My Engine Bay Renovation Thread, AE111 ECU conversion, wire tuck, and more... Options

[Coomer]

It's alive!

I got enough stuff in to hook up the battery and check to ensure things are working electrically. Everything seemed good, so I tried starting the car, only to find a gas leak right at the fuel filter. I fixed that and the car still wouldn't start, but only because it was out of gas. I got some gas, poured it in, and it fired right up.

No codes or anything, but I have a coolant leak at the thermostat housing that I need to fix. Also, I think there is tons of air in the system, because after about 45 seconds or so from starting the car the coolant temp. gauge was almost at normal operating temperature and rising quickly.

I'm too lazy/tired to take pics, but my heater core lines look sweet. Tomorrow I'll have to take some pics.

Tomorrow I need to get some silicone sealant for the thermostat housing, drain the coolant, and seal the thermostat. Then hopefully I can get the car operating normally and put it back together. I'm just excited that it's running with no codes and that all of the electrical stuff is working.

[mikeismad0408]

SWEET!!! glad you got it running man, cant wait to see the pics

[Coomer]

There are some weird things going on. For some reason, when you start up the car, the speedometer shoots up and says I'm going like 15-20, and then it drops back down to about 5 mph and stays there.

And within 30 seconds, the coolant temp. is all the way to red. This I could see happening because of air in the system, but I don't know about the speed sensor. Anyone have any ideas?

[Bitter]

the output from the speed sensor needs to be sheilded from any alternating current, make sure that it is and then go from there...because i dunno.

[OrbitalGT95]

chris, go ahead and pop the rear of the hood, drifters have been doing it for ever and i have never personally heard of any horror storys from it

[Coomer]

the output from the speed sensor needs to be sheilded from any alternating current, make sure that it is and then go from there...because i dunno.

Hmm...isn't the only alternating current wire in the car the RPM signal wire? And neither that nor the speed sensor signal wires are shielded from the factory. And they do run through the same harness. Where'd you hear that the speed sensor signal wire has to be shielded?

Also, I put coolant back in the car by pouring it in through the radiator when the car was off. Apparently, that wasn't the right way to do this and is probably why I have air bubbles in my cooling system. The BGB states:

To prevent air from being trapped in engine block, engine
should be running when refilling cooling system. After system is full,
continue running engine until thermostat is open, then recheck fill
level. Do not overfill system.

Wouldn't running an engine with no coolant even for just a short amount of time while pouring in coolant be bad on the water pump and the motor itself?

Also, should I leave the radiator cap off until the thermostat opens?

I just want to make sure I don't damage anything, and I need to figure out my cooling issues.

This post has been edited by Coomer: Apr 28, 2007 - 11:31 AM

[Bitter]

i dunno about toyota, but on GM's they sheild the speed sensor, rpm signal, and cam/crank signals.

yes, when bleeding the engine of air idle it with the rad cap off adding coolant to the radiator as the air bubbles out. it'll take a little while for the tstat to open up, so you may just want to run it with the stat out, pull the housing, install the stat, then rebleed the small amount of air from doing that.

[Coomer]

i dunno about toyota, but on GM's they sheild the speed sensor, rpm signal, and cam/crank signals.

Toyota doesn't, at least not on the sixth gen. Celica.

yes, when bleeding the engine of air idle it with the rad cap off adding coolant to the radiator as the air bubbles out. it'll take a little while for the tstat to open up, so you may just want to run it with the stat out, pull the housing, install the stat, then rebleed the small amount of air from doing that.

Thanks for the info. However, you can't really just pull the housing and install the thermostat...coolant goes everywhere.

[Batman722]

Also, I'm debating whether or not I want to vent the rear of my hood

IMO, no. I understand why you want to do it but personally I don't think it will make that big a diff. Also the fact that I think it's kind of, well, ricey. It's just not a good look on a Celica IMO.

Other than that I'm glad to hear that it's just about done. All of the meticulous work you have done...I get too anxious to do anything like that. Big ups homie.

[Coomer]

So far today I haven't gotten much done.

I drained my coolant and removed my thermostat, and coolant keeps slowly draining from the block. I can't install the thermostat and housing (with silicone sealant) until it's dry, so I'm stuck waiting.



There you can see the heater core lines and stuff. I routed the throttle cable so it comes straight out of the firewall and curves nicely as well. Don't mind the funnel...it's there collecting coolant that slowly leaks out of the block.



There you can see the heater core lines again. It's pretty roomy back there. I also changed the mounting position of my MAP sensor so it's hidden and you can kind of see it between the runners for the #3 and #4 cylinders.

I may go install my brake booster line and work on my suspension, but I'm tired and pissed off that coolant keeps slowly draining so I can't put the thermostat back in and get the car running again, so I may just go home early and hang out with my friends or something.

[Bitter]

why not just grab the $2 gasket from toyota or from a parts store? it seals WAY better than some goop from a tube bud.

[Coomer]

why not just grab the $2 gasket from toyota or from a parts store? it seals WAY better than some goop from a tube bud.

Well, Autozone didn't have one in their application and I hadn't seen one used there, so I assumed there was no gasket available. But I'll check Schucks and see what they have. A gasket would be way nice.

[Bitter]

just a rubber ring, cut somewhat rectangular in shape. my 7afe used one so i assume all A blocks use one. it sets into that little groove around the T-stat in the block. heck i think the gasket comes WITH the t-stat...or the parts guy just gave me one for free since he knows me by face at the dealer.

[Hanyo]

coomer, why dont you lift up the driver side of the car. so the coolent doesn't leak out from gravity.

This way it will dry and you can install the theromstat.

did you get your speedo fixed?

I think it could be from a bad ground. is your ecu grounded properly. what about your chassis grounded to the battery? try disconnecting the speedo plug and see if the needle moves?

[Coomer]

just a rubber ring, cut somewhat rectangular in shape. my 7afe used one so i assume all A blocks use one. it sets into that little groove around the T-stat in the block. heck i think the gasket comes WITH the t-stat...or the parts guy just gave me one for free since he knows me by face at the dealer.

Oh, I know what you're talking about...I bought one of those this morning. I had that part in my car already, but it doesn't seal perfectly (even the brand new one I got doesn't.)

What I was talking about was a gasket between the two metal parts of the thermostat housing. My two parts don't seal perfectly, so that's what I needed. The people at Schucks that I spoke with thought the same thing as you and offered me those rubber rings initially, until I explained to them that I needed a different gasket, which apparently isn't available for my car.

So I found a universal gasket for a water outlet housing and made my own gasket, and it seems to hold up well. Problem solved for $1.49.

I started the car and began bleeding the cooling system a couple times. The only thing is that I'm scared to leave my car on for long while it's bleeding air out of the cooling system, because the temperature gauge shoots up to full hot within a minute of turning the car on. Is this normal?

And does the front of the car have to be elevated higher than the back? I have no rear suspension so I can't drop the back down to the ground yet.

coomer, why dont you lift up the driver side of the car. so the coolent doesn't leak out from gravity.

This way it will dry and you can install the theromstat.

did you get your speedo fixed?

I think it could be from a bad ground. is your ecu grounded properly. what about your chassis grounded to the battery? try disconnecting the speedo plug and see if the needle moves?

That would have worked, but my gasket ended up working well.

And the speedometer is off by just a tiny bit now (like 1-2 mph at idle.) I'm thinking ground issue as well. That, or maybe the engine vibrations are moving the parts inside the tranny slightly since there's no resistance (Axles aren't installed yet.) Not sure if that's possible...I'm leaning towards ground as well, since I only have one ground from the tranny to the chassis.

[netrata]

Is the gasket for the water outlet housing the one your looking for? If so, the one's from the 1990-91 Corolla GTS with the FWD 4AGE will work because i'm using the water outlet housing from the their 4AGE engine with no problems. And i'm pretty sure the 7AFE thermostat will work, i've been using that for over a year with no problems. You might need some teflon tape if you took off the sensor that bolts into the water outlet housing itself so it doesn't leak. Just wrap the threads a bit and bolt back in. Hope it helps, BTW nice work Coomer

This post has been edited by netrata: Apr 29, 2007 - 1:54 AM

[Hanyo]

I started the car and began bleeding the cooling system a couple times. The only thing is that I'm scared to leave my car on for long while it's bleeding air out of the cooling system, because the temperature gauge shoots up to full hot within a minute of turning the car on. Is this normal?

does the engine feel hot after the needle shoots up? i mean if you touch the valve cover, does it burn you? It could be a faulty sensor reading..

also, i sugest that the front of the car being elevated higher then the back. you want the radiator to be the highest part of your car so the air can excape. Makesure to turn your heater on so your heater core gets filled with coolent also.

[Bitter]

haha, push the clutch in man that should stop the speedo thing if its mechanical.

[Coomer]

Is the gasket for the water outlet housing the one your looking for? If so, the one's from the 1990-91 Corolla GTS with the FWD 4AGE will work because i'm using the water outlet housing from the their 4AGE engine with no problems. And i'm pretty sure the 7AFE thermostat will work, i've been using that for over a year with no problems. You might need some teflon tape if you took off the sensor that bolts into the water outlet housing itself so it doesn't leak. Just wrap the threads a bit and bolt back in. Hope it helps, BTW nice work Coomer

Yeah, that's the gasket I was looking for. The one I made seems to be working fine though. And I've been using a 4A-FE thermostat with success. The 7A-FE one looks identical though.

does the engine feel hot after the needle shoots up? i mean if you touch the valve cover, does it burn you? It could be a faulty sensor reading..

also, i sugest that the front of the car being elevated higher then the back. you want the radiator to be the highest part of your car so the air can excape. Makesure to turn your heater on so your heater core gets filled with coolent also.

Not initially, no, but after a couple minutes it begins to get warm. Could air trapped in there be causing the sensor to give a faulty reading? Because the sensor worked perfectly before.

haha, push the clutch in man that should stop the speedo thing if its mechanical.

I don't have a clutch line fabricated yet.

[lagos]

coomer... it sounds like an electrical problem making the needled shoot up.

normally you just fill the radiator with the car off, leave the cap off, start the motor, watch the bubbles come out and add as needed.