Toyota 1G-FE

Toyota's 2.0 straight-six — in the Mark II, Chaser, Crown, the early Lexus IS and the Supra A70.

A two-litre six is an unusual thing and it explains the engine. Six very small cylinders make it exceptionally smooth and not particularly powerful, which is exactly what a Japanese tax class rewarded. It is smoothness bought with complexity, and everything about servicing it reflects that.

It is belt-driven on the earlier engines and chain-driven later, which is the first thing to establish on a car of unknown specification — the two have completely different maintenance consequences.

Its recurring items are ignition and breathing: coil packs and the distributor on early engines, a carboned throttle body, and inlet gaskets that harden and leak unmetered air. The 1G-GTE twin-turbo is a different proposition and is not what is in a saloon. Documentation outside Japan is thin, so the engine code rather than the model is what to search.