knows his stuff so what have I got to lose by trying? This car is screwed anyway. It won't hurt me to try pulling the motor out. I've already got the hoist in my garage, after all, not put away from the last BEAMS swap. I might pull the car into the garage tomorrow and tear into it.