mr2 turbos a nightmare to work on?

[benson]

Hi,

I've been a member on this forum for years as I used to own an n/a mr2, and having owned a FTO for the last four years the time has come to move on.

Whilst at the garage getting my FTO serviced I spoke to the chap about what to get next, with the main priority being something reliable and a bit quicker. I told him I'd always had my eye on a tubby to which he replied that this would be a major error as they're a nightmare to work on and some faults impossible to diagnose. He pointed to a mr2 in the corner and told me that it had been there for months as he couldnt figure out what was wrong with it.

now this guy is the most respected mechanic amongst the FTO and GTO community in the country and he knows his stuff about all jap cars; he suggested for reliable power go for a scooby or GTST. The scooby isnt an option and the GTST doesnt really appeal that much either.


I'd be interested to hear peoples unbiased opinions on this, especially any mechanics on here. I know mr2s are possibly more difficult to work on than front engined cars but are they really such a nightmare? If I bought a tubby I'd most likely take it to 3s rather than the FTO specialist but has anyone ever had the scenario where they have a broken tubby and no-one knows how to fix it as this is what would concern me most.

Cheers

[Marf]

Yes access can be a pain in the ar$e as it is pretty tight in the engine bay of a tubby, but in reality, the only two jobs which are more involved than on a "normal" car are the cambelt, and swapping the coolant out.

Servicing is a piece of p1$$.

Did this bloke say what the symptoms were on this MR2 he'd had for ages?

[cantfindausername]

I'd find another garage.

The only daunting thing about an MR2 is that the engine is in a different place.

I'm not a mechanic, yet I managed to remove, strip, rebuild and install my engine. Swap another MR2s engine, replace brakes, suspension, exhausts, bushes, interior parts, electircal items. Yes I have some mechanical knowledge, but its all been learnt by picking up a spanner.

Of those cars listed it is by far the most reliable I would say. Can't beat a Toyota for reliability.

[Dale_V]

He cant be that good of a mechanic

The mr2 isnt bad to work on imo, infact they are quite simple engines in reality, pretty much most problems have been covered on this forum several times over, so after time its easy to diagnose faults

[pez]

Surely if a mechanic can not diagnose a problem for months as you suggested, then he can not exactly be a good or experienced one.

You are doing the right thing asking around on this forum and i would definatly recommend tubbies.

[Dan88]

I would recommend them also. The MR2 Tubby was my first turbo car, and i knew absolutely nothing about them. But since being on here and doing a bit of reading you learn a lot.

I changed the headgasket on mine last month, something i have never even dared do on any car, and it was really quite simple with a bit of advice from hear, and 2 days later, i had a perfect running mr2 that i wouldnt change for anything at the moment!

[Blue_5]

Mechanics, even good ones, can make mistakes, over look simple stuff etc.

Case in point, at the TDI dyno day, my car was on the dyno and shutting off on boost.

The technicians were going over it talking about TVSV problems, management issues, piston rings etc.

I said it was probably the MBC hose kinking and it was overboosting.

Off the dyno, taken outside.

Popped the cover, yep, kinked hose.

Now thats a well respected, highly professional outfit, and even they can misdiagnose something simple.

[matt_mr2t]

To be quite blunt, your mechanic is talking out of his ar$e.

He probably has a tubby thats absolutely shagged and tbh, any car can go so badly wrong no one can figure out what it is.

I work in an office and have never had an ounce of mechanical training but have had no problems changing suspension, ARB bushes, exhaust, brake pads on mine. I've done jobs like electronic boost controller and other bits with no real problems.

I had to have a new clutch, the guy did spend all day doing that. It's a bit of a PITA to change it BUT you will have the exact same issue on any car with the similar sized engine and a transverse engine lay out.

The MR2 is no different really from a front engined front wheel drive car. It's just reversed so the engine is at the back end. The space confinement issues are exactly the same with the cambelt facing the inner wheel arch instead of the front (back) of the engine bay.

IMO, as long as you dont buy a dog you'll be fine. Mine has had very little issues in 5 years of ownership. Infact most of the things I've had to replace have been non Toyota modification items.

[Laney]

I'm a little amused at the suggestion that an MR2 isn't reliable but a scooby is.

[Steve Horrocks]

To be quite blunt, your mechanic is talking out of his ar$e.

He probably has a tubby thats absolutely shagged and tbh, any car can go so badly wrong no one can figure out what it is.

I work in an office and have never had an ounce of mechanical training but have had no problems changing suspension, ARB bushes, exhaust, brake pads on mine. I've done jobs like electronic boost controller and other bits with no real problems.

I had to have a new clutch, the guy did spend all day doing that. It's a bit of a PITA to change it BUT you will have the exact same issue on any car with the similar sized engine and a transverse engine lay out.

The MR2 is no different really from a front engined front wheel drive car. It's just reversed so the engine is at the back end. The space confinement issues are exactly the same with the cambelt facing the inner wheel arch instead of the front (back) of the engine bay.

IMO, as long as you dont buy a dog you'll be fine. Mine has had very little issues in 5 years of ownership. Infact most of the things I've had to replace have been non Toyota modification items.

+1

[Martin F]

Hi,

I've been a member on this forum for years as I used to own an n/a mr2, and having owned a FTO for the last four years the time has come to move on.

Whilst at the garage getting my FTO serviced I spoke to the chap about what to get next, with the main priority being something reliable and a bit quicker. I told him I'd always had my eye on a tubby to which he replied that this would be a major error as they're a nightmare to work on and some faults impossible to diagnose. He pointed to a mr2 in the corner and told me that it had been there for months as he couldn't figure out what was wrong with it.

now this guy is the most respected mechanic amongst the FTO and GTO community in the country and he knows his stuff about all jap cars; he suggested for reliable power go for a scooby or GTST. The scooby isnt an option and the GTST doesnt really appeal that much either.


I'd be interested to hear peoples unbiased opinions on this, especially any mechanics on here. I know mr2s are possibly more difficult to work on than front engined cars but are they really such a nightmare? If I bought a tubby I'd most likely take it to 3s rather than the FTO specialist but has anyone ever had the scenario where they have a broken tubby and no-one knows how to fix it as this is what would concern me most.

Cheers

that senerio could happen to any car, it's just one of those things...

i had a gte many years ago and vauxhall couldn't figure out what was wrong with it, on another occasion my mates bmw went through similar issues, he got charged a days labour for fault diagnoses which ended up being sold on with the problem

my last tubby run at 1.2 bar boost without issues for over 3 years, now that turned out as reliable as a brand new car, nothing else i can say

[benson]

that'll do for me then...now to sell the fto.

Like I said I've been on this forum for ages and owned/driven a fair few mr2s so I'm fairly familiar with them, but not owned a tubby. Does anyone know if 3s still offer their car inspection service?

[Martin F]

that'll do for me then...now to sell the fto.

Like I said I've been on this forum for ages and owned/driven a fair few mr2s so I'm fairly familiar with them, but not owned a tubby. Does anyone know if 3s still offer their car inspection service?

you could ask them, just be careful when you are looking for one because even though their are some very good ones their are some dogs out there too

try and get a rev3 onwards though as they are a little more modern

(runs and hides)

[thebody]

I'm a little amused at the suggestion that an MR2 isn't reliable but a scooby is.

+1

[matt_mr2t]

Or look at the gorgeous Zircon Blue Rev 2 in the for sale section

Oh and +1 with regard to the comment that a Scooby is more reliable than a Tubby lol. Forgot that in my initial post. That comment alone would make me lose all trust in the guy saying it.

I've heard a scooby is just about reliable when standard and is a minefield of issues if you start tinkering. (older ones any way)

[timmy2take]

Have to disagree with the classic Imprezas being unreliable. I've owned a few, and have found them out of any of my performance cars to be the most reliable.

As with all cars of that age there will be a lot of dogs (just look for chavved up imprezas on ebay)

If you were to go for an Impreza go for an STI v3 around £3-3.5k I don't think you can get a quicker & reliable better car for the money.

[Charged]

Have to disagree with the classic Imprezas being unreliable. I've owned a few, and have found them out of any of my performance cars to be the most reliable.

As with all cars of that age there will be a lot of dogs (just look for chavved up imprezas on ebay)

If you were to go for an Impreza go for an STI v3 around £3-3.5k I don't think you can get a quicker & reliable better car for the money.

And on the other hand, two of my close friends who have had scoobies have both had to pay out for engine rebuilds/replacement engines.. one guy did this twice and then suffered turbo failure a week later.

Back on topic.. the guy may be a sh*tsubishi expert but he doesn't sound like he knows MR2s very well.. there are a number of IMOC affiliated companies and individuals who could probably have his tubby up an running in minutes.

[dawolf]

I don't think they're that hard to work on. My garage never complained about any of the jobs they had to do, except for the clutch which was apparently quite tricky and took a while but they still only charged me about 4.5 hours labour for it. I think the main issue is that the engine can impede access to certain parts but shouldn't be a major problem.

[Charged]

And dont forget the same engine was in the Celica GT4 as well.. what does your mechanic think of GT4's?

[-:[KM]:-]

Has he tried changing the spark plugs on a Subaru...?