underscore
Well-known member
Yeah if you clock the intercooler and grab a 3SGE intake manifold then the FMIC piping is much shorter and tidier. Probably more efficient too, since you can keep it further from the exhaust.
RORERI: A JDM 1992 ST185H-BLMVZ
- Thread starter Roreri
- Start date
If I have it correct, that would involve the charge air going down and across to the opposite side from the turbo then through the intercooler then up on the turbo side then across to the 3S-GE intake manifold.
A lightweight battery and slight relocate back would open up sone space for that piping too, I bet.
EDIT: I just ordered a Shorai LFX36L3BS12. 4.81lbs. 540CCA equivalent, 36Ah reserve. The Toyota Truestart Lead-Acid battery I currently have installed is 33.4lbs. So, between the CF hood and this lightweight battery, I'm about to shed 58.6lbs off the front end of the Lorelei.
That will make the dry curb weight 3017.4lbs--1885.4lbs (62.5%) in the front, 1132lbs (37.5%) in the rear. Add me at 180lbs and 9 gallons of gas, and that's 3251lbs. Not bad.
A lightweight battery and slight relocate back would open up sone space for that piping too, I bet.
EDIT: I just ordered a Shorai LFX36L3BS12. 4.81lbs. 540CCA equivalent, 36Ah reserve. The Toyota Truestart Lead-Acid battery I currently have installed is 33.4lbs. So, between the CF hood and this lightweight battery, I'm about to shed 58.6lbs off the front end of the Lorelei.
That will make the dry curb weight 3017.4lbs--1885.4lbs (62.5%) in the front, 1132lbs (37.5%) in the rear. Add me at 180lbs and 9 gallons of gas, and that's 3251lbs. Not bad.
A red letter day! I installed the carbon fiber hood I received from Carbon Microsystem.
Eleven pounds as opposed to 41 for the steel CS hood. The install was fairly straightforward, though one of the threaded rods on the center vent didn't line up with a hole on my vent mesh frame, inexplicably--I imagine their vent mesh that they use is ever so slightly different than mine. I had to snip that bracket a little to make it work, but no real loss of structural integrity.
I applied a two fresh coats of Duplicolor Toyota 202 Black, a light misting of Toyota 1G3 Magnetic Grey Metallic, a light dusting of Duplicolor Silver Caliper Paint, and then another light misting of Toyota 202 Black to tone it back down a little. I didn't want the mesh to be basically black on a black hole.
Looks great.
A review of the whole saga in a thread all its own. The restoration is nigh unto complete.
I have a radiator grille on order to finish it up. Lakeland Toyota (Toyota Parts Overstock) is trying to figure out how they screwed up taking my money for an item they confirmed was in stock--I called them like they said I should for a pre-1995 part then gave them my credit card information and ordered it on the spot when they said they had one. But then they didn't send it, and now they don't have it.
#AllTrac Lyfe.
Eleven pounds as opposed to 41 for the steel CS hood. The install was fairly straightforward, though one of the threaded rods on the center vent didn't line up with a hole on my vent mesh frame, inexplicably--I imagine their vent mesh that they use is ever so slightly different than mine. I had to snip that bracket a little to make it work, but no real loss of structural integrity.
I applied a two fresh coats of Duplicolor Toyota 202 Black, a light misting of Toyota 1G3 Magnetic Grey Metallic, a light dusting of Duplicolor Silver Caliper Paint, and then another light misting of Toyota 202 Black to tone it back down a little. I didn't want the mesh to be basically black on a black hole.
Looks great.
A review of the whole saga in a thread all its own. The restoration is nigh unto complete.
I have a radiator grille on order to finish it up. Lakeland Toyota (Toyota Parts Overstock) is trying to figure out how they screwed up taking my money for an item they confirmed was in stock--I called them like they said I should for a pre-1995 part then gave them my credit card information and ordered it on the spot when they said they had one. But then they didn't send it, and now they don't have it.
#AllTrac Lyfe.
Gah. These people...
Black List.
Now I gotta go to the Cars and Coffee this Saturday with no radiator grill like a doofus. LOL
Thankfully they'll probably be looking at the CF hood instead. Like I care what they think anyway. I got a GT-Four.
I ordered a radiator grill off of a guy in Lancaster PA who looks like he's parting out a Celica. I'll cancel my order from Lakeland Toyota (dba Listing Shit For Sale We Don't Have) first thing in the morning.
On the plus side, Shorai shipped my lightweight battery, so I might have that soon! Weight reduction!
I took the Lorelei on a 43 mile evening test drive with the hood. It's still on the car, so that's good.
After I got back, I heat gunned various parts of the engine. The hood exterior immediately above the hottest part of the engine was 140 degrees F. The intercooler was 200-210 degrees depending on where I pointed the heat gun. The Turbo was 227 degrees. The exhaust shield was a stunning 350-368 degrees--I guess I knew this but it's still hilarious to see. It was clear that the Lorelei suffers from engine compartment heat issues that really will only be corrected by a front mounted intercooler.
Black List.
Now I gotta go to the Cars and Coffee this Saturday with no radiator grill like a doofus. LOL
Thankfully they'll probably be looking at the CF hood instead. Like I care what they think anyway. I got a GT-Four.
I ordered a radiator grill off of a guy in Lancaster PA who looks like he's parting out a Celica. I'll cancel my order from Lakeland Toyota (dba Listing Shit For Sale We Don't Have) first thing in the morning.
On the plus side, Shorai shipped my lightweight battery, so I might have that soon! Weight reduction!
I took the Lorelei on a 43 mile evening test drive with the hood. It's still on the car, so that's good.
After I got back, I heat gunned various parts of the engine. The hood exterior immediately above the hottest part of the engine was 140 degrees F. The intercooler was 200-210 degrees depending on where I pointed the heat gun. The Turbo was 227 degrees. The exhaust shield was a stunning 350-368 degrees--I guess I knew this but it's still hilarious to see. It was clear that the Lorelei suffers from engine compartment heat issues that really will only be corrected by a front mounted intercooler.
The long nightmare is over.
Cars and Coffee
We drove up to Sterling Craftsman Auto’s cars and coffee. The Lorelei got a lot of positive attention, and I got to tell some stories about it. It was interesting to discover that people were surprised that it had been in an accident and that I had fixed it myself. Only when I specifically pointed out the slight waviness in the bumper where the impact had deformed it, the missing radiator grill, and the slight bowing of the structural cross-member across the front of the radiator, did they see what I meant.
Performance and Heat Check
The Lorelei performed flawlessly during the 85km round trip. It was a hotter day than any so far this year, and I noticed that the oil temp got up to 219 degrees F. I heatgunned the Celica when we got home and got 150 degrees F on the hood, 220 at the intercooler, 240 at the turbo, and 360 at the exhaust heat shield. It was interesting to note that the temperatures were about 10 degrees up on all locations before the motor compared to the other day when I heatgunned it, but the same at the exhaust heat shield. This is consistent with what I would have expected given that the outside air temperature was about 10 degrees warmer than the other evening when it was considerably cooler.
I really do think the intermittent dropouts I was seeing was just me asking more of the Lorelei than she wanted to give, once the intercooler was fully heat soaked, and the ECU was pulling timing. I mean, it's a good thing to replace spark plugs and ignition wires and distributor cap and rotor, and fuel filter, and to check fuel pressure. But ultimately, I think the fuel pump is fine and an FMIC will open up boost up to 15psi. So, at some point, clocked turbo (uprated turbo?) and FMIC. Maybe 2023.
Repairs Complete
When we got back, the radiator grill I ordered off eBay had arrived. I got to work. Thankfully, the replacement radiator grill had all three of the clips that secure it to the metal structure behind it, and I had the three washers already (so I now have three washers and one clip extra). The Lorelei is fully repaired.
Well, pretty much. There's still some things I could do. I could disassemble the whole front end, and tweak that cross-member just in front of the radiator a bit. I could source the parts that I have been unable to source and replace them. I have a very slight fitment issue where the left headlight sits a little proud or the hood sits a little low along the left headlight inboard line. The rubber bumper is stuck in a way that doesn't allow me to rotate it upwards. It will turn but it doesn't change height. But, I think I'll leave well enough alone for a moment.
Make sure you set your parking brake or leave it in gear or both or always park in a way that it can't roll.
Next: Lightweight battery.
Cars and Coffee
We drove up to Sterling Craftsman Auto’s cars and coffee. The Lorelei got a lot of positive attention, and I got to tell some stories about it. It was interesting to discover that people were surprised that it had been in an accident and that I had fixed it myself. Only when I specifically pointed out the slight waviness in the bumper where the impact had deformed it, the missing radiator grill, and the slight bowing of the structural cross-member across the front of the radiator, did they see what I meant.
Performance and Heat Check
The Lorelei performed flawlessly during the 85km round trip. It was a hotter day than any so far this year, and I noticed that the oil temp got up to 219 degrees F. I heatgunned the Celica when we got home and got 150 degrees F on the hood, 220 at the intercooler, 240 at the turbo, and 360 at the exhaust heat shield. It was interesting to note that the temperatures were about 10 degrees up on all locations before the motor compared to the other day when I heatgunned it, but the same at the exhaust heat shield. This is consistent with what I would have expected given that the outside air temperature was about 10 degrees warmer than the other evening when it was considerably cooler.
I really do think the intermittent dropouts I was seeing was just me asking more of the Lorelei than she wanted to give, once the intercooler was fully heat soaked, and the ECU was pulling timing. I mean, it's a good thing to replace spark plugs and ignition wires and distributor cap and rotor, and fuel filter, and to check fuel pressure. But ultimately, I think the fuel pump is fine and an FMIC will open up boost up to 15psi. So, at some point, clocked turbo (uprated turbo?) and FMIC. Maybe 2023.
Repairs Complete
When we got back, the radiator grill I ordered off eBay had arrived. I got to work. Thankfully, the replacement radiator grill had all three of the clips that secure it to the metal structure behind it, and I had the three washers already (so I now have three washers and one clip extra). The Lorelei is fully repaired.
Well, pretty much. There's still some things I could do. I could disassemble the whole front end, and tweak that cross-member just in front of the radiator a bit. I could source the parts that I have been unable to source and replace them. I have a very slight fitment issue where the left headlight sits a little proud or the hood sits a little low along the left headlight inboard line. The rubber bumper is stuck in a way that doesn't allow me to rotate it upwards. It will turn but it doesn't change height. But, I think I'll leave well enough alone for a moment.
Make sure you set your parking brake or leave it in gear or both or always park in a way that it can't roll.
Next: Lightweight battery.
Another week, another set of projects!
Shorai LFX36L3BS12 Install
This battery arrived from Shorai on the 24th. Installation was not entirely straightforward. It didn't come with SAE posts, and so I had to install a set of brackets (which were included) onto threaded holes at the positive and negative, then remove the regular SAE terminals from my Celica's battery leads. I then screwed them onto the battery.
The battery was so light that I resorted to the simple expedient of using Gorilla adhesive to bond it with the plastic battery tray, with it wedged against the engine compartment fusebox. I cut a piece of wood, rattlecanned it Toyota 202 Black, and stuck it to the battery tray to further brace and isolate the battery from movement. That sounds like shit, I know, but it's secure.
This immediately removed 29 and a half pounds from the front left corner. It started right up. I took the Lorelei on a test drive. There's an onramp that I like to take at WOT. There's a change of curve radius to tighter at the bottom of the ramp, and damn if the 60lbs shed between the cf hood and the lightweight battery didn't make that maneuver noticeably easier. Ordinarily, it's a little woo-woo, but when I gave it the steering input this time, it just went nicely.
Further, I'd been having some problems sometimes getting the Lorelei started on the first or even second turn of the key, but I think that's over. The discharge rate is such that it just delivers more authoritative power to the starter. In the several times I've started the car since I installed it, I have only had to try a second time once, and that was because I stopped trying a bit early seeing how light I could go on it.
I have a nice wide open space at the front corner of the engine compartment now. Tea boiler? Crock pot? Sous vide? Water-Meth Rig?
BKR7E Spark Plug Install
I got my hands on some BKR7E spark plugs and installed them. These are one step colder than the Denso SK20PR-A8 plugs I installed November 2021.
I was a little alarmed by the dry fouling on the Denso plugs I took out--these were only six months old with 4250 miles on them.
This could be indicative of overly rich conditions or worn piston rings or valve seals, or maybe the valve cover gasket. I've also been running a lot of product through the engine the past six months--SeaFoam through the throttle body, MaxClean in the tank, and Lucas High Viscosity Oil Stabilizer in the engine oil. And I have done a number of WOT pulls with these plugs installed where the air-fuel ratio has been very rich. I'll occasionally look at the new plug that I can access nearest the timing belt occasionally to check its condition.
Engine Bay Touchups
Since I had the intercooler off, I gave the cylinder head cover a good scrubbing with steel wool to knock the dust off then degreased it. Then I degreased, washed, and painted the intercooler with Duplicolor Toyota 202 Black. Then I got after the exhaust heat shield with steel wool and degreaser and painted it Duplicolor Heat Heat Cast Coat Iron. Since I was feeling energetic, I used a microdabber to freshen up the TOYOTA and the 2000 TWIN CAM 16 lettering on the throttle body. And I got after general engine compartment grease with a rag soaked in degreaser and wiped plastics and rubbers with Meguiar's Ultimate Black. Over the past several months I've been slowly evicting the dust and grime that took hold in the engine bay while it was idle all those years in Japan and it's starting to look a lot better.
I could definitely see using that Cast Coat Iron paint on the cylinder head cover, the grey part of the AFM, and the throttle body--if ever it's out or if I were to undertake the complicated masking job that would entail.
I changed out the larger K&N filter with a smaller Spectre filter, and installed a temperature gauge in the engine bay. I started out with the probe just above the intercooler, but then moved the probe to take a reading between the air filter and the air duct from the resonator. My thought was to get a sense for what kind of hot air was getting fed to the motor.
Horn Relay Replace
I ordered a horn relay for like $11 delivered off of eBay and ended up with two, both of which work. Horn function restored--Beep Beep!
Coilover Adjustment
For the past month I've been lazy and let the rear coilovers be a little higher than I thought they ought to be. I buckled down and got the wheels off and adjusted them down an inch and a quarter in the rear and a half inch in the front. 13" hub center to front fender, 14" hub center to rear fender.
I think that's about the right height and rake, now, unless I want to go a half inch lower. I also cleaned up the lug nuts and gave them a couple of coats of Toyota 202 Black and matte clearcoat.
Shorai LFX36L3BS12 Install
This battery arrived from Shorai on the 24th. Installation was not entirely straightforward. It didn't come with SAE posts, and so I had to install a set of brackets (which were included) onto threaded holes at the positive and negative, then remove the regular SAE terminals from my Celica's battery leads. I then screwed them onto the battery.
The battery was so light that I resorted to the simple expedient of using Gorilla adhesive to bond it with the plastic battery tray, with it wedged against the engine compartment fusebox. I cut a piece of wood, rattlecanned it Toyota 202 Black, and stuck it to the battery tray to further brace and isolate the battery from movement. That sounds like shit, I know, but it's secure.
This immediately removed 29 and a half pounds from the front left corner. It started right up. I took the Lorelei on a test drive. There's an onramp that I like to take at WOT. There's a change of curve radius to tighter at the bottom of the ramp, and damn if the 60lbs shed between the cf hood and the lightweight battery didn't make that maneuver noticeably easier. Ordinarily, it's a little woo-woo, but when I gave it the steering input this time, it just went nicely.
Further, I'd been having some problems sometimes getting the Lorelei started on the first or even second turn of the key, but I think that's over. The discharge rate is such that it just delivers more authoritative power to the starter. In the several times I've started the car since I installed it, I have only had to try a second time once, and that was because I stopped trying a bit early seeing how light I could go on it.
I have a nice wide open space at the front corner of the engine compartment now. Tea boiler? Crock pot? Sous vide? Water-Meth Rig?
BKR7E Spark Plug Install
I got my hands on some BKR7E spark plugs and installed them. These are one step colder than the Denso SK20PR-A8 plugs I installed November 2021.
I was a little alarmed by the dry fouling on the Denso plugs I took out--these were only six months old with 4250 miles on them.
This could be indicative of overly rich conditions or worn piston rings or valve seals, or maybe the valve cover gasket. I've also been running a lot of product through the engine the past six months--SeaFoam through the throttle body, MaxClean in the tank, and Lucas High Viscosity Oil Stabilizer in the engine oil. And I have done a number of WOT pulls with these plugs installed where the air-fuel ratio has been very rich. I'll occasionally look at the new plug that I can access nearest the timing belt occasionally to check its condition.
Engine Bay Touchups
Since I had the intercooler off, I gave the cylinder head cover a good scrubbing with steel wool to knock the dust off then degreased it. Then I degreased, washed, and painted the intercooler with Duplicolor Toyota 202 Black. Then I got after the exhaust heat shield with steel wool and degreaser and painted it Duplicolor Heat Heat Cast Coat Iron. Since I was feeling energetic, I used a microdabber to freshen up the TOYOTA and the 2000 TWIN CAM 16 lettering on the throttle body. And I got after general engine compartment grease with a rag soaked in degreaser and wiped plastics and rubbers with Meguiar's Ultimate Black. Over the past several months I've been slowly evicting the dust and grime that took hold in the engine bay while it was idle all those years in Japan and it's starting to look a lot better.
I could definitely see using that Cast Coat Iron paint on the cylinder head cover, the grey part of the AFM, and the throttle body--if ever it's out or if I were to undertake the complicated masking job that would entail.
I changed out the larger K&N filter with a smaller Spectre filter, and installed a temperature gauge in the engine bay. I started out with the probe just above the intercooler, but then moved the probe to take a reading between the air filter and the air duct from the resonator. My thought was to get a sense for what kind of hot air was getting fed to the motor.
Horn Relay Replace
I ordered a horn relay for like $11 delivered off of eBay and ended up with two, both of which work. Horn function restored--Beep Beep!
Coilover Adjustment
For the past month I've been lazy and let the rear coilovers be a little higher than I thought they ought to be. I buckled down and got the wheels off and adjusted them down an inch and a quarter in the rear and a half inch in the front. 13" hub center to front fender, 14" hub center to rear fender.
I think that's about the right height and rake, now, unless I want to go a half inch lower. I also cleaned up the lug nuts and gave them a couple of coats of Toyota 202 Black and matte clearcoat.
Went to the Northern Virginia Katie's Coffee Cars and Coffee in Great Falls--huge turnout. Must have been a hundred sweet rides there. Got a lot of attention--the AllTrac love is out there from those who know. Parked next to a rhd Acura NSX--first one I've seen as I'm new to the car scene but I can't imagine they're common. We left at the same time and we cruised together on the expressway a while.
I was surprised at the NSX exhaust note. High and raspy. I'd heard that was the case and Hondas are I guess notorious for it, but wow it really was surprising to hear it from such a grand platform. I hope mine doesn't sound like that.
When I got back, I pulled the spark plugs to do a quick 50-mile check. Here's what I got:
Nothing dramatic, but that oil on the threads of the number one plug is a little worrisome--especially considering that it's just been 50 miles. I considered that perhaps I didn't have the plugs torqued correctly, as I had just used the little T-wrench that came with the Lorelei that the previous owner had added. I cleaned the threads, went and got a lower range torque wrench, and torqued them all to 13 foot pounds per the BGB.
I'll check them again frequently.
I was surprised at the NSX exhaust note. High and raspy. I'd heard that was the case and Hondas are I guess notorious for it, but wow it really was surprising to hear it from such a grand platform. I hope mine doesn't sound like that.
When I got back, I pulled the spark plugs to do a quick 50-mile check. Here's what I got:
Nothing dramatic, but that oil on the threads of the number one plug is a little worrisome--especially considering that it's just been 50 miles. I considered that perhaps I didn't have the plugs torqued correctly, as I had just used the little T-wrench that came with the Lorelei that the previous owner had added. I cleaned the threads, went and got a lower range torque wrench, and torqued them all to 13 foot pounds per the BGB.
I'll check them again frequently.
grip-addict
Active member
That hood looks very good on your car, so clean !
If you have oil on your spark plugs, a lot of times it's just the valve cover gasket leaking. Do you have screws or allen key bolts for the valve cover? A couple places sell bolt "upgrades" to use a hex or allen key head just because you can get more tq on it than the factory phillips screw heads. It's easy to source new bolts with a trip to the store too though. If it's not leaking oil badly, then just retightening the valve cover bolts can really help.
If you have oil on your spark plugs, a lot of times it's just the valve cover gasket leaking. Do you have screws or allen key bolts for the valve cover? A couple places sell bolt "upgrades" to use a hex or allen key head just because you can get more tq on it than the factory phillips screw heads. It's easy to source new bolts with a trip to the store too though. If it's not leaking oil badly, then just retightening the valve cover bolts can really help.
Radiator Super Flush
Because I'd lost some coolant out of the busted coolant overflow bottle and I didn't want to run the risk of mixing coolant, and because before I got the Lorelei, it had been sitting for years, I decided to do this radiator super flush I saw ChrisFix detail:
https://youtu.be/s--5ft5YiHg
To be clear, the day after I bought it, I had the radiator flushed and filled, so this coolant is only 10,000km old. This procedure is the kind of thing that you'd never want to pay someone to do, and it's also something you'll never get from the Jiffy Lube or whatever.
Materials: Ten gallons of distilled water, two bottles of Prestone Total Cooling System Cleaner, and a gallon of Toyota red cap long life antifreeze/coolant at Priority Toyota, all told $60.
Procedure: I didn't remove the thermostat like Chris recommends in his video--too much trouble. I dropped the first bottle of the Prestone into the coolant overflow bottle. If it was low enough I could have put it directly into the radiator. The bottle says to run it in the motor 10 minutes for a light cleaning, and 3-6 hours for a heavy cleaning. I drove it for an hour and a half, turning the heater on for about ten minutes to circulate the solution through the heater core.
Then I drained it from the petcock, put in a gallon of distilled water, and drove it on a 6km loop with the heater on, then drained the radiator and called it a night.
In the morning I added a gallon of distilled water and a second bottle of Prestone cleaner to the radiator, then went on a two hour drive.
Throughout the day, I drained then filled the radiator with distilled water, taking short trips to circulate the increasingly dilute mixture of water, coolant, and cleaner throughout the system. Since I'd left the thermostat in, I wasn't getting a full drain each time--only the 4 quarts in the radiator--so it was only really diluting the mix about 57% each time.
The last time, I got wise. I opened the radiator, then with the motor running and draining slowly, cycled two more gallons of distilled water through the cooling system, flushing out as much of the old coolant as possible. I wouldn't want to drink the last flush, but it was pretty clear all things considered (those bottles are from water I drank, not the water I put in the radiator).
Then I put in fresh coolant. Since I was draining about a gallon from the radiator, and about 3 quarts of pretty clear distilled water were trapped up in the engine, I mixed 3.5 quarts of Toyota red cap long life antifreeze/coolant with .5 quart distilled water, and dumped it in the radiator, figuring it would all settle out to a 50/50 mix as it moved around over time.
Results: Is it running cooler? Seemed to me a little, yeah. It was a hot day and it seemed like coolant and oil temps were about 10 degrees cooler than I'd have expected, though it's hard to say. Regardless, I do know that just in the bottles, there was a goodly amount of sediment that I pulled out of the radiator--like an inch of murky stuff at the bottom of the first gallon jug I filled, and a half inch in the bottom of the second gallon jug--so there's that. Down the road I might do a radiator replace, but I've bought some time.
It also feels good to get an increasingly firm handle on basic procedures that I ought to have been doing myself from the get go. How much money did I spend assigning these sorts of tasks to others while I was working up the courage and the knowledge to do it myself? Too damn much, especially when you consider the risks involved if the job gets screwed up. Now I can use these skills to keep the whole family's fleet running:
1992 Toyota Celica GT-Four
1999 Ford F-150
2005 Subaru Outback
2019 Toyota RAV4
Because I'd lost some coolant out of the busted coolant overflow bottle and I didn't want to run the risk of mixing coolant, and because before I got the Lorelei, it had been sitting for years, I decided to do this radiator super flush I saw ChrisFix detail:
https://youtu.be/s--5ft5YiHg
To be clear, the day after I bought it, I had the radiator flushed and filled, so this coolant is only 10,000km old. This procedure is the kind of thing that you'd never want to pay someone to do, and it's also something you'll never get from the Jiffy Lube or whatever.
Materials: Ten gallons of distilled water, two bottles of Prestone Total Cooling System Cleaner, and a gallon of Toyota red cap long life antifreeze/coolant at Priority Toyota, all told $60.
Procedure: I didn't remove the thermostat like Chris recommends in his video--too much trouble. I dropped the first bottle of the Prestone into the coolant overflow bottle. If it was low enough I could have put it directly into the radiator. The bottle says to run it in the motor 10 minutes for a light cleaning, and 3-6 hours for a heavy cleaning. I drove it for an hour and a half, turning the heater on for about ten minutes to circulate the solution through the heater core.
Then I drained it from the petcock, put in a gallon of distilled water, and drove it on a 6km loop with the heater on, then drained the radiator and called it a night.
In the morning I added a gallon of distilled water and a second bottle of Prestone cleaner to the radiator, then went on a two hour drive.
Throughout the day, I drained then filled the radiator with distilled water, taking short trips to circulate the increasingly dilute mixture of water, coolant, and cleaner throughout the system. Since I'd left the thermostat in, I wasn't getting a full drain each time--only the 4 quarts in the radiator--so it was only really diluting the mix about 57% each time.
The last time, I got wise. I opened the radiator, then with the motor running and draining slowly, cycled two more gallons of distilled water through the cooling system, flushing out as much of the old coolant as possible. I wouldn't want to drink the last flush, but it was pretty clear all things considered (those bottles are from water I drank, not the water I put in the radiator).
Then I put in fresh coolant. Since I was draining about a gallon from the radiator, and about 3 quarts of pretty clear distilled water were trapped up in the engine, I mixed 3.5 quarts of Toyota red cap long life antifreeze/coolant with .5 quart distilled water, and dumped it in the radiator, figuring it would all settle out to a 50/50 mix as it moved around over time.
Results: Is it running cooler? Seemed to me a little, yeah. It was a hot day and it seemed like coolant and oil temps were about 10 degrees cooler than I'd have expected, though it's hard to say. Regardless, I do know that just in the bottles, there was a goodly amount of sediment that I pulled out of the radiator--like an inch of murky stuff at the bottom of the first gallon jug I filled, and a half inch in the bottom of the second gallon jug--so there's that. Down the road I might do a radiator replace, but I've bought some time.
It also feels good to get an increasingly firm handle on basic procedures that I ought to have been doing myself from the get go. How much money did I spend assigning these sorts of tasks to others while I was working up the courage and the knowledge to do it myself? Too damn much, especially when you consider the risks involved if the job gets screwed up. Now I can use these skills to keep the whole family's fleet running:
1992 Toyota Celica GT-Four
1999 Ford F-150
2005 Subaru Outback
2019 Toyota RAV4
Intermittent CEL, ECU Check
Yesterday, I had a CEL. It went away, then faded back in, then out.
https://youtu.be/9Rt9g-72bzo?t=93
I checked for codes, but got none. I tightened down the battery leads a skosh.
This morning, I had a CEL but no codes and no issues. I took it out to drop the daughter off and get some coffee. When I fired it up after grabbing a coffee, no CEL, but on the way back it faded in and then went away by the time I got home.
I sussed out from a search on the forums that it was a failing cap--thanks FC Zach for your writeup--so I pulled the ECU--great thread on that thanks alltracman78 for your rundown of the process.
Of course, with the ECU being 30 years old this was not a surprise:
So, I will undertake to replace all of the caps, as I consider all of them ticking time bombs. This thread will be my resource: viewtopic.php?t=52355
Yesterday, I had a CEL. It went away, then faded back in, then out.
https://youtu.be/9Rt9g-72bzo?t=93
I checked for codes, but got none. I tightened down the battery leads a skosh.
This morning, I had a CEL but no codes and no issues. I took it out to drop the daughter off and get some coffee. When I fired it up after grabbing a coffee, no CEL, but on the way back it faded in and then went away by the time I got home.
I sussed out from a search on the forums that it was a failing cap--thanks FC Zach for your writeup--so I pulled the ECU--great thread on that thanks alltracman78 for your rundown of the process.
Of course, with the ECU being 30 years old this was not a surprise:
So, I will undertake to replace all of the caps, as I consider all of them ticking time bombs. This thread will be my resource: viewtopic.php?t=52355
grip-addict
Active member
woof. yeah, time to get some new caps in there.
I haven't reviewed that thread, but photos are great
caps have polarity, so definitely keep track of where + and - get soldered in.
I'm not great at soldering, but I had much more luck using a solder wick than a solder sucker when de-soldering and cleaning. I wonder how many caps are in the ECU anyways. Gotta be more than a few, right ?
I haven't reviewed that thread, but photos are great
caps have polarity, so definitely keep track of where + and - get soldered in.I'm not great at soldering, but I had much more luck using a solder wick than a solder sucker when de-soldering and cleaning. I wonder how many caps are in the ECU anyways. Gotta be more than a few, right ?
Tippo
Well-known member
Roreri":xqh6htpn said:
Wait, are these canned pictures of caps or your caps? If so, yeah that's in total need of replacement! My old ECU would do that too, when you start the car, on/off on/off on/off CEL. It was bad caps for sure when i took it apart. Not so bad to replace if you have any experience with a soldering iron.
underscore
Well-known member
That's exactly what mine looked like. The 2 that are the same were the ones that were leaking, but I replaced all 8 while I was in there. Even if they don't leak, a 30+ year old cap is likely to start drying out.
@Tippo: The pictures are of my caps in my Toyota 89661-2B280 ECU.
The caps that are presently visually bad are C810--the narrower 10uF50v one you can see without lifting the top plate--and C512, also a 10uF50v that is closer to the center on the top plate. The very same ones that went bad for FC Zach, and I am guessing others too.
So, from what I can figure out, there are eight caps that are prone to leak or dry out that optimally ought to be replaced at this point.
6 x smaller--various types (circled in red) at C500 and C512 on the top board, and C101, C810, C804, and C810 on the bottom board.
2 x larger--different types (circled in blue) at C002 and C109 on the bottom board.
I have zero soldering experience. That said, I am not stupid and I can learn, and I'm game to try, and this is a reassuring sort of thread on the MR2OC forum: https://www.mr2oc.com/threads/ecu-capac ... de.559625/ and this thread is also extensive but discourages me from trying it: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-1st ... citor.html
Regardless, I have this equipment on the way:
I am at DigiKey now and I'm sorting out the caps:
C002 47µF63V
C004 33µF35V
C810 10µF50V
C801 15µF35V
C101 100µF10V
C109 220µF10V
C512 10µF50V
C500 100µF10V
From the clublexus.com thread: "I have fixed different ECUs and what I can say is that you have to be very careful for selecting the electrolytic capacitors. The internal impedance or the ESR is the key to select. The capacitance value was not very strict. Sometimes +200% did not cause any problem. For an example, I have used 100uF instead of 47uF and it was fully OK. But when I have used a regular type of capacitor, it did not fix some problem.
Those who could not succeed or who are about to fix the ECU, I suggest you to use low ESR type capacitors such as Rubycon type ZLH, Nippon Chemicon KZH, Panasonic EEU and other equivalents."
I guess I'll definitely change out the two that are demonstrably bad, for sure. Depending on how those go, I'll proceed with the others...
The caps that are presently visually bad are C810--the narrower 10uF50v one you can see without lifting the top plate--and C512, also a 10uF50v that is closer to the center on the top plate. The very same ones that went bad for FC Zach, and I am guessing others too.
So, from what I can figure out, there are eight caps that are prone to leak or dry out that optimally ought to be replaced at this point.
6 x smaller--various types (circled in red) at C500 and C512 on the top board, and C101, C810, C804, and C810 on the bottom board.
2 x larger--different types (circled in blue) at C002 and C109 on the bottom board.
I have zero soldering experience. That said, I am not stupid and I can learn, and I'm game to try, and this is a reassuring sort of thread on the MR2OC forum: https://www.mr2oc.com/threads/ecu-capac ... de.559625/ and this thread is also extensive but discourages me from trying it: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-1st ... citor.html
Regardless, I have this equipment on the way:
I am at DigiKey now and I'm sorting out the caps:
C002 47µF63V
C004 33µF35V
C810 10µF50V
C801 15µF35V
C101 100µF10V
C109 220µF10V
C512 10µF50V
C500 100µF10V
From the clublexus.com thread: "I have fixed different ECUs and what I can say is that you have to be very careful for selecting the electrolytic capacitors. The internal impedance or the ESR is the key to select. The capacitance value was not very strict. Sometimes +200% did not cause any problem. For an example, I have used 100uF instead of 47uF and it was fully OK. But when I have used a regular type of capacitor, it did not fix some problem.
Those who could not succeed or who are about to fix the ECU, I suggest you to use low ESR type capacitors such as Rubycon type ZLH, Nippon Chemicon KZH, Panasonic EEU and other equivalents."
I guess I'll definitely change out the two that are demonstrably bad, for sure. Depending on how those go, I'll proceed with the others...
underscore
Well-known member
Roreri":km28i4of said:
What I'd suggest doing is grabbing some old scrap electronic device and practicing on that a little first to get a feel for it. Like an amp or VCR or something. If you have access to a junkyard go find any 80s/90s Toyota and grab the ECU.
Maybe try to fix some broken electronics, do a custom LED project or take a working cheap electronic device, desolder the components, solder them back in and see if it works.
Panasonic and Nichicon caps are the best, take the ones with the highest temperature ratings, they will last the longest.
Panasonic and Nichicon caps are the best, take the ones with the highest temperature ratings, they will last the longest.