socal alltrac 88 st165

mi645

New member
i actually had this car for a while now maybe a year.
it turns on and holds idle but, i do have a couple of cel on, only
when i jump e1 and t1. also it buks, when u blip the throttle. it doesnt rev smooth unless u baby the throttle.
also hits fuel cut when boosting. it has st185 turbo and st185 manifold and down pipe. help me fix it
 

Shaggz00

Active member
This is one of those extremely hard to diagnose without seeing the car, but my money is on an airflow meter, which is the component attached to the air filter box. Does it appear the black cover has been taken off and messed with? The bucking is really what's leading me to believe it's an AFM problem. If there are any other 165's local to you, ask to borrow their AFM, swap it out, and see how it runs.

What codes does your CEL come up with? that could be a big help to us right there.
 

mi645

New member
i messed with the afm. unplugged it, car dies right away.
i did have a hunch its a faulty afm, looked at the junkyard couldnt find any similar ones.
also, i am level 2 heavy line toyota tech, so i do get a good discount for being an employee, and i do have a certified TIS account, but most TIS suck with alltrac lol.
anyways tho, i remember i had code 11,and code 34 over boost detection but i did modify the wastegate actuator when first purchased my car, because the turbo was not clocked correctly or the wastegate actuator wasnt on correctly.
i know 1 vacum hose is missing off the nipples on the wastegate actuator.
have a couple of crappy oil feed and return lines AN fittings.
couldnt source the orignal lines.
really wanted to go ct20, not happy with my ct26, it smokes a bit.
today i messed with a few sensors like map sensor etc.
checked for cels again.
got code 31 32 and i believe 24, code 11 did not show up anymore, so im not sure whats going on.
i do have a spare dizzy in case it was bad. and i remember i replaced the dizzy cap and rotor with new toyota oem ones.
and obviously my front calipers were seized so i ended up rebuilding them with a caliper seal kit. got the last 2 in the nation lmao.
and i think for sitting a bit they rusted out again.
i have st205 brakes sitting in my balcony. was saving it for my st202 car but debating to use on the st165.
advice will be helpful, i am big on toyotas. help this is my 1st turbo car, and im not giving up on it, i could swap the entire engine and skip the bs, but i wanna learn more about it and fix it.
i checked the spark plugs, they looked fairly ok.
i swapped coil pack. havent tried the igniter yet, as i couldnt find the same part number in the junk yard. and my o2 sensor wires look like theyr gonna fall off, but im not getting any o2 sensor codes yet. i was gonna get my fluke and manually test it to make sure its reading. ok i believe i said everything i could. also my climate control, works only on lvl 1 and 2, and 3 and hi dont work lol.
radio is missing. umm diff mount clunks on every shift haha.
everything else is ok. car is in 1 piece 1 color, sort of faded gray. interior is 10/10 luckly.
exterior no dings, but fades on roof and slight rust spots. nothing major.
 

mi645

New member
also forgot to mention, when i did clock the turbo, i remember looking inside the cat, it was hollowed out lol.
 

mkernz22

New member
Well you're probably overboosting because of the gutted cat and etc. Install a mbc (manual boost controller) and turn it down so it doesn't overboost. Then you won't hit fuel cut.
 

mi645

New member
recommened me a brand. or link.
and what about the oil feel and return for turbo? and coolant. they r all after market a n fittings, and they leak and too long for the car
 

Redswan

New member
mkernz22":3kn9ss25 said:
Well you're probably overboosting because of the gutted cat and etc. Install a mbc (manual boost controller) and turn it down so it doesn't overboost. Then you won't hit fuel cut.

Not sure i follow on this one? :shrug: Doesn't a boost controller work to only raise the boost pressure, by limiting how much boost the waste gate/actualtor sees? If the boost issue is from a better flowing exhaust than a boost controller will do nothing for this.
 

mi645

New member
car is registered non op. i have my 6gc and can probably make it with that 1. but the alltrac no way.
it needs so much work i need to start actually fixing it. im just trying to get it running enough to take it to work,
and work on it there on my lunch and after hours and start ordering parts etc.
kinda broke but working and trying my best on it. was thinking about just grabbing gen 3 electronics and ct20 turbo
 

mi645

New member
so i visted local pick ur part. found 1987 rx7 afm and mazda 626 turbo afm. and they look identical in size even part numbers were close. they wanted 105 for both i said forget it im waiting until 50% off day lol
hopefully they r in good shape compared to mine
 

UtahSleeper

Active member
Honestly, I would start with all basics.

Do a pressure/leak test. Maybe replace all vacuum lines.
Replace wires and plugs, or atleast verify gap on the old plugs.
Replace the fuel filter.
Seafoam the motor and then replace the O2.
Also, maybe clean out the W2A intercooler.
 

mi645

New member
i work at atoyota dealership
all basic services r done, i even ran pressure thru all hoses for both water pumps and took out all rust and corrosion in the system. also replaced cap and rotor, and plugs. its the afm for sure
 

mi645

New member
so i did more research found out that the gen 2 manifolds arent supposed to be bolt in on gen 1 heads.
my set up is 3sgte gen 1 engine with gen 2 turbo manifold gen 2 ct26 st185 turbo and modified an fittings for the feed return etc.
so i was reading up on it and found that u need a flange spacer or something to bolt the manifold to the cylinder head?
what if the manifold doesnt have a spacer.
because i took off the turbo and manifold b4 i dont remember seeing a spacer.
 

UtahSleeper

Active member
The spacer is where the valves are that open and close based on RPM. Those came on all 1st and 2nd gen 3sgte motors and 1st gen 3sge motors. Should be cheap to find.
 

mi645

New member
wait im confused.
im talking about the turbo exhaust manifold. i have an st185 manifold with an st185 turbo on my st165 engine.
i saw a thread that said u mean a spacer/adapter something like that. do u understand what i am saying? haha maybe i wasnt clear in my last post my apologies.
 
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