Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community - FT86CLUB - BRAINDUMP - FT86 Quirks, common fixes and when things need upgrading

Braindump definition:
A brain dump is a complete transfer of accessible knowledge about a particular subject from your brain to some other storage medium

I would like to start a constructive thread concerning our FT86 platform. Weird noises, things that commonly happen and to ignore or how to fix them. When to upgrade parts and which are able to be left alone with higher power levels. This is not for arguing or competing, just state facts.

I'll start with a Quote from @Reaper-
the manual transmission is made of glass. E85 and aflex fuel kit is the most power per dollar. Up to 30whp increase. The front pipe is the most restrictive part of the exhaust. Stock brakes do great with good pads and fluid. Stock engine can hold over 400whp. If you track it get an oil cooler. Stock suspension cant be adjusted other than toe unless you buy some parts. The front bumper will eventually sag. Acorns will dent your roof/trunk/hood so dont park under a tree. Deleting the rear seat doesnt save much weight. The OEM battery is heavy. If you lower it on stock wheels 15mm spacers make a big visual differance.

Here is another by @aegisdrgn
Read your maintenance manual for fluid change intervals but change out your trans and diff fluid for motul 300 75w90 sooner rather than later if the notchy shifting bothers you but in case you think it's just a shitty transmission look around the forum for a thread by Moto Miwa explaining why it's so notchy now go take the plastic cigarette lighter plug from inside your glove compartment and cover the sound tube hole in the passenger footwell you'll thank me later don't worry about the chirping noise that's your high pressure fuel pumping working some say gas with low ethanol content helps reduce the sound if you hear popping from the rear deck check the forums there is a thread showing you how to eliminate it and watch out for condensation in your taillights after a long car wash or rain that means the rubber gasket has failed but it is an easy fix just search for gasket ninja on these forums but if you want to go ghetto some people use gorilla tape over the top of the taillight housing to prevent water from running down that hole as far as fluids go you should check out the UOA Blackstone oil analysis thread to see actual lab tests on various engine oils we use and for how long you can use that oil and there are many cheap and easy bolt-on mods you can do that will increase driving pleasure the most common are master cylinder brace front strut tower brace drop-in engine air filters transmission and differential fluid change heavy weight shift knob short shifter kit rear shifter bushing replacement transmission mount insert and now back to issues you might encounter one of which is warm air coming out of the vents even when your hvac is off don't worry that's normal another thing which should already be applied to your car is the infamous idle dip that only affected the early run of cars if you are curious search for it in this forum and if you've gone ahead and downloaded the full service manual stickied at the top of this forum you'll be set as far as knowing what needs to be done how don't worry about the part saying you need to raise the engine when changing out spark plugs many members have been able to change spark plugs with just small hands or long extensions with universal joints and that reminds me if you are getting knocking under hard acceleration when it's really hot out you might want to replace your direct injector seals while you can do it yourself and there is an abbreviated DIY video by @savagegeese somewhere here and on youtube it's going to be long and hard and that brings me to the last thing I wanted to mention which was disappearing coolant you might want to do search for that as well since the coolant reservoir is right over the header it can get warm enough to evaporate the coolant out of the bottle some members got ingenious and devised breathable plugs to slow down the rate of evaporation I know my 2013 had a month where the coolant somehow dropped from full to below the low mark and the only change was going canyon driving consecutive weekends and starting work across town but after I refilled the bottle the coolant hasn't dropped since.

My own list Aztec:
Final Drive swap is the most overlooked mod you can do to this car, especially NA; the initial sign of clicking from the rear wheels, when the drivetrain is engaged is from the axle nut, replace with new ones and torque slightly above recommended spec; when upgrading the exhaust work your way from front to back as the catback has nearly no impact on performance and when combining a header with any kind of other mods especially the catback, the car will usually introduce drone and be louder than preferred overall; if you plan to run wide tires use coilovers rather than springs to allow camber adjustment space; getting lowering springs and inserts is an inexpensive way to lower the car and maintain ride quality/handling as well condensation in taillights is warranty work if clutch is sqeaky look under the hood for the noise and pull the cylinder toward you, followed by pumping the clutch, repeat and squeaking should be gone popping and clicking from the back dash is normal and can be treated with lithium grease, several DIYs for that crickets are normal ECUtek is required for 99% of FI setups OFT is perfectly fine for the majority of NA setups sticky tires will help in cornering, but if the car is still NA it will be much less fun kicking the rear out (makes you try too hard to make it happen)

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