Bingo. You actually supposed to have a factory ground wire there. For some reason yours was missing.
This made me realize something... the stock alltrac has a metal torque bar that bolts from the top of the alt bracket to the chassis of the car. This probably doubles as a really thick grounding point for the whole motor! Since we leave those torque bars off when we swap (wont fit) it wouldn't be a bad idea to add an extra ground wire there.

Btw, dont waste your money on a 200$ apexi grounding it. Its a total rippoff. Just buy more battery wire from the car parts store, like you did and add any grounds you might want.

Give me some time to look through my wiring notes and see whats up with the speedo wiring.

definately zip tie that wire to the AC lines or something so it doesn't fall into the belt. and I'm with Lagos, $200 for a grounding kit is outrageous. you can get a grounding kit on ebay for way cheaper and it'll do the same thing, which won't be much... as long as all your factory grounds are good, you shouldn't need a grounding kit. more grounds won't hurt, but I doubt it would be much better than just having good clean grounds where you are supposed to.

I had installed a ground wire in the same place but bolted it to the wheel well, did you loose it when u pulled the motor out? it fixed the voltage real nice, gave me like 14.5V on the turbo timer:D...............God I miss that car

When I go up to H-town, I hope u let me see the dam thing again lol

Watching my A/F this morning I think I need to change my pants. She sat just the slightest bit lean during warmup and idle, ran so tightly in the center of the stoich range off boost and in the rich just a touch under boost. All of it ran so smoothly with little bounce and no large dips or spikes. Yes I'm aware that my Megan narrowband gauge isn't 100% accurate [I've got an AEM Uego on order as we speak] but I actually went through several name brand A/F gauges till I settled on this one cause it actually reads alot more accurate than the standard light show type and this one has an actual needle to read [End "I'm not a dumbass" disclaimer].
I was so impressed with the way she ran this morning I'm finding it hard to make it through the work day without getting "sick"
It's nice to see all my hard work and perserverance [and money ] pay off with such results. This is why I love working on my Celicas so much. They really are like women - they just don't give you any sh*t [J/K - nobody get their pannies in a wad]

This post has been edited by DEATH: Mar 27, 2008 - 8:55 AM

95celGT - Yeah no problem. I would feel the same way [then again I doubt I'll ever sell her].
as for whatever ground may have been there before - Toyota was just working in that area immediaetly before the problem started. Chances are since it was not stock - they didn't know to put it back. Either that or when I rebuilt the motor cause this seemed to make all the issues go away.
Now I need to double check the timing and a few other things but she feels solid and smooth like a stock vehicle again.
You'd be surprised at the shear amount of upgradeing and little issue fixing I've done to this car since I bought it. I've spent well over $2500 on her in two months and I've got solid plans in the works to spend another $2500 on her over the next few months as well [which is why $200 on the Apex'I kit doesn't sound like a bad idea to me - especially if it will reduce alt whine in the audio/video system I'm designing for her (fully removable of course - can't be weighing her down now can I? it'll be really subtle too - got a plan for the one screen I'm installing that will probably turn a few heads on this site]. The A/C delete and the fabrication of the mounts for the intercooler were free other than bracket material, cleaning up of the wiring in the dash, under the hood. Alot of replacement of interior components and using all stock mounting hardware, seat belts, new horns [3], and installing the fcuking crash bar , new window controls, JDM folding Mirrors [still not wired to fold automatically but it's in the works], monitoring equipment, new silicone hose [About 50% completed], The Turbo will be rebuilt soon, SAFC-II installed and some Dyno Tuning, got to get the Koyo Radiator installed, AEM Wideband UEGO, EGT Gauge, Oil Pressure gauge, Water Temp, Volt meter a second Boost gauge to be installed near the turbo so I can read pressure drop across the IC, New tires [might buy some high dollar 5 Spoke Enkies in a similar style], new suspension bushings, Upgraded sway bars, new struts or adjustable coilovers, new upholstry/headliner, and eventually I'd like to get a front bumper made up like Martin's.

>

That pic was just taken to illustrate the placement of the ground wire. I don't leave any work on any of my Celicas in this kind of halfassed way. Immediately afterr I took that pic prior to test driving her I secured it up the right way.

This post has been edited by DEATH: Mar 27, 2008 - 8:54 AM

Yeah, i can vouch for that. Death dont like doing nothing half-ass. He got personally offended the way my intake system was hooked up and had to pull out random pieces to move it a bit. Now he's on my ass about getting a heat shield

I would put money on the table that that wire is placed correctly; and the photo is during the test start.

>

Thanks for vouching on that . Actually the heat shield thing wasn't cause I think you need it [remember I'm on the SRI side of the fence - I think the extra piping of a CAI totally negates any meager gain you would get over an SRI] it's just I know you have a thing for flare and I think a nice chrome heatshield would help dress that bay up some. Totally not about the functioning at all as I think they don't actually do anything unless you have an engine where the intake runs across the top of a header or something.

>

I really appreciate that Lagos. I recall the old days and the wiring that was available to swappers like yourself - it's a testament to ya'll's abilities that you guys were able to work through all that. I have alot of admiration for some of the original swappers from this site.
I'm sure I could work it out through trial and error and alot of buying unnecessary parts but if you can find what it was you did that would save me alot of headaches and money in the long run. Also, I'm running out of time a bit cause the inspection will be up soon and altho there is no way this car is gonna pass Houston's smog test I'd like to make sure everything else is up to code.
That reminds me - I have to get the stock horn switch working cause the switch I installed temporarily works but it's not where my hand instinctivly goes when I need it [and Houston is one of those places you often need your horn].

>

TRUE!!

But as long as you have a horn button somewhere in the car, i believe your safe (for inspection). Also, the switch for it is on the other side of the air bag if i remember correctly. i'll try to find the thread and print it for you. There was a big one a few weeks ago...

This post has been edited by D-Man: Mar 27, 2008 - 8:58 AM

I have a complete steering colum with clock spring and switches i can sell u cheap if you need it for the horn//

okay, i got your back on the horn. I cant find the post but i refreshed my memory about the damn thing... I'll help you fix it up today.

Also, did you ever hook up your air bag? I believe it was you with the air bag not plugged in right? If so then that makes life easyer (and safer) to accomplish.

>
You won't hook me up with it after I bought the whole damn car? J/k j/k
Is there something I should know about the horn switch? Why isn't it working in the first place? Also the driver's airbag is hooked up properly right? just no passenger side cause it's a '94 right?

>

that was my thread anyway. The switch gets power and it clicks but just isn't outputting 12v or else I'm checking the wrong wires IDK. I haven't gotten too deep into that stuff as I just now have the luxury of it. I just wired up a simple circuit for in the meantime - now I'm ready to restore that stuff to proper OEM specs.
Nice to know I have the peace of mind and luxury to worry about little sh*t like this finally.

yeah, when you feel safe enough to DRIVE the car (and at night ); and your biggest problem is that you have to push a button instead of your stearing wheel to honk the horn... lol.

I gave up on my horn long ago... i've got to worry about this idol before i give a damn about my horn. That's what i use my neutral for, i make enough noise to get peoples attention

This post has been edited by D-Man: Mar 27, 2008 - 2:38 PM

>That's not a torque bar that you see there, it is just a motor mount stiffener. It just goes from the alternator bracket to the top of the engine mount (on the motor side, not the chassis side). It wouldn't aid in grounding...

That said, the ground strap on that side of the motor is really important. I'd connect that point to the chassis (not on the strut tower, use one of the bolts for the power steering reservior). The most important ground is on the back of the intake manifold. An extra ground wire there might also help out.

-Charlie

>

Cool thanks. Where at on the Intake Manifold? You got a pic or anything?
I did actually ground it to the bolt holding the powersteering reservoir down - that's where it's supposed to be huh? Good guess I guess. That other pic was just for testing and illustration purposes but It would have worked perfectly if I had left it there. Moving it to the PSR wouldn't change anything about the way it works - just looks better.

I guess your right, I always remembered it bolting to the strut tower, but i guess it goes to part of the motor mount. Either way, its there to help the engine not move around as much in the engine bay and eat up motor mounts (like our 6th gen swaps do).

It still bolts to the motor mount, that in turn, bolts to the chassis providing a ground.

>

I think he's saying it bolts to the motor side of the mount and since that is basically two peices of metal suspended by rubber it won't provide a ground in addition to stiffening the motor. Why don't or can't we use them? I'd like to not chew through tranny mounts like my last 3s swap did. I have Kirk's mounts tho so maybe it won't be so bad this time. Years ago I had bought the TRD mounts for that old swap - those were a hell of an improvement [that was back when TRD still made parts for us ]
Any luck finding those notes yet? I'm not rushing you or anything - just curious.

That bar is the wrong length/size for our cars, so it cant be used.
I used to have to replace motor mounts about once a year with the oems. Now with kirks mounts, I havent had them fail, but as a downside I do have some annoying vibrations from the cabin plastics that I have to figure something out for.

Ill try to sift through the diagrams sometime today. I havent had much free time the past two days.

This post has been edited by lagos: Mar 27, 2008 - 4:22 PM

>

No problem - thanks again man.
the old TRD mounts were a nice halfway point point between the smoothness of stock and Kirk's mounts - but I wouldn't trade the performance for the smoothness anyway. To quiet the rattles I would use that spray foam stuff that comes in an aerosol can with a tube sticking out of it. You spray it in where the rattle is and it expands out and dries. Stuff works great for quieting rattles in trunks from systems. You can get it at any good mobile audio store. I'll see if I still have a can left and take a pic of it for you tonight.

Sounds like she's coming along nicely.

You sort out the wiring yet?

>

The ECU grounds [wiring harness] bolt to the underside of the #2 intake runner, as long as the connection is good and the wires aren't damaged [the insulation likes to crack from the angle of the curve of the wire] you can't upgrade it, but you can ground the intake manifold directly to the chassis or to the trans, it won't hurt anything.

That ground strap on the alt bracket is fine bolted to the strut tower. That's the stock location and is part of the chassis. However it normally doesn't bolt to the strut mount stud, it's normally bolted to the side of the strut tower itself.

>

It does nothing to stop the engine from moving, it only adds bracing to the engine mount itself. Look at how it's positioned, it CAN'T brace the engine in regards to the engine bay, it would have to bolt to the chassis to do that.

And it also physically cannot provide a ground, the engine mount center is rubber. The brace is bolted to the engine side of the mount.
The chassis side [steel sleeve] is insulated from the engine side by several inches of rubber.

< - 0wned.
All the while I thought it bolted to the strut tower, but its been a while since I had mine on the clip.

The ecu has 3 harness plugs. Remove the 3rd ecu plug and look at it with the female end facing you (look at all the plugs this way, when trying to count the pins). Pin9 should have a blue wire with a white stripe on it.

Then you have 3 interior plugs that come from the engine bay harness and plug in to the top/left of your ecu. Located the plug called II2. It should be a white, female plug with 19pins . Located pin 17, it should be an orange wire.

Now connect pin 17 from II2 to pin 9 from from the 3rd ecu plug. This sends a signal from your gauge clusted (through the II2 plug), back to the ecu.

You should now have 1 wire completed.
=======================================================

Now, locate II2 pin 10. It should be a blue wire.
Now locate plug IG2, pin3, Blue wire with a black stripe and connect it to the II2 pin10, blue wire.

IG2 should be a gray male plug with 20pins. If i remember correctly, this plug is just part of your harness and connects to a female version of itself. Someone correct me if im wrong, I dont have my book in front of me.

you should now have 2 wires completed
=======================================================

Located plug II1. It should be gray female plug with 13 pins, next to your II2 plug.
Find pin 12. It sould be a red wire with a blue stripe.
Connect it to plug IG2, pin 4 AND pin 15. so basically, 2 wires connected to 1, to form a Y.

You should now have 3 wires completed.
=======================================================

Located II1, Pin 13, blue wire with black stripe.
Connect it to IG2, pin 12, blue wire with yellow stripe.

You should now have all 4 wires hooked up, and your speedo should work.
=======================================================

This post has been edited by lagos: Mar 27, 2008 - 11:36 PM

to be honest i dont know jack about how the horn works or how the airbag system works.

All 3 celicas i had never had a working horn and never cared to fix them, i was just suggesting some parts i have lying around...i have a celica shop in the attic lol

I bought the steering wheel/air bag and dash all new and well i removed the passenger airbag for weight....i dont know if the driverside would funcion or anything.

i included quite a bit of important freebies with the car remember lol, besides, at this point your only half of the way to the amount of money i put into the car:)

>

Dude Lagos you're the man. If you ever need anything from me - just ask.
I'll get started on that as soon as I finish going over the doors to make sure everything is perfect - I already started so may as well finish. When I'm done with this car there won't be a single thing I haven't inspected and put to stock [except under the hood of course]

>
I know man I was just playing. I got the rest of the missing parts the other day when Havok took me to that parts car. It would make a good shell if you're still looking but I think the towing would kill that.

Shes getting her first oil change today: Mobile1 Fully Synthetic with TRD filter [got a deal on 2 for $10 so why not?]. I've spent most of the morning tightening the many loose screws I found underneath.
Question: Since I did the A/C delete is there any reason why I can't remove the heat exchanger between the Radiator and the FMIC [used to cool other sh*t etc]? Reason being I am going to install my Koyo Radiator and it has the big Koyo Logo on the front that you can't see cause of the heat exchanger, plus it's just dead weight if all it does is get rid of a/c heat and I have no a/c. I know it's probably a waste of time to most people but I like to see that kind of stuff - especially on a $350 part
I hope to start the Speedo thing tomorrow morning.

This post has been edited by DEATH: Mar 29, 2008 - 9:33 AM

>
yup, you can pull out all that stuff if you want to. condenser, lines ect.

Sweet - thanks. Today I did the oil change and tried to track down a coolant leak [The Overflow container had a hole in it - all that search and it's always simple ]. I finished rebuilding all the door panel back to stock and rattle free. Then I decided to indulge basic creature comfort and installed my new Boston Acoustic SX60 components along with my old components in the rear - sounds so beautiful.
I tightened a ton of loose bolts underneath the car and got the trunk plastics in right and rattle free. The cars nicer to drive without all the rattles.
It's been a good day for the car.
I'll start the speedo thing tomorrow to give me all week to get parts if necessary [doesn't sound like it should be]. Next week I'll pull the front bumper off and install the radiator, crash bar and pull that heat exchanger out.
She's coming along

This post has been edited by DEATH: Mar 29, 2008 - 5:35 PM

OK - Been a couple of months since I updated this. Here goes:

-Finished removing A/C lines and condensor
-Mounted the FMIC Properly/Straightened the front end
-Fixed all ground related issues
-Found and Fixed numerous wiring issues [Found bare 12v wire dangling above ECU that would short to the ECU case - WTF ]
-Continued replacing all vac lines with quality silicone hosing [still a few more to go]
-Fixed all but one small coolant leak [will be knocking that out next time I'm under the car]
-Replaced all couplings with 4 Layer [9 if you count the silicone inbetween] reinforced type and SS T-Bolt clamps
-Installed AEM UEGO Wideband o2 Sensor/Gauge/Controller
-Installed 2sRus MBC and bumped the boost up to 10PSI [Holy fcukin monkey nuts what a difference from 5PSI]

Still left to do:
-Hook up aftermarket water temp and oil pressure gauges
-Buy and install EGT gauge [Probably GReddy - may be purchasing today]
-Install Koyo Racing Radiator
-Buy/install electric exhaust cutout after downpipe
-Install Magnaflow high flow cat [Bought but not installed yet]
-Install windshield washer reservoir/pump [Bought but not installed yet]
-Fix horn wiring
-Fix speedo wiring [Thanks Lagos - yes I know I'm slacking but I'll do it when I do the next step:
-Install SAFC-II
-Loom up all the new wiring I've installed nicely and semi-permanently
-Dyno tuning

Now I have some questions:
1. The AEM Wideband reads between 14.5 to 15.2 at idle, will drop into the 11.0+ range under hard boost. For the most part I never see the red lights light up except right when I shift and it'll either jump to 16.0+ for just a second or it will show ---. Is this normal or something I should be concerned with?
2.
-will be updating/adding more throughout the day as time allows [I am supposed to be working here]

This post has been edited by DEATH: Jun 18, 2008 - 8:48 AM

>

Everything is working normally.
You should see 14-15 at idle or cruise (this tells you your o2 is working correctly)
Under boost, you want to see around 10-12afr. Mid 11s is ideal.
When you let your foot off the gas (like when you shift), the afr should jump all the way lean.

Turn you boost up! At the VERY least, you should be at 13psi with your fuel cut disabled.