[ajkalian]

I'm having trouble identifying this sensor on the top of the Transmission/Differential Case, driver side.
I looked through all the ToyoDiy stuff I have and I didn't find anything.

The reason is that my car is running crappy after I power washed the oil in and around the steering box to hunt down where the leak is coming from. The only part I blasted was the steering box and supporting frame members. But I didn't see this connection and probably got some water in the sensor, or hosed it up.

Any help would be appreciated.

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[1990Toyota]

thats the speed sensor

 

[ajkalian]

thats the speed sensor

Thanks.
Do you think it might be fubar because of the pressure washer.
The symptoms are hesitation like it's starved for fuel,, and it kinda stutters when the throttle is pressed.

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[1990Toyota]

Thanks.
Do you think it might be fubar because of the pressure washer.
The symptoms are hesitation like it's starved for fuel,, and it kinda stutters when the throttle is pressed.

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Its possible... maybe its shorted so the ecm is seeing the wrong speed and is trying to compensate by throwimng more fuel, retarding spark etc etc etc ec...


Try disconnect it and let it dry for a while.

Dont start it cause youll get a code...

 

[ajkalian]

Its possible... maybe its shorted so the ecm is seeing the wrong speed and is trying to compensate by throwimng more fuel, retarding spark etc etc etc ec...


Try disconnect it and let it dry for a while.

Dont start it cause youll get a code...

That makes sense because it's not happening with any regularity. I'll disconnect it tomorrow and see what happens. I'll get back to you.

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[93celicaconv]

Does your engine act the same if the car is parked and not moving? If so, it may not be the speed sensor.

Do you have a check engine light on? Even if you don't, you may have a pending condition - getting a scan done to show DTC's is advised, given the symptoms. The scanner will show active (check engine light on) and pending (check engine light off) codes.

 

[1990Toyota]

That makes sense because it's not happening with any regularity. I'll disconnect it tomorrow and see what happens. I'll get back to you.

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If you have those little compressed air cans for the computers or access to compressed air, just blow a light amount of air to dry up any remaining water in the area / connector

 

[JohnGD]

The speed sensor generates 4 pulses (in mediocre waveform) with each revolution, and the signal is further refined (squared up for better digital signals) to use to determine vehicle speed and therefore shift points by the ecu.

Does the speedo read normal and smooth? Or does it jump around? If nice and smooth as you would expect, I wonder if you'd also look at the bank 1 oxygen sensor and connection below that. Also check vacuum hoses nearby in case the sprayer knocked one loose.

IIRC there really isn't a whole lot as far as wire harness and vacuum lines down by the steering rack. I mean MAF and other wires are on top of the valve cover back there.

You can try reading off fuel trim numbers. Or even just disconnect that oxygen sensor connector and pull the 15 amp blue EFI fuse to reset the fuel trims in memory back to 0. Do an idle engine test and/or a short test drive (while in open-loop mode), and see if you still have that hesitation. You'll get all kinds of sensor MIL codes of course. I wonder if it's more engine than the transmission.

 

[CamryFL]

I'd pull the speed sensor connector and use a hair dryer or heat gun (on low, far enough away not to damage anything) to dry the connector & sensor - see if that helps.

 

[ajkalian]

The speed sensor generates 4 pulses (in mediocre waveform) with each revolution, and the signal is further refined (squared up for better digital signals) to use to determine vehicle speed and therefore shift points by the ecu.

Does the speedo read normal and smooth? Or does it jump around? If nice and smooth as you would expect, I wonder if you'd also look at the bank 1 oxygen sensor and connection below that. Also check vacuum hoses nearby in case the sprayer knocked one loose.

IIRC there really isn't a whole lot as far as wire harness and vacuum lines down by the steering rack. I mean MAF and other wires are on top of the valve cover back there.

You can try reading off fuel trim numbers. Or even just disconnect that oxygen sensor connector and pull the 15 amp blue EFI fuse to reset the fuel trims in memory back to 0. Do an idle engine test and/or a short test drive (while in open-loop mode), and see if you still have that hesitation. You'll get all kinds of sensor MIL codes of course. I wonder if it's more engine than the transmission.

The speedo is working normally, not jumping around at all.
What should I be looking for regarding the the fuel trims. I did a scan of all the parameters yesterday and didn't see anything goofy. The weird thing is that when I first start up in the morning, everything is fine, but after things warm up a bit the problem comes back.

It seems like an electrical problem, which is why I thought it might be the speed sensor. But since the speedo is acting normally as is the shifting I think I can rule that out. And if there was any water present in the connector or sensor it has probably evaporated by now since once the engine gets up to running temperature that transmission housing gets plenty hot.

One thing I noticed that was weird was when I was in a parking lot I got the "blip, blip, blip" hesitation when I pressed the accelerator. I pulled over. popped the hood and manually activated the throttle linkage there was nothing. Sounded normal, no hesitation, which is why at first I thought it might be transmission related.

But now I'm thinking it is probably electrical, and there are a lot of sensors involved that could be faulty, or as you suggested something simple like a hose/wire that got knocked off.

I'll take a closer look today at everything and see if I overlooked any hose or electrical connector.

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[93celicaconv]

If you are only experiencing engine running issues after it has fully warmed up, and those problems are present when driving or when parked, I would look at the ECT (engine coolant temperature) sensor for the EFI system. Sort of sounds like the ECT isn't telling the ECU that the coolant is warming up, so the ECU keeps feeding fuel as if the engine was cold - and you are running the engine rich. Maybe remove the ECT sensor wiring harness connector and make sure that is dry and the contacts are all good. The sensor itself, with the exception of the electrical contacts, should not have been affected by washing the engine down.

 

[ajkalian]

Just did an engine scan of the Fuel Trims and some other sensors, both Cold Start and warmed up.

Somehow I missed the Air Intake, and Timing Advance on the Cold start. Hopefully that's not important, but if it is let me know and I'll check it tomorrow morning.

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[1990Toyota]

Your coolant temp sensor is reading 46 degrees at both cold and hot?

 

[93celicaconv]

That was my concern from post #11 (ECT sensor). If the data tables are correct, then that is most likely ajkalian's root cause source.

 

[ajkalian]

Sorry, must have got a temporary case of the dumb ass.
It should be 172.4 degrees.

Post updated.

 

[93celicaconv]

Then the ECT sensor circuit is not the cause of a problem.

Still confused by the data. A 1MZ-FE should have 4 oxygen sensors. They should be:

• Oxygen Sensor 1 Bank 1
• Oxygen Sensor 2 Bank 1
• Oxygen Sensor 1 Bank 2
• Oxygen Sensor 2 Bank 2

Your data table has an Oxygen Sensor 5. Also, after your first two rows of Oxygen Sensor valve involving Oxygen Sensor 2 Bank 1, all the following ones lack what bank number they are tied to. Also, each column as duplicate descriptors for Oxygen Sensor 1 Wide RangeVoltage, with slightly different values. Doesn't make sense to me.

 

[ajkalian]

Then the ECT sensor circuit is not the cause of a problem.

Still confused by the data. A 1MZ-FE should have 4 oxygen sensors. They should be:

• Oxygen Sensor 1 Bank 1
• Oxygen Sensor 2 Bank 1
• Oxygen Sensor 1 Bank 2
• Oxygen Sensor 2 Bank 2

Your data table has an Oxygen Sensor 5. Also, after your first two rows of Oxygen Sensor valve involving Oxygen Sensor 2 Bank 1, all the following ones lack what bank number they are tied to. Also, each column as duplicate descriptors for Oxygen Sensor 1 Wide RangeVoltage, with slightly different values. Doesn't make sense to me.

That Sensor 5 stuff was a mystery to me as well, but that's what the software showed.
Image attached.

 

[1990Toyota]

Could be a "holder" in the software for cars with 5 or more sensors and it just threw a pre existing value in it.... (shrugs)

 

[1990Toyota]

Regardless, if this all started immediately after you washed the car down id start looking for some possible wires in that area that may have been missed.. theres not a lot down there though butmaybe a ground or something or you knocked off a vacuum line etc...

 

[ajkalian]

Could be a "holder" in the software for cars with 5 or more sensors and it just threw a pre existing value in it.... (shrugs)

No clue as to why the Sensor 5 stuff is there.
Maybe the best thing for me to do rather than try to transcribe the info manually is to just take pics of the info on the phone. Then just page down and snap another one, and post the pics. Let me see how that works now that the car is warmed up, and if it doesn't look too bad, I'll do it again tomorrow morning/