7AGE conversion project

[Donald]

The text below was copied from Toyotaland.com and refers to the 7A-FE engine. That is one of the ways they were able to achieve performance that matches the older 4A-GE with an economy styled head.

In previous engines, engine coolant from the radiator flowed to the cylinder block first, then to the cylinder head, but the new engine adopts a cooling system in which the intake side is cooled first. After the engine coolant cools the intake ports of the cylinder head, it then cools the cylinder block and cylinder head. By using this cooling sequence, the intake air temperature is reduced and knocking resistance and volumetric efficiency are improved.

http://www.toyoland.com/engines/4A-F.html

[Piloter]

Dropped Jez off at Forged this morning along with two boxes of hardware and my laptop. (Why leave things to chance? Set them up with their own account, registered Tuner Studio Pro, etc). Megasquirt flashed to MS2E 3.1.0 and Megatune whining about INI files.

Talked with Brian, the tuner...for this stage I want the rev limit set to 5800. Higher than ECU fuel cut (with the shift kit), higher ENOUGH to be visible on the tach as distinct from 5600 but not so high I risk engine damage on that old lump. This will let me find out once and for all where the shift point will be.

Anecdotal comment by Dave to one of his buddies who was hanging out there--Brian is such a dedicated (well, the phrase used was 'anal-retentive') tuner that he got a customer's 550-horse drag Civic R to 31 MPG highway. I think I'm in good hands.

Requested that they do a baseline dyno with wideband feedback before any changes. We know the Toyota ECU runs pig-rich at WOT, but with CAI and exhaust I want to see how rich that really is...and how few horsepower I'm putting down. It'll be a good baseline for the community as well. I'll also get one after the Megasquirt tune just before the new engine goes in, to get an idea of how much difference standalone can make compared to the stock inflexible OBD-II lump.

They have standing orders to tell me what goes well, what goes badly, take pictures, etc etc. Keep an eye on this space. There WILL be updates as I have them.

[Piloter]

Right so apparently this project brings the curse of delays WITH it. They couldn't get the adapter from the machinist until Wednesday, and now there's a set of cars backed up for dyno time because parts came in. Dave was going to try to throw her on the dyno tonight after he put the dampener on and focus tomorrow on installing sensors and getting the Megasquirt working. I did get a picture of the EDIS collar that arrived from the guy and I have to say I'm impressed.



The astute may notice it's sitting on my car, recognizable by the offkilter slant of the cruise housing and the orange streaks down the side of the windshield washer tank. Also the green alternator belt.

It looks heavy as hell but the outer ring is stupidly light (stock Ford Escort 1.9 wheel) and the inner piece is 6061 aluminum. I wish he'd sent along a picture of the backside of the thing because it's recessed in the back to bolt straight to a 7AFE stock damper pulley and sit back in that recess. Remember when I said way back that I was willing to pay a little bit more for longevity and Toyota stock part compatibility? One further example.

Car should be done by earlyish next week. On the 16th I get the check that'll go toward putting the engine in, still working on timing for that and work. 52 hours in 4 days this week....looking the same for the next couple.

[Piloter]

Delay curse still striking. There was a discussion regarding EDIS versus stock spark and whether that would allow the car to shift at all. I am of the opinion that as long as the crank angle sensor (which apparently the 4A doesn't have) is still wired into the stock ECU, worst-case scenario is that I'll have to shift manually. It also may be simple to bypass the coil and distributor by unplugging them and putting a suitably-heat-sinked resistor in their place so nothing appears wrong and no limp-home modes are engaged. This will be useful.

Currently the Megasquirt is in, up and running fuel (albeit needing a 'few adjustments'). I believe they have mounted the rest of the EDIS system and are working on mounting and wiring the pickup, we'll try it with that, disconnect the coil, and see what happens. There's another big project coming in, where I will no longer be able to carpool with the roomie, but there's still no word on when that starts. I am assuming I will have to have the car by the 9th and then not be able to give them more time....but there's no fixed schedule yet. Dave and Gabe and etc have already spent 10 hours on this and have JUST gotten communication with the Megasquirt, I look forward to getting the chance to drop by and chat with them and discuss some of the issues that have apparently come up so they can be documented for future builds. Should be middle of next week, if the car's not finished by then.

[Piloter]

Project status: On Hold.
Reason: Work started again, need my DD back. Labor performed also over twice the initial estimate--puts holes in budgetting.

Current status: Megasquirt, IAT, CLT, and O2 sensors installed and verified functional. Megasquirt has been used to crank and start the car, but it stumbles and dies.

Current issues: Timing signal. Won't run for crap without one. Tapping into the CAS isn't recognized by MS the way they had it set up. Could've gone through the distributor...but that would have been USELESS for the 7AGE due to the difference between 4A and 7A OBD-II dizzies. Might have been possible to run off the negative terminal of the coil, but that would have been USELESS for the 7AGE due to eliminating the stock coil and replacing it with the EDIS hardware.

Unfortunately the shop scope broke after they tried to use it with the trigger wheel and the VR sensor to verify voltage output, so the next thing to do (in a couple paychecks) will be have them fab up the EDIS sensor bracket using the bottom end of the 7AGE and my scrap wheel. Dave feels they're only an hour or so away from getting that part of it running, then maybe another couple more to getting the full EDIS computer running. Then load dyno time to get a base map, then the swap.

In the meantime, I need to find out where the hell they put the DB25 Megasquirt output cable and get some datalogging started, find out what's the normal operating AFR range for my car with its mods, both under closed and open loop.

I may be able to do this piecemeal. Have them build the bracket and then get it installed and the sensor mounted and a test run on Megasquirt done on some Saturday I don't need a car. For now everything is back to stock.