TheVDM

Didn't think of that! The battery was a spare that used to live in the shed with an inverter on it so it's probably not in the best condition but does crank well and holds charge well. A new 005 battery is in the pipeline for later this year so if that is the issue at least it won't add any expense, it'll just shift around my purchasing priorities

Glad somebody asked, I was wondering what it was too

OK... So every now and again I get in the Celica to go for a drive, turn the key past the first and second notch, everything lights up on the dash just as it should. Then when I turn the key to the starter position I get a relay click and everything goes dead! This to me sounds very much like a bad earth on the gearbox. If I pop the bonnet and lightly touch the positive terminal (well not the terminal, but the rubber cap that isolates it) the relay clicks and everything is back to normal. The battery terminals and terminal clamps are clean and have a good connection and the gearbox earth strap doesn't appear to be corroded, although I haven't delved too deep as the gearbox is being changed next week anyway. Has anybody else experienced an issue like this on their car (or specifically a 5th Gen Celica), if so what was the cause?

That's good news, rust is always my biggest concern as I can use a spanner but have little to no skill with welding gear!

I had a similar issue a few years back in my old Rover 800, it was caused by reversing onto the drive at a funny angle and clipping the tale pipe on the kerb. All you should need is a new back box.

It would appear I have no leaks and the grinder made short work of it all. Thank you all for the advice, I feel like I've got a new car now Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

I don't think it leaks, only one way to find out [emoji38] I do own a fire extinguisher for all it would be worth.

I've had mine all of 9 months now, so far I've covered about 2,500 trouble free miles (it's a second car for tinkering with)

Would your recommend the aerosol or the bottle? It would probably be worth investing in some anyway as I have a gearbox to remove next month

Thank you ams, I didn't think of getting the blow torch out. I've just picked my daughter up from nursery so probably won't get a chance now until Sunday. I'll give lots of heat a go and try and break the seal on the nuts. If not I might try drilling them out as I've got a fresh set of nuts ready and waiting.

Hi all, what's the best advice anybody can offer for undoing the bolts that hold the back box on? I've soaked it in a lifetime supply of WD-40, I've knocked it about a bit to release any loose dirt/rust and I cannot for the life of me undo those bloomin' bolts. Should I just get the angle grinder out or is there a secret to undoing the bolts?

Back again, I love getting post This time it's a matching alloy to go in the boot as a spare. It was only £30 delivered and came with 6mm of tread. Ok, it's got a bit of curbing on it, but it's only a spare.

And here it is, installed and working perfectly. It may have taken a while to arrive, but it was still £20 (including P+P) well spent

It finally arrived... An original CD player for the 5th Gen, all be it from an MR2. It came attached to a cassette deck (missing fascia), but all I want is the CD unit as my cassette deck/radio works perfectly

Perhaps bigger discs again are required

I've only ever driven manuals, the gearbox on the Celica has had a crunch ever since I bought it (earlier this month) so I'm glad to say the problem with it isn't me

In a manual?

Do you have any recommendations for a good quality gearbox oil?

Cool, I'll go for some new fluid in the box. I've just got back from picking the other half up from work and noticed that it was crunching again until everything was warm again (a bit longer than the engine warming up) so there's a chance that the oil in there is naff.

The synchromesh on my gearbox has been crunching when dropping down into second gear since I bought it. I know that it had been sitting for a few weeks before I bought it. Since I've owned it I've been avoiding/being careful with dropping down into second gear. Today I was driving the Celica in auto pilot as it's currently being used as a daily drive as my other car is off the road for MoT work, coming back from my daily errands earlier on I noticed that I'd been dropping down to second gear and it was no longer crunching, so spent the rest of my drive home consciously dropping down to second from 3rd and 4th... It only crunched when I tried dropping to second at 40mph (not my usual driving style), other than that it seems fine. Is it possible that the synchromesh isn't actually worn but was just a bit sticky after sitting for a while? I don't know much about the innards of gearboxes so haven't got a clue how they work or if that's possible. If it is possible it's just sticky I'm guessing a transmission fluid change will help it out.

I had 2 deliveries today, the first to arrive was a courier with a set of Gen 5 boot struts to save my head. The second delivery was a bundle of items from the postie, a 1990 Toyota Sports range brochure, a 1990 Toyota price list and the all important club membership pack