[Dumeinao]

By the way, the water in the spare tire well is probably coming from your tail light gaskets. I just swapped mine out and I'm golden now. While it seems counter intuitive that the taillights could be the source, when I pulled them out, I saw exactly why.

The water runs down the hatch channel to the top of the tail light and leaks through. Once you take the taillight out you can see that the sheet metal opening isn't 90 degrees vertical. The bottom of the light frame sticks out further than the top of the frame. The result is, water pours straight down inside the hatch floor area. In my case, not only the spare tire area flooded, but both inside fender wells did too..

Also my hatch bottom seal was leaking too, again a rotted out gasket. This caused the water to collect in the plastic covering piece for the hatch and rain down when I opened it.

Since I did my reseal, all is well.

 

[Cavadoro]

Be on the lookout for oil leaks from places like the cam position sensor rubber O ring and the front cam seals. The power steering pump can also leak. I rebuilt mine with a kit from eBay. I've also replaced the refrigerant rubber hoses and rebuilt the compressor. Yours may still have some life left being that it's low miles. It would be a good idea to get a year specific Toyota dealer repair manual which show up on eBay from time to time. There is also a 1990 model online dealer Supra manual Click here to see it. Get a good torque wrench. Wheel lug nut torque is 76 foot-pounds. Check the air pressure in your spare and make sure you know where the jack is located. Water tends to get in the spare tire well. I leave that rubber plug that the tire rests on partially ajar just in case. Check the pH of your coolant and change it if it's below 8.0 I use the old school phosphate silicate green radiator fluid 50-50. Make an assessment of your brake fluid and or clutch fluid. If it's dark change it with DOT3. I like Valvoline brand. You might want to get an idea how much brake pad is still remaining. Front pads wear faster than rear pads. If you get a pulsating brake pedal, upgrade to drilled and slotted rotors in front. If you ever replace the thermostat be careful not to over tightening the two 10mm bolts on the housing because they strip easily. I use a thin layer of silicone as a gasket.

Okay well for now, nothing leaks, I replace the air filter for the motor and cabine, I check the fuel pump and I'll go retorque it at 76 soon. Otherwise everything seem smooth. Thanks!

 

[Cavadoro]

By the way, the water in the spare tire well is probably coming from your tail light gaskets. I just swapped mine out and I'm golden now. While it seems counter intuitive that the taillights could be the source, when I pulled them out, I saw exactly why.

The water runs down the hatch channel to the top of the tail light and leaks through. Once you take the taillight out you can see that the sheet metal opening isn't 90 degrees vertical. The bottom of the light frame sticks out further than the top of the frame. The result is, water pours straight down inside the hatch floor area. In my case, not only the spare tire area flooded, but both inside fender wells did too..

Also my hatch bottom seal was leaking as well, again a rotted out gasket. This caused the water to collect in the plastic covering piece for the hatch and rain down when I opened it.

Since I did my reseal, all is well. View attachment 250722 View attachment 250723 View attachment 250725 View attachment 250726

Yeah mines leak too but nothing is rust under the floor mat

 

[Toad1948]

Ok so I'm new here, I just want to know if I need to change anything on this car. The owner was my neighbourg, he never took it, almost and told me he never push it. I read alote of things about the head gasket and other things and Idk if I should put metal head gasket. I want to keep the car stock. So tell me what I should do! Thank you.

My '88 blew the head gasket at 125k - cost ~$4k to replace thermostat & gasket; machine cylinder head (grind valves, mill head & check for cracks, head gasket set); replace water pump; replace timing chain and gears. You could argue that the water pump, timing chain and gears were not needed but while the engine was pulled down it was a lot cheaper than to have to do it later. I wish I would have spent another two grand and had the engine rebuilt because hot oil pressure is on the low side. Re-torquing the head bolts is a bad idea. If you want or need to replace the head gasket, be sure you are using the correct torque setting. Toyota changed the head gasket material along the way but didn't update the torque values so blown head gaskets at around 75k miles were common. And since service docs didn't get updated the heads were incorrectly torqued and another BHG in another 75k miles was very possible. I've been fighting water in the hatch area since I bought the car in '18. Two body shops, the Toyota dealer and my regular mechanic haven't been able to stop the leaks. Some were around the tail-ligts which new gaskets fixed, some around the side marker lights which some silicone sealant fixed. The most frustrating thing is that sometimes the water is on the left ,sometimes on the right, sometimes after a rain, but not always, and never after a trip through the car wash. I was going to have the rear glass pulled and re-installed but neither of the two glass shops in town would do it since there aren't replacements available. I'm going ahead with the resto but the car will either be garaged or under a quality car cover unless I'm driving it in the sunshine!

 

[Cavadoro]

My '88 blew the head gasket at 125k - cost ~$4k to replace thermostat & gasket; machine cylinder head (grind valves, mill head & check for cracks, head gasket set); replace water pump; replace timing chain and gears. You could argue that the water pump, timing chain and gears were not needed but while the engine was pulled down it was a lot cheaper than to have to do it later. I wish I would have spent another two grand and had the engine rebuilt because hot oil pressure is on the low side. Re-torquing the head bolts is a bad idea. If you want or need to replace the head gasket, be sure you are using the correct torque setting. Toyota changed the head gasket material along the way but didn't update the torque values so blown head gaskets at around 75k miles were common. And since service docs didn't get updated the heads were incorrectly torqued and another BHG in another 75k miles was very possible. I've been fighting water in the hatch area since I bought the car in '18. Two body shops, the Toyota dealer and my regular mechanic haven't been able to stop the leaks. Some were around the tail-ligts which new gaskets fixed, some around the side marker lights which some silicone sealant fixed. The most frustrating thing is that sometimes the water is on the left ,sometimes on the right, sometimes after a rain, but not always, and never after a trip through the car wash. I was going to have the rear glass pulled and re-installed but neither of the two glass shops in town would do it since there aren't replacements available. I'm going ahead with the resto but the car will either be garaged or under a quality car cover unless I'm driving it in the sunshine!

Ok so I should retorque it only if I replace the head gasket and till it happen I leave it like this?

 

[Dumeinao]

Toad if you replaced the tail light gaskets the next thing to check / replace is the bottom hatch window trim. The way the car is designed, that trim is actually very functional to stop leaks, and when the seal dries out, the water just runs underneath it. There are some plastic pieces in there that erode with time which leaves holes for the water to run through.

Its held on by 4 or 5 screws that pass through the body and are accessible if you pull the trim off the hatch. Believe it or not the whole trim frame for the hatch, Top, sides and bottom, are still available from Toyota parts. They are NOT cheap. It put me back somewhere around $350. But, as a bonus, the top trim piece has a brand new windshield squirt valve in it .

I guess you could put some trim seal in there. Personally I've gotten used to using this 3M stuff in different parts of the car as it works very well.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00063X38M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You could do what I read online a while back. A guy got inside the hatch laying down, shut it and his GF continually ran water over the car until he found the leak. Also, if you live somewhere that dirt builds up on the car, it could be that it takes a while to seep through to the inside.

Also my oil pressure drops pretty low too once its warmed up when idling.

 

[Dumeinao]

Ok so I should retorque it only if I replace the head gasket and till it happen I leave it like this?

From what I understand, yes.

 

[Cavadoro]

From what I understand, yes.

Should I put synthetic oil or keep the old? What you put in it?

 

[Dumeinao]

Should I put synthetic oil or keep the old? What you put in it?

I have Mobil 1 15w50 that was recommended by someone here for a non rebuilt for my amount of miles, around 171K.

 

[1brickman]

Nice find! It's is becoming a rarity to find low km "untouched" MKIII's. I don't know if you've replace the radio yet or not...but please don't! You should be able to add an AUX input and simple connect your phone.

I'm not a purist by any stretch but it looks like you have found a garage princess that deserves to be kept original.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Dumeinao]

Actually , the old MK3 has no AUX out. Your only choice is a cassette adapter or a Bluetooth adapter. I bought this one for my MK3 Amazon.com: (2020 Upgraded New Version) Bluetooth FM Transmitter for Car, Wireless Radio Transmitter Adapeter Car Kit, Dual USB Ports, QC3.0 Quick Charging, Hands Free Calling, Support USB Flash Drive Music Play

I could not get either a wired or Bluetooth cassette adapter to work with my particular stereo. A regular cassette works fine, but with an adapter I only get sound out of one channel.

I set my FM radio on 91.1 and it works fine. I live in Southern California so finding a vacant channel is a challenge if not almost impossible. I improved my situation by removing both antenna cables from my radio. Yes, this defeats the ability to use AM/FM, but in truth I would usually 99% either stream music from the internet or use SiriusXM in my other cars. Since my goal was to just keep a factory radio head unit, the Bluetooth adapter checks all the boxes and I just stream music from my Note 8.

 

[Toad1948]

Ok so I'm new here, I just want to know if I need to change anything on this car. The owner was my neighbourg, he never took it, almost and told me he never push it. I read alote of things about the head gasket and other things and Idk if I should put metal head gasket. I want to keep the car stock. So tell me what I should do! Thank you.

Re replacing the radio and speakers: Replacing the radio is straight forward; the speakers not so much. The rear speakers are an odd size. My go to, Crutchfield, has no direct replacement. I ended up making an adapter baffle out of lexan to get a decent fit and to close up the enclosure as were the originals. If you need a template for the rear speakers let me know.

 

[Dumeinao]

^^ Not only that, but it amazes me that both the front and rear speakers were designed in a box that requires the removal of the interior panels just to access them.

 

[ahmedsuwaid12123]

By the way, the water in the spare tire well is probably coming from your tail light gaskets. I just swapped mine out and I'm golden now. While it seems counter intuitive that the taillights could be the source, when I pulled them out, I saw exactly why.

The water runs down the hatch channel to the top of the tail light and leaks through. Once you take the taillight out you can see that the sheet metal opening isn't 90 degrees vertical. The bottom of the light frame sticks out further than the top of the frame. The result is, water pours straight down inside the hatch floor area. In my case, not only the spare tire area flooded, but both inside fender wells did too..

Also my hatch bottom seal was leaking too, again a rotted out gasket. This caused the water to collect in the plastic covering piece for the hatch and rain down when I opened it.

Since I did my reseal, all is well. View attachment 250722 View attachment 250723 View attachment 250725 View attachment 250726

Hi friend how are you