Excalibur

Have you put injector cleaner into your fuel?

Oiled your throttle pedal and checked your cable is running freely?

These are all basics you can do yourself before you go to a mechanic

I think fuel pumps (in tank) can go anytime from 200k on and I would replace the fuel filter before this

Hi.

People need a bit more information.

How many k's has your car done?

It is most likely something simple. Celicas are solid cars.

Have you checked your air filter or replaced it with a high flow one?

Have you looked under the bonnet to see if there is slack in your throttle cable? Put in new spark plugs?

Read my thread on 'SS3 Performance and Handling Modifications' and you should gain an extra 20% power plus improve your fuel economy.

The guys are right in saying forget about bigger injectors. I phoned the states and was about to order some, but the guy told me mine were good up to 300hp. Bigger injectors will muck up your computer and fuel economy so you would need a new computer

And porting? Yes it will work, but save it for when you need a new set of rings. There are many other, simpler things you can do. Every 6 kg of weight you lose on your car will improve acceleration and basically frees up 1 hp. This is a trick of the racing world. Also start with centrifugal weight. 2 kilos saved on your 2 front tyres is also about a 2 hp gain

To start with i would recommend

- Use a hi flow filter

- Dont drive with a full tank. It wears out your engine and decreases braking. Fill to ¼ or 1/3 of a tank only.

This will free up about 6hp. You have 2 gallons or 100k on reserve

.

- Get rid of the spare wheel, jack, brace and wheel cover (17kg or 3 hp gain) and carry a can of tyre foam

- Use lightweight Toyo T1R's on the front. They are one kilo lighther than most other tyres

- Lighweight mags such as 16" Volks at 5.3 kg will free up an extra 2 or 3 hp

- Put in a pod or ram situated facing into a cool air flow

- Gain 3hp by using the Buddy Club Racing Spec Condenser

- Get a carbon fibre bonnet and use a Vertex 440A racing battery at 5.5kg

Jeez mate. You are going way over board, If you want another 20% power read my thread on SS3 modifications. The things I have done to my car will make yours fly like a rocket, as well as increasing engine efficiency and life.

I dont quite understand why you say these shocks come with 'lowering springs'? As lowering springs are a different product. Most adjustables are lower anyway by about 40mm. Lowering springs are not a good idea as they take travel out of your shock which will wear them out quicker. I was going through a shock a year with my hard driving.

And have you used coilovers before? Because they arent comfortable. The first month they will almost bang the fillings out of your teeth..esp if you have 17 inch wheels. Your stock shocks are adequate. They are nice and stiff and have the extra bonus of comfort. I would stick with stock on your car.

A good shock like Tein Super Street will keep the maximum piston travel for a lowered ride. They are also the 'softest' apparently

Another way to make it more stable is to use 15mm spacers as they do on race cars (can be a hassle to remove) or to use a slightly lower offset rim.

True. i spent about 2 months researching them, mostly on uk sites and only found 2 that gripped well in the wet. Toyos and GT Radial HPX and 228's. The Toyos definetly being the quietest, even though tyre dealers think the GT radial is the quietest tyre. Gt has stiffer sidewalls and is more of a 'square' tyre. I think there are some Yokohamas like the Advans that are good to.

The Michelin Pilot Sport 3 does have good reviews. But they dont make them in my size and as you say, too noisy.

And as for Bridgestone Ecopias. They are a deathtrap and if you read reviews you will see they dont perform well in wet braking

I hear waht youre saying. Personally I think no-one should push their car unless they have specifically set it up for performance driving. Safetys not a problem for me as my car has a very stable platform with 15mm spacers, Tein Suspension, Volk rims and 100kg shaved off the body. The Teos are very predictable in the wet and easy to control if they slide. For example, once i braked to avoid a bird at 120k, locked up the abs and steered around it with the abs on ful lock. The car didnt sway or roll at all.

Did your celica come out with 16's? Because I think they are a far better tyre for that car - quiter, more comfortable and more grip as they wont skip on bumpy, wet corners like 17's will

No. For me a large part of the driving experience is getting there in comfort and feeling more relaxed. I do 26,000k a year. Yes im older now at 50 and slowing down. Whats your model like for raod noise with those 17's? Mine was awful and Ive done a lot of soundproofing. I will investigate those Yokohamas.

How many k's has your car done? The most common leaks on the cambelt side of the motor are:

180,000k - the rocker cover gasket (happens on most Toyotas)

200,000k - the power steering box (just keep topping it up. They need to be removed and recod' - not expensive)

200,000k + Change the oil pump o-ring ($100) when you do your cambelt and your water pump ($75)

Not sure when cam or crank seals go, but youd want to do these at 300k

Im interested to know which tyres other drivers think are the quietest?

I found the Toyo Teo Plus to be the quietest tyre Ive had

Which would probably also include the Toyo C!S (dont fit my 15's)

Camrys are front wheel drive are they?

Coilovers are the answer and will stop 90% of your sway

I got $3000 Tein Super Streets off treade me in very good condition for $900

There are a number of groups importing direct from Japan now

Expect them to be bumpy for th efirst month, wear out your bushes and struts if they are old already

Im going ack to 15" rims as mine are still too bumpy and limit my driving on country roads

Sounds like one of your sensors has gone

or blocked air / fuel filters?

The Xtreme Chromoly flywheel did fit. But the clutch recommended by Xtreme ( Oz) in the invoice they sent me didnt

On another look I saw on the Clutchpro website (They make Xtreme), That they dont mention a lightened flywheel / clutch combo for the1998 ST202 BLMZF Beams SS3 Celica

I was avoiding machining it, but it turned out to be easy and it was balanced to 0.3 of a gram at 8000rpm

? Mines an SS3 197 stock

To anyone thinking of adding one to this model - Dont

I got one off Extreme and couldnt find a clutch to fit. Had to take the gearbox out twice and they wouldnt take the flywheel back

Couldnt find a clutch to match (ordered three) because apparently the SS3 has a different spline on the gearbox

Or it could be I have an older ST202 Gearbox

I fixed the problem by lightening my original flywheel which turned out to be an easy and cheap process

It had a series of 18 holes drilled from the outer circle. Each hole removing 50 grams of weight

Then it was sent to a marine turbo outfit to get very accurately balanced

I didnt take quite enough off

Mine was 6.4kg and I removed 1kg to make it 5.4

It needed another series of 6 holes to make it 1.3kg removed or 5.1 kg total weight

This is good for daily driving

I checked new injectors out and ended up phoning the states. There were some risky side effects at changing them and I was told my injectors were good up to 300hp

It depends what you're into. I wont say what Im into or I'll get in trouble.

17's will look good, and if its 17 x 7.5 I cant see that you would have any problems. There is plenty of space in the Celica arches. You will lose some power. About 3hp equivalent.

For road driving, performance and safety, 16's are your better option

But you can get lightweight 17's, even Volks can be got for $500 to $700 on Trade Me in NZ, and they are arguably the best rim in the world.

I like the Buddyclub SF rims. Your car should be 42 offset, but Ive just gone to 31 with no problems. Your max is about 46mm offset

Weigh those rims! You should be able to get a 17" at 7 to 7.5kg's

A lot of them weigh up to 9kg's

Im surprised your 17's scraped ..were they 17 x 7.5? I think they must have been wider or maybe the wrong offset, or lowered more than 20mm?

I drive like a maniac. My 15's would sometimes sway under hard braking at very high speeds. But the 16's I have dont seem to move at all, tho I have lightened my car a lot.

Get the weight of any rims you are thinking of buying. I carry a set of digital bathroom scales into the shop when I look at rims or a new tyre. I was going to get Advanti 17" F1's at 7.2kg but I got some 2nd hand Volk TE37C 16" x 7" at 5.3kg, 46 offset and 15mm spacers. Im glad I didnt get the heavier 17's

A lighter rim will turn easier, grip the road better and spin faster

I run 205/50 Toyo T1R's

ST204..thats the 2.2L is it?

The rule of thumb is that you can safely go up 1" or 2". After this you are putting on a rim that the cars steering and suspension is not designed for.

On ST202 Celicas with a 15" stock rim, an 18" rim will make the car 'track' or 'tramline'. This means you need to apply a constant pressure on the steering wheel because if you let go the car will follow the camber of the road and steer into the ditch. Even if your car came out with 16"s - 17" is your max.

Also remember the Celica is a noisy car. Mine was quieter with 15" rims and a LOT louder with 16"s. On one review of the new Nissan 370Z with 18" rims, they said "Dont bother turning on the stereo as you wont be able to hear it above the road noise"

A 2nd point is that you will LOSE POWER! Every inch bigger is an extra kilo of weight. My 16" Toyo T1R is actually 80gms lighter than my 15" at 8.62kg. The 17" Toyo is about 9.4 kg as lower profile tyres need a thicker sidewall. This is the worst weight as it is centrifugal weight on the outside of the wheel. Thats 1.8kg x 4 (for unsprung centrifugal weight) = 7.2kg x 2 (both driving wheels) =14.4kg. This is the equivalent of losing almost 3hp which is a lot on your car

In my opinion bigger rims are dangerous. Sure a low profile tyre 'might' give you better handling around a flat, dry corner in the city..but if the road has even the smallest bumps the wheel will start to skip and fly off the road, esp. in the wet. A car like an Evo or Altezza has particular suspension and set up to allow it to run a 17" rim.

I think the rim dealers like to sell them as then they get to provide more replacements when people hit curbs

Ok

I found out all Toyotas have fuel filters in the tank pump

My mechanic said hes had to replace some pumps around 200,000k

So hes never replaced the filter as it comes with the pump

I think I'll change mine next year

I will come back and edit this soon with a price

I have just been reading Kenshins info on how to clean the in tank fuel filter in the corolla

Can anyone tell me if the 94 -98 Celicas have these?

I know they have a fuel filter in the engine bay

And OCV filters (not valves)..where are they?

How do you get this info off Toyota?

Thanks

Hmm..ok. thanks. Maybe they have enough mass still to provide good driveability?

Driveability and economy are important for me

Im probably going to be a chicken and get the slightly lighter billet steel one

Im happy if it will knock 0.3 of a sec off my times

What about economy..did you notice a fuel consumption increase?

And I also read they make your gearbox noisier?

Can anyone tell me how their fuel economy was affected by using a lighter flywheel? Im thinking of putting in the billet steel or chromoly one. Just going for a tad lighter but not too much. Does anyone know the weights or how much lighter they are? How much they improved your ride and performance?

Dont get the 4A FE. I remember them now. A friend of mine bought a Camry Lumiere. Id never seen one, it was small and very tidy, but gutless. It was also incredibly lightweight at 1160 kg. I put in new plugs and high flow filter and it went a lot better, but it seemed to have no torque between 50 and 90k. A real dead spot. It had the 4AFE 1.8L and was an auto. I checked out its torque curve and it looked good, peaking quite low.

I took it to th egarage to see if there was anything wrong with it, and the mechanice laughed and said that particular model was really gutless!