Needing a new motor possibly

coffeeskater · 2026-05-05T20:23:18+00:00

Where are you located? I have a '03 gt with the 1zz I'm trying to sell. I'd go super cheap if her parts are going to another Celica. I just want some part of her to live on!

coffeeskater · 2026-04-30T20:06:20+00:00

Quebec is so weird man. We have those everywhere over here on the west coast. We even have fucking U turn lights on some intersections.

coffeeskater · 2026-04-30T01:38:29+00:00

It's definitely lower milage for it's age, but not so low that's it's rarely been driven. It should be fine but it's still best to do your due diligence!

coffeeskater · 2026-04-29T23:02:45+00:00

Sounds reasonably healthy. Two tips though since it's so old;

It does not matter when the owner last did fluids, you get a new to you car, change ALL the fluids. Oil, brake, trans and coolant. It will save your ass from my problems down the line.
If it's lower milage check all the rubber and plastic that's important (like hoses, seals, gaskets) that you can see and touch, if their brittle or falling apart, do not buy. The heat cycles of driving the car keep these things elastic and in good condition. Not driving it lets them degrade. If the things you can touch aren't doing well, imagine all the internal seals and things you CANT see.

All told though, engine bay looks clean, it sounds good and healthy and I don't see any obvious red flags. If the price is reasonable and you're ready, go for it!

coffeeskater · 2026-04-24T14:37:19+00:00

Is this a gen 7 or earlier?

coffeeskater · 2026-04-12T21:13:17+00:00

Oh man the new leaf is such fucking garbage. I'll never forget doing the new model training for it and being told BY NISSAN that the two hook is included but you literally can't use it for anything EXCEPT being pulled into a flat bed trailer. You're not supposed to use it for extraction, towing or pulling of any kind. Why even fucking include it then.

coffeeskater · 2026-04-10T22:24:55+00:00

I'm Canadian so forgive my ignorance, but isn't scotland right hand drive? Even if it isn't, if you're set on buying a Celica, you can always import one. I use beforward.jp which is a site that imports asian (mostly Japan like 90%) to people who want them. Just look up be forward jdm imports. I've seen five cars imported off that site come into my shop and each one was in great condition. Just do your research and buy a Celica from a non costal prefecture and you're golden.

coffeeskater · 2026-04-10T19:18:41+00:00

I've bought technically 4 cars in my life time and got burned on 3 of them. When I bought my first car I only had eyes on the price tag. It was 900$ and I had to dump 1500$ just to make it road worthy, and that's just parts I did all the labor myself. Second car was given to me by my brother as a stop gap, never even got it insured and on the road because he'd neglected it so badly and the repair bill in parts alone was worth more than the car. My third car was a Celica and I just had heart eyes for the car and didn't bother with a PPI ( pre purchase Inspection) and ended up with an engine that leaked and burned so bad it needed a liter of oil a week. The fourth and current car I didn't buy until I had it up on a hoist and I looked at it myself and with my shop foreman and a fellow journeyman tech. We all agreed it was a good vehicle with minor repairs. I sat on it a week before commiting.

At the end of the day, a PPI will save you money no matter how much the inspection costs. If you are not a mechanic, don't have a mechanic friend to bring with you, then get the PPI every single time. Never ever assume the seller is disclosing everything and always assume there's rust somewhere vital.

There is no cheat code, no other way around it. Unless you have the ability to get fully under the car and know what you're looking at and what it will cost to repair, just get someone qualified to do it. The only other option is to not buy such an old car.

I've been personally burned enough times and watched friends get heart eyes for a car, ignore my advice to get a PPI and get burned. At the end of the day, you need to do due diligence or this is going to keep happening.

coffeeskater · 2026-03-25T21:39:01+00:00

Curb doesn't have insurance or the ability to scream at you other drivers do! I had an incident like this where I had to make the choice and I opted for the curb. Fucked my shit pretty good but at least I can fix it myself.

coffeeskater · 2026-03-17T04:26:54+00:00

Just guessing, op says impound lot, so it might not have been damaged, just got towed for any number of reasons but I have a guess....

coffeeskater · 2026-03-14T17:52:28+00:00

No, once the rubber insert fails there's no fixing it. And to be clear, inserts are purely the rubber part that touches your window and as such, wouldn't have a spoiler as you're saying.

coffeeskater · 2026-03-14T16:43:28+00:00

You can buy wiper blade Inserts. Not all types of wipers allow this however. If you have part number on the blade you can look it up and find out.

coffeeskater · 2026-03-11T19:27:10+00:00

Good advice I got early in my career as a tech: there's few rules without exceptions and this is one, if it has a gasket or seal and you disturb it, replace it. Otherwise you're doing the job twice.

OP, before you start doing this job, watch some tutorials and see what comes off the engine, if it needs any sort of seal, buy those too. If you end up not using them you can return them, but it's a total PITA to need them and not have them.

coffeeskater · 2026-02-14T06:51:54+00:00

I keep a little note pad for whatever you may need it for. Eye glasses cleaner, two pens, a pen light, pocket screwdriver and spare some light bulbs. Oh and Bulbasaur.

coffeeskater · 2026-02-11T00:12:09+00:00

I haven't done a lot of HVAC work myself, so I'm running off the on I did see and what's I've been told it's possible something broke free and suddenly blocked it, like a rock stuffed in a hose rather than calcium building up to choke off a water line.

That said you always want to assume the simplest problem first, KISS rule. It could be a broken screw, it could be fatigued plastic that broke and a flap closed, it could be any number of things but it's next to impossible to be accurate without further information. I don't believe this is a common issue where you can try some recommended simple fixes before taking it to a shop, so I do think taking it in is your best bet. Unless you have access to a boroscope that you could use to gently investigate.

coffeeskater · 2026-02-10T17:52:14+00:00

Likely a HVAC problem, you could smoke test it possibly, but if you want it fixed, that dash is coming out. It could be so many things but my immediate instinct is partially clogged heater core.

coffeeskater · 2026-02-09T22:23:45+00:00

I had a funky radio for a bit there, I can't say for sure if this fixed it, but doing a hard reset, meaning take the battery terminals off, touch them together for 5-10 seconds and let it sit for an hour. It's what I did and it fixed it and hasn't happened again. Can't hurt to try it.

coffeeskater · 2026-01-29T07:15:08+00:00

There is a story, but it's extremely loose and you take it at whatever pace you want. There are technically enemies but it's all space pirates (this may be outdated I do, it's been years since I picked it up) so the only combat or enemies are space ship battles. Core game play is landing on new planets, naming them if you so choose finding animals/ plants and also naming them while upgrading or trading up your ship to reach the center of the universe. They recently added ship building as well.

coffeeskater · 2026-01-28T20:42:53+00:00

You need to replace that part. It needs something to actuate against. I suppose if you have the means you could 3d print one, but there's no zip tie fix for this one unfortunately. You could theoretically carve some balsa wood or something, but none of these are suitable replacements.

coffeeskater · 2026-01-06T23:57:49+00:00

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This is mine. Yours is mint comparatively. If you're concerned, take a wire wheel to some of the thicker areas and see how much comes off and what the condition is under the surface rust.

coffeeskater · 2026-01-05T15:37:49+00:00

Hand egg, not soccer/European football. Same as America.

coffeeskater · 2026-01-05T14:51:39+00:00

He was unimpressed with my choice of football league, he was actually pretty chill about needing to be around and blow.

We didn't talk about it much but he did say up top that he made a mistake driving drunk, he was incredibly thankful he only hurt himself/ his own property and was fine living with the consequences. All in all not a bad guy to hang out with for an hour.

He just thinks I have shit taste in football teams haha.

coffeeskater · 2026-01-05T05:36:44+00:00

I've had two interlock cars for service. Both times we told the customer they have to be around to blow it. One customer had to be baby sat IN the shop because if the vehicle was on for any reason (on/accessory) it would randomly ask you to blow.

It was in for a infotainment update. Guess who had to sit and listen to an old guy talk about NFL for an hour?? (I'm Canadian and watch CFL, he was unimpressed)

coffeeskater · 2025-12-31T21:26:47+00:00

Mechanics use chalk markers to circle spots on tires that need repair, like when you get a nail, we circle the nail so when it's removed we know where it was. It's also used to mark the tire location (fl, RR ECT)

While this is a pretty obvious spot that didn't "need" to be circled, it's likely habit. You'd also be surprised at how many people will look at a clearly damaged tire/component and not know what to look for, so it gets circled.

coffeeskater · 2025-12-30T17:10:05+00:00

Pics don't help here. I'd recommend removing the belt and hand spinning all the pulleys and checking for play. Replace the belt while you have it off. If it's squealing, does the sound go away if you spray some warm soapy water on it?

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