SW20 MR2 Front End Problems

[Ghetto-AW11]

for the sake and ease of replacing them, i would just replace them. They generally make a ticking noise when turning either left or right. I have never had this random vibration.

[hamgatan]

im even wondering if its the tie rod ends because it certainly sends the vibration back up through the steering wheel...

[Ghetto-AW11]

Look for any bends or anything noticable to the nakkid eye get down there and grab suspension compenents and have a shake.

[hamgatan]

ok after a lot of cussing and swearing today i decided to rip everything apart and have a look.

nothing moved with a good shake..

so off came the wheel, caliper and the rest of it. nothing majorly noticeable.

yesterday i picked up a new set of toyota oem brake pads and ball joints so either way these were going into the car.

after much banging and sweating, i managed to pop the ball joints out (yay) and put the new ones in after cleaning up the control arms. pads went in the rears (after more cursing wondering what this strangely shaped brake piston was, only to find you need to screw it in instead of pushing it)

the unfortunate thing is that i went to bleed the back brakes out on the right hand side and forgot that i hadnt pushed the front caliper pistons back in and then i heard the clunk as the piston shot out of its chamber and i looked at the broken seal lying on the ground. well thats problem number 1 for the day.. so i rang toyota (again), and ordered new seals.. *sigh* and they were shit expensive.. dont ask the price. they wont be here till tuesday.. rats!

the other unfortunate thing is that ive somehow managed to completely grind most of the thread in the steering knuckle bolts away.. how on earth do i fix it?? i cant get the bolts in, thus i cant drive until i fix it!

[Dale]

Do you mean you ground away the thread on the bolts that go into the steering knuckle, or the thread that the bolts screw into?

Either way would running a tap/die through/over it to re-cut the thread be an option? or is it too munted?

If it's too munted you might need to drill it out, tap it with a different thread and use slightly bigger bolts (if possible)..

[Vios-GT_07]

dude i seriously hope u're not working with super cheap auto tools there...

and with ground off threads, if it's in something that allows it, i'd regrind it and run it with a bigger bolt.. just to be safe... otherwise i'd just replace it mate, can't be too careful.. maybe a few pics might help to point out exactly what the problem is?

[Mr Revhead]

get that car on the hoist and have a GOOD look at all welds, joins beams etc.
its not unknown for SW20s to develop cracks in the front. i cant recall exactly where.... ill check on monday. ex panel beater used to do heaps of them

[hamgatan]

ok yay everythings back together and im sort of happy..

small problem though. i have air in my brake system somewhere and i cant find it!

heres what happens. car switched off, pedal is nice and hard, the way it should be.

start her up, and pedal gets soft all of a sudden. i mean it will brake, but nowhere near what it did before. turn it off again, two pumps later shes hard as a rock again.

i have bled all four corners and theres been no air in the tubes at all.. so where is my mystery air hiding? thoughts?

[Vios-GT_07]

that's normal... it gets hard when turned off.. then gets soft again when the car is running... to do with brake booster and vacuum running from the engine..

did u mean the pedal is hard or the brakes aren't working as well as they did before?

[hamgatan]

arent working like they were before.. theyre way softer than before

[Cruiser97_80]

u may still have a lilttle bit of air trapped in the system somewhere.( ABS?)

What did your problem end up being?

[Vios-GT_07]

hm.. i say bleed it another time... abs or not..

and yea the side which is furtherst from the booster, i'd bleed it extra just to be sure...

edit : sure ur brakes and all that are working fine? no seized or stuck pistons, pads all sufficient etc etc ??

[Mr Revhead]

oh, the cracking occurs around the front sway bar mounts

[hamgatan]

cracking not fixed yet, but i think MR_Revhead is spot on the ball... im suspecting the same thing with the sway bar mounts..


brakes are all fine. like i can drive it fine, its just much much softer on the pedal than it used to be.. no stuck pistons, id be feeling it when i drive if that was the case, but thats not so. i think its air in the master cylinder.. will have to check