Haloruler64's 2000 MR2 Spyder build thread

My headlights are already showing signs of clear coat burning through. I only got them around 5 years ago, and the car is garaged maybe... 40-50% of the time. Classic Toyota plastics. Gotta order another set in the next few years and wrap them with PPF. The Suntek PPF on my Lexus is amazing. 

There are coatings that are made to Protect/prevent or replace the current coating (after refurbishing).  I put Mcguires plastic/headlight protectant on my wife’s car and I use not nearly often enough paste wax on my outside-all-the-time van. Since restoring the MR2 with all new, I had them Xpel clear bra’d ($50) along with the front end. I often 303 Aerospace coat the Xpel just because. (You can’t use a petroleum based product.)

Problem is they're already all pitted so, even though I can restore them, I should probably buy new ones and protect them correctly from the start. It would be much easier to strip them and hit them with 2K clear.

The MR2 Spyder had its first breakdown. And realistically it was my fault. I was driving to MR2sday and just got off the freeway. I floored it in first turning right into a street with no stops and I hear a thud and lose power. Gas pedal does nothing. RPMs slowly dropping until they hit 0 and I'm coasting. I can smell gas. I pull into the bike lane, since there are no turns for quite a while, and crank the engine. Nothing, but the smell of gas gets stronger. I get out and there's a big puddle of gas underneath the car. 

Luckily it's MR2sday, and there are other MR2s. Three others pull up with me providing me with lights, tools, and a handy fire extinguisher. I take what's left of my cubbies out and remove the metal plate covering the fuel pump assembly. There was gas everywhere, and part of the fresh butyl was liquified by the gas. ANd there's the issue, the main fuel line had popped off. The orange clip was still there, fully seated. Maybe it was installed improperly when I dropped the tank, that's the most likely scenario. After some fiddling we got it all buttoned up and I drove the rest of the way. 

Unfortunately the drive back was miserable. The interior was filled with gas fumes and it made me quite sick. I don't know if there is still a fume leak going on, or if it's leftover gas. I'll let it air out and drive it in a few days. Also, I was looking through the BGB and found a diagram of this fuel line and it shows that there are two O rings sealing it to the fuel pump assembly. Unfortunately I cannot find those O rings on any Toyota parts diagram, and neither could the dealer. Any thoughts on where I can find them? Or whether they're inside the line or on the pump assembly? I would like to replace them since the line has been off twice now. 

Good to hear you got it sorted out. There was another guy that also dropped his tank and ended up with issues with his evap.  I think as this car gets older you need to be carful with the rubber and plastic in this area that will crack once it moves. Probably better to replace these items as preventative maintenance when replacing cables.  I will just fish my cables through and avoid the potential headaches. 

I don't see any cracked lines thankfully. The connector itself is perfectly fine. I just need to figure out the o ring situation. 

Is this your issue.

https://www.spyderchat.com/threads/fuel-line-keeps-coming-off-the-pump-assembly.12828/

It's only happened once so far. I'm also not missing the orange retainer clip, although I suspect I may have installed it wrong initially. This time I had a friend push the line down and installed the clip (seemingly) correctly. 

 I would leave the trim area exposed along with the tools to fix the issues at moments notice and just wait and watch the connection for a time. 

 Its possible that the clip wasn't installed well enough the first time.  When I replaced my fuel filter in 2016 I remember reading that the orange clip is a problem area so I was very cautious with its removal and reassembly otherwise I may have broken it off because it was a bit frustrating. 

Luckily it's not broken. Just really annoying to install on your own. With two people it went right in. 

Unfortunately without the cover the car is so loud. I'll just carry all the tools from now on haha. Maybe preemptively order a new line.

I sprayed down the top of the fuel tank with brake clean then dumped hot soapy water all over it and let it air out for a week with the windows open. Today I drove it for the first time in a long while. No rear cubbies and the metal plate that's usually glued over the fuel pump assembly is removed. Car runs great, revs great, and there are no visible fuel leaks. No smell either, until I get to my destination and let it idle in place. Just a slight smell of fuel. Unsure if it's actually fumes leaking or leftover smell but likely the former. Where else could this fuel smell be coming from? Just a bad line, or something else? 

Been driving the car, still smells of gas. Occasionally the P0440 comes back. Suspected bad vent valve seal. Might still be true. But I did a lot of testing so let me go through that. Bought a smoke tester. Can't use it on the gas cap, don't have a gas cap adapter so that's probably why all my testing failed. But I did some things Toyota suggested. 

I removed the hose from the closed canister valve (on the airbox) and fired smoke into it. I also did the same for the purge line. Both resulted in the same thing. No smoke in the cabin, but all coming from the gas cap. 

However, my gas cap is only 3 years old and OEM. I had a suspicion it was fine, and a friend told me that this method won't even get smoke into the tank. So I removed the fuel filler neck trim and lo and behold, no smoke in the tank. All venting from the sides. 

So my testing didn't really get anywhere. Gonna get that overpriced $50 fuel filler neck adapter for a smoke machine and fill the tank itself with smoke. See if the vent valve really is bad. That's what usually fails, and what usually causes fuel smells in the cabin according to a lot of MR2 Spyder owners. 

Any thoughts welcome!

Good luck! Have you considered getting a spare gas cap and just drilling a hole in it and pressure fitting the smoke hose through and using some teflon tape? I'm all for the right tool for the job but I also like to be cheap when I can.

Posted by: @ria

Good luck! Have you considered getting a spare gas cap and just drilling a hole in it and pressure fitting the smoke hose through and using some teflon tape? I'm all for the right tool for the job but I also like to be cheap when I can.

You know... that's really not a bad idea! I might get a cheapo cap from AutoZone and do exactly this with some epoxy.

The cost of the vent valve may be less or not much more than the smoke adapter

I do like the test you’ve done so far, what did the smoke machine set you back or are you just a heavy smoker?

I am considering getting one