reliability

[Roachy1994]

Evening all,

Right i have had 3 starlets and i do miss them but the only thing putting me off that they are really unreliable or have i just had really bad luck so far? Thanks

[Liam_D]

Touch wood, I've had mine 4 years and not a single break down or major issue. Just gotta make sure you look after them properly and buy a good one that's not been abused.

[Roachy1994]

I have lost compression on 2 of them and the other one the manifold pulled the studs out of the head:(

[glanzatd04l220]

ive had mine 2 years and had no break downs and is used as a daily, running td04l 1 bar.

kevin

[Dale SR]

Their old cars now and any old car will need work and so many have just had the shit kicked out them and not looked after. An unabused example would be very reliable. Good luck in finding the right one buddy.

[Bussey]

I think mine was about 250bhp on standard internals? And I used to absoulutly beat it every weekend, and after about 5 months I bent a rod.

Either I had a bomb proof engine or I'm just really lucky, just my 2 pence

[TurboTobz]

Maintain them, check car over very well and buy a minter. They're better damn reliable for sure.

[GlanzaJim]

Myne was sweet but i done the gearbox in so sold it for £1000

[5e colin]

Evening all,

Right i have had 3 starlets and i do miss them but the only thing putting me off that they are really unreliable or have i just had really bad luck so far? Thanks

you got your facts wrong mate its 1 of the most reliable turbo hatches of its time !!!! i owed alt them there al worse r5gtt fiesta turbo escort turbo metro turbo punto turbo the starlet is strongest by far

[Roachy1994]

So basically the 3 ive bought was all scrap:/

[Darraghmh91]

I've never really has any bother with mine

gt is playin up a bit as the turbo went but thats about it man but cheap fix

maybe your just gettin the cheap ones that have had a lifetime of abuse and just folded when you got them

if they were unreliable they wouldnt be on the road 20+ years later

Edited December 13, 2014 by Darraghmh91

[Roachy1994]

Tbh i think im going to sell the bmw and try onr last time hopefully i will get a good one:)!

[Darraghmh91]

dont rush your buy man have a look around and trst drive a few of them and do comprerssion test on them and check for oil etc

dont let your heart do the buying let your head do the buying

best words that were ever said to me

[Roachy1994]

Yeah i was thinking about getting one after xmas and cheers for the advice i do i see the car normally and fall in love straight awayXD

[Darraghmh91]

Ha we all do man it's part of buyin a car you love ha

[Rob H@RCH Engineering]

After 14 years of owning mine its never actually broken down, I have had problems yes but only down to poor tunes and building on the cheep! Hence the build I did this time has had no cut corners and its done 2 years and over 30,000 miles at 230whp with nothing but oil changes!

Edited December 14, 2014 by Rob H

[jimmymac101]

Tbh i think im going to sell the bmw and try onr last time hopefully i will get a good one:)!

Spend alittle bit more, do your research on the car and should be be ok mate! 9 out of 10 starlets would have popped on the forum at some point

James

[mikey4410]

all down to looking after and maintaining as these cars high performance at the end of the day.

regular oil changes

keeping an eye on afrs

decent boost controller to stop over boosting

a good tune and most important......warming car up and cooling down appropriately.

very reliable cars when you do the abpve

[Roachy1994]

Yeah i will be looking for a forged one i think i got a bmw 1 series atm (hair dressers car) so i will be selling that in the new year and getting one hopefully for the summer

[Vturbo]

I have had 5 years of reliability only time it has let me down was due to a flat battery.touch wood

[kavan-k]

As above, they are getting old, and alot of the engine parts have been there since birth, (some V's are near 20 years) lol, there is going to be problems, mine is an absolute nightmare, fix one thing and another breaks, but I do believe it's a dose. Haha thing is if I was to sell it I'm just gonna buy another so may aswell replace as much old stuff as possible!

[FMuscle]

I have 2 now, had my 1997 for 16 months, nothing except normal wear and maintenance.
I've had my 1999 for 3 months, replaced clutch, radiator, thermostat, and there's a misfire, exhaust knocking on the floorboard, didn't come with keys, previous owner lost them and removed the barrel and put switches instead. I fitted the lock from my '97 passenger door (different key) to be able to lock it...

[funny onion]

I think MOST reliability issues stem from people messing with them!

Mine was solid as a rock until i got it mapped by TD then within a month the bottom end went and then a month after that it melted all the pistons... lol.

Since then it's had a total overhaul and been mapped by a very reputable mapper (will at RDT) and it's spot on now!

[Addymk2]

I think MOST reliability issues stem from people messing with them!

Mine was solid as a rock until i got it mapped by TD then within a month the bottom end went and then a month after that it melted all the pistons... lol.

Since then it's had a total overhaul and been mapped by a very reputable mapper (will at RDT) and it's spot on now!

Seconded. 1st one only ever had one issue when the vacuum hose popped off the actuator firing me Up to 2.5 bar in less than a second!

2nd V was left with a mate while I was working abroad, he attempted to slap the injectors in off my Altezza, for a better spray pattern apparently. Just resulted in a monster petrol leak.

Aside from that they were pretty damn bullet proof! Especially in comparison to other motors I've had ranging from BMW's and Alfa Romeos to DC2's and Satria GTi's. 4EFTE was solid.

I remember when your EP82 melted the pistons, bad day for the site I love that motor!

[weeman]

Ive had mine for about 8 years standard engine got abuse daily for 3 years on ct9 and td04 homebrew tune in the shed i sold that 1 on running to a friend after I put shitloads of mileage on it, with only ever basic servicing done to it!

Had my tm developments forged lump for 5 years now again only basic servicing run td04 and now td05 and touch wood its never skipped a beat!

Dont get me started on gearboxes tho lol their chocolate haha first 1 lasted ages then It all went downhill had a collection of them now lol the 85 box is just as bad too

Edited December 15, 2014 by weeman