Altered Mental Status(1G AWD 5spd)

[CrackedDSM]

Really don’t know how I missed this the several times I was in the engine bay.

This ladies and gentleman is the injector wiring for cylinder 2. It has the single wire mod apparently. So glad I went to rewire it just now.

 

[dwb]

I had the same issue with my injector wires. I ended up cutting all four off inside the loom where the wire was still somewhat supple, and splicing (crimp) new wires to new injector plugs.

 

[CrackedDSM]

I had the same issue with my injector wires. I ended up cutting all four off inside the loom where the wire was still somewhat supple, and splicing (crimp) new wires to new injector plugs.

That’s 100% what I’m doing right now. Except I’m soldering and heat shrinking. Same difference though. Man did it need it.

 

[dwb]

It seems like if I solder, I unintentionally shrink my heatshrink before getting it in place and I'd need to grow a third or fourth hand to hold two wires together, hold solder, and hold soldering iron. Sometimes if I'm not careful the wire would wick the solder under the insulation and then it's stiff and somewhat brittle.
Instead I invested in the Hozan P-706 crimp tool and some crimp connectors. I needed a crimp tool anyway for new Sheridan connectors. I took a page out of Jafromobile's custom harness video and folded each wire over on it's self before crimping. That produced a really strong crimp, then I'd heatshrink. Was much faster and easier (especially in tight quarters) than solder.

 

[CrackedDSM]

It seems like if I solder, I unintentionally shrink my heatshrink before getting it in place and I'd need to grow a third or fourth hand to hold two wires together, hold solder, and hold soldering iron. Sometimes if I'm not careful the wire would wick the solder under the insulation and then it's stiff and somewhat brittle.
Instead I invested in the Hozan P-706 crimp tool and some crimp connectors. I needed a crimp tool anyway for new Sheridan connectors. I took a page out of Jafromobile's custom harness video and folded each wire over on it's self before crimping. That produced a really strong crimp, then I'd heatshrink. Was much faster and easier (especially in tight quarters) than solder.

I probably don’t solder the textbook correct way, but the way I do it works extremely well. I’ll twist and entwine the wires kinda like folding two phone books together. The way I do it holds the wire firmly in place so that all I have to do is hold my butane soldering torch and a little solder. It melts right in and makes them permanently a single thing. Then I heat shrink it and electrical tape it over that. The end result is satisfying. It does take some time though, and God does it hurt your back having to hunch over these damn low cars. Lol.

Pictures and narrative after I come back from lunch with the family. All done and it looks great. Found more broken wires. Eesh.

 

[Justin DuBois]

I probably don’t solder the textbook correct way, but the way I do it works extremely well. I’ll twist and entwine the wires kinda like folding two phone books together. The way I do it holds the wire firmly in place so that all I have to do is hold my butane soldering torch and a little solder. It melts right in and makes them permanently a single thing. Then I heat shrink it and electrical tape it over that. The end result is satisfying. It does take some time though, and God does it hurt your back having to hunch over these damn low cars. Lol.

Pictures and narrative after I come back from lunch with the family. All done and it looks great. Found more broken wires. Eesh.

If you can get some flux on the bare wire where you intertwine the strands, then twist or wrap them so they hold themselves together, you can use two hands to heat the joint and quickly flow some solder into the hot wire and flux mix. As mentioned, you don't want to heat the spot too long, or flow too much solder, as it does make wire brittle. Having a wet sponge handy to take the heat away from the insulation, and cool the joint will help.

And putting the car on 4 stands does help the back. I've been known to stand inside the engine compartment when the radiator and intake are removed.

Pretty sure we lost a motor during Open Track Challange due to a poor injector connection - Cyl 1 leaned out, and blam.

 

[CrackedDSM]

If you can get some flux on the bare wire where you intertwine the strands, then twist or wrap them so they hold themselves together, you can use two hands to heat the joint and quickly flow some solder into the hot wire and flux mix. As mentioned, you don't want to heat the spot too long, or flow too much solder, as it does make wire brittle. Having a wet sponge handy to take the heat away from the insulation, and cool the joint will help.

And putting the car on 4 stands does help the back.

Pretty sure we lost a motor during Open Track Challange due to a poor injector connection - Cyl 1 leaned out, and blam.

Oooh. Flux is a good idea. I didn’t think of that/not sure where locally to buy some.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Well, waiting on food so here goes.

Woke up today initially wanting to just chill, but man I got the bug bad and decided to get my ass up and do some work. Boy am I glad I did. It went great and I found some issues too.


First up was going to get more shrink tube, since I didn’t have enough for all the wires. I could only find red, so don’t you dare judge me on my red heatshrink. Lol.

But, once I opened the engine bay and sank my teeth in, I immediately found this.

This is injector #2’s wiring and that’s a whole ass wire thats missing. If one wire is broke more is bound to be broke or sketchy, so at this point I’m raising my hands and happy AF I did this. Because I could cut into the harness further, add a new supple wire, and end up with this.

So much better. Don’t worry, I’ll wrap the wires too so they aren’t just loose. But from there I set my sights on finishing the rest of the injectors, and one at a time they all went great. I even found this too.

Might be hard to see but that’s another broken wire. And where it was, it was 100% touching metal. This had to have been causing issues. So glad I did this. I love wiring.

But, after a bit, it all looked like this.

Beautiful. And these injector clips are fantastic. The little silver metal clip is captive and you just squeeze it to slip it on and let go to anchor it. Nifty AF.

Time to move on to the CAS. Also found good stuff here. First was this.

Wrong plug and a rats nest of terribly done butt connectors. Bleh. The plug itself is a TPS plug, and that’s why it broke when someone tried to slam it down. The CAS plug is slightly different on a 1G. Time to fix it.

Yeah buddy. And it slips on and anchors like a champ! Now it’s time to tape all these wires together until I can buy more sheathing to match the oem harness.

There we go. Time for the injectors.

Would ya just look at it. So much cleaner and new.

And the final pic. TPS plug, CAS plug, and injector clips are all brand new and OEM quality or better. Honestly I’m so tempted to start it without a TPS to see how it idles now vs before, but I shall resist. I wanna do things right here. This thing deserves it.


So yeah. Very pleased. However this makes me want to go over the entire harness to fix and find the f*ckery.

Appreciate all the feedback and advice everyone. Truly!

 

[dwb]

That looks all too familiar!

 

[CrackedDSM]

Alright, call me janky but I absolutely couldn’t resist starting it up even without a TPS. I had to know.


And my god this thing is smooth now. Starts right up, idle is crisp, and throttle input is immediately responsive. No delay, stuttering or stumbling at all. I’m amazing it ran before. It’s still high idling/idle surging, which made me curious about something.


So I redid my boost leak test. Held 30psi again. I went to stop the compressor and leaned on the uicp…sudden massive hiss/leak at the TB. It seals tight without touching it but apparently the bottom right TB bolt isn’t tight/tightened enough. So when you shake it or lean on it, bam. Leak.

Lol wth. Now I’m gonna redo the whole test in a week or so when I have more free time and shake/touch everything.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Boost leak fixed. Idle is no longer surging, car comes up to temp great. It actually revs now! All this is without a working TPS as well, so whenever that comes in I'll slap it on and make more changes. It now idles at 14.6-15.1 AFR, enters closed loop, and all the fun stuff.


1) I'm still not sure if the OEM fans work or not. They never came on, but coolant temp never read above 203, so IDK. Need to figure out a way to test them.

2) It idles hilariously at 850. Lots of chop and lope. I do need to check timing because now I'm suspicious. I feel slightly crazy but I could swear there's a slight hesitation on throttle input, and it died on me. It started back up and idled on its own, but still, kinda curious why it died in the first place.


But...this is progress! Lots of progress!! I found a tiny little drip drip leak at one of the rear heater hoses, so I'll fix that, but other than that she's sealed and idling like a champ.


I can't thank all of you enough who helped me and continue to help me. Justin, Stapl3, all of you. Very much appreciated!

 

[CrackedDSM]

Teaser for tomorrow. Tired of open 3” downpipe. Lol.

 

[DuhPanda]

This is soooo cool… reminds me of my old neighbor who had AMS clone their drag Evo back in the day only ran it a couple times on the shitty track we had here in Clint Tx

 

[CrackedDSM]

As a quick favor, can people click this link https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/1g-gauge-cluster-testing-diagnosing.545262/ and check out my thread? Maybe show off your searching/googling prowess, or gimme some first-hand knowledge. I'm trying to get the tach to work on this car and it's not cooperating. Even ran a wire from Pin 109 at the ECU, directly to the cluster itself and provided a ground and it still didn't even budge the needle. Does the cluster itself require power on top of a signal and ground or is the power obtained FROM pin 109 along with the signal itself? Please help. Anyone. Lol.

This is soooo cool… reminds me of my old neighbor who had AMS clone their drag Evo back in the day only ran it a couple times on the shitty track we had here in Clint Tx

Appreciate it broski. It's crazy to me, to think that I grew up watching videos of this car and it being so god-like(I mean walking Supras from a roll? In TX2k?! That was unimaginable), and now it's sitting under my carport in my yard. Mind blowing.

 

[DSMPT]

As a quick favor, can people click this link https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/1g-gauge-cluster-testing-diagnosing.545262/ and check out my thread? Maybe show off your searching/googling prowess, or gimme some first-hand knowledge. I'm trying to get the tach to work on this car and it's not cooperating. Even ran a wire from Pin 109 at the ECU, directly to the cluster itself and provided a ground and it still didn't even budge the needle. Does the cluster itself require power on top of a signal and ground or is the power obtained FROM pin 109 along with the signal itself? Please help. Anyone. Lol.

I know this can't be of much help, very vague but anyways I share my experience with you. Maybe you could find some way.
When I bought my 90 about 15 years ago, the tacho wasn't working. It had a JDM engine and trans swap, and didn't come with the little filter that Marty mentioned in the link. At that time buying something online in Mexico wasn't so easy for me since I am a foreigner here. So I tried to make the tacho work without the filter. I did everything I could imagine like you did but I didn't make it. Finally I gave up and using a SAFC as tachometer. Then one day some time later I retried to work for the tacho when I switched the ECU with a chipped JDM GVR4 ECU. And somehow I made the tacho work. Sorry I really don't remember what exactly I did.

But some things I remember are,
- I have never bought the small filter.
- I had two spare clusters, a 90 and a 91-94 cluster. But the tacho in all 3 clusters didn't work. Finally I was using the original '90 one that came with the car.
- This is the one I don't remember very well and can't confirm anymore since I don't have the same setup. But when I replaced the cluster with a CAN Bus display, I found that I had ran a wire to the cluster connecter pin for tacho like you did try I think. But I am almost sure it wasn't from ECU pin 109, I think I did try from pin 109 but didn't work. I can't take any responsibility but what I am imagining is perhaps I was running the wire from the ignition 1/4 trigger or the injector #1 directly to the tacho input on the cluster connecter.

My point is I have never had the small filter but my tacho was working without it. So can't tell how but there seems to be a way. I can even see my 90's tacho was working in old in-car videos.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Fixed the tach today. @19Eclipse90 and @steve both are the reason it was fixed, so huge shoutout to them.


The fix was easy. I tested continuity like 19eclipse90 said on Pin #4 to Pin 12 on the cluster plug, and there was none. So I ran a ghetto loose wire from Pin #4 all the way to Pin 12 on the cluster, and bam. Tach works great. While I was digging near the PTU, I found some butt connectors and terrible wiring done on the coilpack plug/harness which leads me to believe that this is a 1990 harness, and basically 1990 everything that was hack-job converted to 91. I'm gonna research how to fully swap a 90 harness over to a 91 and double check everything, because there's some weird stuff still. The knock sensor according to ECMLink isn't plugged in or getting signal, but I've double checked and it's definitely plugged in and brand new(no black goo missing). But yeah, TL;DR, this harness is a cluster-f*ck that I'm slowly having to fix. Gonna go through more wiring tomorrow though and see what I can fix and find.


One thing that still kinda mystifies me, is from everything I can gather the wire goes Pin 4 of Tach-----> Pin 109 of ECU. It's intercepted halfway by C-58 connector near the kick panel on the passenger side, and that goes to the cluster. If the ECU sees RPM, why would the continuity be broken and it not go to the cluster? If it was broken or harness f*ckery was afoot, wouldn't the ECU not see RPM as well? I've heard people say ECU gets it's RPM from the CAS, but others say it comes from the TPS. Meh, either way I'm gonna trace wires tomorrow and see what I can find.


Other than fixing/finding the tachometer issue, I did the first oil change since the bearings are broken in now. Oil looked fine for what it was, but when I took the oil cap off(Cheap ebay unit) there was a white milk substance on the cap. My first thought was "SH*T, HG is gone or something else making oil and water mix", but after draining the oil it was fine. No milk, no sketchy stuff, just oil with some light gas smell. It was only on the cap and the cam cap directly underneath the oil cap itself.

See? Weird.

No funny stuff here though. Just oil.


So that's interesting. Maybe I need to actually plumb up my PCV/catch-can setup, or the oil cap seal for the eGay unit is junk(which is honestly equally as probable). Either way, that made my heart skip a beat but glad it was all good. While I had the VC off, I checked the torque for the headstuds and they're all golden. I'll check 'em again at 500 miles like ARP says.


So yeah. Not as much done today as I wanted, but educational day nonetheless. Busting more butt tomorrow hopefully.

 

[DSMPT]

Other than fixing/finding the tachometer issue, I did the first oil change since the bearings are broken in now. Oil looked fine for what it was, but when I took the oil cap off(Cheap ebay unit) there was a white milk substance on the cap. My first thought was "SH*T, HG is gone or something else making oil and water mix", but after draining the oil it was fine. No milk, no sketchy stuff, just oil with some light gas smell. It was only on the cap and the cam cap directly underneath the oil cap itself.

That would happen when you have a short idle many times without driving the car and if the weather is cold/humid. Once you drive the car for long, it would be gone.

 

[CrackedDSM]

That would happen when you have a short idle many times without driving the car and if the weather is cold/humid. Once you drive the car for long, it would be gone.

This makes a lot of sense actually. I have only broken in the bearings(let it come up to temp and hold it at 2500 for a few mins) and it’s been uncharacteristically chilly a few days I was working on it.

Thanks a bunch Hiroshi. Appreciate it for sure!

 

[99dsmer4g63]

Now I’m curious what you refer to as chilly in Florida ?

 

[CrackedDSM]

Well, I just realized I never posted the sound clip of the thermal exhaust!



Full disclosure this video is a little old by a couple weeks. Since then I've fixed the "stutter" upon throttle tip-in. But, still gives a good idea of the sound.


But yeah, other than that, I tackled some little penny-enny stuff today. The exhaust was just bolted up with some janky hardware store bolts and no gaskets, and upon diagnosing my tachometer issue, I stumbled across another bit of wiring idiotry at the coil pack connector. So I did the easy thing first, and fixed the wiring. Here's how it was when I discovered it.

Ugh. That's got to go. I'm sure butt connectors are fine but these are open to the air and the wires are already corroding/rusting.

Aaaah. Now that's more like it. Soldered and shrink wrapped.

Would ya just look at it. Slowly but surely I'm gonna build this entire harness brand new again. Lol. One connector at a time.

Once that was done, I finished up the exhaust. GOD these bolts and flange combo SUCK. For anyone else that uses a thermal R&D turbo-back exhaust and loses the bolts, you need some M10 x 35 (pitch doesn't matter, get whatever you can find) but MAKE SURE the heads of the bolts and nuts are no bigger than 14mm. Otherwise it's a b*tch and a HALF.

But, regardless, brand new gaskets and proper sized locking bolts/nuts are on and it's all officially sealed up. After that, I decided to take a break by fixing the tachometer more permanently this time. So I soldered the wire intercepting the Pin 4 at the PTU, and ran it cleanly through the firewall up to the cluster plug. Soldered it on, bolted it all in, and bam. Just look at this.



F*CKING STOKED. Lol. This new cluster from Performance Partout looks INCREDIBLE, and I am so happy the tach works. Of course the water temp and oil pressure gauges don't work....but it's not the cluster's fault. It's the wiring. I'm also super...super suspicious about the fuel gauge. Probably doesn't work either. The wiring in this poor car is such a problem, man.

But either way, lots of little stuff done today that I'm very happy with.

Now I’m curious what you refer to as chilly in Florida ?

Mid-high 40's. Not enough to need a jacket, but definitely cooler than the mid-low 100's without factoring in humidity/real feel, that we had during the summer time. I'm from Florida, and I've never seen Pensacola/NW Florida hit triple digits consistently, unless you counted "real feel". So 40's from 100 is a drastic temperature change I'd say. Lol.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Weird update. I finally got around to updating my firmware in my ECMLink so I can actually have V3 Full vs V3 Lite. That was successful but I noticed something while it was dark.


If I try to turn the headlights/running lights on, nothing actually works. The gauge lights don't turn on, headlights don't turn on. The lights in the cluster itself (like the CEL, low gas, etc) all light up, but not the night lights. Blinkers work fine, just no interior or headlights. Didn't check the tails. The windows also won't roll down. They ATTEMPT to roll down, but then stop like something is physically blocking it from going down any further.

Another weird thing...the auto seatbelts aren't moving when you close or open the door. They're new assemblies and I tested them with a power probe outside of the car to make sure they move and work. The passenger side belt was locked in place(like over the shoulder) while the car sat, and the first time the car had battery power and I opened the pass. door, it beeped and unlocked(slid forwards/off your body). So....yeah.

The more I mess with this car the more I think there's just a few things unplugged or some relays outright missing. Someone said it as a joke, but I am starting to think that rats have gotten into this car while it sat. I'm gonna have to trace like every wire and relay in the interior. So clueless right now.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Got another help request for you guys. https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/lets-play-what-is-this-tranny-sound.545304/#post-153900846 Hop in there and listen to that horror show sound and lemme know what you think/know it is.


Speaking of transmission stuff though, I got more info from the previous owner regarding the transmission/clutch setup in the car. It's an OEM Exedy pressure plate, OEM TOB, ARP Flywheel bolts.


Since it's basically a stock clutch, I'm gonna save my pennies and buy a Southbend Clutch from either @twicks69 or another reputable vendor if he doesn't have any. That way when I pull the trans I can throw in a proper clutch and do it all at once. And I can strip/paint the trans while it's out and make it look nice too.

Really wish I could replace spider gears in the trans with a good 4-spider one while I have it out. But, one thing at a time. Knowledge is power!

 

[CrackedDSM]

Can anyone point me in the direction of where my interior wiring might be an issue? There’s too many things wrong for it not to be something like a bunch of cut wires or missing relays/fuses.

To reiterate: seatbelts don’t retract/close with the door closing, but floorboard lights come on with door open/close. Also power door locks work.
Lights on dash for gauges and HVAC controls don’t work, but CEL and dash lights themselves do.
Headlights do not turn on but blinkers work, unknown if tails work.
Windows try to roll down but don’t actually move anywhere. An attempt is made though.
Dome light doesn’t work.


Is there one harness or one connector/relay that these things all share? Plz halp. Lol.


Edit: not sure if it’s relevant but the harness that has the cigarette lighter bulb on it is unplugged/not there, and someone has an aftermarket stereo wired in that’s not currently plugged in. I have no clue if those two things are relevant to my problem but figured I’d mention it.

 

[1cleangsx]

Holy Cow man, God have mercy on you with that car , I get a headache just from reading the updates! That car seems like a text book example of one that was completely hacked up, rode hard and put away wet by the prior owner. I truly admire your dedication and persistence with it, you’ve come a long way with the car. Sadly I wouldn’t know where to start with your electrical issues, but I do know others on this forum will

 

[CrackedDSM]

Holy Cow man, God have mercy on you with that car , I get a headache just from reading the updates! That car seems like a text book example of one that was completely hacked up, rode hard and put away wet by the prior owner. I truly admire your dedication and persistence with it, you’ve come a long way with the car. Sadly I wouldn’t know where to start with your electrical issues, but I do know others on this forum will

It’s a struggle for sure. Whether I like it or not by the time I can even drive this thing legit everything will be brand new. If the car didn’t have so much history and I wasn’t so attached to it I’d honestly just buy a shell that was mint and swap my engine and trans over. Still might. Lol. If one was to pop up locally for a steal.