SERIOUS car problem

[canadian]

I just got the car (87 supra turbo 5spd) on the road and insured 2 weeks ago after a dreadful month of failing inspections...

Now that it's working I have been driving it a little bit around town.
Yesterday I was driving in the rain and while turning left at a stop light and shifting from 2nd to 3rd the car stalls for no aparent reason. I just assume it was driver error.
I was driving a few hours later and was waiting at a 4 way stop and again, the car stalls this time while in first. These are the first 2 times I ever stalled the car like this...
Later again at night this time I am trying to cross an intersection and go to shift and AGAIN the car stalls...

The car starts up fine, so I don't know whats wrong.

I go to pick up my sister last night at around 12:00 am I go in the car, start it, and go to pull out of my parking space behind the house and the steering is VERY hard to move. I drive down and go to turn the corner and AGAIN I can BARELYmove the steering wheel. It feels like I have NO power steering at all, or something is seized. It gets easier to steer at higher speeds but still is very hard. I thought about turning around but had nothing else to drive and didn't see anyone out driving. I also notice my dash light for my BATTERY and my emergency BRAKE is on too. BUT my brake is off all the way...
After driving for 20 minutes at 12:00 am last night to pick up my sister we get home and pull in the alley behind my house where I park the car. There are zero lights but our motion sensored light that turns on for 10 or so seconds. My sister gets out of the car before me and notices steam/smoke coming from the front of the car. I wait for the light to come back on and notice it too. I open the hood and there is this hissing sort of sound coming from the radiator cap it sounded like. It was very wet and cold out so I couldn't tell if the steam/smoke was just the heat off the engine in the air (simular to seeing your breath on a cold day in the air) or what it was. I had to go to work this morning so I left it for the night...

I check my engine oil and its normal. I check the overflow coolant resivoir and it is about 1/6-1/4 full...less than normal. I check my belts and they are all intact (thinkin about power steering problem...)
I pull my truck out of the garage this afternoon and go to pull the car in, and again the steering is very stiff. I let it idle in the garage while I take a look under the hood. I peek under and my FAN isn't barely moving. It looks like its fighting to move and the engine is making unusual sounds. I quickly get inside the car and shut it off.

Now I cannot figure out why these problems happened, and why they all came at once...

Does anyone know what is wrong with the steering, fan, interior dash lights for the battery and brake, along with the radiator cap,,,or something in that area making a hissing or simular sound????

This is very serious as it is my only transportation and I need to drive it ASAP...

What is wrong? Is something seized? Blown? :S

Thanks

 

[SupraJDS]

The steering problem your having sounds like something that happened to me, Was the car sitting for awhile? Did you add any fluid in the power steering?
Next time try to shorten what your trying to say,alot of people don't want to read stories.

Josh

 

[xXxICExXx]

Never had that problem with my supra, considering its only at some 70k odd miles so its got tons of life left in it and minimal problems. However, my last car my Trans Am did that same thing too when i bought it, it had lights flickering, STIFF steering, nasty stalling all over town where my whole car would lock up and the fan would barely turn sometimes....there was a source in my car that was sucking up all the power from the battery so once i disconnected that it solved the problem. Have you checked out the alternator maybe? I dont know about the radiator hissing, keep in mind that could be another seperate problem on its own. Before you do anything else though try this:

http://www.cygnusx1.net/supra/techtip/engineerrorcodes.html

 

[Facime]

I dunno if the power steering may be related but I bet you siezed the water pump.

did you hear squeeling coming from under the hood when you were driving it the night before?

double check all your belts, and make sure all the belt driven accesories turn freely.

 

[ChadMKIII]

Josh, I think thats about the shortest he could've gotten, sounds like a ton of weird probs.

Funny, my parent's 2000 Olds Silhouette van has almost all those probs (minus the smoke and fan)

So, power steering first off. Sadly, I don't know if the Supe is recirc-ball or rack/pinion (could someone tell me what it is?). So this may not have anything to do with it anyway. But, our rack and pinion housing on the Olds is actually broken, and leaks fluid like crazy. At low speeds, there might as well not even be any power steering. When we hit the gas it free's up.

For the fan, have you checked the fan clutch? Will it move if you try to push it at low speeds? If it spins SUPER easily, there is a good chance that is that problem.

Or, of course, everything could be interconnected (most likely-things are never cheap ) Perhaps your water pump? Since its connected to the rest of the accessories, it could be causing the fan and steam probs, and perhaps sloing donw the pwr strng pump too. Iono.

As for the electrical, our Olds has the Brake and TCS Off lights on all the time. We just kinda ignore em. So, that really wasn't any help. But it really sucks that you have all those problems. If you have a good mechanic you go to, see if he'll just glance and give you his opinion, nothing like first hand opinon.

EDIT: Yay, WeezL agrees on the water pump!

 

[xXxICExXx]

If the alternator is dying, it starts seizing up all aspects of your engine and they cannot work functionally. I would take a close look into that aswell

 

[Facime]

yeah, like I said, to make sure all the belt driven things actually turn freely. it seems to me all the problems can be explained by one or more of them not rotating freely.

 

[Figit090]

is the power steering electrically modulated?

as in...is the steering position/inputs sensed electronically?

if so... that loosing power would cause the power steering to lock up IMO (i dont KNOW this...but it makes sence)

if your alternator or water pump seizes, that belt will slow or STOP, causing no water circulation (boiling water and excessive pressure you had) no fan, and no charge. all together you get a hot car, shitty charging, and stalling from the extra load and possibly because you're running off battery power. and the pwr str problem...IF that its electronically controlled.

so i'd check your alternator, and fan/water pump pulleys for resistance. its not difficult to remove the belt, so if you dont want to start it up to look for a stuck pulley (bad idea anyway, and maybe its not stopped completely...) remove the belt and mess with stuff by hand.

spin the fan and watch the metal that it mounts to behind it for movement. your fan can move without the pump actually moving, so dont think moving the fan is good enough. the mount/water pump it should rotate smoothly. the alternator should spin freely.

i dont know about the parking brake but i have a guess on the lights;

i dont know how the ECU knows to turn them off, but i notice they turn off AFTER the engine is running. so the only way for it to know would be the activation of the ignition system, or power coming from the alternator. if you have virtually no alternator power, your ECU might just think your engine is still off...and those lights are always on when the engine is off, i think.

check that belt, and you probably already made this decision, but do not drive the car until this is fixed.

 

[canadian]

I was kind of suspecting the alternator since the battery light would be connected to that too...correct?
How do I test the alternator? Would that cause the power steering to stop working as well?

Sorry my description was so long, that is pretty much as short as I could have gotten it with all the detail I put into it. I tried to make it so I didn't have to keep adding information.

The fan spins freely when I spin it.

How do I test the water pump?

I didn't hear any squealing from under the hood while driving...although it was raining so I had the heater on for defrost and windows up...

The car was sitting for approx. 1-2 years before I bought it, but it was kept in good condition as it started right up when we went to pick it up. I will check the fluid again, should I fill it to the top or go by the dip stick on it? What kind of fluid does it use? I know my toyota truck calls for ATF fluid I believe....

Thanks for everyones patience to read my problems... And thanks for the help so far.

 

[Figit090]

read my last post. i explained some of my educated guesses.

take your alternator/fan belt OFF . your fan can spin without the water pump spinning at ALL and nothing will move with that huge main pulley holding them stationary. its easy to remove the belt and not too difficult to re-tighten.

the belt you have on there might have gotten hot enough and glazed over on the part that touched the pulleys when this first happened...now since the surface is smooth it might not squeal as much or at all... and the heater is loud.

i have pics of things if you need visual help...but if you look behind the fan when you spin it and the belt is still on, you will see that the fan is the ONLY thing rotating

 

[canadian]

Thanks fidgit, I missed your post while I was finishing writing mine.

How do I get the belts off, is there a tensioner to loosen them, or do I stretch them off?

That makes sense about the ECU getting confused and thinking the engine is actually off.

Once I figure out how to get the belts off, is it easy to tell if the belts are glazed? Should I replace them if they are?

Thanks!!

 

[canadian]

UPDATE...

Power steering fluid was very low...
Filled it up with more ATF.

power steering pulley off the box is very stiff, can hardly move belt. Alternator belt/pulley feels a bit stiff. Waterpump with fan still attached and belt attached feels a bit of friction...

How do I get the belts off, then I will update with pulley info.

 

[Figit090]

well i'm just guessing about the ECU, it makes sence but i was hoping for a person with further knowledge knowing...but first things first...you said the fan didnt move and thats definite problem.

to remove the fan belt, you have to loosen some bolts on the alternator, there is the mounting bolt, the tensioning nut and then the holding bolt for keeping it at the correct angle once tightened. DO NOT stretch your belts off. for one...i dont think you could without damaging something or breaking the belt...and you loosen the tension to remove a belt, never by stretching (they dont stretch like a rubber band).

I havent seen a belt glaze from this but after comparing old, used belts to new ones it's obvious that the belts' surface is smoothed out over time. unless there is something special about the material used in these belts, it will probably smooth out and get shiny with the presence of severe friction (what i meant by glaze) if your belt was completely stuck when the engine was running i'd imagine the belt in contact with the main crankshaft pulley would be smoother than the rest of the belt. as far as damage that would be up to you, and i dont know anything about how tough these things are or the age/condition of yours so i'm not going to guess anything on this. play it safe though.

but again, lets just figure out whats wrong first....

read this whole page, good info and pics with explination on belt removal/instillation.
http://www.cygnusx1.net/supra/techtip/fan_belts.html

 

[Allan_MA70]

the steam and hissing and no coolent... hellloooo Mr BHG!

 

[Figit090]

UPDATE...

Power steering fluid was very low...
Filled it up with more ATF.

power steering pulley off the box is very stiff, can hardly move belt. Alternator belt/pulley feels a bit stiff. Waterpump with fan still attached and belt attached feels a bit of friction...

How do I get the belts off, then I will update with pulley info.

what do you mean when you say the pulleys/belts are stiff?

all the belts should be tight and difficult to wiggle around when properly installed. as far as spinning the belts, dont...it wont work without turning the crankshaft...

 

[Figit090]

the steam and hissing and no coolent... hellloooo Mr BHG!

BHG's dont cause the fan to stop and the parking brake light to come on.

dont make the guy too worried, BHG is possible but it sounds like a simple belt problem...its definatly a thing to keep an eye on...but he didnt mention any really high temps....

unless he forgot.

 

[boost fiend]

look just under the alternator and youll find the adjustor for the alt/water pump. its easy to figure out.

then turn the water pump pully itself!!! if its fairly easy to turn it should be ok.

after you loosen the belt, try taking the alt off and get someone to give you a ride to a local parts store like autozone or advanced auto/parts america. they test alt's for free.

 

[canadian]

BHG's dont cause the fan to stop and the parking brake light to come on.

dont make the guy too worried, BHG is possible but it sounds like a simple belt problem...its definatly a thing to keep an eye on...but he didnt mention any really high temps....

unless he forgot.

My temperature gauge wire that goes onto the sensor is loose so the gauge comes on and off every few seconds. But when it was on it registered half way from the bottom, so normal temp.

 

[canadian]

what do you mean when you say the pulleys/belts are stiff?

all the belts should be tight and difficult to wiggle around when properly installed. as far as spinning the belts, dont...it wont work without turning the crankshaft...

When I meant stiff, it was hard to spin the pulley with the belt on...but I guess i shouldn't do it?

 

[canadian]

well i'm just guessing about the ECU, it makes sence but i was hoping for a person with further knowledge knowing...but first things first...you said the fan didnt move and thats definite problem.

to remove the fan belt, you have to loosen some bolts on the alternator, there is the mounting bolt, the tensioning nut and then the holding bolt for keeping it at the correct angle once tightened. DO NOT stretch your belts off. for one...i dont think you could without damaging something or breaking the belt...and you loosen the tension to remove a belt, never by stretching (they dont stretch like a rubber band).

I havent seen a belt glaze from this but after comparing old, used belts to new ones it's obvious that the belts' surface is smoothed out over time. unless there is something special about the material used in these belts, it will probably smooth out and get shiny with the presence of severe friction (what i meant by glaze) if your belt was completely stuck when the engine was running i'd imagine the belt in contact with the main crankshaft pulley would be smoother than the rest of the belt. as far as damage that would be up to you, and i dont know anything about how tough these things are or the age/condition of yours so i'm not going to guess anything on this. play it safe though.

but again, lets just figure out whats wrong first....

read this whole page, good info and pics with explination on belt removal/instillation.
http://www.cygnusx1.net/supra/techtip/fan_belts.html

Thanks, I will read that link and pull the belts. You said that one of the parts to tension it holds the alt. at the correct angle... do I have to reset it,,, I don't want to wreck anything...
I shouldn't have said stretch the belts, that was just stupid.... I knew they don't stretch but kind of just put it out there...

Thanks