My introduction and my problem -- help!

**jawhie** · 01-06-2005, 04:02 PM

Hi everyone, I'm a college student looking to learn more about my car and hopefully find cheap ways to fix her.

I've had my 1990 Celica GT for about a year and a half now. The engine is the 2.2 Liter 5s-fe and it's been leaking oil ever since I bought it. I have to put in a quart of oil every time I fill up the gas tank! The guy I bought it from told me his mechanic looked at it and said the main oil seals on the engine were worn and needed replacement. But the cost of replacing the seals would be almost as much as getting a new engine put in! Hence, I've been holding off on fixing the oil seals and trying to get my miles out of the engine. It's up to 233,000 miles and still runs fine (kudos to Toyota!).

I have recently noticed on my oil fill cap that the oil is a little frothy and white-ish. My friend says this could be coolant contaminating the oil. I checked the radiator cap and there is no evidence of oil although I'm not exactly sure what it would look like. It was just green coolant.

So I guess what I would like to know are where oil typically leaks from in a Celica, if any of you have had similar problems, and if it can be temporarily fixed until I decide to put in a new engine.

**racergirl** · 01-06-2005, 04:16 PM

welcome to CS u're avator is waay to big! nice car though talk to martin about ur problem.

**Burrcold** · 01-06-2005, 04:20 PM

W E L C O M E

**MartinGouda** · 01-06-2005, 05:10 PM

welocme

but your sigs too big

**Pineapple** · 01-06-2005, 05:24 PM

Get a low milage engine to swap or take old one out for rebuild.
Put the photo in your sig, not Avatar. Resize it to about 400 pixel wide first.

**jawhie** · 01-06-2005, 10:25 PM

Thanks for the welcome and the picture help. The pic was just something I found online that looks like my car. I still haven't figured out how to put a picture in the signature section, but I found a smaller photo for the avatar.

So I'm definitely thinking about getting a low mileage engine to swap in, but what are my options for that? Does it have to be a 5 series? Or can it be something cooler, faster, and much more kickasser than that? I really don't know much about engine types.

Also, my standard transmission is kinda messed up. The synchronizers for some of the gears are shot so they make grinding sounds when shifted into gear too fast. What's weird is it doesn't happen in the winter when the car is cold, but comes back when the car is warmed up. Anyway, I'm thinking of swapping engine and transmission simultaneously to save on labor costs. Is this a good idea? I heard the engine needs to be taken out to get to the transmission.

**Pineapple** · 01-07-2005, 01:10 AM

You need S series engine: 5S amd 3S.
The best is 3S-GTE a 200HP turbo engine. You'll need ECU with that. Cheapest is swap in same 5S-FE.
When was your last tranny fluid change? All you need maybe new fluid and clean up the filter. There is a GM Synchno oil that help solve shifting problem, try that.
For the sig use [img] [/img] in sig and put photo URL in between.

**boosted GT** · 01-07-2005, 01:25 AM

definetely try the GM synchromesh, it seems to help quite a few people. I personally have never had a problem with the regular ATF3.

As for the motor, you should be able to find a low mileage 5s for fairly cheap (they were around $800CAN when I was looking for one). If you're looking for power, i highly recommend the 3sgte, its a fairly easy swap but can get pricey if you don't buy a front clip.

**MartinGouda** · 01-07-2005, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boosted GT

definetely try the GM synchromesh, it seems to help quite a few people. I personally have never had a problem with the regular ATF3.

As for the motor, you should be able to find a low mileage 5s for fairly cheap (they were around $800CAN when I was looking for one). If you're looking for power, i highly recommend the 3sgte, its a fairly easy swap but can get pricey if you don't buy a front clip.

**jawhie** · 01-08-2005, 04:15 PM

Okay, so the GM synchromesh and the ATF3 are transmissions? What's the difference?

Also, what's the difference between the 5s-fe and the 3s-gte? Does the 3s not have an electronic fuel injector?

**tokyohiker** · 01-08-2005, 07:27 PM

I'm a newbie too, but I think ATF3 and GM Synchromesh are types of transmission fluid. "ATF" stands for "Automatic Transmission Fluid". I didn't know you could use ATF in a manual transmission tho... can you? Another thing I was wondering is what's a "front clip?"

Do any of you all out there think there's any hope for repairing jawhie's engine rather than doing a swap? How would one know if it's even worth it?

**MartinGouda** · 01-08-2005, 07:41 PM

you can use it in a manual tranny..they are basicaly the same fluids...

a front clip is a car cut in half jsut behind the dash board so it includes the ecu, stereing and all the bolts needed to do a swap..

you do the math...if

repair = 1000 and makes you 120hp
and
replace=1200 and makes 220hp

thats 200 bucks for 100 hp...

jk... you gotta alot to decide on before you do decide

**Pineapple** · 01-09-2005, 04:49 AM

It depends on how much you like the car. How much rust on the body. Are you repairing it yourself. You can't really just use money to concider if its worth it.

**jawhie** · 01-12-2005, 02:55 AM

Cosmetically, the car is not in the best shape. There are a couple of minor dents, some of the paint layers are wearing off, and there is a little rust appearing along the bottom. I'm not in love with the car, but the radiator and brakes are relatively new, not to mention today I just put in a new car stereo (although that can be swapped into any other car I decide to buy). The car has some sentimental value too. Darn stuff is hard to quantify.

So I'm trying to figure out if this is an easy seal to fix. If it isn't should I swap engines and drive the car for another 100,000 miles or exchange it for some other used car? When I get some time (hopefully tomorrow) I will check a few things tokyohiker suggested such as the dipstick for froth and the exhaust pipe for weird smells or vibrations.

**Pineapple** · 01-12-2005, 11:49 AM

Do a quick paint job.
Before:
Before 1
Before 2
After:

For more:
http://www.rankmyride.com/?page=cars...ID=1053&pnum=3

**jawhie** · 01-12-2005, 04:00 PM

Paint jobs are expensive for a college student and not that essential.

**Pineapple** · 01-12-2005, 04:15 PM

Don't need show quality paint. Mine cost CAD$800 with body work. Go to insurance claim body shop. The paint wasn't prefect but I got people asked me if mine is a new model Celica

Yea 1990 new model.

01-06-2005, 04:02 PM	#1 (permalink)
jawhie Posts: 5 Join Date: Jan 2005 Last On: 07-24-2005 04:47 PM	My introduction and my problem -- help! Hi everyone, I'm a college student looking to learn more about my car and hopefully find cheap ways to fix her. I've had my 1990 Celica GT for about a year and a half now. The engine is the 2.2 Liter 5s-fe and it's been leaking oil ever since I bought it. I have to put in a quart of oil every time I fill up the gas tank! The guy I bought it from told me his mechanic looked at it and said the main oil seals on the engine were worn and needed replacement. But the cost of replacing the seals would be almost as much as getting a new engine put in! Hence, I've been holding off on fixing the oil seals and trying to get my miles out of the engine. It's up to 233,000 miles and still runs fine (kudos to Toyota!). I have recently noticed on my oil fill cap that the oil is a little frothy and white-ish. My friend says this could be coolant contaminating the oil. I checked the radiator cap and there is no evidence of oil although I'm not exactly sure what it would look like. It was just green coolant. So I guess what I would like to know are where oil typically leaks from in a Celica, if any of you have had similar problems, and if it can be temporarily fixed until I decide to put in a new engine.

01-06-2005, 04:16 PM	#2 (permalink)
racergirl Location: Las Vegas Posts: 206 Join Date: Oct 2004 Last On: 05-29-2005 02:48 AM	welcome to CS u're avator is waay to big! nice car though talk to martin about ur problem. __________________ -silly boys racing is for girls-

01-06-2005, 04:20 PM	#3 (permalink)
Burrcold Location: Toronto Posts: 6,422 Join Date: Oct 2003 Last On: Today 07:27 PM Vehicle: 08 Lexus IS250 2nd Vehicle: 08 Acura CSX	W E L C O M E __________________ Sold: 2004 Infiniti G35C

01-06-2005, 05:10 PM	#4 (permalink)
MartinGouda USE THE SEARCH FEATURE!!! Location: Streetsville Posts: 12,023 Join Date: Oct 2003 Last On: 06-02-2008 02:41 PM Vehicle: DelsolTurboN2O 2nd Vehicle: Talon TSI AWD	welocme but your sigs too big __________________ www.martingouda.com.... the rumors are all true...

01-06-2005, 05:24 PM	#5 (permalink)
Pineapple Location: Toronto Posts: 4,296 Join Date: Jan 2004 Last On: Today 06:47 PM	Get a low milage engine to swap or take old one out for rebuild. Put the photo in your sig, not Avatar. Resize it to about 400 pixel wide first. __________________ http://photos.yahoo.com/fredericklaw http://members.rankmyride.com/pineapplelaw

01-06-2005, 10:25 PM	#6 (permalink)
jawhie Posts: 5 Join Date: Jan 2005 Last On: 07-24-2005 04:47 PM	Thanks for the welcome and the picture help. The pic was just something I found online that looks like my car. I still haven't figured out how to put a picture in the signature section, but I found a smaller photo for the avatar. So I'm definitely thinking about getting a low mileage engine to swap in, but what are my options for that? Does it have to be a 5 series? Or can it be something cooler, faster, and much more kickasser than that? I really don't know much about engine types. Also, my standard transmission is kinda messed up. The synchronizers for some of the gears are shot so they make grinding sounds when shifted into gear too fast. What's weird is it doesn't happen in the winter when the car is cold, but comes back when the car is warmed up. Anyway, I'm thinking of swapping engine and transmission simultaneously to save on labor costs. Is this a good idea? I heard the engine needs to be taken out to get to the transmission.

01-07-2005, 01:10 AM	#7 (permalink)
Pineapple Location: Toronto Posts: 4,296 Join Date: Jan 2004 Last On: Today 06:47 PM	You need S series engine: 5S amd 3S. The best is 3S-GTE a 200HP turbo engine. You'll need ECU with that. Cheapest is swap in same 5S-FE. When was your last tranny fluid change? All you need maybe new fluid and clean up the filter. There is a GM Synchno oil that help solve shifting problem, try that. For the sig use [img] [/img] in sig and put photo URL in between. __________________ http://photos.yahoo.com/fredericklaw http://members.rankmyride.com/pineapplelaw

01-07-2005, 01:25 AM	#8 (permalink)
boosted GT Location: Woodbridge Posts: 146 Join Date: Oct 2003 Last On: 06-01-2008 09:23 PM Vehicle: Lexus IS300	definetely try the GM synchromesh, it seems to help quite a few people. I personally have never had a problem with the regular ATF3. As for the motor, you should be able to find a low mileage 5s for fairly cheap (they were around $800CAN when I was looking for one). If you're looking for power, i highly recommend the 3sgte, its a fairly easy swap but can get pricey if you don't buy a front clip.

01-08-2005, 04:15 PM	#10 (permalink)
jawhie Posts: 5 Join Date: Jan 2005 Last On: 07-24-2005 04:47 PM	Okay, so the GM synchromesh and the ATF3 are transmissions? What's the difference? Also, what's the difference between the 5s-fe and the 3s-gte? Does the 3s not have an electronic fuel injector?

01-08-2005, 07:27 PM	#11 (permalink)
tokyohiker Location: Tucson Posts: 1 Join Date: Jan 2005 Last On: 01-08-2005 07:22 PM	Yo Cuz! I'm a newbie too, but I think ATF3 and GM Synchromesh are types of transmission fluid. "ATF" stands for "Automatic Transmission Fluid". I didn't know you could use ATF in a manual transmission tho... can you? Another thing I was wondering is what's a "front clip?" Do any of you all out there think there's any hope for repairing jawhie's engine rather than doing a swap? How would one know if it's even worth it? __________________ \'94 4Runner Imposter!

01-08-2005, 07:41 PM	#12 (permalink)
MartinGouda USE THE SEARCH FEATURE!!! Location: Streetsville Posts: 12,023 Join Date: Oct 2003 Last On: 06-02-2008 02:41 PM Vehicle: DelsolTurboN2O 2nd Vehicle: Talon TSI AWD	you can use it in a manual tranny..they are basicaly the same fluids... a front clip is a car cut in half jsut behind the dash board so it includes the ecu, stereing and all the bolts needed to do a swap.. you do the math...if repair = 1000 and makes you 120hp and replace=1200 and makes 220hp thats 200 bucks for 100 hp... jk... you gotta alot to decide on before you do decide __________________ www.martingouda.com.... the rumors are all true...

01-09-2005, 04:49 AM	#13 (permalink)
Pineapple Location: Toronto Posts: 4,296 Join Date: Jan 2004 Last On: Today 06:47 PM	It depends on how much you like the car. How much rust on the body. Are you repairing it yourself. You can't really just use money to concider if its worth it. __________________ http://photos.yahoo.com/fredericklaw http://members.rankmyride.com/pineapplelaw

01-12-2005, 02:55 AM	#14 (permalink)
jawhie Posts: 5 Join Date: Jan 2005 Last On: 07-24-2005 04:47 PM	Cosmetically, the car is not in the best shape. There are a couple of minor dents, some of the paint layers are wearing off, and there is a little rust appearing along the bottom. I'm not in love with the car, but the radiator and brakes are relatively new, not to mention today I just put in a new car stereo (although that can be swapped into any other car I decide to buy). The car has some sentimental value too. Darn stuff is hard to quantify. So I'm trying to figure out if this is an easy seal to fix. If it isn't should I swap engines and drive the car for another 100,000 miles or exchange it for some other used car? When I get some time (hopefully tomorrow) I will check a few things tokyohiker suggested such as the dipstick for froth and the exhaust pipe for weird smells or vibrations.

01-12-2005, 11:49 AM	#15 (permalink)
Pineapple Location: Toronto Posts: 4,296 Join Date: Jan 2004 Last On: Today 06:47 PM	Do a quick paint job. Before: Before 1 Before 2 After: For more: http://www.rankmyride.com/?page=cars...ID=1053&pnum=3 __________________ http://photos.yahoo.com/fredericklaw http://members.rankmyride.com/pineapplelaw

01-12-2005, 04:00 PM	#16 (permalink)
jawhie Posts: 5 Join Date: Jan 2005 Last On: 07-24-2005 04:47 PM	Paint jobs are expensive for a college student and not that essential.

01-12-2005, 04:15 PM	#17 (permalink)
Pineapple Location: Toronto Posts: 4,296 Join Date: Jan 2004 Last On: Today 06:47 PM	Don't need show quality paint. Mine cost CAD$800 with body work. Go to insurance claim body shop. The paint wasn't prefect but I got people asked me if mine is a new model Celica Yea 1990 new model. __________________ http://photos.yahoo.com/fredericklaw http://members.rankmyride.com/pineapplelaw