2003jzs160

Ya mine is a 03, I know about the wiring differences between the 98-01 and the 01-05 cars. And I know adding one wire is easy, but in my case; cutting the old open and looming it to the engine just worked better. Even though I got an engine from a 01+ Aristo, it shared the wiring from the older cars.

vanquish2

In that case I don't blame you a bit! I've done the whole "make the original harness work no matter what" thing with a nissan.....NO FUN! I'm sure you probably did the best and easiest thing.....

If you don't mind me asking....I've heard that sometimes going to a stand alone or something similar on these cars that you lose a lot of control over other things in the car. Now I know that this car has about as many cpus as a typical office building but how if any effect did you have when you did your "upgrade"?

2003jzs160

Well, i dont think any company make a stand alone for the 01-05 GS and IS. Thats why i went with a AEM FIC; AEM does make a patch harness for these two cars so adapting it to the car was easy. The FIC works with the ecu, in this regard the car still operates much like stock. Given my setup, i would like a stand alone ecu, but for right now i am content with what i got. And this car does have a cpu to control every little thing, that is why the FIC works so well. It leaves the stock car functions in tact. i also tried the Greddy e-manage, but that piggy back system works against the ecu which leads to tuning problems down the road. The AEM FIC works with the factory ecu to deliver the greatest amount of tuner control.

vanquish2

Awesome.....I plan on going single one of these days and I love having things planned long before I pull the trigger. Thanks!

arpham

iTrader: (2)

Hey, 2003jzs160.

I have a 2002 that I'm doing the vvti aristo swap in and are still trying to find the best/easiest way. My goal is to engine in first then worry about the turbo.

From what I understand 1. keep the GE ECU, 2. Made a custom GE Harness, 3. Kept the 5-speed A650E tranny. Right?

Also, who made your custom GE harness? And if you did it yourself, was it complicated?

adamgamz

I agree with you there, I just swaped in a Aristo motor / 4 speed on stock twins , downpipe, and exhaust. It is fun on the street, still pulls hard too. I was very impressed with the stock twin setup on BPU. As for the tranny, I would never keep the original 5 speed. Install the proper 4 speed and call it a day, it will hold more power, the shifts are much faster and crisper. I ran the stock 5 speed tranny with upgraded valve body and it wasn't as nice as the stock 4 speed that cam with the Aristo swap.

Horsepower isn't everything, my car was making 700RWHP, and now I'm maybe pushing 400RWHP. I enjoy the GS more now than I did then. It's a blast to come off the line quick, and the gas mileage jumped from 11 to 15 in the city, and I drive hard.

2003jzs160

Exactly, the swap with the 4 speed and turbo ecu can be done but because of the wiring issues the car has a hard time excepting the new engine.
But to answer your question,
1) Cut open the GE harness, the only wire that need to be cut and extended is the temp sensor wires.
2) If you want to use the stock twins; remove the factory boost controlling solenoids and replace with vacuum hoses and run a boost controller. Keep in mind the factory turbos can be good however the sequential mode lets them down.
3) I went with a single turbo up front because it would be easier.
4) The stock injectors are 440cc, good for factory turbos and low boost single applications. The best thing, upgrade the entire fuel system. larger injectors, rail and regulator.
The more you build yourself the easier it is to understand and swap process is.
5)Get your A650E rebuilt to new and add a cooler, thats all you really need to hold up to 400 hp. After that, there are companies which build these transmissions.
6)Get a AEM patch harness for the car (01-05 GS,IS)
7) After that its your choice, AEM FIC controller, Greddy E-Manege and others
The FIC by AEM seems to work the best with the factory ecu.
A note: I did this in my home two car garage, and I'm 18. If I can do it, you can do it.

2003jzs160

I wouldn't hate on the 5 speed like that, mine has IPT clutch packs and a valve body job through them as well; it shift hard and fast. My car now makes around 500 hp, it holds fine. And in the end, its a 5 speed not a old 4 speed.

99 GS3

iTrader: (14)

The newer GS300 needs an 02-05 IS300 harness, the 01 IS300 is the same old style connectors as Aristo/98-00 GS.

2003jzs160

Thats what I ended up getting, a Boomslang harness for a 02-05 IS300. It plugs right into both the ecu and the fic.

vanquish2

This is great guys....it looks like we have 2 solid ways of doing things depending on your base car year....at least we know that no one will be forgotten!

I'm still running stock (GTE) but thats mainly because its been at the body shop for a MONTH!!!! I'm embarassed to say all they are doing is a repaint on a mirror and installing a spoiler. I obviously took it to the wrong place. Oh well.....

Looks like she won't see much street time till next year.

Here's a question for you guys....I haven't made any decisions on where I'm going to mount my gauges....doesn't seem like there are many good places and I can find anything prefab....whats your guys opinion?

99 GS3

iTrader: (14)

Uh, I would be carrying my *** up there right now to get the car out of there, that's for sure..

For just mirrors and spoiler I would never leave the car a shop for anyway, I would take the parts off the car and just drop them off to be painted.

vanquish2

Well see the body shop is a business owned by who I work for.....I kinda thought I could trust them to get it done quick....I trust the cars safety there but I really had no idea it would take them this long. I should have known....employees always get put on the back burner,,,,,grrr

dwilly58

Maybe I missed this but, How can you tell if the 2jz-gte aristo swap has an immobilizer or not?

vanquish2

There is a plug on your ecu (GS) that simply doesn't exist on the aristos ecu....I believe it is the plug closest to the front of the car...I woud check but my car is at home.