- Hi! Such a huge fan! I wish I could fangirl but time is important so here’s my question (and my scenario as well). I am an Uber Eats driver for Los Angeles and needless to say my car’s reliability is really important for maintaining my living. I also drive the graveyard shift since there is less traffic and I get to zip around town faster and get the hungry night people their food faster! I really like my job (the customers are always cool too) but I want to keep costs at a minimum. I found a really nice 1999 Celica GT convertible Automatic on Craigslist owned by a man living in Santa Monica asking for $1,800 and I paid him $1,640. Had 133k miles and looked to be in decent shape besides the damage on the driver’s side quarter panel. The rest of the car had original paint, no signs of rust at all and no signs of prior accidents. Body lines were all straight too besides the driver quarter panel, the drivers door looked to have been pretty much untouched by the accident and it opened and closed just fine. All windows work but I do have to push my driver window glass out a bit when rolling it up since it is a bit misaligned but the rest work fine. I touched the hood of the car when I got there to see if it had been ran (to hide cold start issues) and it was cold. I believed it more when I cranked it and it lagged to turn on a bit but then it started purring smoothly. When I test drove, it did steer a little to the left (very slight so I just assumed it was an alignment issue). Tires looked kinda old but still had a lot of thread. The battery was replaced with the cheapest Duralast option they offer (I’ve worked there too and we’re trained to tell people those eco options aren’t for long term use). Also, the spark plug wires look really blue (I’m assuming they were just replaced) and I found some drill holes where a small fuse box may have been mounted and and amp wire was ran. No other signs of audio mods though or any other mods of any kind. The car drives beautifully when under throttle and coasting and the A/C is super cold but it does shake when I turn the AC on and the Compressor starts pulling power from the engine. The revs drop and shakes but then it comes back up and idles okay. It also shakes at a standstill (like at a stop light) if the shifter is in drive and worse when the A/C is on. The Convertible top works with no issues though (heck yea!). Despite the issues I bought it anyway since it came with a smog check and the guy’s name was on the title (which is rare in LA these days due to the massive influx of private sellers selling auction junk and not registering or paying any money outside of auction fees). I even went to the guy’s house to pick up the Pink Slip which made me more comfortable with buying the car. I really love this car and I don’t even care about the damage on the quarter panel (will fix it though because of rust or can I just let it be for a while?). I’m thinking of checking the spark plugs but I’m scared the alternator is giving out because of a foolish install and wanted to ask if you’d recommend just replacing the whole electrical system which would consist of the battery (of course), the alternator, the sparks plugs, and the distributor? I think there is also a leak since the power steering pump looks wet. Maybe its oil leaking onto it from the valve cover? I’m thinking of replacing that and spark plug tubes. I was also thinking I may as well check for head gasket leaks with a tester. I hope the power steering pump is okay since it doesn’t make any whiny noises or anything.I really love this car and planning to fix the quarter panel and buff the whole body one day and maybe even mod it a little bit for sportier handling and more power 😉 Right now though I just need it to drive reliably and get LA their food, need your help Scotty where should I start?!
- Check out my ride : https://ibb.co/n6qTGgf
https://ibb.co/BKdLHgg
https://ibb.co/BtrV7r1
I'm not a mechanic so plse take what I say with a grain of salt but if it had a slight issue starting and idles poorly I think maybe it's worth checking out if the alternator might be the problem because that's whas responsible for starting the engine and keeping it running right?
I also wouldn't bother replacing the entire assembly I would try to replace only the certain parts where the problem seems to come from like you've got new spark plugs I would probably just leave those.
I think you have a very valid point and yes I might replace the alternator for sure along with that cheap economy battery.
Could be your power steering pump, but can also be leaky p/s hoses. I had a different vehicle where the p/s hoses were leaky and made a mess of everything in the vicinity. What does the leaky fluid feel like? Oil is more viscous (thicker) than P/S fluid, So if it's runny, like water and slimy it's probably p/s fluid; where as oil (even though slippery) will have a heavier feel to it. You're in a dry climate, so wouldn't worry about the quarter panel right away. Get it mechanically up to snuff and then do the body work....Unless it bothers ya a lot 🤣
Hi thank you so much for the help and yes the fluid did feel a bit thin and looked wet-ish I am going to check out if there are any leaks in the hoses since maybe they’ve never been replaced. I’ll update with what I find!
As far as the mystery fluid, that definitely sounds like a P/S leak but there's an easy way to be sure. Go to your local parts store and get some UV dye for the P/S system. Power wash your engine bay to remove all existing oil and grease, and top off your P/S fluid, adding UV dye in the process. Drive for a day or so, wait for nighttime, and hit your engine compartment with a blacklight. All P/S fluid will glow bright green under the blacklight, and you'll find the source of your P/S leak. They sell that dye for most fluids on your car, including transmission fluid and A/C refrigerant as well so you can chase all kinds of leaks. I actually used that technique several years ago to diagnose a bad P/S leak on my 1998 Corolla, which I'm willing to bet is insanely similar mechanically to your Celica.
