1988 Corolla FX16: Couple questions about A/C, P/S and fuel pump relay

got_rwd?
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1988 Corolla FX16: Couple questions about A/C, P/S and fuel pump relay

Postby got_rwd? » Tue Jul 19, 2016 11:08 pm

Hey folks

I'm in need of some advice concerning my project I'm finishing up

1: My A/C has never worked since I bought the car and most replacements are $250 new or $100 for the pulley/clutch and magnet plate. Is there another Toyota vehicle I can pull the compressor from and use ? Let's say a Corolla or mr2 ?

2: My P/S pump pulley completely came off. Pump has warranty but now I'm missing the bolt. I don't know if they have a washer or if I'm missing something. Anyone have a picture ?

3: Location of the fuel pump relay ? I have my occasional hard starts and have checked everything but that. I do hear occasional "clicking" from the glove box when I have those issues but want to make sure which one is the relay so I can check wiring or replace the relay.

Thanks !

taroroot
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Re: 1988 Corolla FX16: Couple questions about A/C, P/S and fuel pump relay

Postby taroroot » Sat Jul 23, 2016 11:15 am

I sold my one FX that had operational A/C and spare compressor and parts so I don't recall what they were like. Sorry, can't help you much with that, although A blocks should share same mounting points.
My circuit opening relay is located clipped under the ECU which is found at the front of the center console against the firewall. If you look in the passenger (right) footwell at the center console toward the firewall you should be able to see the wires. Its tucked behind a bunch of the air ducts.
My hard start (and many Corollas of our vintage) suffer from the ignition key switch. The starter solenoid is triggered directly through the switch, its a fair amount of current going through it. And as the switch wears its resistance goes up and drops too much voltage too feed the starter enough. WHat I did was rig up a secondary solenoid/relay that is activated by the switch and that triggers the starter. Before that I use to carry a jumper wire and if it wouldn't start I would plug it into the starter solenoid connector that is right near the battery and touch it directly to the battery. Would start everytime that way,

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Rogue-AE95
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Re: 1988 Corolla FX16: Couple questions about A/C, P/S and fuel pump relay

Postby Rogue-AE95 » Sat Jul 23, 2016 11:33 am

taroroot wrote:My hard start (and many Corollas of our vintage) suffer from the ignition key switch. The starter solenoid is triggered directly through the switch, its a fair amount of current going through it. And as the switch wears its resistance goes up and drops too much voltage too feed the starter enough. WHat I did was rig up a secondary solenoid/relay that is activated by the switch and that triggers the starter. Before that I use to carry a jumper wire and if it wouldn't start I would plug it into the starter solenoid connector that is right near the battery and touch it directly to the battery. Would start everytime that way,


Thank you for this! I've been having problems with my 88 wagon not wanting to start up every time, despite replacing the relay and the ignition switch. I've done the direct-wire-to-the-battery thing as a temporary fix, but I'm glad to see I'm not crazy for thinking I should install a secondary relay after the ig switch. Can you give more detail of how you rigged it from the ig switch?
'88 Corolla All-Trac x2 (manual, auto)

taroroot
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Re: 1988 Corolla FX16: Couple questions about A/C, P/S and fuel pump relay

Postby taroroot » Thu Jul 28, 2016 9:50 pm

pretty simple actually. I got myself a solenoid from local marine store. Unplugged the connector that goes to the starter solenoid and the ignition switch side of that I instead ran to the trigger of the secondary solenoid. Ground the other side of the trigger. Then on the switched contact of the secondary I ran a heavy wire to battery (through a fuse) on one side, the other side went to the starter side of the connector I unplugged.
The beauty of this is it doesn't modify any of the oem wiring, you can disconnect the new stuff and plug the OEM wire connector back together to restore to stock.
It works because the secondary solenoid doesn't draw as much current to activate as the primary starter solenoid so even with the increased resistance of the old ignition key switch and wiring, it will activate. And then the secondary solenoid has better contact and using thick wire as short as possible from the battery you lose a lot less and can give the starter primary solenoid more power.

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Rogue-AE95
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Re: 1988 Corolla FX16: Couple questions about A/C, P/S and fuel pump relay

Postby Rogue-AE95 » Fri Jul 29, 2016 3:37 pm

OK thanks!

taroroot wrote:The beauty of this is it doesn't modify any of the oem wiring, you can disconnect the new stuff and plug the OEM wire connector back together to restore to stock.


This is what I like most about your idea. I want to avoid cutting up factory wiring as much as possible.

It works because the secondary solenoid doesn't draw as much current to activate as the primary starter solenoid so even with the increased resistance of the old ignition key switch and wiring, it will activate. And then the secondary solenoid has better contact and using thick wire as short as possible from the battery you lose a lot less and can give the starter primary solenoid more power.


OK... so you have both starter wires coming off that secondary solenoid? The smaller wire from the ig switch, and the heavier power wire? For my wagon, I found that the ig switch wire is the culprit, since bypassing it with a "cheater" wire allowed the starter to do its thing.

I was thinking of getting something like a 30 or 40 amp relay and using that somewhere after the ig switch and going to the starter. My wagon's wiring (others are probably similar) has the ig switch wire running to two or three other things. I can't remember what, but I suppose I can just disconnect the ig switch wire and wrap it up, therefore leaving alone whatever else came off that wire.
'88 Corolla All-Trac x2 (manual, auto)