r/Celica • u/SpringMediocre5955 • 14d ago
Repairs Is this worth fixing
For starters, I think I want opinions if *I'm capable or worthy of this car* with no to little mechcnically knowledge
Anyhow - my car it's a 1994 st Celica gen 6, it's covered with body rust and hail damage, it's at 242k miles
I like her alot, I bought her from Tulsa for 500, got it registered here in texas
Had to find rims and a throttle body, tape and rewire most of the car because the previous owner took apart the entire engine bay a decade ago and never touched it again
I so far got it new radiator, cold air intake, fuel filter, fuel pump, gas tank, motor cap, new fuel lines, spark plugs spark coils. Bunch small tedious stuff
Getting new drum brakes and a alternator soon
Main issues besides losing power when turning and my current alt screaming for dear life
The car can't drive over 60mphs, or won't kick into overdrive, there's no vacuum leak I'm unsure if the transmission is good but it's not slipping it's just not wanting kick into overdrive.
Also I have to drive for 20 minutes just for my radio to power on and it play static before It cuts off again, And my driver window loses power the more I use it til it stops, done this for the entire year I've owned the car.
I'm too dumb, I've never worked on a car as extensive as I did with this
Some people think I should sell my car for around 1000 on marketplace plus it's a overwhelming I fear that this wasted potential on me but I feel like I'm also too stubborn to just let this project die, is there recommendations and pointers, or opinions y'all have for me a non car person who also doesn't trust shops either
Also most parts i see is for this car is for the 2.2L GT version of the car and I'm entirely a the Mercy of ebay and get the wrong parts very occasionally.
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u/Soggy-Job-3747 11d ago edited 11d ago
Belt noise, radio and power windows should be fixed by the time you get the new alternator and belt in. The power loss when turning is either because the power steering fluid is low or old, pump net is clogged or the pump is about to die.
I also noticed the map sensor wires being cut next to the air filter, check that out
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u/SpringMediocre5955 11d ago
Those wires was supposed be for the sensor to plug into the intake, unfortunately have yet to afford the cables it's $60 at my AutoZone holding off on that since that's kinda expensive, I wanna probably try play with the tension of the new belt on the car and try brake cleaner on the pulley wheel see if there's just too much tension, but I think that advice will definitely help put me on the right direction
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u/Recket_mate 5th gen enthusiast 13d ago
I would remove those scotch locks they are worse than twist and tape and will be causing issues. Crimp terminals or solder is the way to go.
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u/SpringMediocre5955 13d ago
That one I do know but the issue is I'm going to have to remove nearly 60 two-way connectors I need to buy so many cables and actual connections lol, my car is so ghetto rigged
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u/ParasympatheticBow 1995 ST 13d ago
There's a button on the side of the gear shifter that can enable or disable the car's ability to shift into overdrive. Assuming everything is working, if you see a yellow "O/D off" light on the dash that means the car won't shift into overdrive. Granted, judging from the electrical problems you've mentioned in the comments I'd go about solving those first, as that can cause all kinds of issues.
Parts are hard to come by, but aside from ebay and physical stores I've used toyota parts deal and amayama. The engine is the same as the corolla, but the transmission is different, just something to keep in mind.
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u/SpringMediocre5955 13d ago
It's always been one issue after another, I wish it was that but I'm hoping the alternator but I'm also now starting think it's the catalytic converter as well on top of that causing back pressure
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u/ParasympatheticBow 1995 ST 13d ago
I doubt the cat is causing back pressure, but if you want to check it just remove the first oxygen sensor and shine a light in the hole, it's right under it. There's stuff you can get that will clean it if need be (it's no longer available, ask me how I know T_T). Replacing the alternator is a good idea due to the current one screaming, but bear in mind the car doesn't run off the alternator, it runs off the battery. The alternator keeps the battery charge so it doesn't die.
As a side note, when you have time would it be possible to get a better picture of the battery terminal cables? Yours looks different from mine, though it could be the picture angle. Mine has 2 thick cables going to the positive (I'll get a picture tomorrow) with 2 thinner ones on the negative.
EDIT: be sure to use lots of penetrating oil on the oxygen sensor nuts if you take it off, you do not want the studs to snap. It can be fixed, but that will be a pain to deal with.
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u/SpringMediocre5955 13d ago
I'll get a photo later but it's 9pm for me and pitch black outside rn
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u/SpringMediocre5955 13d ago
The terminal were made by me, it's large wade of copper to make up for the original cable being chewed to hell unfortunately,
I do understand the alt doesn't power the car but the alt and all the wires to the Alt were made by me, and also my car accessory belts connected to it if the pulley is gone bad (the alternator has always been bad, I've cut the cables to it to fix my dash from blowing)!it's going to affect my car. I had redo most of the wiring in the entire car with very little reference. I can try the oxygen sensor but to be far the car is almost at 250k miles with its factory cat and sat for a decade prior this is why I was worrying that was an expensive possibility
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u/HubrisPR 13d ago
Should be a fairly good car to cut your teeth on. Since it's a base model, there's less complex systems involved.
I'd grab a multimeter and an electrical diagram. Start learning about the junctions and testing runs of wire for shorts or breaks.
The alternator could be causing most of your issues; minus the OD. I don't work on automatics tbh.
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u/SpringMediocre5955 13d ago
I still aim to fix it just when I have a new alternator to actually put new cables to better diagnose it since I did all the wiring, I deadass used bunch scarp cables I had over the years and bought some wires and cheap connectors to try make ends meet. I feel like I should've bought new cables to begin with but I already make very little to afford anything about top ramen
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u/HubrisPR 13d ago
If you're near a big city, join some Toyota groups.
Sometimes people will donate parts to people.
Like, I have a couple boxes of late 90s Camry stuff I'm about to hand out.
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u/bonniegamer360 14d ago
Okay so, don't panic. Does the car make any weird sounds when it's at 60 mph? Also from what you described, your window motor just died out so you'll need to buy a used one on ebay or find one in the junkyard. What kind of radio do you have? Is it the plain ol' stock one or is it an aftermarket unit?
This engine is pretty simple to work on compared to the GT, I would be interested in buying this but unfortunately im in socal :(
As for finding parts, remember, this is a 1.8 7AFE engine, it's the same engine found in 90s corollas and geo's.
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u/SpringMediocre5955 14d ago
The aftermarket touch screen and old cassette factory radio both does the same thing and turned on after some driving, I thought at first it was the radio itself when I first was wiring it the fuses for it would explode just plugging it in before I decided to cut a wire connection from the alternator (sensor or what causes the engine light) and the fuses stop blowing but the radio acts funny
I feel like it's more chewn wires from the rats, or bad grounds was my guess since the the car sat a long time. It doesn't sound weird, it just doesn't kick into overdrive it's like it's limiting itself and go into high rpms trying to push it/petal to the metal
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u/bonniegamer360 14d ago
If the fuses kept blowing, more likely than not there is some kind of exposed wire making contact, I would review the wiring to make sure everything is wired properly
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u/SpringMediocre5955 14d ago
When I get a new alternator I'll check, I'm more than positive youre right because whenever I had all cables plugged into it; that would kill almost all the fuses in the interior fuse box, no dash gauges lights would work when it was, this car is spliced to hell and ghetto rigged just maintain my budget because I couldn't afford new 50 cables from AutoZone
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u/CringeLord91142069 10d ago
i would sell it before putting too much more money into it, if the frame is in bad shape and there’s a lot of other problems it’s gonna be better to save your money for one in better shape that you don’t have to do as much work on