scarletstarlet

Ok, thanks Calum...I shall proceed then

Bought a feeler gauge at last, helpful tool! The block seems fine after all, I couldn't get a 0.05mm feeler under a straight edge, so I guess that's ok. However, I've now gone to clean up the head and take a look there. I've checked with a straight edge there and it's about 0.10mm between cylinders, so likely this will need to be ground down. Whilst cleaning though, I've noticed a pretty gaping flaw in the head which can't possibly be from the factory like this. If you see the attached photos, one without the gasket, one with the gasket over it so you can see how the gasket warped, and then a wide shot to see the whole head. Looks like some of the head melted in that top left coolant hole. This can't be a good thing, it looks horrendous. Or maybe this is ok? What do you reckon? Time to give in and admit defeat?

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1MWTK3j5A0TuP6X0ygyhdiz4ZT23ktLcs

https://drive.google.com/open?id=18dZzBJgnRFzC2BWgK7LHHUiM0K3at1YX

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1bEccsdihPlG3x3kVC71GJA6j-65u04Mr

Thanks Morgey, hope I get it the right way. 

I've cleaned up the block, see the pic below. Looks like between cylinder 2 and 3, where the 16th cm is on the ruler, it's lower there than anywhere else and so there's a gap. Does this mean the block is warped and I can't do anything about it? Or will the head gasket expand to fill that space? Also, does that look clean enough, or do I need to go further?

Thanks all for your comments and encouragement, I shall proceed then. Yes, it's a 2e. I'll take the old gasket to the shop so I definitely get the right one. Will update later with more...

Nice one, good that nothing's too bad, thanks for checking it out. I'll start giving it all a clean then. By grind, I meant I was going to do what this guy does:

I live on an island where the market is small,  there's not much choice, and the experiences I have had with garages here has not filled me with much confidence, hence going down the DIY route for a lot of this. Tell me this is a stupid idea?

Ok, I got down to the block at last. This was a serious lesson in bolt removal, quite a few techniques employed, thankfully no welding. So the head is off now and the block exposed, see the photos attached. You can see the coolant in the chambers clearly, lots of gunk all over the show, but what other things can I read from this? Need to put a straight edge on the block and if that's ok, I guess I can crack on with grinding down the surface of the head, clean everything up, new gasket, and put it all back together? What about the pistons, do they need to come off for anything? Can I grind with them in? What would you do now?

Thanks Calum. Had to chuckle at "ease of access". Will post the next stage soon

Managed to get the mofo exhaust manifold off at last, bought a specific 14mm wrench, used more penetrating oil and finally the bastard came off, including some skin from my arm. 

Now I've got to get the air intake manifold off but it looks very inaccessible. Is it worth removing the head with air intake on and removing when it''s out of the car? 

Well it's easier said than done to just take a look at the damage and then make your mind up. I'm about half way down to get the head off now but stumped at how to get the exhaust manifold and the intake manifold off. Broken one wrench on the exhaust manifold and rounded a bolt off on the intake. Been spraying penetrating oil like a mad man, but to no avail. Feeling a bit hopeless, any ideas?

It's true, and after watching a few more, it all looks doable, despite quite a challenge. I'll try to post progress on the job. Thanks all for the tips. It's a 2e carb by the way.

Well I could, I've just been watching horror story videos on youtube that say if the vehicle has overheated and was driven until it breaksdown, there are very high chances that many more problems have been caused, and consequently would be easier and cheaper to engine swap rather than bother to fix the engine. Not sure what the best course of action is to be honest

Not sure, how can I tell?

Hi all,

So the starlet I bought a few months ago has turned out to be more of a banger than I had expected. I hadn't realised the head gasket was leaking when I'd bought it, learning how these things work all the time, but now the signs were clear... the coolant in the overflow tank was boiling over! I made a few "fixes", which appeared to improve the situation somewhat, but perhaps I was imagining things. Well one night I lent the car to a friend who ignored the temperature gauge and pushed it into the red until it eventually broke down a kilometer from my house. After this happened I could barely start the engine, and now there is coolant in the oil where there wasn't before and there are plumes of white smoke bellowing out of the exhaust. All sure signs that the head gasket has had it in all ways. 

I don't want to go through the hassle of stripping the engine down, machining the block and head etc, as the labour will be well in excess of how much the car cost in the first place, and even then there may still be issues that can be solved. So my last thought on the matter before sending her off to the scrap yard is whether an engine swap is a good idea or not. She's a 1991 Starlet XL, I think that's an EP81(?). Other than replacing it like for like, is there another engine I could put in that would make it a better ride? Any thoughts?

Lent my Starlet EP81 to someone and they ended up blowing the radiator up. Not just the cap but the bit that the cap sits on completely blew off the top. I've managed to start her again once she cooled down and as far as I can tell she sounds alright.

For a bit of context: she was running hot for a while and leaking coolant. Always had to keep my eye on the temp gauge until I found the leak was coming from one of the hoses off the engine. Looks like some rust had built up so much on the bit where the tubing goes on that it wasn't sealing. She ran much cooler from that point and I could relax somewhat, though at times she still almost touched the red on the temp gauge. Also hadn't seen the fan working for while.

Guess I'll need a new radiator and fan but had a few questions:

- should I get a radiator from a scrap yard, or is this the sort of thing you should get brand new?

- if the latter, are there better aftermarket radiators to upgrade to than a standard Starlet radiator?

- what could have caused this in the first place? Anything else I should be checking before installing another radiator and having the same thing happen again?

Any tips greatly received.

Thanks nick, it was the original i believe. Probably don't have time or money to go overboard on upgrading, general plan at the moment is to get her working nice and smoothly again. Sort this exhaust leak, replace the water pump, replace the head gasket that's leaking oil, the spark plugs, oil change, wing mirror...and then see where we are. just wondering if this crack in the exhaust manifold is a good opportunity to swap the old one out for a new one, or should i try to patch it?

Worked it out eventually...the two are completely unconnected of course. I stuffed a rag in the exhaust pipe then tried the soapy water squirt on the exhaust manifold, and there a crack was obvious, with bubbles streaming out. I took the rag out and went back to spray the same crack in the manifold and it didn't show anything...so all hail the rag in the tail pipe, what a legend.

Guess it's just an exhaust manifold replacement. Should I get the same one, or is there something better that can be retrofitted?

Hi all, slowly getting my starlet up to basic operating level...couple of lingering problems remain, I wonder if they might be connected in some way.

I can still smell exhaust in the cabin. I've sprayed soapy water down the entire length of the exhaust apparatus, from the engine to the end pipe, no convincing bubbles. I say convincing as the apparatus is very hot and the liquid boils and evaporates on first contact. When sticking my head as close as possible too, I can't smell any exhaust. But whilst in the cabin, not immediately, but after driving for 5 minutes, I start to notice it and it's very unpleasant as you can imagine. I thought it might be that the car boot wasn't closed properly and that it was coming in through there and circulating in the cabin, but that doesn't appear to have been the problem after all, as the boot is definitely sealed now. Struggling to know what to test next. Could a dodgy exhaust end pipe somehow flow back into the car? If so, how?

The other issue is the bag of spanners noise, the coarse scraping sound which I've identified with a long screwdriver to be the water pump. I've noticed leaks of fresh coolant below it too. I'll get around to replacing that shortly, but wondered if there's any way the two issues could be related?

Any tips and advice much appreciated.

Thanks! The long screwdriver did the trick, it's the water pump. Also, I've noticed fresh coolant underneath the water pump, guess that's confirmation.

Hi all, there's a course whirring sound when my Starlet's running, which I think is either coming from the alternator or the water pump, somewhere around there attached to the fan belt at least. Is that likely to be the cause of the noise do you think? Any tips or insight into messing around in those areas?

Worked out where the exhaust fumes were coming in at last. The boot wouldn't shut and so they were coming in through there! A nice inexpensive quick fix!

Ah I thought it might be something like that. So no big deal if that's not fixed immediately...

Hi all, just bought a Starlet 1991, 1.0 5 door, in Spain where I live (no Spanish version of this forum as far as I'm aware!). Hoping to do the basics in the next week, but there are a few things I'm not sure about.

The air filter appears to have a two in-takes, one on top of the other, one that's a flat horn shape on top, and the other is a fat metal tube that runs down into what I think is the exhaust manifold. This fat tube appears to be broken. Looks like it had some sort of metal concertina thing on it to allow flex.

What is this? How do I fix it? And is it a big deal? See the pic below

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_IiaUYqD-ORWUdxc1JicEZrdE0

I haven't driven it much but on the maiden journey back from the seller's I thought I could smell exhaust in the cabin. Had to keep the windows open all the way home. Any ideas where this may be coming from?

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!