88 alltrac basket case

Lipps

New member
Thanks to everyone who makes this site great, been picking up information off here for a while just got around to joining. Last summer picked up a 88 alltrac with just over 100k has second gen jdm s3gte and gearbox, supposed to have very low mileage. The car was in original owner's garage ever since the original engine went bad in 1995. In 1996 the owner sourced what he thought was the best replacement engine and paid a premium for it. The engine is in the car but was never completed the hook up, he never even tried to start it. Apparently he attempted to use the original car wiring harness and computer cut and spliced to the new engine. The fuel line was short and was never hooked up. I purchased the car very cheap from some junk haulers who got it when the owner lost his place to store it had to let it go, so all I know is third hand information and what I figured out from the internet . There was receipts but they haulers lost them. When I looked at the car there was a Toyota repair manual with it but they also managed to lose that before I got the car. I really need to make this car movable for storage reasons, not trying to get it on the road just yet working on bigger plan for that. Anyone want to make suggestion on wiring harness and computer? I believe the engine has all original JDM second gen sensors and accessories not sure about the coil or MAF could be original to the car. What's different between the first and second gen, JDM and US engines? I have a fuel machine I can hook to the fuel rail it's pressure adjustable supply of clean fuel. I disconnected the car's fuel pump have not look in the tank yet sure it at least needs cleaned. What inputs does the the computer need for it to run the engine? I will likely get a new fully programmable computer in the future so for now just need it to run and move.
 

ChrisD

New member
Wow, congrats on the new 165. Sounds like an interesting project.

So is everything connected? Or do you have some exposed wiring to deal with yet? I'd probably do a few things.
1. Check the part number on the ecu to see which one you have. Hopefully it matches the engine.
2. I'd do some basic checks to verify the wiring work that was done. Checking connectivity as per the 185 wiring diagrams
3. Pressure check on fuel, coolant systems. Drain the tank. Might be worth dropping the tank for inspection and also to check out the pump.
4. Usual maintenance things like oil and filters and plugs etc.

The air flow meters are different but I'd they are wired in properly it should work OK. I'd check the wiring to the ecu and find out

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Lipps

New member
Thanks for the reply it’s a very solid car and for us in the rust belt that alone is exciting. The whole story on how I ended up with this car is crazy. When I first looked at it I thought the underside was covered in scaly rust later with a flash light realized the underside was painted same red as body and then under coated, the red body color coming through the under coating made the ruff under coating look like scaly rust. The original engine wiring harness is a mess and the computer is also original to the car not worth messing with. I just purchased a second gen alltrac U.S. computer and wiring harness off forum member, have it in a week. Should be correct year for the second gen 3sgte I have in the car, although my engine is JDM. I figured this makes car like the more common second gen alltrac with JDM engine swap, so there is more information available. I just have to install harness to the car guessing the engine harness and computer pretty much stand alone? Am I making sense?
 
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