The Series 6 Toyota Celica, from 1994 - 1999 is often preferred over the
last, Series 7 1999-2005 model. It has a "retro" look about
the headlamps but a very slick, modern shape. This was taken on Dartmoor, near Plymouth.
Suspension
Now for something useful. If you own a 1994-1999 Celica, and have done
around 60,000 miles or more, you may have noticed a clunk / clonk noise from
the back or underside of the car. This can happen when going over bumps
or when braking lightly. The cause is wonderfully simple and cheap
to solve. There are two Anti Roll Bar Bushes, and even slight wear
in these will cause noises.
The split is supposed to be there, but the wear in the centre bore is not.
These cost about a fiver each at your Toyota dealership, and any mechanic
can fit them both in just a few moments, so don't pay too much to have them
fitted. My mechanic said "It took longer to jack the car up than to
fit them". The part number is T488818-20380 (Stabilizer bush N/STK),
and you will require two of them. Don't fit one and have to go fit
the other a few months later like I did! I've been told by two readers
that the same problem applies to the earlier series of Celica which ran up
until 1994, but I don't have the part numbers for the earlier models.
If clonks are only at low speed when going over bumps, you may have worn out a rear wheel control arm. There are four of these, two with adjusters to set the rear wheel alignment. In my case, after a lot of driving through poor quality country roads, the bush developed slack in the nearside non-adjustable control arm. The whole arm had to be replaced at a cost of some £80, part number T48710-20320.
Gearbox
Since we are talking about possible faults as these cars get older, I know I'm not the only one to have had this gearbox fault: After being (Toyota dealership) serviced with a gearbox oil change, I found the gearbox was horrible to use when cold, it would crash into 2nd and 3rd gears until warmed up. Even when warm it was notchy. A good mechanic (not Toyota dealer) repaired this by replacement of 2nd and 3rd Synchro rings and some needle bearings (email me if you need more info, I'll try to dig it out). While there, since the car had done over 60,000 miles at that point, a new clutch was fitted. Unfortunately this had a chance effect of fracturing a cable to the front left wheel ABS sensor so this had to be replaced too. The bill was a depressing £900. Some years later, the car has behaved itself impeccably, so I've forgiven it for this failing. Many years later, and on my wedding day, the car did break down for the first time ever! The clutch pedal went to the floor but the car remained in gear. Had I thought about it, I could have pulled the pedal up by force and it would have worked, but the fault comes back. Replacement master and slave cylinder seals plus fluid solved the problem permanently.
Aerial
If the electric aerial jams, it doesn't have to be replaced. If you're lucky you can fix it like this: Switch the radio on and leave it on. Undo the top nut holding the aerial to the wing. Pull the broken mast up and away from the aerial body. Fit a new mast, available from a Toyota dealer for around £20 by inserting the toothed nylon rack into the aerial body. Switch the radio off and the aerial should retract, refit top nut. If like me you are less lucky, the nylon flexible rack will have snapped off inside the body. Take the interior panel off inside the boot, and remove the aerial from inside, after pulling the old mast off as best you can. You will need to take the aerial apart and get the broken rack segment out before fitting the new mast. I have access to a 12V current limited power supply in my workshop which I used to drive the motor manually and test that I had it correctly reassembled before refitting to the car. If you don't have this, take it back to the boot of the car and test it there with the car's connector before fully refitting. This job took me about an hour and saved me having to buy a £200 replacement aerial, so was well worth the trouble.
Alarm and locks
A problem I've had which could affect all Toyota cars and also others which use the same type of alarm / immobiliser unit, is weak alarm control box batteries. The result can be that the alarm unit will get confused if you replace the vehicle battery or have to disconnect it for some other reason. You may then find that the alarm / immobiliser will not set when you press the remote control key, or that it will not unset (so you can't start the engine!), or it will do something else completely illogical like leave the indicators permanently illuminated. Fitting new batteries in the alarm / immobiliser may be a possibility, but in the short term you will probably just want to get the unit running again. I've found the following to be a solution, but take no responsibility should this not work for you. First use the "castle key" to switch the alarm sounder off, if you don't have this then the following will be a noisy experience! Disconnect and reconnect the car battery. Open a door, and the indicators should flash showing that the alarm is activated. If this does not happen, reconnect the battery, disconnect, open the door again, and repeat sequence until such time as the indicators do flash. Now press the keyfob button to switch off the alarm. No response? Press and hold the button for several seconds, then press once more. No response still? Then disconnect the battery for a few seconds, reconnect, and go through the keyfob button pressing sequence again. You may need to do this repeatedly, perhaps 100 times or so if you're unlucky. Eventually you should hear the central locking operate when you press the button. Don't disconnect the battery again! Attach the battery terminal securely, remove the castle key, and give thanks that it's all working properly again.
Another hint given to me by a reader: "Remove back off the key fob (remove battery power) THEN... Press the buttons simultaneously!!! (all well away from vehicle). Replace back of fob. Now aimed at the car press the unlock button TWICE - side blinkers should now flash and central locking unlock!!!" This would appear to be resetting the rolling codes back to the start point and the alarm must be built to always accept the very first code if sent twice. Seems plausible and has been confirmed to work on the Generation 6 Celica.
One keyfob failed on me, the LED did not light and the car did not respond. The cause was a fractured leg on the LED itself. The current for the keyfob electronics flows through the LED first, it is in series. I fitted a white 3mm LED to replace it, which works very well and looks smart.
Don't do the following on a very icy cold day: Start the car, lock the doors from the inside, and then decide to get out to scrape some more ice off the car. If you do this, there is a risk that the driver's door will close behind you AND LOCK SHUT. What can happen is the ice prevents the door from unlocking properly when you get out. Now you are left standing outside the locked car, engine running, keys inside. Believe me, you feel like a fool. The solution is to poke a stiff wire into the car past a front window (they are frameless), and actuate a window winder or door lock switch.
Steering and tyres
I'm yet to find any owner of this type of Celica, who can honestly say the steering is perfectly central. It's only fractionally off-centre, almost unnoticeable unless of course you are the sort of exacting person who drives a Celica! This effect will not clear up with tracking setup, not even professional four-wheel tracking alignment. However, apart from being slightly irritating, it does no harm to tyres nor car handling. Fortunately, the car does not suffer at all from torque-steer. This is the effect seen in many front-wheel drive cars, and was almost unimaginably bad on the mid-1980's Vauxhall Cavaliers, whereby the steering pulls to one side under acceleration. With 172bhp available, it's just as well the Celica has been carefully designed to completely avoid this phenomenon.
The standard alloy roadwheels for the UK spec Celica GT are 205 55/R15 V-rated. I would highly recommend the Goodyear Eagle Ventura as ideal tyres for demanding driving including poor roads which suffer from flooding. This is exactly what I have to do each day on the way to work and back! However the Good Eagle Ventura range has been discontinued, and stocks are almost exhausted. The replacement Goodyear Eagle Hydragrip is not made in the size for the Celica as of 2006. I'm told this size is not popular any more and may not be manufactured in modern tyre designs. The Goodyear Eagle NTC5 though available, is a poor relation for wet weather handling, and is better suited to shopping trips. So until or if Goodyear are persuaded to do the 205 55/R15 size Hydragrip, you may have to tolerate reduced wet weather performance from your Celica.
The tyre pressures indicated inside the driver's door post, seem very high. You might be tempted to set them a little lower, or your tyresmiths may just set them on the low side. The result will probably be kackered tyre treads on the edges. This can even look like the tyres have been damaged by mistracking.
Parts
For parts you can try: Toyota Celica Breakers 01579 383879, Moss-Side Motor Bodyworks, Florence Road. Kelly Bray, Callington, Cornwall. PL17 8EG, You can email them but if you phone them up, you'll find them very knowledgeable. As well as used parts, they stock a very wide range of original Toyota parts at excellent discount prices for Celica, Supra and MR2 cars as well as other Toyotas. City Auto Salvage in Sheffield also stock used Celica parts. Of course Toyota dealerships still stock all important components for these cars, and consumables such as brakes and clutches are not overpriced.
Also see the Toyota Celica Club in the UK.
An advert from a reader, contact me if you are interested in this used GT4 Turbo and I will forward to the seller. March 2006: "Live in Worcester UK (or could post it) Celica ST185(I) second hand turbo unit from toyota celica breakers with three mounths warrenty Would like to sell for 188ukp".
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