dandan

thanks doug, i thought the s.wheel was another query! bit now i'm more happy. car is definately very good condition wise andrew so hopefully it'll prove to be a good choice. Cheers for that nathan about the bleed valve, i guessed it wouldn't be having the effect he thought it would, and you've confirmed it for me. Could two as opposed to one be causing any damage? he's not sure about the cats, i'll find out when i have a look

the turbo timer and hks boost controller are still in the car but the boost controller is not connected. He uses the bleed valves instead. The turbo timer is still used and also he SAYS he has his aftermarker rev limiter and shiftlight set to 5000rpm. Looked at about 4-5now in varying states but this is by far the best except for the queries over turbos and boost etc. It has trd bonnet and wing, jap sideskirts and 18" wheels. Looks wise it is exactly what i'm after. Can someone tell me, should a 96 facelift car have a 3 or 4 spoke s.wheel. This one has 4 spokes, i thought the newer cars had 3 spokes?!?

thanks guys, i've got a feeling that a combination of high boost and also fitting a bleed valve on EACH turbo is what led to the failure. He'd have had no way of telling the boost characteristics of each turbo separately with only one boost gauge. One might have been making more boost than the other perhaps and just wrecked itself. what do you think ??

thanks adam, when he first said about the turbos i thought...oh here we go! but i'll definately keep an eye on the boost gauge! thanks mate

and this one....

Hi everyone, Coud you please have a look at the following two pics for me and tell me if anything is not standard for a 1996 facelift engine bay??? I know the BOV is obviously not standard (can anyone identify it?). Thanks everyone

Hi people, I've got a bit of news on the jap spec facelift i may be buying, which many of you gave me loads of advice on in the following threads http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9378 and http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9359 1) I found out today the turbo timer is still fitted and used, and the hks elec boost controller is there too but is disconnected. apparently the owner wasn't keen on the electronic aspect of the controller so he fitted 2!! bleed valves. 2) He's not sure if the cats are still on the car but it did pass the MOT today (i know this really means nothing), i'll have to check for the cats when i get there 3) New turbos!! oh dear you all say! Two new turbos were fitted one month ago after the existing ones were diagnosed as producing "the whine" These turbos are apparently brand new standard units from turbo technics which have a warranty and he has the receipt for. 4) He's not sure if there's a fuel cut fitted, i think my asking was the first time he's heard of such a thing. 5) There is a boost gauge fitted and also some sort of shift light which "runs from a small box near the turbo timer". He's had the car for nearly 3 years and assures me the condition and reliability will not dissapoint me. He seems to think it's close to 400bhp but it's never been on the rollers. I was thinking more like 360 ish?? What do you all think about the car now???

OK guys thanks for all the help, i have one more question (at the moment!!!) for you all: Assuming this car is immaculate, no body damage, everything else looks good, cats are in place, no fuel cut installed and the owners turns out to be a genuine sort of chap (if a little misguided!)... ISrunning 1.0bar via the bleed valve something that's not too detrimental to reliability in the long run? I realise noone can put a finite figure on the exact lifespan of the turbos at varying boost levels, but in your opinions is 1.0bar an acceptable boost pressure to be running at?

thanks simon, steve and adi, and thanks to everyone else as well for your help so far. has anyone got a rough idea what sort of power/torque should be produced at 1.0bar of boost with a super drager and cats still in place

ok that sounds easy enough. just for completeness my dad's been having a chat to this bloke (so he could give me his opinion on him) and he seems to think he is a very genuine helpful chap. Apparently he does some part time racing (regular) rwd high power stuff and is not an idiot car wise!?! still doesn't mean he hasn't been fed a load of spiel by his local tuners who perhaps felt they may be out of their league trying to set up ebc and turbo timer...who knows

thanks steve, whereabouts on there should i be looking for signs of fuel cut override, anyideas? also is it fairly easy to lift the trim/carpet, and remove cover to have a look - i don't really want him thinking i don't know what i'm doing and am trying to destroy his car!!

can anybody tell me what the stock jap boost is? i have searched and can't find anything (well i did a while ago, but can't remember where!)

is the ecu on the underside of the dash in the footwell, or is it vertical on one side? can anyone describe to me where to look for signs of spliced wires in case a fuel cut has been removed? i'm sure i read somewhere about a "free fuel cut" which was basically a quick and easy bodge. anyone know anything about this? glad i posted something about this now, the feedback is great. In a way i'm feeling more confident but also more apprehensive about the car!!

i never thought about the fuel cut, what would that limit the boost to, assuming there has been no overide of the fuel cutting. What boost does the fuel cut come in and what is the standard boost pressure on a jap car? Are the bosst pressures that are talked about, at the turbo exits or at the plenum- there must be a pressure drop across the intercooler, throttle etc Can anyone advice me where to look to see if a fuel cut defencer or something similar has been installed?

thanks guys, i realise the cars are pretty sturdy and built to take plenty of stick, but as steve said it's when things go well outside toyota's intentions, things aren't so clear cut. surely if he's running high boost via the bleed valve, cats in and normal unleaded he obviously not a particularly knowledgeable chap as far as supras go. no idea about oil changes though, I didn't ask. Am i right in thinking the cambelt should have been done?-1996 car? what he has told me is that originally it was serviced at toyota, then whaen their top mech left, he took it to a specialist to have it serviced. That place is called something like Alan Jeffries Tuning in plymouth. Apparently the mechanic there was originally quite well up in Turbo Technics and the owner seems to speak fairly highly of him. The owner is very honest and forthcoming about mods etc, so it could be that he is ok but just been told some rubbish about car tuning and taken that as gospel. I've spoke to CW about looking over the car but I'd have to get it to Shropshire, don't think the owner will be too keen on that. I'll have to get a price of CW to come to the car...if he can

thanks ashley, I think i'll go with the attitude that he car is no good and not have my heart set on it. Then the car and the owner will have to convince me otherwise. Only one problem the car is really nice looking so this might not be quite so easy. In some ways if the bloke doesn't know what he's talking about it might not be all bad. That's surely better than some scammer trying to pull a fast one with a sh@gged out car, that he knows is knackered. Really my only worry (and i think this is the only problem) is the owner running excessive boost and boost spikes due to the bleed valve. Hopefully the ECU would ward off any detonation and then it's on to other thing like worn out turbos etc etc

I get the feeling this bloke selling the car knows very little about it. He's said stuff about tuning routes and engine builds which don't add up. When I asked him about bits that were on the car he said something like "you know, the hks and blitz stuff, that sort of stuff" . It wasn't till I kept prying he said a turbo timer "electronic boost thingy" and i think an intake. This are the bits he took off as "they don't do the engine any good" and then he said he fitted a pair! of bleed valves! To me this sounds ludicrous and I'm not sure what to make of it. That's why I'm after someone knowledgeable to inspect or help me look over the car. In the advert it says "big bore exhaust", surely a supra enthusiast who knew their stuff wouldn't write that! sounds a bit XR3i style to me!! What do you think guys???

I'm not sure why he's done what he's done. He actually said to me that the car HAD a turbo timer, intake and electronic boost controller but he took it all off cuz "the engine wasn't up to it". He said for all that sort of stuff you need a built engine!! He said he fitted the bleed valve as it's safer and more reliable. I'd have said exactly the opposite. It may be 1) He doesn't know what he's talking about 2) He knows exactly what he's talking about, and took the bits off for the sale I'm really trying towork out what sort of state the engine could/should/might be in after this mixture of mods. Do you think it's better in this situation if the cats have always been in place or better if they're not present. Seems to be + and - to both trains of thought.

just read your last post, thanks, that's pretty similar to my line of thinking. Am i right in thinking the ECU will retard the timing before any damage by detonation is done?

Cheers Steve they're brilliant mate, just what I was after. Does that last pic show both cats- they're smaller than I thought for a 3 litre. Any opinions as far as the rest of the stuff about the car goes? I can give you some more info on the car if you like, and/or think you can help me out at all. The car is in E. Devon so there is noone knowledgeable nearby to have a look at the car with me. Thanks again Steve

Hi all, I'm off to look at a prospective purchase in the week, a £15k Mk4 Facelift. (52,000 miles and in real good condition) I've got a post on it in the General Discussion area if anyone fancies a look. "Supra Knowledge Required ...Please" What I'm after is a photo or at least some sort of picture of where exactly the 2 CATS are. This may sound daft but I've never looked in any detail at the mechanicals before as I've never owned one. I do know what a CAT looks like (so please don't think Im a total halfwit!?!) but I was wondering, would a decat pipe be blatently obvious to spot or is it hidden behind heatshields, undertrays and such like? The owner tells me he only ever runs up to 1.0bar (via a bleed valve) and runs on normal unleaded! I'm not convinced he knows exactly what he's talking about as I thought the Jap cars run 14psi stock (ie he's only increasing boost by 0.7psi, via the bleed valve). He says the CATS are in place and is running a different exhaust. I think it is running a Super Drager. Could the boost be increased significantly above 1.0bar via the bleed valve with the CATS in place? I'm alittle worried about reliability and engine damage if this is the case....or should the knock sensor tell the ECU to retard the timing to safe limits? Anyone got any sort of opinion on this? Thanks in advance for any advice, hugely appreciated....