Love what you're doing with this Craig! Great detailed work.

 

Thanks guys! This has been yet another intense saga but so far I am happy to report that the additions of an 8GA electrical ground directly to the middle side of the cylinder head and the additional 8GA ground from the rear side of the intake manifold have helped because the car is running fine and strong now! That igniter that I had thought was burned out last November is still in the car and it's doing fine.

The 100A Supra TT Auto factory alternator is still doing well even with the addition of the two extra fans (but it was designed for that extra load so it's not surprising). I have not yet had time to get the DC Power alternator tested but that will be my next project this coming week. Then I'll call DC Power to ask them about it.

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Of course this victory wouldn't sound right without yet another issue, right? Well my SC did it again. This time the day after I had the car running right again I got an intermittent CEL 24 (Air Intake Temperature Sensor malfunction inside the MAF unit) that got progressively more constant throughout the afternoon until I had to limp the car home at a slow and steady un-boosted 30mph.

Lucky for me I had another good used USDM TT MAF with 87k miles on it for this ECU in a spare parts bin. I swapped that in and no more Code 24, so that's good. However these are discontinued now and this is the 3rd one of these I've used so far. So I need to find another good spare or start looking into whether or not the late model LS400 MAF units really are as plug and play as they are said to be with USDM Supra TT's.






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Then, I've had a squeaky pulley noise at startup that still comes back after a bit when I rev the engine at full temperature. I think it has been there for a while before JUST at startup but now it's there constantly after warmup. I know that it could either be the serpentine belt tensioner bearing starting to go bad or the crank damper pulley going bad.

What's weird is that the serpentine tensioner was installed as a new part when I assembled the engine. Upon further checking of my receipt file for all the parts I bought for this project it seems I bought it off ebay some 5-7 years ago from what appears to be a legitimate Toyota dealer. Presumably this was a brand new part but it's been too long to know what the box looked like or what the ebay ad details and pictures were like.

I think it was new but the sound seems like it's coming from that tensioner/pulley. Using my stethoscope it sounds slightly noisy on its center fixed bolt. And the tensioner arm does move just a bit while that squealing is audible. I also removed the M/T Turbo tensioner shock absorber (also installed as a new OEM part when the engine was assembled) to see if there was any difference and there wasn't.

The crankshaft damper pulley is Toyota OEM and was bought brand new for my previous 2JZ-GE engine. I put maybe 16k-20k miles on it before installing it on my 2JZ-GTE block since it was in such good condition with low miles and saved me a few hundred dollars at the time. When I inspected it from above with a powerful flashlight, ran my fingers over its rubber mid-section and finally observed its rotation with the engine running it looks fine to me.

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I think it's a faulty serpentine tensioner pulley bearing. Maybe the part was actually used and not new after all. Or maybe it's just a faulty part. I ordered a new OEM replacement last night and will install that once it arrives.

The serpentine belt is a practically brand new OEM part (which is discontinued through Toyota now apparently just FYI so aftermarket belts is what we all have available now) but I'll pick up a Bando, Dayco or Gates belt if I need to replace it.

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Aside from those things all the electrical fixes seem to be good! Once the accessory drive squeak is eliminated it's just the stock turbo replacement job that remains

 

Thanks Rudy! I'm just very a determined and stubborn person who wants his car to work reliably and be usable I suspect the issue with the DC Power alternator has something to do with a faulty voltage regulator. Maybe something with the diodes? A test at Autozone and contact with their customer service department soon will tell.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of that Cressida project as well!


Interesting findings with your ES. I think my SC's original alternator was an 80 Amp unit as well come to think of it. I believe I upgraded to a 90A or 100A factory SC alternator before my swap but this did not do much of anything to change the idle amperage output. Agreed about lithium ion batteries and cold weather. For a starting battery I'd much prefer lead acid or AGM chemistry with a high CCA rating.

I might be wrong but I think even the small 12.6V battery that all EV's have run traditional lead-acid or AGM chemistry. This is still what is used for all their 12V systems throughout the car and to energize all the high voltage contactors, relays and pre-charge circuitry between the control electronics and their huge cold weather challenged lithium-ion battery packs. I think that continued reliance on a traditional type chemistry in the little 12.6V battery even in an electric car to get its systems running in all weather conditions says a lot about why it's still a superior way to get any type of vehicle started in the harshest of conditions.

I'm counting on that and I'm going to take another look at what LED signal flasher bulbs are available in very low profile that will fit the SC tail lights and head lights.

I think you're right. In 2010 when I went to an HID kit shortly after buying my SC the LED options were few and not very good. A decade later those options seem to have improved dramatically.


^^ That's exactly how I missed it. This means I'm still making rookie mistakes! ;D Haha! Nah, I think he's sold that engine to a new owner by now. He wanted to see for himself how well a 250k GE block would handle boost and use it as a testbed for his first NA-T build and he did quite well with it I think!

Come to think of it the GE cylinder head, valve covers, cams, valvetrain and distributor were actually sold to an eBay buyer in North Carolina before Gerry bought my short block so that's where my ground wire went off to


I will admit that other than the SC's recent downtime for repairs and maintenance I actually don't get out with it that much for long distances due to the whole covid situation being a minefield where I am. When I do take it out I always make sure I have a decent distance to travel or enough city errands so that I can do more than just warm it up and park it again... because that's never good.

The battery is three years old now and it has gone flat and been revived once so I'm expecting that sometime in the future it may need replacing anyway. But for now it's fine again.

I will keep the winter battery drain issue in mind, thank you. I thought that was only a thing that affected SC430's with their insanely taxed electrical systems.

If you and Lexus2000 think those voltage fluctuations with the turn signals and hazards are normal then I'm not going to worry about it any longer. More grounding has been added to the system and all the factory ground points for those turn signal circuits test clean and strong on my multimeter.

 

Thank you Mike! As always, I'm just trying to get everything solved and dialed in Can't wait to see more restoration on your 32!

 

Why did Toyota make a one off MAF just for the Supra? This is ridiculous lol. I did see a couple on Ebay....

 

No idea but for the USDM, Canadian, UK, European and other export markets that had the low impedance injectors, CT12B turbos and EGR system they used this MAF unit for 1993-1998. The JDM Supra TT’s use a different MAF.

I have seen it demonstrated once that a late model LS400’s MAF seems to work but I’d have to try it myself to be satisfied that it actually works as seamlessly as the stock export Supra TT MAF.

 

Moving forward (you don't have this option with CARB I don't think...) I'd love to ditch my Aristo ECU, throttle body, and MAF as they seem to be both temperamental and hard to replace. I feel like reliability and simplicity would be well worth the cost of upgrade. We shall see - I can't imagine getting rid of my SC anytime soon so I'd love to continue to make it as drivable and serviceable as possible.

 

In your case Rudy you certainly can do that. Just make sure you budget in the dyno time to get the programmable aftermarket ECU fully tuned and dialed in. That is one advantage that the factory ECUs have: you plug them in and despite their limitations they have been subject to millions in R&D and fine tuning to have all the maps stored in them cover an extremely wide range of scenarios.

In my case, unfortunately I cannot use an aftermarket ECU. Believe me I'd love to go with brand new and far more modern electronics that aren't limited to early 1990's technology. Besides it not being legal for California by legal definition alone the larger issue is that I've yet to find any aftermarket ECU for Supras and JZ engines that can be custom programmed to handle the factory EGR system's VSV functions. I've asked around and the answer is always "no". It probably amounts to no one having tried and also no one wanting to try only to still have it not work 100% right and not be legal anyway without going through the Cali lab certification process for a CARB E.O. which is costly in its own right and which would only work for an ECU that cannot be reprogrammed by the car owner.

A lot of trouble, effort and money to replicate what can be done far more cheaply with a capacitor serviced factory ECU that does the job 100% and is legal.

For me I'm never selling my SC so I'm fine with going to extra effort here and there where it makes sense to for the long term. I'll probably consider one more drivetrain change down the road but that is a long, long way off and I'm quite happy with the one I have.

...

As for the MAF I have found one or two specialists overseas that say they rebuild OEM units and I think I will look into those options to see what is possible. Your VVT-i throttle body saga makes me glad I have not had to go through that as well even though I really wish I could have built my engine with the newer VVT-i cylinder head and still met my CA legal goal :/

It is already a normal thing for us to have our ECUs serviced. I do wonder if we can expect to do the same with MAFs, throttle bodies and IAC-V's in the future through other specialists.

 

That makes perfect sense - CARB sure makes your guys' life hard out there! I've had several standalone set ups in cars over the years and unfortunately the dyno time is never cheap. However, if you get it done with the right guy then it's money well spent for a car that drives well and does that it should under both full load and real world conditions.

I've had various issues with mine and my only concern is replacement/serviceability of the JDM parts being a VVTI motor moving forward... However, I think your approach is both smart and simple. I'd imagine with how popular these set ups are that people will pop up to service and rebuild some of this stuff. My car has been a little odd lately - I need to check with Tannin to see if they service the Aristo ECU's.

I always love reading your thread Craig!

 

Thanks Rudy! Likewise with your thread and your two very different and cool classics

The California Air Resources Board just functions as it does. I've said it before that I'm fine with them wanting vehicles in the state to continue to meet the emission standards they (or the swapped engines that are allowed) were designed for. It really just comes down to the lack of availability of some critical emissions parts brand new, the age of the original ECUs and a gradual decline in the number of smog shops that still operate the full dyno roller and compressed gas setup required to test OBD1 and older classic cars. It just is what it is though

I would ideally like the GTE VVT-i system combined with a standalone ECU and a conservative fully dialed in set of maps if I could be assured that it would pass smog testing but it won't (legally) so...

I think getting Tanin to service your ECU might be a good idea. I have recently learned that they do not advertise the ECU repair service on their website any longer but can do it based on special request going forward. The ECU capacitor values and brands are published between CL and SF if someone wanted to do it themselves with ESD safe equipment. It just gets complicated if neutralizing electrolytic fluid damage on the board is required or if board trace jumper wire repairs are needed due to that damage.

 

Success again!

It took a few days to get the parts in but the accessory squeaking was solved by replacing the GTE M/T accessory tensioner and after that throwing on a new Dayco belt.







It's weird because I had thought my first tensioner was brand new but since I bought it on ebay a few years back.... maybe it wasn't? I'm keeping it just in case but the new one bought from a dealer is rock solid. Same with my new M/T dampener which was brand new from the time I first started the engine. The Dayco OEM Toyota serpentine belt was brand new at the time I assembled the engine so it's also weird that it would become slightly looser out of spec within only 6k miles.

Anyway, both a new tensioner and new belt cured it. No more embarrassing jalopy squeaking noise from my Lexus

The final changes to the electrical grounds and reinstallation of the OEM Toyota 100A Auto TT alternator are still giving me rock solid voltage and amperage performance. Or at least as good as you will see from the older 3-phase alternator design.

The coolant temperature does seem to be at least 5-6 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than before while idling at a stop at full temperature (now this is about 195-200F where before it was around 207F). In cold weather and with plenty of cold air hitting the radiator from driving it of course stays cooler than that. The upgrade to 1997-2002 Supra TT twin auxiliary electric fans up from just the one 93-96 aux fan combined with the Soarer TT Auto front condenser pusher fan really do help.





Because the wires are shorter on the 1997-2002 Supra TT version of the MKIV fans (which take 10mm mounting bolts btw) I had to cut and extend the wires of the connector on the upper fan so that both connectors would face upward and easily connect to my custom harness.

This also helped to better clear the OEM intercooler piping on the intake side and generally keep these connectors more serviceable and accessible.



Just fyi, the earlier 93-96 Supra TT (and early Prius) fan will work but there is an earlier version of the 16363-46060 fan with a little tube vent on the back and a later version with the vent on the bottom just like the 16363-50021 fan motor.

The 16363-46060 fans use very small mounting bolts and you must use a large washer on each of them to properly secure the fan motors onto the plastic 1997+ Supra TT fan shroud.

Note: The fan blades for all these fan motors used in this application are P/N 16361-46070. The screws to mount them onto the motors (x3 screws for each motor) carry P/N 90099-04117.

For the 1997-2002 TT shroud the bolts used to mount the 16361-50021 stye fan motors (3x bolts for each fan motor) carry P/N 90099-04119.

As Gerry has also pointed out to me, Supra MK3 auxiliary electric fans (which use their own type blades) can be made to work as well.










All three come well under 20 Amp current draw combined (4.5-5A each for the OEM twin aux fans behind the radiator & 8-8.5A for the OEM TT Auto front condenser fan) which work well on the 30A circuit and Mishimoto ground switching fan controller (which itself is rated to 25A max current). I have the fans set to turn on somewhere between 185-190F or if the A/C is engaged.

Also I don't know if I mentioned it a few posts back but this time around while revising electrical circuits I replicated a version of Toyota's electric fan circuit by adding a 12V Switched 30/40A relay at the positive power feed and fused side before the 10GA fan power feed wire connects to the combined aux fan connector (a beefy Delphi part rated at 30A). The Mishimoto finishes the rest of the circuit. This way it's like Toyota's OEM setup for the Supra TT where the positive power feed to the fan motors is blocked by that first relay until the 12V Accessory/Ignition power is energized.

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At this point I'm back to my last few jobs when I can get to them:

--Properly remove the worn out #2 turbo and the still-good-but-156k-mile #1 turbo and replace them with my new rebuilt CT12B's and new gaskets.
--Pull out the driveshaft, install the new R154 OEM transmission d/s dust shield and reinstall the d/s.
--pull out the back seats and package tray temporarily and install the manual up/down antenna control wiring harness I made months ago after following Raine's instructions in his big SC stereo wiring thread.
--Get to testing out Lexus2000's adapted Camry Gen5 flasher relay prototype with regular bulbs and LED bulbs.

Driving my SC with a very diesel-like powerband and always short shifting around 3500rpm to avoid engaging the bad 2nd turbo is getting old at this point

I have most of a spare USDM twin turbo system's piping and I will post some pictures of the USDM/UK/Euro EGCV housing to be sure that I know what I will soon be doing to remove it's infamous terrible bolt properly... and to make sure I'll know how to tighten that awful bolt back to spec again upon reassembly.

 

I never liked those pancake style fans not sure why they just seem like the kind of thing that will fail. On drive belts I followed the suggestion by the YT channel Sweet Project Cars to soak the belt in 303 Protectant for a few hours before installing this sounded silly to me but I tried it. That was awhile ago no ill effects but it's supposed to drastically increase the life of the belt. We'll see. The belt already had many miles on it but is fine no cracks.

 

I'm not sure of this but those pancake fan motors may be permanent magnet type. They do not look to be serviceable but I'll say this: I first started using the early Supra MKIV Turbo fan motor in 2018 which was already 23 years old or more by that time and it is still working perfectly. I picked up another used one with the same part number from an early 2000's Toyota Prius and that one also is in perfect working order. They are very long lasting fan motors.

I only went with the newer 1997-2002 MKIV TT fan motors because... well... being me I wanted brand new ones anyway if I had the opportunity to get them. Other than taking larger 10mm bolts with integral washers to mount to the late model fan shroud and having slightly shorter wires before the connectors they're exactly the same and provide no special advantage over the older part numbers. They're just more ideal to mount in the 97-02 TT shroud. At this time the older part number motors are also still available new.

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I'll have to take a look at that video but I'm inclined to stay away from adding any solvents or special chemicals to the serpentine belt. The new Dayco brand belt that I just installed felt tighter than the OEM one I took off and is 100% squeak-free. I think Bando is the other OEM Toyota supplier. The Gates "high performance" belt is talked about on SupraForums but I don't think it is much different from the standard Dayco and Bando belts that are available.

FYI it seems that Toyota no longer stocks an OEM serpentine belt for the 2JZ-GE and 2JZ-GTE. This is now an aftermarket only part though it's in plentiful supply.

 

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/bui...l#post10976546

I added a mostly complete parts list for the revised cooling fan setup and Littelfuse compact fuse & relay PDM units for remote mounting up near the brake booster. I did not include much info on the 2/0 cables or Magna 90-degree, 45-degree and right-angle 2/0 end lug connectors which I purchased from Remy Battery's online store.

For all the big cables from 8ga all the way to 2/0 gauge I used an Estwing 3lb short mallet and a TEMCo Hammer Lug Crimping Tool (by Temco Industrial) Model #TH0007. Both are a very affordable alternative to the much more expensive TEMCo hydraulic crimping tool but eventually I think I'd like one of those in my tool kit as well.

 

Funny story - after all of this I was poking around on mine while putting a new battery in (the cold spree here finally killed the 5 year old battery in mine that's been in since I bought the car) and noticed I too was missing the ground from the back of the head to the firewall. I could have sworn I put one in... Turns out, not so much! Made a quick one and threw it on. Not sure if I'll notice any difference but it certainly can't hurt!