5S-FE powered Camry All-Trac build thread

['88 All-Trac]

That little puff is because I'm missing two nuts on the exhaust manifold...

This thread will probably not see many updates until Friday night.

['88 All-Trac]

Sorry for the lack of updates. Pics will come whenever they come.

Quick run-down: Got the head gasket replaced. Smeared RTV over the seam in that area just in case.

Oil pan sprung a leak. Patched that.

Engine is in and running. Sounds good. Not smoking anymore.

Both holes in the passenger side knuckle that the balljoint mounts to are stripped out. Need either a new knuckle or new (longer) bolts that I can put nuts on.

Replaced distributor cap/rotor as old cap broke.

Replaced TPS as old one broke.

Interior is still all torn apart.

Needs driver's side CV shaft installed, knuckle on that side secured to the LCA, wheels put on, east/west crossmember installed and driveshaft reinstalled.

Go figure the bolt holes would strip out, right?


Woke up to this a couple days ago... Silly cat had crawled between my legs and was sleeping on his back. He's a pretty decent companion cat.


New head gasket!


New


vs old


(Definitely needed replacing!)

Easiest way I found was to completely remove all the timing stuff...


and then pull the cams.



Cleaned it up (bought a Roloc system... It broke) mostly with a small razor and a lot of patience, then put it all back together. No pics of that.

Got a pic I used to make sure the cams were timed right, though.



'Tis all I have at the moment.

[dem2757]

i wonder what my 2vz HG looks like....

how did the pistons look?

['88 All-Trac]

Almost completely clean. Quick spritz of carb cleaner and a wipe and they were shiny and new looking.

I really don't think this engine has 230k on it... Too smooth.


UPDATE (as of 9:37PM MST): Video is uploading now. Will post a link when it's up. Need to get radiator in, driver's side CV shaft installed, etc. Will get video of my maiden trip with the new powerplant as well.

UPDATE (as of 10:21PM MST): Video is up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLBvWfkeMC8

[white90dx]

Stripped bolts on the knuckle happens fairly often (I've stripped about 5 of those bolts myself). I bought some really beefy bolts/nuts from McMaster to replace them. I can get part numbers if you need them. Otherwise, just make sure whatever you use doesn't interfere with the axle rotation...

-Charlie

['88 All-Trac]

I'm going to get bolts of similar diameter but a bit longer (1" or so, will grind down if needed) and put a beefy nut on the back side. I've done suspension work before (SAS on the Tracker) so I have no intentions of using anything but grade 8/10.9 hardware.

['88 All-Trac]

Okay, so... I didn't get video of the maiden voyage. Busted my speedo cable so I wouldn't have been able to show much.

Throttle response is just stupid. Like, WAY stupid. I can peg out the tach in about the time it takes to blink.

Needs a new AFM. Mine is whacked. I have another one... Somewhere. No idea where. I'll probably pull a couple next time I'm in the junkyard.

Need to replace the little hoses that feed coolant to the throttle body. They're split at the ends and leaking a bit. No biggie, they're easy to get to.

The Hose from Hell and Hose from Hell on Earth are both in perfectly fine condition.

There are no major leaks.

My injectors tick like mofos. Made me think my engine was going to explode until I took a long screwdriver to various areas to check.



JEEEEEZZZZZUUUUUUSSSSSSSS it's fast. The torque comes on so hard and so immediately that it actually tweaked my back a bit. JESUS it's quick. Easily a sub-8 second 0-60.

I think I'm going to go a couple clicks leaner on the new AFM, advance the timing to ~13* BTDC and run premium. Even more throttle response + a bit more mileage + a bit more power = good stuff in my book.

Cripes this thing is stupid fast compared to the stock (and dying) engine.

Pics to come tomorrow- I need to wake up in less than six hours to take my mom to work and go to class.

[white90dx]

I have an extra AFM, already advanced if you need it. Not sure what the 'yards charge, just PM me if interested.

And you should have a lot more power with this engine. Its factory rating is ~20% higher than the 3s-fe... and you have the header, etc. on there. Now just imagine 260-280hp instead of ~140hp...

-Charlie

['88 All-Trac]

The salvage yard I use charges $20, which is a pretty screamin' deal... When you don't consider that it's 135 miles away. I'll have to look at my funds.

Runs like a beast. Either has a ticky injector or some other problem... I'm guessing injector. It only makes noise in the fuel rail and lower intake manifold. Nothing from the engine itself.

Fans aren't turning on. Not sure why.


UPDATE: I found my other AFM. Got it opened, adjust two clicks clockwise. Going to test it and see how it does.

How do you adjust your TPS? I am not certain I got mine set right.

[white90dx]

Originally Posted by '88 All-Trac

How do you adjust your TPS? I am not certain I got mine set right.

Shouldn't really need adjustment, but you just need to make sure the IDL (idle) switch is set right. Make sure that there is continuity between pins 3 and 4 on the TPS when the throttle is fully closed and no continuity once it is slightly open. (that would be between where the Blue and Brown wires connect)

-Charlie

['88 All-Trac]

Okay, that'll be pretty straightforward... What about the fans? Not sure which fuses to check. They all look good, though. They just... won't turn on.

Any ideas what I can check for the tick? It sounds like it's coming from the fuel rail. There is no gasket between the downpipe and the cat-back section of the exhaust. I thought maybe that was causing it, but there's no noise in the exhaust manifold... So I'm not sure that's it.


I'll get everyone video when I get this damn tick sorted out... no idea when things will stay slowed down long enough for me to get pics uploaded.

[white90dx]

Originally Posted by '88 All-Trac

Okay, that'll be pretty straightforward... What about the fans? Not sure which fuses to check. They all look good, though. They just... won't turn on.

Any ideas what I can check for the tick? It sounds like it's coming from the fuel rail. There is no gasket between the downpipe and the cat-back section of the exhaust. I thought maybe that was causing it, but there's no noise in the exhaust manifold... So I'm not sure that's it.

I'll get everyone video when I get this damn tick sorted out... no idea when things will stay slowed down long enough for me to get pics uploaded.

I wouldn't worry too much about the tick - though it sounds like it is much louder than before? The injectors are pretty loud on the 3s-fe... Maybe your 3s-fe was so loud otherwise (bad bearings or something?) that you couldn't hear it as easily before? The injectors are high-piched and 'small' sounding. Most bad engine things are more of a 'thunk'.

Does either fan work? Did you bypass the A/C high-pressure switch yet? (blue-black wire and brown wire plug under/near the battery tray) You can unplug the radiator fan switch (on the water inlet neck) to guarantee that the fans should turn on.

Otherwise, the fan system is kinda complicated. Remove the fuse box and make sure all the plugs on the bottom are seated. Verify the CDS Fan and RDI Fan fuses are good. There are also two A/C fan relays and one radiator fan relay. The resting state for those relays should turn the fans on "high" when the key is in the ON position (when the A/C high pressure switch or Radiator temp switch is 'open').

-Charlie

[dem2757]

for the fans i would check the fuses (as charlie also suggested)

im sure you already know what to check but heres a list of what i checked when my fans wouldnt come on

Grounds
Fuses
Connectors (one was making poor contact but it wasnt the issue)
Temp Sensor
A/C Switch

I wish i had an all trac to try out swapping a 5s into.

['88 All-Trac]

Okay, got the passenger side fan to work... Still nothing from the driver's side one. There's a ground wire attached to the headlights next to it but the other end looks pretty obviously broken- where should that go? My problem (at least for the passenger side fan) was the little blue plug that sits under the fuse block.

I think the radiator fan switch may be no good- that, or it's simply good enough at cooling itself it didn't need the fans. The temp gauge was hovering right around the middle and the fan didn't kick on unless I unplugged something.

I made a jump for the A/C high pressure switch plug.

I believe the tick is coming from an injector. I dumped a goodly amount of B12 fuel cleaner (like Seafoam, but stronger) into the fuel tank, ran it a bit last night to suck some into the fuel rail, and when I went out this morning it was significantly quieter inside the car. I'm going to start running it on mid-grade fuel for a while before switching back to 87, just to keep from stressing anything too much.

The tick was significantly louder than before- it never made a noise before the old engine went and the car sat for a year.

[white90dx]

The fans should never run independently. They either run in parallel (engine hot or A/C pressure too high) or in series (A/C compressor on but engine temp ok). That gives you two speeds of fan operation.

The next test is to see if the fan works by powering it directly from the battery for a bit. You can also check for power at the connector when the other fan is on.

The driver's side motor does ground to the point right near the connector on the frame rail there. I believe the turn signal for that side of the car connect there too. Make sure other stuff in that area works - that might be your problem.

-Charlie