help with 94 2.0 n/a

[NeMiZiS]

So my room mate decided to pick up this 1994 Talon 2.0 non turbo.
He is new to cars and isn't concerned with HP and speed.
So when he bought the car it had no Mass Air Flow sensor, but it did run and sounded pretty decent.It was towed to my house.
Got a new Mass Air flow, put some coolant in it (it was empty) ran some seafoam changed the oil and test drove it.
I believe it is in limp mode because it seems really sluggish and doesn't seem to shift at all?
It idles fine until it reaches operating temp. then it starts idles surging (but only does so in park)Then it starts to over heat.
The speedo isn't working and it doesn't have the cover for the fuse box under the dash.(I'm about to search for a picture of one)
I wanted to check the fuse for the radiator fans and the TCU.

I have these mystery wires pictured here. (I'm thinking that they are for the cigarette lighter and possibly the ash tray light?)

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Then there is this going on, not sure what to do about it.

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This is the first time I've really worked on a 1g.
I did a lot of searching but there doesn't seem to be a lot of info on n/a 4g63's.
I was just wanting some advice and what I need to do.

 

[nuclearr]

I hope you friend did not pay more than $100 for that car . I think you conclusion on the cut wires is correct. Transmission is probably going to need to be replaced. You need to do some checking as far as the over heating could be bad thermosat, water pump, cloged radiator, or blow head gasket.

The wires on the shifter look to be for the overdrive switch.

 

[phantom_19]

If i knew more about the AT's i could help you out.
the wires on the first pic cant be from the cig lighter.Cig lighter has 3 wires.1 for light,1 for power,and a ground.

The wires that are sticking out of the shifting knob are supposed to be connected to the ones in the first pic?.try to see if you can follow the wires and see were they are coming from

 

[NeMiZiS]

I think he payed 500 for it.
Why do you think the tranny will need to be replaced?
From what I have read it is usually a bad TCU that causes limp mode.
There is no oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil, so I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a head gasket leak.
Now that you said that though, I'm thinking I should do a compression test.
I hope that it doesn't have a bad water pump, is there any way to check for that?

 

[nuclearr]

Well definably try a tcu first. But I know when they slip or a gear is so gone it will not engage it will go into limp mode (3rd gear). Had that happen when I totally lost 2nd gear on my 96 spyder. After a while the car would only drive in limp mode.

I would do a compression test and check the thermostat first. Then check for flow when the thermostat opens you should get flow through to the radiator. If not you have a clogged radiator or a bad water pump.

The wires on the first pic I am almost certain are for the cigarette lighter and ash trey light. You have the 2 big green ones for the cigarette lighter its self then a smaller wire for the cigarette lighter light bulb (uses the ground for the cig lighter to operate the light bulb). Then you have two wires for the ash trey light bulb.

 

[NeMiZiS]

Thanks for the help y'all.
So I'm going to do a compression test, change thermostat and flush the radiator and I'll post back with results.

 

[NeMiZiS]

I picked up a 91 gs 4g63 parts car for free yesterday.
So can I swap the TCU from the 91 parts car?

 

[NeMiZiS]

Well I forgot about this thread I had made.. OOPS
I have another one where I got some good help.
I replaced the whole Shifter assembly with a new O/D switch.
Unplugged the Power/Eco switch (the cut wires in the picture)
Found a bad fuse for A/T something replaced it.
I swapped out the radiator fan relay and put a new thermostat.
Now it doesn't overheat and only idle surges sometimes.
Still isn't exactly shifting right though.
But definitely getting better.
I did find another wire going to the front of the transmission that isn't connected , but I'm still trying to figure out what it is?