i have recently bought a lovely condition st165 which i am thoroughly enjoying. i have, however noticed a couple of things that i wonder if other people have noticed.

1: on cold mornings while driving soon after start up, i get a whine from what i assume to be a diff @ 35mph. it dissapears once the car has warmed through. anyone else noticed this???? is it a problem??

2: on these lovely brisk mornings it takes forever and a day for the heating system to warm up, even when the temp gauge is between 1/3 & 1/2 way round. it seems to almost suddenly kick in and the heat heating system starts to warm up. wondering if theres a thermostat somewhere in the system that prevents the heater sapping engine warmth while warming up.? anyone else had this problem???

answers on an postcard (or ecard in this case)

cheers

Hi - welcome to the club.

Have you recently changed the diff and gearbox fluids? Might be worth doing this as a first step.

As far as the water is concerned its possible (likely) that your thermostat is on the way out/gone. Its a reasonably straight forward job to replace and quite cheap too.

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GT4DC Events Co-ordinator
1996 ST205 UK

WTTC

Just to add to the above. Given the age of the car I'd recommend carrying out a complete flush of the cooling system when you replace the thermostat. You can buy a kit from Halfords which includes corrosion inhibitor as a final flush.

I had to do this on my ST205 when the heater started playing up. i.e. it failed to heat more than lukewarm. I suspected the heater matrix may have become blocked so decided to flush the system. I had to let the garden hose run for some time before the water came out of the engine block crystal clear.

Following the instructions I found it took me almost a whole day to do the job properly but the result was worthwhile as I now have a nice warm car on these frosty nights!

HTH

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Don
GT4DC Chairman
1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205WRC JDM 269bhp @ 0.9bar
1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four Special GT 590bhp @ 1.8bar
1989 Van Diemen RF88/89 Formula Ford 1600
2008 Nissan Patrol GU 3.0L ZD30DDTi 154bhp

WTTC,

Changing the thermostat is a fairly simple procedure, but as suggested above i would drain the cooling system and flush it through whilst you are at it.

You can read an article on how to do this on our website (www.gtfours.co.uk)

Go to site map and it is in the first column, near the bottom labelled 'Change the thermostat and radiator' it covers all you'll need (just ignore the actual changing the rad bit - unless yours needs replacement)

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Loosey
Loosey@gt4dc.co.uk
Storm Blue JDM ST205
Super White JDM ST205
http://www.gtfours.co.uk

Some people are like a Slinky .. Not really good for anything, but they make you smile when you shove them down the stairs!

if your rear diff is whining, you will be happy to hear the 205 diff is a straight replacement. in addition, its a LSD type so cornering is even more fun with one fitted

as already mentioned, check and possibly change the transmission oils.

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Sprint ST165 aka "The 500BHP Sledgehammer" #6 in the Toyota Sprint Series. GT3071 1.9bar

thanks for the tips/responses
i bought the car 2 months ago and changed every fluid on the car within the 1st week so there shouldn't be a problem there. weird that it only makes the whine when cold? will keep you posted on what events transpire.
will be popping out to get a new thermostat this week. bring on the warmth.................
is it best to get MR T parts, or are aftermarket ones acceptable?
thanks again

elektro- Hi, the whine that you speak of...does it sound the same sort of noise that you would associate with a "Ghost" ?
Difficult to explain but if its making the noise i think it is you will undersatnd
My ST165 makes the same noise only when cold and in the winter, I bet when the summer months come along this noise will dissapear!


Check ya turbo to exhaust elbow nuts to...they WILL be loose, or even missing!

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Steve Gillies
ST-165 88 UK

www.GT4-Play.co.uk

I think you can get a Blueprint Thermostat although the Toyota one is not that expensive (at least for the ST205 its not).

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GT4DC Events Co-ordinator
1996 ST205 UK

Elektro - mine also has a slight whine when cold at 42mph, but, to be honest I am not worried about it...

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Kris
95 ST205 - slept for 10 years, now waking up...
Avensis
http://www.gtfours.co.uk
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Turbocharging - the replacement for displacement

thanks for all the quick replies.
kris: i agree, it doesn't bother me particularly, simply because it dissapears once warm. were it constant, i would be fretting somewhat.... just wondered if it was one of those 'ecentricities' these cars have.
betsy : a ghost noise is definately one way i would describe the eerie tones penetrating the cockpit on these lovely frosty mornings. will also be checking the exhaust/turbo nuts very very soon as i have thought my exhaust is getting a little louder.

just for all your amusements, i tried replacing the steering wheel this weekend. strewth. more chance of getting £50 out of gordon brown than get that baby off . i think my neighbours had cartoon like visions of me with feet planted on the dashboard desperately pulling with all my might.
think i will pop down to my local toyota specialist in bristol and buy him a drink........

yes before i forget, if anyone ives in bristol and needs one, have found a really good little toyota specialist in warmley who charge resonable rates, do what they say they will and are good honest guys.
their called 1st Choice Toyota in Warmley..

thanks again for your input. look forward to meeting you all at a meet sometime

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1989 uk st165. Forged engine running in nicely. Now to turn up the boost . . . . ..

Thought I'd say hello on here Dave.
The thermostats are about £20odd from Mr.T so go for a Toyota one.
Change all your fluids as per my PM chat with you and see how things bear up. My car whines at first when cold but I know this is because of the CSI (cold start injecto) which makes the car very sluggish at first but thats protecting your engine so it's natural.

Anyway......enjoy my (erm...yours really ) 165 mate and hope to see you soon.

Steve

update................
new thermostat fitted and now i'm back in the 21st century with a car that heats up in the morning.
wooohooooo.
cheers guys

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1989 uk st165. Forged engine running in nicely. Now to turn up the boost . . . . ..

Nice one Dave.
What else do you have on the 'To Do' list....if anything?

Steve