Hiya

I'm the new owner a 4 Cyl TR Auto (195000 on the clock) tt's in good condition....

A few things that i'll like to find out more about -

1. The previous owner had lost the service history (admitted after i bought the car)...so essentially i have no idea how long stuff has been in there. So i brought it in for a tuneup, and the mechanic said nothing really needs changing (he just did the oil and filter, and changed 2 wheels). Would there be anything that the mechanic would not have checked in the tuneup, that I would need to check myself (considering that I don't have the service history), and is there anything I should renew just to be on the safe side - timing belt, etc etc? I'm thinking of perhaps switching out the sparkplugs and leads (standard NGK and Eagle Leads at the moment), although the mechanic said they are fine.

2. I just changed the front brake pads (slotted in some bendix advance), and it stops great! The only thing is that if i let go of the brake pedal FAST, theres a soft "clunk"...anything to be concerned there? The sound doesn't appear when I let go of the brakes gently.

3. Fuel economy - i got 260k out of a tank (the E light is now on)...GRR! you gotta be kidding me! Ill be checking the ECU soon to see if there's anything up....any other suggestions u guys have on this issue?

4. CV joints - clicking with a full wheel lock. The mechanic says to ignore it till it gets louder. I'm guessing i'm setting myself up for a major repair soon?

lastly...do you guys think the car can last me 4 years ( to the end of uni), driving a standard 20k / yr, or do you reckon it may be wiser to avoid getting too attached to it for the moment? :D

Cheers
Sing

it'll last if you keep it serviced/maintained.
260k's?
Make sure PWR mode is OFF, make sure O/D is ON.

yes PWR is off, but i only switch on O/D when going above 60 - 70.

Also get the timing CHAIN checked, when I got my old TR the chain had been tightened as tight as it would go, so it was quiet when I got it but soon started to rattle like a mofo, also get piston rings checked and the coil plug, thats all i had to fix on my TR in a whole year. Also check that radiator cooling fans are functional or youll blow a hose every few monthis like I did.

Also id recommend getting a 2nd opinion on the CV's.

Very nice cars to drive, the 2.6 is OK once its up to cruising speed.

260Klms from a tank is shocking, although the 2.6 chews more fuel than the 3.0 V6, used to get 350-maybe 400 in my 2.6 with a busted tranny that wouldnt engage 4th so doing 100km/h in 3rd :D get it checked out and even if you love the car if theres dramas get rid of it, wasted about 5-6000 $$$ in 12 months fixing things...ill never see that cash again...

My TR has treated me well... only mishap was the ECU going on me, but that's no biggy.

Brakes wise, the only problem I've found is if I'm coming from 100k's down to 40/50, there'll be a knock back in the engine, but I don't think that's anything to be concerned about.

My TR has an annoying clicking sound when I turn her over in the morning... I usually give her a bit of time to warm up and it's all good for a while... but it does come back whilst in transit, so I'm not sure how to resolve that.

I'm glad your fuel light is working, I have no idea when my tank is near empty! ;)
Economy wise, however, I'm looking at about 400k/s to the tank (51L, usually granny footing it unless I'm behind some diqhed on the motorway...) O/D off unless hitting 60/70, A/T I rarely touch.

And that's even with a slow leak on the rear left tyre! :)

Also get the bushes on the alternator checked. Only takes a minute, and will save alot of hassle. Only cost me $50 for a bosch voltage regulator with bushes from autobarn and its just a straight swap over and youre good for a long time.

My fuel light never worked, had to guess how much was left, so consider yourself lucky, you must have got a "luxury model" :bowrofl:

OK... ill have to

1. get the timing CHAIN checked

2.get piston rings checked and the coil plug

3. get bushes on the alternator checked

Do i just go up to the mechanic and ask him to check these out? Or can I do a few of them myself?

mind you my only mechanical background is in bicycles and and a hayne's manual :D (well i did the brakes OK so thats a start...)

yes PWR is off, but i only switch on O/D when going above 60 - 70.
Get a compression test done to it as well, that caused some issues with fuel economy for my car.

Sigh...

This morning the radiator overflow bottle suddenly starting gurgling and boiled away the coolant.

On top of that there's a squeaking sound coming from the wheels during driving - and it's not the brakes(which I changed)...Bearings maybe?

Not to mention the horrible petrol consumption (260Kms off 50 liters)...could signal more repairs due in soon.

Grumble...with the CV joints going soon as well, I'm half tempted to sell the car off and get smthing else...what do you guys think?

A bit sad though...i've already invested about $500 in repairs and stuff on the car....

How much did you pay for it?

OK... ill have to

1. get the timing CHAIN checked

2.get piston rings checked and the coil plug

3. get bushes on the alternator checked

Do i just go up to the mechanic and ask him to check these out? Or can I do a few of them myself?

mind you my only mechanical background is in bicycles and and a hayne's manual :D (well i did the brakes OK so thats a start...)

if your cars blowing smoke it'd be stem seals

Id say sell it man. I wasted far too much cash on my TR, and that money is forever gone.

Even if you dont get the car you love, get something perhaps older in better condition, I also reccommend if you can, to take any car you are thinking of getting to NRMA (or whatsever your state has) and theyll do a full inspection, costs $129???? from memory, and they let you know whats wrong and what will go wrong soon so you can avoid getting a lemon.

I was stubborn and wanted MY car, so I kept repairing it, and it kept breaking and I kept paying for repairs. Now looking back I should have taken NRMA's advice and gotten rid of it.

$4k from dealer, w rego n warranty...spent $500 on top of it...

$4k from dealer, w rego n warranty...spent $500 on top of it...
Ouch! Is it still under warranty? These things should be fixed by the dealer if it is.

yes it's still under warranty...just that the warranty only covers the REAL basic stuff that hardly ever breaks down...not even CV joints are covered. I've only had the car for over a month.

It was supposed to have a RWC, but when I took it to the mechanic, he told me 2 tyres were totally worn out and had to be replaced. Also needed a steering realignment. Throw in a full service and it cost $400.

Added another $50 to swap out the cheap brake pads, and another $50 on hayne's and voila, $500.

LOoks like the radiator is gonna cost as well. Sigh...

Id take it somewhere, get it inspected, get a report of everything that needs doing, take it back to Car Yard and give them 2 options 1. Refund(unlikely)/Exhange Car(worth a try) OR 2. Fix everything

$4000 for a TR 2.6 - Only in a caryard lol

Also helps if you take your Mum or Dad (or both) in with you, cos then they will take more notice than some punk kid.

Thats what I would do if I could go back in time to when I first got my TR. See youve already forked out $4500, what happens if you go to sell it now $2500 private sale? $1000 trade in? Bad Decision if you keep it man, It'll hurt your pocket big time.

Also, is the warranty with the car yard or a 3rd party? cos 3rd party warranties arent worth the paper theyre printed on.

just got a call from the mechanic...looks like thermostat is gone..will cost another $200 (labour inclusive)

Dude i'd do EXACTLY what gas_hed has told you to do 2 posts up. This stuff should be covered by warranty. Otherwise whats the point of getting warranty?
Also looks like they did a dodgy RWC, tell them you'll report them if they dont fix it, they can lose their license for it.

that hurts buddy, now basically you got 3 decisions to make after this

1 drive it until hell break loose, if it goes dont bother fixing it
(my dads 2.6 tn was a bit like this - every panel is damaged, stuffed trans for over 2 yrs, and mangaged to sell it 450 a couple yrs ago)

2 sell it

3 keep fixing it

personally i'll go for 1, as you wont get anything much over 1 k if its a tr 2.6, just save your $$$ cut your losses, and when the day comes let it go, sometimes cars go on and on for ages carrying little probs.

it was a 3rd party insurance.

well...the RWC doesn't exactly cover things like thermostats? or CV joints? :\

The car was a gift from my mum, so it isn't too bad on the wallet (in terms of initial cost)....having to spend another $700 on it is tho...

What do your parents think about this? Have you told them? If not, I suggest you do quick smart.

DO NOT PAY FOR ANY REPAIRS TO THE CAR if there is "warranty" they may use the fact that another mechanic has tinkered with it as a way to wriggle out of paying for it

You may have to pay the inspection or whatever, thats fine, cant avoid that. Get the report, and do as I said, I'd hate to see you fall into the trap I did.

The main thing that is gonna affect this is you said you had the car for a month now, didnt you notice any of these issues when you got it, or have they just came to a head?

well if your mum paid for it, even better, tell her she got ripped off.....if shes anything like my mum then I'd hate to be on the other end of the phone...

....hell hath no fury like a woman scorned ....amen to that !

it was a 3rd party insurance.

well...the RWC doesn't exactly cover things like thermostats? or CV joints? :\

The car was a gift from my mum, so it isn't too bad on the wallet (in terms of initial cost)....having to spend another $700 on it is tho...
RWC covers brakes and tyres, do you have 3rd party warranty or 3rd party insurance? 2 VERY different things.
I'm sorry to say mate but if you were paying that much for a TR, i'd expect it to be in top condition, looks like you may got a little burned on that one. Oh well learn from the mistake.

The main thing that is gonna affect this is you said you had the car for a month now, didnt you notice any of these issues when you got it, or have they just came to a head?

well it drove OK when we tested it out... its only in the last week that the radiator problems started happening.

The fuel problem wasn't apparent until i drove it for some time....and at that time we didn't know anything about "ticking sounds" and CV joints. just thought they were "old car sounds". THEN I found this forums....and learnt of the horrible things that go wrong!

a lot of the money is going in labour costs i reckon...about $300 so far.

and it is 3rd party warranty...ie got some other company to do the warranty. Like you said, it isn't really worth nuts. Covers the REAL basic things that rarely break down...like the master cylinders...given the limitations of the warranty, im wondering whether I should just do my own maintenance to save some $$$ and risk voided the lousy warranty anyways....

meh i was just thinking about it....

5000ks more and its 200kms service time! Oh no! Thats another lot of $$$ isnt it?

Sell it NOW.....

Get what you can for it, cause yeah, its just gonna eat a HUGE hole through your pocket like Magna_Evolutions Car (just sold it thank god)
Look around for a V6 2nd Gne, Or a 3rd gen, depending on money....

There will just be more and problems man once its started

meh i was just thinking about it....

5000ks more and its 200kms service time! Oh no! Thats another lot of $$$ isnt it?
timinng chain = $500 mark to fix (something like this yeah?)

meh i was just thinking about it....

5000ks more and its 200kms service time! Oh no! Thats another lot of $$$ isnt it?
Haha tell your mum she got ripped hard.

']timinng chain = $500 mark to fix (something like this yeah?)

is timing chain replacement at 200 000 a must?

Ah, dude... $5k for a TR? :/

Enough said. :( I picked up my TR for 2850, and even then needed it's stem seals and engine mounts done... but that was no biggy.

Sorry to hear about all your problems... hope you work out what to do with it soon.

And that's even with a slow leak on the rear left tyre! :)
I just have to say OMG i have that at this moment too :rant:.

Id take it somewhere, get it inspected, get a report of everything that needs doing, take it back to Car Yard and give them 2 options 1. Refund(unlikely)/Exhange Car(worth a try) OR 2. Fix everything
.

where would i do the inspection in melbourne? How about the RACV comprehnsive inspection? Do they cover internal engine bits like the brushes and rings?

Ok i'm trying to reason with myself here...

so far the only problems with the car are...

1. tyres were worn. changed them.happens anyway.

2. thermostat broke down, changed it. happens once in a blue moon. can't say much about that.

3. the CV joints are clicking and need to be fixed. But all FWD's have that problem sooner or later right?

I can take it in for a full inspection w RACV, then try to get the dealer to fix some stuff....the car should run OK for 4 years, if I keep it well...no need to fork out another 4k for a replacement....

Or am i just kidding myself?:rofleek: :rofleek: :rofleek: :rofleek: :rofleek:

yeah i kinda agree with you, but also think about what will you do when soemthing else say over $500 is broekn, will you fix it? or sell it?

hiya wlecome to the club.
now that clunk sound when brakeing hard might be a engine or trans mount so check all of them, theres 4, 1 per side(drivers side, passenger side)and 1 front and back.
as for chewing to much fuel it could be alot of things, like the o2 sensor in ur exhaust could be stuffed making the computer run the car to lean, air and fuel filter might need changing.
magnas seems to respone to general matainence really well ,like spark plugs, rotor button, dizzy cap, auto tranny oil-filter-o-ring. oh make sure uve got a good charge in ur battery cos ive found that the old girls seem to like a lot of current or it can start to play up on ya. and last but not least check ur cooling system cos if u dont use good coolant/anti-rust or ur cooling system could get rust flakes starting to clog it. but with all that said when i buy a car with history or not i replace all the fluids ,like tranny oil, engine oil, brake fluid, the cooling system (and while ur doing that take out the radiator out and flush with a garden hose) powersteering fluid. just if u do that your not taking a rsk by taking someones word for it and also you know 100% that it will be fine. rather then just doing what looks like it needs it then problems pop up down the road.
so the way i look at it is a prevention is better than a cure. good luck with ur ride.

oh ps if ur cv's are making ANY nosie then there already stuffed. that why uve got to check em regulary (just looking at them) cos if the rubber boot around the cv's is split or cracked then all the grease will spew out and dry out the joint slowy that when u hear the clicking once its already done. so it sounds like ur mech knows they need to be changed and has advised u on just driving it till u cant put out up with the sound anymore. when they do get changed make sure u insist on new ones not recond ones. and do the whole side at a time ( the whole shaft new not just a new outter cv) hope iv been some help.

yeah i kinda agree with you, but also think about what will you do when soemthing else say over $500 is broekn, will you fix it? or sell it?

i guess...but don't you have to make that decision with any car (esp. 2nd hand ones)?

to keep or not to keep...*ponderponderponder*:doubt: :doubt: :doubt: