Welp, guess I'm getting what I wanted.

[alkalinetaupehat]

Bought a rather fun car and made a thread about it.

Fast-forward to two weeks ago, and the alternator seizes while driving home. Oh boy. Got the car parked and convinced the lot owner not to tow it, and fixed it the following Wednesday before a test.

Of course, this was not to be the last of my woes. I knew the Supra had a thing for coolant, but I was having trouble tracing the leak. Come to find out the top of the radiator has opened up and just as I'm rolling home, poof goes the coolant in the engine. Steam billowing out of my hood, I immediately throw the car into neutral and kill the motor, then park.

Once the steam clears, I open the hood to observe the aftermath. Splatter from the front fan indicates a leak in the front, and later on filling the rad with water and squeezing the lower radiator hose reveals the leak. I limp the car back onto post and park it, where it currently awaits repairs.

Local auto parts stores being the sad places they are, no one has a radiator in stock and the best time/price is $180/10 days. Advance Auto has a radiator+rad cap for $120 shipped to my door in four days. Win, and while I was at it I picked up some spark plugs and wires, and some new wiper blades. I figure that with this done I can get the oil and ATF changed out later and then work on the scheduled maintenance. Looking forward to installing all this next Friday after class and start driving again though!


Purchase thread:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2187844

 

[SuperSix]

Make sure to check and replace any dodgy vacuum lines - many overlook that. I don't know if I would change the trans fluid in such a high mileage vehicle. If it hasn't been regularly changed, it could lead to trans failure.

Don't forget to check Rockauto.com for parts, that rad is 89.99 on there, and it rarely takes more than 3 days for parts to get to you.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Make sure to check and replace any dodgy vacuum lines - many overlook that. I don't know if I would change the trans fluid in such a high mileage vehicle. If it hasn't been regularly changed, it could lead to trans failure.

Don't forget to check Rockauto.com for parts, that rad is 89.99 on there, and it rarely takes more than 3 days for parts to get to you.

Brother had a $500 beater with 160k miles on it. Trans started not going into gear or slipping out of gear when at a stop. Fluid in the trans looked original and as muddy black/brown as could be. Flushed the whole thing (yes, a flush), fresh fluid, new filter, and it has shifted perfectly ever since. This was a 95 Ford Taurus BTW.

I also know of other higher mileage vehicles that have had late fluid changes (two of my cars hadn't had changes before I got them) and none have ever died due to a fresh fluid change. I think the whole "don't change the fluid on a HM car" is total bunk. If changing the fluid "causes" the trans to die then your trans was shot already.

 

[Doppel]

I think the whole "don't change the fluid on a HM car" is total bunk. If changing the fluid "causes" the trans to die then your trans was shot already.

Half the internet is porn. The other half are probably threads about to flush or not an old auto tranny. I'm sure some experts have opined on it, but I don't know what their conclusions were. A forced flushing moving gunk around being bad does make some intuitive sense as being bad but simply changing the fluid can't be a bad thing.

 

[AMCRambler]

Half the internet is porn. The other half are probably threads about to flush or not an old auto tranny. I'm sure some experts have opined on it, but I don't know what their conclusions were. A forced flushing moving gunk around being bad does make some intuitive sense as being bad but simply changing the fluid can't be a bad thing.

There's a funny to be made here about porn and trannies, but I got nothing.

 

[ayabe]

Half the internet is porn. The other half are probably threads about to flush or not an old auto tranny. I'm sure some experts have opined on it, but I don't know what their conclusions were. A forced flushing moving gunk around being bad does make some intuitive sense as being bad but simply changing the fluid can't be a bad thing.

Got it, so flushing your gunk out of your used tranny is a bad.

 

[alkalinetaupehat]

The idle is so smooth that I really don't think that there's a vacuum leak, but I'll take a look while I'm under the hood this weekend. Additionally, I was having an issue similar to what SparkyJJO mentioned and changing out the fluid and filter fixed the shifting immediately. I'll be following the factory service schedule once the radiator/plugs/fluids are caught up.

In the meantime, I'm getting the feeling that the battery will need replacing after all. It took a lot to start the car today...