- 5,905
- West Yorkshire
- Katiegan
- KatieB53
GDII's SW20 MR2
- Thread starter GDII
- 777 comments
- 97,369 views
- 1,759
- NZ
I went to help out as a flag marshall at a motorsport event today. I didn't get many photos of the cars racing as I had another job to do.
I did get a few photos of @SVX when he went for a ride in an EVO V rally car.
And plenty of mine while I was waiting for them to sort out timing gear, radios and moving cars that had unfortunately crashed.
A few by @SVX
And the rest from me. A bit of rain came through during the day.
One of the 5 inter-island ferries leaving the harbour.
I had to hook up my car to the radio repeater unit as when it was being used the voltage would drop below 12v and it would shut off meaning no one could communicate via radio. The shape of the course and landscape required this to be in place.
I did get a few photos of @SVX when he went for a ride in an EVO V rally car.
And plenty of mine while I was waiting for them to sort out timing gear, radios and moving cars that had unfortunately crashed.
A few by @SVX
And the rest from me. A bit of rain came through during the day.
One of the 5 inter-island ferries leaving the harbour.
I had to hook up my car to the radio repeater unit as when it was being used the voltage would drop below 12v and it would shut off meaning no one could communicate via radio. The shape of the course and landscape required this to be in place.
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- 3,211
- Brisbane
- Punknoodle_Nick
- 14,378
- Wellington
Insane!! It was my first time getting a ride in both a race car and a car being driven in a controlled environment. The car was set up quite soft since it's primarily a gravel car, and you could feel it around some corners, but the speed was insane. It just distorted what you thought was humanly possible to react to and be able to achieve. My mouth was just wide open the entire stage, with sometimes getting the chance to let out a small gasp.
I was also helping out with the marshalling too, however not contributing quite as much as GDII bar removing some gravel. I enjoyed it a lot - it was my first event I've marshalled (very first event I've attended since the Targa used to run local, which would've been something like eight years ago now). It got a bit repetitive towards the end but it was great being around like-minded people who you can genuinely talk cars about, sensibly. I don't really get much of an opportunity outside of GTP to talk about cars, mainly because people around my age only care about pulling sick skids at the local industrial complex - and it's so hard to meet any like-minded people because outside of those illegal skids, bar one car show at the very start of the year, there's absolutely no meets. It's really quite frustrating and is one of the reasons I've been looking at moving overseas.
- 3,211
- Brisbane
- Punknoodle_Nick
- 14,378
- Wellington
Yup!! It was one of his better runs too. Towards the start he was having car issues but he mentioned it sort of just fixed itself as the day went on.
Aus has definitely crossed my mind a bit and would be the most plausible to move. I'll make sure to take you up on the offer if I'm ever across the ditch
- 1,759
- NZ
Sunday 15th October 2017. My first track day.
Early 5:30am start. 2 hour drive to Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon. I arrived and only a few other cars were there. A Lexus LC F and a 1litre Mini Cooper race car. More turned up during the next hour. I got chatting to the Mini owner and found his car would be a close match to mine based on power and weight. But he had full slicks and far more experience. I had plenty to learn from him. He was kind enough to show me and another driver in an AE101 FXGT some racing lines he uses for that car. Trying to keep up was a challenge but for a lap or 2 you could see what lines he was taking.
On to the drivers briefing. Gary the guy running the event was good fun with plenty of jokes but still serious about keeping us all safe. Turns out he is an MR2 owner and has many AW11s. We had a good chat about our cars and what we had done to them.
First outing onto the track was 3 laps at road speed to get familiar with the track. I'd been on the track once before as a passenger for this event but I forgot how tight the track really is.
Then out for the first 20min session of the day. I ended up doing 4 of them during the day. First lap I took it easy warming up my brakes as they don't work too well when cold. Tyres being RE003 didn't really need a warm up as they get too hot over the course of the session. One lap down and I went a bit fast learning racing lines and figuring out the track and any bumps that were in the corners. Most corners were taken in 2nd gear as they were quite tight so my speeds were quite low. First session done I had learnt a lot and had a great time. Went back to the covered stalls to let the car cool off. I used my OEM wheel chock to hold the car from rolling while I had the handbrake off to let the brakes cool. Brakes and tyres were still good for the first session because I wasn't pushing too hard as I was still learning. Hence the JDM learner stickers
Out for my second run I got a bit faster and learnt than my car had plenty of grip and stopping power. Still gentle on the brakes and corner speeds were low but keeping up with some of the other cars in the corners. The other MR2 had put his semi slicks on after the first run so he could hold the corners a lot better than my road tyres and having a turbo had far more power for the straights. Another successful session and plenty of fun had.
After the second run some guys from the MR2 club had turned up. One asked me what gear I was using through the middle part of the circuit, I was using 2nd for one of the corners. He suggested using 3rd but I thought it was too high. Mostly due to my corner speeds being lower. Out for my 3rd run I tried the 3rd gear tip and carried more speed into the corner, it was much faster as I didn't have to slow down so much to change down and also 2 less gear changes through that part of the circuit. After that I found the car had some minor understeer out of one corner but still gripping well and the transition into the next corner was so much fast and I could keep my foot in it before braking for the hairpin. That was probably the highest G-Force I was feeling on the whole track except for maybe the last corner.
Then we had some lunch and we met up with few few from the club and one with his Windom powered SW20. That thing looks and sounds great. Another awesome build.
4th run of the day I cut short due to a very empty tank and I didn't want to chew my tyres anymore than what I already had as I still need them for daily duties. I still had great fun as this time I was chasing down that Mini Cooper I mentioned at the start. I was able to keep up mostly. I caught him under braking most of the time and straight line speed was very close. Unfortunately his corner exit speeds were far higher so he was faster than I wanted to safely go.
In conclusion, I had a great day out on the track, catching up with people from the club, meeting new club members and talking to others about their cars. Everyone was super friendly, even the guys with the very expensive super cars. I'm pretty sure I had the second slowest car out there but it was far too fun to worry. My fastest recorded time was 1:37.
A recap on the car and mods I have made. The car is extremely stable with the swaybars and springs, the brakes never got soft and the tyres always felt like they had plenty of grip. I'm very happy with the car and it's neutral handling. Maybe next time I adjust the swaybars for more oversteer but until I actually get the car sliding I will leave it. I never got into a situation where I had to countersteer so clearly not pushing it past my limits.
A big thanks to everyone who offered advice and to the guys who turned up to watch.
Thanks to my friend for taking these photos for me.
Early 5:30am start. 2 hour drive to Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon. I arrived and only a few other cars were there. A Lexus LC F and a 1litre Mini Cooper race car. More turned up during the next hour. I got chatting to the Mini owner and found his car would be a close match to mine based on power and weight. But he had full slicks and far more experience. I had plenty to learn from him. He was kind enough to show me and another driver in an AE101 FXGT some racing lines he uses for that car. Trying to keep up was a challenge but for a lap or 2 you could see what lines he was taking.
On to the drivers briefing. Gary the guy running the event was good fun with plenty of jokes but still serious about keeping us all safe. Turns out he is an MR2 owner and has many AW11s. We had a good chat about our cars and what we had done to them.
First outing onto the track was 3 laps at road speed to get familiar with the track. I'd been on the track once before as a passenger for this event but I forgot how tight the track really is.
Then out for the first 20min session of the day. I ended up doing 4 of them during the day. First lap I took it easy warming up my brakes as they don't work too well when cold. Tyres being RE003 didn't really need a warm up as they get too hot over the course of the session. One lap down and I went a bit fast learning racing lines and figuring out the track and any bumps that were in the corners. Most corners were taken in 2nd gear as they were quite tight so my speeds were quite low. First session done I had learnt a lot and had a great time. Went back to the covered stalls to let the car cool off. I used my OEM wheel chock to hold the car from rolling while I had the handbrake off to let the brakes cool. Brakes and tyres were still good for the first session because I wasn't pushing too hard as I was still learning. Hence the JDM learner stickers
Out for my second run I got a bit faster and learnt than my car had plenty of grip and stopping power. Still gentle on the brakes and corner speeds were low but keeping up with some of the other cars in the corners. The other MR2 had put his semi slicks on after the first run so he could hold the corners a lot better than my road tyres and having a turbo had far more power for the straights. Another successful session and plenty of fun had.
After the second run some guys from the MR2 club had turned up. One asked me what gear I was using through the middle part of the circuit, I was using 2nd for one of the corners. He suggested using 3rd but I thought it was too high. Mostly due to my corner speeds being lower. Out for my 3rd run I tried the 3rd gear tip and carried more speed into the corner, it was much faster as I didn't have to slow down so much to change down and also 2 less gear changes through that part of the circuit. After that I found the car had some minor understeer out of one corner but still gripping well and the transition into the next corner was so much fast and I could keep my foot in it before braking for the hairpin. That was probably the highest G-Force I was feeling on the whole track except for maybe the last corner.
Then we had some lunch and we met up with few few from the club and one with his Windom powered SW20. That thing looks and sounds great. Another awesome build.
4th run of the day I cut short due to a very empty tank and I didn't want to chew my tyres anymore than what I already had as I still need them for daily duties. I still had great fun as this time I was chasing down that Mini Cooper I mentioned at the start. I was able to keep up mostly. I caught him under braking most of the time and straight line speed was very close. Unfortunately his corner exit speeds were far higher so he was faster than I wanted to safely go.
In conclusion, I had a great day out on the track, catching up with people from the club, meeting new club members and talking to others about their cars. Everyone was super friendly, even the guys with the very expensive super cars. I'm pretty sure I had the second slowest car out there but it was far too fun to worry. My fastest recorded time was 1:37.
A recap on the car and mods I have made. The car is extremely stable with the swaybars and springs, the brakes never got soft and the tyres always felt like they had plenty of grip. I'm very happy with the car and it's neutral handling. Maybe next time I adjust the swaybars for more oversteer but until I actually get the car sliding I will leave it. I never got into a situation where I had to countersteer so clearly not pushing it past my limits.
A big thanks to everyone who offered advice and to the guys who turned up to watch.
Thanks to my friend for taking these photos for me.
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- 1,759
- NZ
Some of the other cars that were there on the day in my group. Most were so much faster than me. Getting overtaken out of a corner with turbos, wastegates and BOVs screaming was quite an experience.
There were more cars like a Lexus LC F, Jaguar XK, Porsche 996 GT3, 2 Lotus Elise, a few GT86, R33 GT-R but they were in the other fast group.
Again thanks to my mate for the photos.
There were more cars like a Lexus LC F, Jaguar XK, Porsche 996 GT3, 2 Lotus Elise, a few GT86, R33 GT-R but they were in the other fast group.
Again thanks to my mate for the photos.
- 3,211
- Brisbane
- Punknoodle_Nick
Nice, sounds like you had an excellent day and the car performed well. It looks at home on the track 👍
You going to do more of it?
You going to do more of it?
- 1,759
- NZ
I'd like to do more if funds allow. As everyone knows track driving is harsh on parts like brakes and tyres. I can't really afford to replace these all the time right now. I guess 80 minutes of track time in one day will do that.
- 3,211
- Brisbane
- Punknoodle_Nick
- 1,759
- NZ
I'm not quite a nut yet. Only having 80mins of track experience with no training I'd more call myself a marshmallow
I do think that my driving style is quite smooth to keep the MR2 in check. It definitely moves around with power and braking. Changing up gears existing some of the wider corners made the rear move around a bit but with very little power this didn't affect much. Any braking into corners was light and heavy braking was only done when the car was straight. Power back on through the corner and more as I exited.
In the end it's all for the fun of it but I'm extremely competitive so hard to just hold back. Chasing down the Mini in the last session was extremely fun.
- 3,211
- Brisbane
- Punknoodle_Nick
Good stuff, the car would have loved it.
Sounds like you were peddling it just fine 👍
Sounds like you were peddling it just fine 👍
- 13,831
- Down under
It must feel great to give it some welly in a controlled environment 
Great to hear the brakes held up too 👍
Great to hear the brakes held up too 👍
- 1,759
- NZ
Plenty of welly was given. I was surprised at how well it holds the track as you never get a chance to do this on the street. Not that you ever should.It must feel great to give it some welly in a controlled environment
I know cars can corner far faster than what you think they should if you've not experienced it, it's quite shocking.
I got quite a shock when the Ford Sierra came flying up beside me just before I hit the braking zone of turn 1. He was going far faster than me but I thought he might slow before that as you aren't allowed to pass under braking. He was still accelerating so technically he didn't pass under braking. Quite often I'd let the Mini pass on the straights as he couldn't really pass under power but was faster than me in the corners. I didn't want to get in his way but once I had let off power a bit to let him pass I'd get back on it to keep close to him. I seemed to be able to out brake the Mini but he appeared to have to pump the brakes because every time he braked the lights would go off at least once.
Speaking of brakes the 1" master cylinder works great on the track and when the brakes have some heat in them they pull up well. Good pedal feel and modulation. On the street however is a different story. They feel quite heavy and don't work too well when cold. After driving 2 hours to the track I hadn't touched the brakes for at least 1 hour and when I went to get on them I had to push fairly hard to get it to react. Maybe I get some street pads or switch out to EBC Yellowstuff. The brake upgrade was meant for this track day type stuff so it kept me safe. I was very happy with that. The other turbo MR2 using the smaller stock brakes my car used to have was getting some fade issues but then it did have very low pad material and had worn them out by the end of the day. The smaller brakes do get fade issues anyway hence why I swapped mine out.
- 3,211
- Brisbane
- Punknoodle_Nick
- 1,759
- NZ
Maybe, I never asked him why that was. Heel toe is something I need to learn. I was just doing normal down shifts. I can rev match downshifts but not while braking. Under hard braking into turn one there were some small bumps and changing into 2nd made the tyres chrip a bit.
- 1,759
- NZ
The day after the track day I took off work so I could rest. I took this time to wash the car although the body didn't really need much. What got it more dirty was a swarm of little flies I drove through on the way to the track. The wheels on the other hand got very dirty from brake dust and tyre rubber.
This is probably the darkest I have seen these wheels with an even coating of brake dust. Road dirt only tends to stick on the lip and the leading edge of the spokes. This time it was all over the wheel.
Dusty Spokes Before
Accelerated tyre wear is obviously something that track driving causes. This was definitely the case here but after a 2 hour highway drive home the signs of this had mostly gone. This is the right rear tyre. It looks fine as this is probably the least stressed tyre on Manfeild due to the majority of the corners being right handers.
Right Rear Tyre
On the other hand the front left was quite a bit hotter therefor having more wear. You can still see some melted rubber on the tread block edges. It was far worse after a 20min session on the track.
Front Left Tyre
JDM Shoshinsha Mark L Plates I bought when I was in Japan. These were the car put on as I was completely new to track driving. I felt they were quite fitting for this situation and if people knew what they meant it wouldn't be so silly to have them on the car.
An overall shot prior to any cleaning. You can see the brake rotors have darker centres to the wear face. This came off after a drive up the street with my foot on the brake. Back to normal now even silver now.
As you can see there is quite a lot of brake pad material on the barrel being thrown out from the rotor. The slots in the rotor definitely work as they had pad material in them filling up about a 1/4 of the groover on the trailing edge.
A bit of pad dust on the caliper. These calipers are coated in CarPro DLUX so most of it just comes off with a spray of the hose.
The centre caps never seem to get dirty with is good.
A bit of tyre rubber on the wheel lip. This came off very easy as the wheels have a coat of wax on them to help with cleaning.
An overall of the car. Still very clean except for the rather dark front wheels.
These are the cleaning products used. CarPro RESET for the body paint once the wheels are clean. AMMO PLUM for removing most of the wheel dirt without having to touch them too much reducing scratching. AMMO BRUTE for a final clean to soap up the wheel with a soft cloth.
Before AMMO PLUM
PLUM sprayed on and let sit for a short time.
I have a specific wheel brush for cleaning around the lug nuts and other tight spots on the wheels and brakes. Yes it's just a boar hair paint brush with electrical insulation tape wrapped around the metal parts to stop scratching. It works very well.
Getting into the calipers with the brush
Going over the Advan Racing logo
It's great for getting around the air valve. This is a spot many people miss when washing wheels.
PLUM after sitting for 2 minutes and using the brush on the above parts. This has broken up and dragged the majority of the brake dust off the wheel.
PLUM After 2 Minutes Close Up
This is after just spraying on PLUM and hosing it off. No agitation apart from the bits shown above. It's impressive stuff.
You can still see some dirt if you look closely. Also note the brake caliper has water beading on it where the wheel doesn't as much. This is due to the 2 layers of CarPro DLUX and the wheels only have a specific wheel wax. I will soon be adding DLUX to the wheels to get this same affect. It will make cleaning the wheels that much easier. You can knock off most dirt with just a hose.
Dusty Spokes Before
So a side by side comparison. Before and after below.
After a full wash with AMMO BRUTE and drying with a mircofibre cloth specifically for wheels only.
I have green cloths for wheels, blue for windows and yellow for paint. OCD much?
So looking after the wheels by protecting them and cleaning them regularly has paid off to keep them nice even after subjecting them to this sort of harsh treatment.
This is probably the darkest I have seen these wheels with an even coating of brake dust. Road dirt only tends to stick on the lip and the leading edge of the spokes. This time it was all over the wheel.
Dusty Spokes Before
Accelerated tyre wear is obviously something that track driving causes. This was definitely the case here but after a 2 hour highway drive home the signs of this had mostly gone. This is the right rear tyre. It looks fine as this is probably the least stressed tyre on Manfeild due to the majority of the corners being right handers.
Right Rear Tyre
On the other hand the front left was quite a bit hotter therefor having more wear. You can still see some melted rubber on the tread block edges. It was far worse after a 20min session on the track.
Front Left Tyre
JDM Shoshinsha Mark L Plates I bought when I was in Japan. These were the car put on as I was completely new to track driving. I felt they were quite fitting for this situation and if people knew what they meant it wouldn't be so silly to have them on the car.
An overall shot prior to any cleaning. You can see the brake rotors have darker centres to the wear face. This came off after a drive up the street with my foot on the brake. Back to normal now even silver now.
As you can see there is quite a lot of brake pad material on the barrel being thrown out from the rotor. The slots in the rotor definitely work as they had pad material in them filling up about a 1/4 of the groover on the trailing edge.
A bit of pad dust on the caliper. These calipers are coated in CarPro DLUX so most of it just comes off with a spray of the hose.
The centre caps never seem to get dirty with is good.
A bit of tyre rubber on the wheel lip. This came off very easy as the wheels have a coat of wax on them to help with cleaning.
An overall of the car. Still very clean except for the rather dark front wheels.
These are the cleaning products used. CarPro RESET for the body paint once the wheels are clean. AMMO PLUM for removing most of the wheel dirt without having to touch them too much reducing scratching. AMMO BRUTE for a final clean to soap up the wheel with a soft cloth.
Before AMMO PLUM
PLUM sprayed on and let sit for a short time.
I have a specific wheel brush for cleaning around the lug nuts and other tight spots on the wheels and brakes. Yes it's just a boar hair paint brush with electrical insulation tape wrapped around the metal parts to stop scratching. It works very well.
Getting into the calipers with the brush
Going over the Advan Racing logo
It's great for getting around the air valve. This is a spot many people miss when washing wheels.
PLUM after sitting for 2 minutes and using the brush on the above parts. This has broken up and dragged the majority of the brake dust off the wheel.
PLUM After 2 Minutes Close Up
This is after just spraying on PLUM and hosing it off. No agitation apart from the bits shown above. It's impressive stuff.
You can still see some dirt if you look closely. Also note the brake caliper has water beading on it where the wheel doesn't as much. This is due to the 2 layers of CarPro DLUX and the wheels only have a specific wheel wax. I will soon be adding DLUX to the wheels to get this same affect. It will make cleaning the wheels that much easier. You can knock off most dirt with just a hose.
Dusty Spokes Before
So a side by side comparison. Before and after below.
After a full wash with AMMO BRUTE and drying with a mircofibre cloth specifically for wheels only.
I have green cloths for wheels, blue for windows and yellow for paint. OCD much?
So looking after the wheels by protecting them and cleaning them regularly has paid off to keep them nice even after subjecting them to this sort of harsh treatment.
Last edited:
- 13,831
- Down under
Awesome pictorial dude and equally awesome results on the wheels 👍 Very interesting on the tyre wear too - meant to ask how you found the RE003s on track earlier this week.
- 1,759
- NZ
I found the RE003 very good for my driving skill and how fast I was driving. I didn't really notice any lack of grip or overheating in them. At no point did I start to slide the car so I guess I wasn't right at the limit of grip. I'd rather stay on the track than damage my car and I still needed to get home so just enjoyed the speed I was going.
- 1,759
- NZ
Typical for this car, take it to a motorsport event and something has to break or stop working properly.
First event the air filter got full of dust from the gravel hillclimb and the idle valve filled up with dust so the car stopped idling.
Second event I was very harsh on the gearbox so it started to crunch a bit but that is now mostly fixed with updated gear linkage parts. If anything it's better than it was before I bought the car 9.5 years ago.
Third, I can't recall exactly but it did get covered in cow poo.
Fast forward 8 years and the 4th event killed the alternator. This must be the 6th time I have had some sort of alternator problems.
1. It was just worn out with about 160,000km on it.
2. The 'new' reconditioned one blew a diode 1 month after purchase.
3. The main pivot bolt came loose and disappeared so I used a head bolt from my old 2E engine to replace that.
4. Said head bolt snapped and had to remove that and find the correct bolt
5. Voltage regulator died
6. This current problem but luckily the 5th time it died sort of helped fix but caused this problem.
So I get home from the track day and put the car away in the garage for the week. I go to start it on the Sunday and nothing. I found that I had left my LED map light on so I thought this had drained the battery. I jumper the car with the Demio and everything is normal, take it for a drive to charge the battery and put it back in the garage for the next week. I come back to the car on the Saturday and it's dead again. So maybe the drive wasn't long enough. Jumper it again and all good until about 20 seconds later and the wonderful MR2 3 lights of death come up and I smell something like burning rubber. Maybe the belt is loose. Checked it but it's fine.
Ok, another dead alternator in an MR2. Nothing out of the ordinary really. So I proceed to pull it out for the I don't know how many times and open it up. Test the diodes and they are fine, it has a brand new voltage regulator in it so I hope it's not that. Took it with me to my local mechanic when taking the Demio for a WOF to see if they could test it. They weren't really able to test each part individually but suggested I open it up again and check the brushes and slip rings. I hadn't got a chance to do this at home prior to heading out. Opening it up and checking these revealed the problem.
Somehow grease had got into the brushes, made its way onto the slip ring and dried out from the heat. This stopped the brushes contacting the slip ring and stopping the charging.
Also the heat played havoc with the brushes and housing. The top brush no longer pressed against the slip ring and the spring pushing it had melted through the back of the housing. Luckily the last time it failed the auto electrician replaced the brushes and housing so I had a spare to reinstall. Stuffed with the orange cover.
You can see a little melted bump on the black on where the spring melted through.
Swapped over the orange cover to the better working one.
Cleaned up the slip rings with some sandpaper. They aren't in the best condition.
The mess of items removed to get at the alternator. I use a little pry lever to get the alternator off it's pivot bracket.
Put it all back together and back in the car and it now seems to work. Need to charge my battery properly with a wall charger before I do anymore driving.
I'm very happy it was a free fix.
First event the air filter got full of dust from the gravel hillclimb and the idle valve filled up with dust so the car stopped idling.
Second event I was very harsh on the gearbox so it started to crunch a bit but that is now mostly fixed with updated gear linkage parts. If anything it's better than it was before I bought the car 9.5 years ago.
Third, I can't recall exactly but it did get covered in cow poo.
Fast forward 8 years and the 4th event killed the alternator. This must be the 6th time I have had some sort of alternator problems.
1. It was just worn out with about 160,000km on it.
2. The 'new' reconditioned one blew a diode 1 month after purchase.
3. The main pivot bolt came loose and disappeared so I used a head bolt from my old 2E engine to replace that.
4. Said head bolt snapped and had to remove that and find the correct bolt
5. Voltage regulator died
6. This current problem but luckily the 5th time it died sort of helped fix but caused this problem.
So I get home from the track day and put the car away in the garage for the week. I go to start it on the Sunday and nothing. I found that I had left my LED map light on so I thought this had drained the battery. I jumper the car with the Demio and everything is normal, take it for a drive to charge the battery and put it back in the garage for the next week. I come back to the car on the Saturday and it's dead again. So maybe the drive wasn't long enough. Jumper it again and all good until about 20 seconds later and the wonderful MR2 3 lights of death come up and I smell something like burning rubber. Maybe the belt is loose. Checked it but it's fine.
Ok, another dead alternator in an MR2. Nothing out of the ordinary really. So I proceed to pull it out for the I don't know how many times and open it up. Test the diodes and they are fine, it has a brand new voltage regulator in it so I hope it's not that. Took it with me to my local mechanic when taking the Demio for a WOF to see if they could test it. They weren't really able to test each part individually but suggested I open it up again and check the brushes and slip rings. I hadn't got a chance to do this at home prior to heading out. Opening it up and checking these revealed the problem.
Somehow grease had got into the brushes, made its way onto the slip ring and dried out from the heat. This stopped the brushes contacting the slip ring and stopping the charging.
Also the heat played havoc with the brushes and housing. The top brush no longer pressed against the slip ring and the spring pushing it had melted through the back of the housing. Luckily the last time it failed the auto electrician replaced the brushes and housing so I had a spare to reinstall. Stuffed with the orange cover.
You can see a little melted bump on the black on where the spring melted through.
Swapped over the orange cover to the better working one.
Cleaned up the slip rings with some sandpaper. They aren't in the best condition.
The mess of items removed to get at the alternator. I use a little pry lever to get the alternator off it's pivot bracket.
Put it all back together and back in the car and it now seems to work. Need to charge my battery properly with a wall charger before I do anymore driving.
I'm very happy it was a free fix.
- 1,759
- NZ
If you look in the wrong place they are $600. MR2 alternators can be quite powerful too. Between 90-110Amps. Electro-Hydraulic powersteering needs a bit of power to run.
My mechanic said I should only be paying about $200 so next time I have an issue I might go see him. In NZ we fix and repair rather than replace....
I've saved plenty of money doing it this way, such as this fix which was free.
- 2,235
- Norway
Owning old cars you NEED to know how to split stuff and rebuild. Usually its worh it putting some spare time into it. With exceptions of course, US muscle stuff being one of them.
Parts prices on Japanese stiff tend to very high. But then the quality and life expectancy of the components is usually very good as well.
Parts prices on Japanese stiff tend to very high. But then the quality and life expectancy of the components is usually very good as well.
