Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

[jondee86]

The blower running and flow thru the heater core are not related. So long as
the heater valve is open water should flow thru the core, and it seems that yours
must have been stuck closed for a while. Also looks like the car was laid up with
plain water in the cooling system instead of water/corrosion inhibitor mix.

Normally a couple of drain/flush cycles will get most of the crap out, but you must
have a good layer of sediment in the coolant passages. Driving gets water moving
around the system a bit faster and helps to dislodge crap. Coolant flush chemicals
help as well. But as I have said before, they also tend to remove the layer of
corrosion that is sealing minor leaks. Last time I used chemicals on a car that
had sat for a long time, I ended up with leaks that caused me no end of grief

So I would hold off the chemicals until you are ready to do a full engine strip down.
Better to just flush out as much crud as you can, and then use the water/corrosion
inhibitor mix. Leave it in there for a few months while driving around with the
heater tap open. Then drain/flush/re-fill. The brown color is nothing to worry
about if you have removed most of the sediment.

Cheers... jondee86

[jondee86]

AFAIK the heater blower is speed regulated by a primitive series of wire wound
resistors that generate a fair amount of heat. Plus the blower motor is most
likely short time rated, and will also get quite warm is run at a high speed for
long. Pure speculation, but the heater circuit breaker is most likely some kind
of thermal cutout.

All sounds pretty normal to me

Cheers... jondee86

[aceforever]

Great! Thanks for the advice! I was pretty worried when my blower just cut off like that. Thanks for your reassurance.

I'll try to get the water as close to flush #8 as I can. I was aiming for clear water before hand, but perhaps that's not possible without a million flushes?

I want to install the new radiator soon as the rubber in the cap is torn up, but sounds like you would recommend me to stick with the older one for a bit until I get some good use out of the water that's in there?

Today my 22 tooth speedometer driven gear came! It has the 22 and 6 markings on it. This should definitely work! *crossing fingers*

[aceforever]

Took the time to swap out the gear today.

This is prior moving the clip from the old to the new. You can see how worn out the 1 month old speedometer driven gear is. No wonder it wasn't working. I also got a new sleeve/casing for the gear as I wasn't sure if it was the slight play in the casing that was causing the wear.


I also did some coolant flushes. 8 to be exact



After I got most of the sediment out, and the coolant started looking clearer, I mixed the antifreeze with distilled water to make a 50/50 solution.


The car is now ready to be driven around after days of waiting on parts and flushing.

[YoShImUrA]

Nice! Good progress!!


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[aceforever]

Thanks man! I appreciate the encouragement:D

[aceforever]

Went to the junkyard once more for the A/C components on that SR-5. The car looked like pretty much how I left it last week. All the parts were still there.

Took the A/C condenser, drier, one A/C hardline. (the others were very hard to get off without bending them)


Also took the A/C button, housing, amplifier and wires.


Cost:
A/C Evap - $26
Housing - $19
A/C Dryer - $10
A/C Condenser - $31
A/C single hose - $12.50
Misc things they charged on top: $5, $2, $10

Total pre-tax: $115.5

[YoShImUrA]

Ouch! They sure don't make deals in that jy... :-/


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[aceforever]

Yeah, this one likes to get you pay for anything they can charge you for. The other junkyard that I usually go to that had the AE92 are more willing to give you a couple items for free.

[aceforever]

Just drove the car around for a long while. My speedometer works really well now. Trip counter indicates 12 miles.

No electrical issues. Everything seems okay!

[jondee86]

... the others were very hard to get off without bending them.

I think the tubes are aluminum, or at least some soft material. They can
bend a bit but then they just fold over and the tube is blocked and useless.
And if you think junkyard prices are expensive, try buying the same bits
from a Toyota dealer

There are some things that I buy from Toyota when I want new rather than
used, or want the reassurance of OEM quality instead of the unknown quality
of generic Chinese parts. Otherwise I am happy with junkyard parts or generic
substitutes when the part is not critical to my safety.

Cheers... jondee86

[aceforever]

Haha I guess it's not too bad getting these parts from the junkyard then.

I heard somewhere that adding the extra belt creates resistance on the engine even if the ac clutch isn't activated. Is that true?

[jondee86]

I heard somewhere that adding the extra belt creates resistance on the engine
even if the ac clutch isn't activated. Is that true?

Can't say I ever noticed that having to spin the A/C pulley made any difference to
performance. You certainly do notice when the clutch engages and the engine has
to drive the compressor. But that is part and parcel of an old school A/C system on
a small engine. The hp it takes to drive the compressor sure takes the edge off your
uphill overtaking manoeuvres

Cheers... jondee86

[aceforever]

Hahaha, I can imagine. I figure the AC will mostly be used for cruising around. Turn the A/C off when I really want to punch it.

[aceforever]

Today I was tackling the F1 style mirrors. They were small and they did not want to stay in place. So they had to go.


At first it looked like the piece was just stuck on via silicone caulking.


But upon separating all the caulking, it was apparent that one of the rivets was actually riveted to the metal door frame.


I lent my drill out to my friend so I couldn't drill out the rivet. So I took a saw and sawed right through the rivet.


Here's the rivet back piece.


I then masked things off and sprayed the area with three layers of black primer as I did nick the door while I was sawing.


I attached the wires up and everything works just fine and dandy.


The only thing left to do is caulk up the new parts and also get the screws to secure the mirror in place. I took off the other side's mirror screw just to see what it looked like.


Next stop, the auto parts store!

[jondee86]

Depending on whether your car had electrics in the door or not...



... you may or may not have these rubber tube things that form a
conduit between the door and the car. Keeps the wiring safe and neat.

Cheers... jondee86

[aceforever]

Thanks for the heads up! The other mirror is powered and I found wiring in the door itself. It also had the rubber conduits like in your picture.

Turns out the screws were M5-0.8 x12mm.
Local auto parts store charges $2.56 for them.


And here it is:



I also took the time to do the right side mirrors as the ones on the car were a bit bouncy



There is some permanent paint-like writing on the mirror. I don't know how to get that off, might just have to leave it until painting time.

[YoShImUrA]

Household alcohol (around 98 proof) might remove the paint...?


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[aceforever]

I only had 70% rubbing alcohol. It didn't work very well. I do see some pinkness on the paper towel. I tried using my plastic tools and it chipped some of pinkness, but not all.

Just tested out the mirrors and it seems these were made for RHD. The right side mirror doesn't rotate close enough. I wonder if there's a way to change that.

Today I drove around in the night and noticed one of my lights were out. I was scared that I might get pulled over. Right when I was thinking that, I noticed there were two patrol cars parked in the next block. So I shifted to a high gear so my exhaust wasn't loud. And I decided to turn. That's when I missed a gear. Vroooooooom. Damn it! I got out of there as quietly and quickly as I could. Luckily they didn't chase me down.

I got home and checked out the wiring. Jiggled the wire and reseated the connector for the bulb. And bam. The lights worked again.

I noticed the lights face pretty high up instead of onto the road. i heard there are ways of adjusting that.

[jondee86]

Just tested out the mirrors and it seems these were made for RHD. The right side
mirror doesn't rotate close enough. I wonder if there's a way to change that.

I'd need to check in the morning, but I am reasonably sure that the LH and RH mirrors
are angled differently (the frame, not the mirror itself). The passenger side frame
has more angle because the mirror has to be turned further towards the driver to get
the correct line of sight to the rear.

The mirror frames are spring loaded, but whether the frame can be stopped from
springing fully back... I don't know ?

You will need something with a bit more bite than alcohol to get paint off. Best bet
would be to stop by a paint and panel shop and see if thinners or one of the prep
solvents will take it off.

Cheers... jondee86

[aceforever]

I managed to get the right mirror to the right position by tilting it off of the "locking" position and closer towards the door. It seems to stay alright. Will stick with this until it proves like a bad solution.

I saw on a youtube video that you can adjust the angle of the headlights by taking the plastic piece off first, then adjusting screws. I have no idea where these screws are. I'm gonna look at the FSM to see if there's any instructions.

[YoShImUrA]

Not really any meed to remove the plastic covers. If you notice, there's a small indentation already on the plastic for the two adjusting screws for the height and lateral angle of the lights.

If memory serves, you can find the reference height of the beam (facing a wall at a certain distance) you need on Toyota's service manual.


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[aceforever]

Not really any meed to remove the plastic covers. If you notice, there's a small indentation already on the plastic for the two adjusting screws for the height and lateral angle of the lights.

If memory serves, you can find the reference height of the beam (facing a wall at a certain distance) you need on Toyota's service manual.

Thanks for the tip!

I found the adjustment screws, they are in the front between the plastic and the glass. Below are the positions marked on some picture I found online.

I pointed the car at a wall and adjusted them so the lights are aiming directly in front of the car instead of above.

I also took a trip to a friend's house 11 miles away and back.
The car ran really well! My feet got super toasty though. I really wish there was a good way to fix that without much work.

I was going to wrap it but I heard from people that wrapping will trap moisture and make the headers rust faster.

[YoShImUrA]

I was going to gold wrap the firewall on the exhaust area. Maybe worth a look?


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[aceforever]

I replaced my radiator today as the radiator cap was leaking.

It was going well until I shorted out the alternator +12V with the alternator casing with a hose clamp. Man why do they have that plug exposed like that?

I'm getting the same issue as prior. Time to trace down electrical issues once more.

[aceforever]

I was going to gold wrap the firewall on the exhaust area. Maybe worth a look?


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Were you going to get adhesive ones? I think I rather not stick anything onto the metal as I'm worried about moisture trapped behind it.

[aceforever]

So far I've figured out a few problem areas. Voltage measured at the positive and negative terminal is at 12.59V when these things are unplugged:

1) Alternator connector is plugged in. (voltage goes to ~2V)
Perhaps I need a new alternator since the alternator connector connects to the voltage regulator circuitry and it seems pretty complicated.

2) DOME fuse is plugged in. (0V) I'm guessing major short here.
DOME powers a bunch of things.
a) clock
b) interior light (on the roof)
c) map light (not sure where this is)
d) door warning light
e) light retainer relay (not sure where this is)
f) unlock warning switch (not sure where this is)
g) seat belt warning relay (not sure where this is)

Since the previous owner replaced the seatbelt with a racing harness, I wonder how he wired the seat belt warning relay.

3) Left door is opened. (~10V)
Looking at the full EWD, this door courtesy switch should get its power from DOME fuse. However even with the DOME fuse unplugged, there's a voltage drop. I think there's some short within these wires that are causing the other issues.

Various things connect to the left hand door switch:
a) the seat belt warning relay
b) light retainer relay
c) interior dome light
d) door courtesy warning light

[aceforever]

After hours and hours of testing wires and plugs with my body in inhumane positions and looking through the EWDs, I finally made progress.

Got the engine bay relays and haltech relays to click, side markers now turn on, instrument cluster lights on, fuel pump is good, turn signals work, ignitor and coil seems okay, clock works, light retainer works, blower works, stop lights work, door switch works




Turns out the root cause of the other fuses not working was from the circuit behind the RTR fuse, wiper, and alternator.

The wiper circuit was causing a +6V voltage measurement even with the negative terminal of the battery detached! I think the wiper switch is not going to work, but we'll have to see.

Going to get a new alternator today, and proceed with the rest of the issues.

Headlights
Popup motor circuit
Radio (I think this one is a goner)
Power mirrors
Hazards (weird that the turn signal works but hazards don't)
Horn (possibly same root cause as hazards not working)
Wipers

Also need to check if the ECU is okay.

[aceforever]

Got the alternator checked out by the auto store, turns out it was okay so no need to replace it. Installed the alternator back onto the engine. This time I put some electrical tape on top of the exposed +12V

Hooked up my laptop to check the ECU, things weren't going well at first. I kept on getting disconnects and errors on the tuning program while loading up the ROM at first. Disconnected all engine sensors and pulled the haltech harness fuses. Still was getting the disconnects. It turned out to be a loose serial port connection to the USB adapter. Jiggled that around a bit until things started working. Surprisingly the ECU seemed to be fine! My fuel map and settings were right where I left it.

After making sure all sensors and injectors were hooked up once more. And tried to start the engine.

Luckily the good old 4AGE fired right up! Not everything was operating correctly though. The charge and brake light flashed every so often indicating something's wrong with the charging system. I stopped the engine and decided to check the engine bay to see if it's something there. When I came back in to restart the car, I lost full power again.

While I was trying to figure out once more where the short was by hooking up the multimeter on voltage mode on the positive and negative connectors. I stumbled upon something odd. It wasn't actually the wires that were causing the short. But rather, the fuse portion of the fuse link wasn't making contact all the way with either the link or the connector. I jiggled the fuse link and propped it to one edge with a rolled up paper towel and I didn't see any blinkage of the charge or brake light anymore.

This would explain the previous issues prior when during harsh bumps or stalling out in a harsh manner, the car would lose power.

How do these fuses connect with the fuse link box? I'm thinking that's where it's not making good contact.

[YoShImUrA]

Congrats on your resolution and progress.

The indicators and hazards do use a separate fuse, at least in the AW11, so I think it'll be the same thing here. Otherwise I can't be of much help with your other issues.


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