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Some help with T-Sport 190 VVTLI

1K views 23 replies 4 participants last post by  vanp 
#1 ·
Hi all, I've recently bought a 2005 Corolla T-sport 190 VVTLI in the UK that needs a bit of care and attention and information on these cars is becoming very hard to come by, almost like the info is being purged from the internet - I'll try to upload some photos later to support my thread, but basically I have noted these issues so far:

1. The car has an Injen type aftermarket intake on it, so no factory airbox. It also looks like the previous owner has messed around with the secondary air intake/pump system as I can see a number of blanked off vac pipes and possibly a resistor in there too, it looks a bit like spaghetti junction and a mess. Anybody know if this is required when fitting an aftermarket intake or do you think the previous owner just wanted to bypass the SAI system for some reason?
If I wanted to return it to standard in this area, can I simply buy the intake pipe and airbox and swap over - I'm not entirely sure how all these pipes and vac hoses are configured normally. Does anyone have any diagrams / guides for both the SAI system and the airbox/intake pipe?

2. The engine seems to run really nicely when on the move, goes into lift etc but upon cold startup, it has a very lumpy idle and the exhaust shakes quite a bit underneath, the rpm also sits at around 1500rpm for a long time - where do I start to investigate this issue? Is this likely caused by secondary air intake being messed with?

3. The gear change is really hard to decipher - what I mean is it doesn't seem to sit in the middle of the gear gates, but over towards 5th and 6th gear, so I have to go quite far over to the left to get 1st/2nd, this makes it really hard to work out which gear I'm selecting - conversely, when moving into 5th and 6th I barely have to push the gear lever over to the right, which makes it feel like I might reselect 3rd or 4th gear. It goes into gear quite nicely, but is not very precise - what should I investigate for this issue? Is there a way to reset the gears so the gear lever finds the natural centre between the gears, in between 3rd and 4th normally I presume? Oh and how do I disconnect that awful beeping in reverse??

4. There is a crappy aftermarket stereo in there, which means I don't have any trip/MFA data and the steering wheel controls don't work. If I buy a 2nd hand original stereo, do I need a code for it? Most sellers state they don't have a code.. Alternatively, is there an aftermarket stereo that gives the trip/MFA display like the factory option?

If anyone is in the UK and has any original parts for sale that can rectify the above, please let me know! 👍👍
 
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#2 ·
Hi all, I've recently bought a 2005 Corolla T-sport 190 VVTLI in the UK that needs a bit of care and attention and information on these cars is becoming very hard to come by, almost like the info is being purged from the internet - I'll try to upload some photos later to support my thread, but basically I have noted these issues so far:

1. The car has an Injen type aftermarket intake on it, so no factory airbox. It also looks like the previous owner has messed around with the secondary air intake/pump system as I can see a number of blanked off vac pipes and possibly a resistor in there too, it looks a bit like spaghetti junction and a mess. Anybody know if this is required when fitting an aftermarket intake or do you think the previous owner just wanted to bypass the SAI system for some reason?
If I wanted to return it to standard in this area, can I simply buy the intake pipe and airbox and swap over - I'm not entirely sure how all these pipes and vac hoses are configured normally. Does anyone have any diagrams / guides for both the SAI system and the airbox/intake pipe?

2. The engine seems to run really nicely when on the move, goes into lift etc but upon cold startup, it has a very lumpy idle and the exhaust shakes quite a bit underneath, the rpm also sits at around 1500rpm for a long time - where do I start to investigate this issue? Is this likely caused by secondary air intake being messed with?

3. The gear change is really hard to decipher - what I mean is it doesn't seem to sit in the middle of the gear gates, but over towards 5th and 6th gear, so I have to go quite far over to the left to get 1st/2nd, this makes it really hard to work out which gear I'm selecting - conversely, when moving into 5th and 6th I barely have to push the gear lever over to the right, which makes it feel like I might reselect 3rd or 4th gear. It goes into gear quite nicely, but is not very precise - what should I investigate for this issue? Is there a way to reset the gears so the gear lever finds the natural centre between the gears, in between 3rd and 4th normally I presume? Oh and how do I disconnect that awful beeping in reverse??

4. There is a crappy aftermarket stereo in there, which means I don't have any trip/MFA data and the steering wheel controls don't work. If I buy a 2nd hand original stereo, do I need a code for it? Most sellers state they don't have a code.. Alternatively, is there an aftermarket stereo that gives the trip/MFA display like the factory option?

If anyone is in the UK and has any original parts for sale that can rectify the above, please let me know! 👍👍
1. I assume that the previous owner was trying or attempting to delete the secondary air injection. This isn’t a requirement to install the cold air intake. You would need to remove the exhaust manifold to see if the plugs were installed to delete or bypass the secondary air injection ports.

The secondary air injection is solely for cold starts.

2. can be related to issue 1.

3. Inspect the shifter cable ends for deteriorated shifter bushings. The oem rubber inserts wear. Monkey wrench racing or torque solutions sells delrin or brass shifter bushings to improve the shifter.

You can remove the gear selector on the back of the transmission to service it.

4. Toyota head units are not like Honda head units with codes. You can simply plug it in. Suspect the previous owner did not opt for the steering wheel control module when the head unit was upgraded.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the reply:

1. Is there an easier way for me to determine the SAI situation than having the whole manifold off? I guess if I could find some guides showing how it should be connected up I could try and revert and see how it responds? Would a lack of SAI mean a lumpy idle and prolonged raised cold start idle? From the reading I've done, most people seem to think that having an SAI delete doesn't actually noticeably affect the running of the engine, it just takes longer to warm up the cats / emissions etc - In which case would I be seeing a lumpy idle? Any ideas on swapping back to the standard intake and airbox, is there any plumbing that needs to be reverted?

3. Thanks, for the heads up on the gear shift issue - hopefully it's not too painful to overhaul, it does look mightily congested inside the Corolla engine bay.

4. Great, I shall get on the hunt for an OEM stereo - pretty crappy idea to put the trip/MFA on the stereo though - the 2006 Mk3 Rav I own has this information on the clocks, where it belongs!
 
#4 ·
This link, should help some with the location of the hard pipe for the valve cover.


I will look into my FSM to get you the vacuum routing for the SAI. I’m not sure if the EWD will show the SAI. I’ll send you the info by PM.
 
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#6 ·
1. Depends which Injen intake you have on the car. They make 3-4 types. Two of the four are with secondary air pump, other two are without. Older 2zz came without air pump.

You can bring it to stock of course. Just depends on what you currently have and will end up needing. The previous owner could have possibly deleted some components. No way to know unless you checked the entire system.

2. I think it’s normal to an extent. But I think intakes will change the rpm behavior a little.


4. In the states, our radios are not code locked. I don’t think it was any different there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#7 ·
1. Depends which Injen intake you have on the car. They make 3-4 types. Two of the four are with secondary air pump, other two are without. Older 2zz came without air pump.

You can bring it to stock of course. Just depends on what you currently have and will end up needing. The previous owner could have possibly deleted some components. No way to know unless you checked the entire system.

2. I think it’s normal to an extent. But I think intakes will change the rpm behavior a little.


4. In the states, our radios are not code locked. I don’t think it was any different there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks alot for your reply, it seems to my untrained eye (when it comes to this engine) that he has left the vast majority of the SAI bits in place, just blanked off here and there. Here are some photos I've taken so far, hopefully you'll be able to decipher what might be missing or where things need to go back.

Good news is I did manage to pick up an original airbox and inlet pipe for this engine tonight, so hopefully this is the way to go.

Bad news is the engine management light has also just come on, along with the TRC and VSC lights, which I think is related to the SAI, do I have that right? - I really need to get it plugged in somewhere to scan and check, it drove absolutely fine still and the light came on not long after I started up again after stopping to pick something up, which suggests something not right in the startup phase doesn't it?
 

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#8 · (Edited)
Ohh that is a K&N short ram intake. It’s missing a clamp by the throttle body.

You will need a vacuum diagram for that closed off section your showing. Hopefully someone here can chime in on where that end goes

You also need to check that the air pump is still there. It’s under the battery behind the bumper. There is a air tube the goes along the top of the radiator that leads to the exhaust manifold. You can see it popping out on the left side in your (2nd to the last picture). Your car has a cover that we don’t have here in the states which is covering the tube.

The air pump you can see a circle beside the battery that the stock intake tube is suppose to connect to.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#10 ·
Thanks for all your help guys - that PDF looks useful, hopefully I can reverse the instructions somehow.

To be honest, I would love to keep the K&N short ram intake (if that's what it is!) - it sounds absolutely superb when it hits lift and the afterburners kick in and you get a real shove from the cam changeover, but I can't have warning lights flashing up if things have been messed around with or not connected up properly. Also the MOT is due in March next year and I think it will fail if there are warning lights on the dash.

Could really use a diagram that shows the SAI system vacuum and piping routes and the same for the intake vacuum system - does anyone have access to workshop manuals that show this and could post some screenshots?
 
#12 ·
Ok so I have managed to refit the OEM airbox and have definitely got the correct vacuum routes from around the throttle body and exhaust manifold area up until the 2 valves that sit on or near the airbox (one is brown, one is blue, with 2 nipples on each) but after that I was pretty much in the dark. The round plastic unit that is attached to the airbox on the bulkhead side has a snapped vacuum nipple, so I couldn't connect anything to this, I ended up connecting the bottom brown valve nipple to the little vacuum nipple on the left side (from the front) of the airbox as I had nowhere else to connect it to.

The long and short of it is, I disconnected the battery and so far no lights have come back on the dash, but I think it took about 60 miles last time, however now my revs are staying quite high for a long time - eg starting from cold it goes up to about 2krpm for ages and stays there only dropping over the course of about 20mins to about 1100rpm, not really getting any lower than that.
I'm assuming that I have a vacuum leak or something somewhere, would this cause my revs to hang and stay high?

Really could use a photo or two of where these valves are supposed to connect to, or at least how I can plug a vacuum leak without getting warning lights or what to do about the snapped nipple on the little round unit at the back of the airbox
 
#15 ·
Sorry, been busy. I’ll get it to you Saturday morning. I arrive late tomorrow night. If I’m able to, I’ll send you a message early Saturday morning.
 
#16 ·
In the end, I voted for stripping down the throttle body and Idlie Air Control Valve and in the process ended up mangling the stupidly placed phillips head screws (why the idiots at Toyota used screws instead of bolts is beyond me) that secured the IACV to the TB. Finally managing to get it off using heat from a lighter/blow torch, I mangled the rubber gasket in the process.

I opted to purchase a brand new Idle Air Control Valve from ebay (Looks like a Denso refurbished unit) which comes with a gasket - I had to wait for delivery over the Christmas period with the intake stuff all stripped down and car not running, but today I finally got my new Idle Air control valve and gasket, fitted it all back together with K&N short ram intake pipe and a new filter on the end - Also opted to replace every vacuum line with new silicone piping to rule out vacuum leaks.

Fired the car up and my issue is now thus:

It idles on a cold start at around 2krpm which I think is too high, eventually it starts to drop a little, say to around 1500rpm, but if I engage/disengage the clutch either when stationary or driving it will rev up and down a couple of times, before settling again. It has this issue when the engine is both hot and cold, when hot it seems to idle at around 1100rpm.

Any ideas on what to look at now? Have I got a faulty new IACV? There is another plug/switch on the throttle body, could this cause the above issue of hunting / rev fluctuation when dipping the clutch?
 
#17 ·
If I recall accurately, the 2zz I had would idle at 2k during cold start. Then settle around 1k. This is due to the secondary air injection.

In the event that this is always, I’d suspect vacuum leak. By your description, the leak is small at this current time.

Go over the vacuum lines and check the intake manifold too.

What’s the condition of the air injection pump at this time? There’s a vacuum port under the throttle body. You have a vacuum hose coming from the passenger side and one going up to the purge solenoid.
 
#18 ·
OK so I've double checked all of the vacuum piping and all of it is new silicone piping. I did look back through the k&n installation pdf I found and realised that I could delete the brown solenoid completely and just replumb the intake vacuum pipe to skip that out. Alas it hasn't made any difference.

I've just jacked the car up, have taken off the passenger wheel and uncovered the area for the secondary air injection pump. It all appears to be plumbed in correctly. There is 2 large air pipes going to it, one that connects just above to the vacuum reservoir and another that routes along the front above the radiator and connects to the manifold outlet. All connected fine. I've tested the pump with techstream and could hear it cycling with a high pitched whine for the 5 second test, however I've yet to hear this when turning the car over from cold.

Is there any other vacuum piping that I need to find? I can't find anything and as far as I'm aware the SAI only cycles at a cold start so shouldn't be the cause of surging when dipping the clutch should it?

It's bloody freezing outside right now, appreciate any feedback
 
#19 ·
You won't hear the SAI on cold start.

No I don't know why engaging the clutch would raise rpm or cause idle surge. I would check the intake manifold gasket to verify it's not leaking. Unless the throttle cable could have slack?
 
#20 ·
OK it's definitely not the new IACV / idle valve I bought. I've just started it this morning and disconnected the IACV from the plug and it revs higher on idle and the surging is constant and worse than when it's plugged in and driving when driving.

So clearly this suggests to me that I do have a vacuum leak somewhere and the IACV is trying to compensate as much as it can, but can only bring the idle down to about 1150rpm.

I don't know where else to look, throttle body gasket, inlet manifold gasket I guess? All other vac lines are new except the one going from the SAI to the exhaust manifold and it looks completely fine

o_O
 
#22 ·
OK so I realised I'd misread the various diagrams for vacuum routing and that the vac pipe from top of the throttle body should be plumbed into the top nipple on the valve underneath it, not the bottom one. Idle seems a bit more controlled now and when warm, it sits at a pretty rock steady 1050rpm - however this still isn't correct is it, and I'm still getting surges in rpm when I depress the clutch to change gear when driving, which again is not right.

There is definitely a slight bit of slack in the throttle cable when resting, so it's not that - I also don't want to go down the route of adjusting the idle screw as it looks like it's never been touched. That also wouldn't resolve the weird surging issue I have when changing gear / going into neutral

I guess I could have a go at refurbing my old IACV and try that, can't hurt - any other ideas please!
 
#23 ·
You don’t necessarily need to rebuild your IACv. Hit it with cleaner to clear out the carbon within. Then throw it back on to see if it helped.

Idle surge indicates a vacuum leak. Try putting back the stock air box to see if you have the same issue. If it’s still there, then it’s somewhere else in the system.
 
#24 ·
Took apart my old IACV after having to dremel off the crusty, rusted pentalobe screws, cleaned and reassembled, swapped over with the new IACV - car now idling from cold as you would expect - Starts around 1500rpm, slowly drops as the engine warms up to around 800rpm +-

Also the surging has all but disappeared, still sometimes get a slight rise in revs if I let the revs drop all the way back down when changing gear, but it seems pretty atypical of most cars I've driven and doesn't seem out of the ordinary to me.

I have just had an error code EML/VSC/TRC light pop up now though, so makes me wonder if the ECU sees my IACV as faulty even though it seems to be running right.
 
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