I have everything hooked up and the car will not start, I just hear one click from the fuel pump relay then nothing. Also, my stereo and my aftermarket gauges to not turn on when I turn the key to on (they are wired together). I am banging my head against the wall on this one! I have tested the battery and it reads 12V and when I attempted to jump the car the same thing happened. Does anyone have any ideas?

This post has been edited by HardHead93: Nov 17, 2016 - 10:45 PM

If it won't even crank, something is not getting the power. Starter is on an almost completely separate circuit from the ECU, so the car should crank under almost any condition so long as it's getting power. It may not start for many reasons, but it should at least crank.

Get your multimeter out and start tracing wires. Check fuses for accessories, maybe something is shorting somewhere. Check accessory power. Check whether starter relay is getting power, check Neutral Safety Switch, check power to starter.

Once you've traced where the power stops, remedy and try again. Don't rule out loose connectors or even ones that may not have been plugged in.

It's annoying, but not unsolvable.

This post has been edited by slavie: Nov 18, 2016 - 5:32 PM

Does everything work inside the car besides the gauges and radio?

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I just checked, none of the warning dash lights come on when I turn the key and the AC vents won't turn on. The only think that works are the car's interior are the dash lights and the hazard light button. I checked all the fuses under the hood and in the driver side kick panel and they all tested fine. I combed through some wiring diagrams and it seems like everything that stopped working is hooked to some type of switched power source.

This looks like it may be the ignition switch. Am I on the right track? What is weird is that the car started fine when I pulled the 5sfte. Can an ignition switch go bad from an engine swap?

This post has been edited by HardHead93: Nov 19, 2016 - 10:16 AM

I replaced the ignition switch and starter relay, still nothing. I started to think maybe it was the kill switch on the alarm so I checked it out and that is not the case. At this point I started going around the car with a multimeter. It is weird, I am getting power on all fuses except, on the AM1 and CIG&RAD. The ST and IGN fuses get power when I turn the key the appropriate position. Also, the ECU B+ (12V switched) pinout is not seeing power when the key is turned but the BATT pinout is seeing power. This sounds like something is wrong with my switched 12V power. I need to test the 100A ALT fuse because that feeds the AM1 but that one is a pain in the butt to test since it is screwed into the fuse box.

This post has been edited by HardHead93: Nov 19, 2016 - 10:28 PM

After testing wires then looking at wiring diagrams, testing wires then looking at wiring diagrams, testing wires then looking at wiring diagrams . . . . . . , testing wires then looking at wiring diagrams I found the main engine relay to be the culprit. I replaced the relay plugged everything up and SUCCESS! WOO HOO! The 3sgte came to life! I still have to put the rest of the car back together but for now, the engine runs. I will post a video once I get the car all back together and off of jack stands. Thanks for all the pointers everyone has provided.

Like a soap opera. Can't wait for the next episode. Great Job..

I have finally gotten the car completely back together. To finish off the build, I had a local machine shop cut, shorten, and solder my throttle cable. This evening I started the engine, topped off the fluids, and let the car get up to temperature. When I did that I found 2 problems. The oil pan plug has a slow leak. It looks like I will need a new crush washer and some teflon tape. The other issue is the fuel filter has a small leak. The leaks is not very fast but I have a new filter on order and I will not drive the car until I get the leak fixed (I do not want another engine bay fire).

I am also noticing the clutch feels a lot harder than before and I stalled the engine twice backing it out of the driveway. I am guessing the pedal stiffness is the new Exedy pressure plate I have paired with my SPEC stage 2 clutch. I am really excited to drive the car, see how it feels, and revs with the new lightweight flywheel. More to come once I test drive the car. Here is picture of the engine completely back together in the car.

I have been driving the car for the last few days to and from work and everything is working very well. The only issue I am having is that the car won't boost past 7-8 psi. I reached out to MR2 PRIME and the said that was the stock wastegate pressure and I need to add a boost controller. I checked the wastegate before I put the engine in the car and it opened at 7 psi like it is supposed to. I thought the turbo vsv would turn the boost up to 13-14 psi in 3rd gear and higher. This must mean my turbo vsv is not working properly. Does anyone know how to check it or does it just not work in a swapped car? The part number for the turbo vsv is 90910-12114.

Here are some pics of the car with the 4th gen 3sgte. It is running like a dream.




Giving props to PRIME MR2, those guys helped me out a lot over the phone and I bought a lot of parts from them.


The FMIC give the car a nice smile!




My Magnaflow 2.5 inch exhaust.

Boost on the steering column, water temp, oil pressure, and air/fuel ratio on the pillar.

Looks awesome, glad you get it running right!

Here is a video walk around. ENJOY!
https://youtu.be/dO9D_1jgr7U

I just went out for a little bit of spirited driving and OH MAN! This engine is crazy! I am only running 7-8 psi (stock wastegate pressure) and the car keeps breaking loose the front tires, especially in turns. I think part of it is the MR2 LSD I have in the S54 tranny because soon as the boost hits 5-7 psi I feel the tires give a little bit. This engine is awesome! I am afraid to turn the boost up to 15 psi where I want it to be. I guess it is time to save for some better tires.

>

Haha! I just turned the boost up to 12 psi today. Whoa! I am loving it. The CT15B turbo boost comes on fast and I like it. The only thing is that it shoots up to 12 real quick then levels off at 10 once I get to 5K RPM. I will play with the boost controller to get it set right at 15 psi.

Within the last few days I started getting a whine from the car whenever I push the clutch in but it goes away as soon as the clutch is fully engaged or fully disenaged. It even happens if I ride the clutch without fully disengaging it. Everything is pointing to the throw out bearing. CRAP! I just got the car all back together and now this. The sad thing is that this is a fairly new throwout bearing that came with my SPEC stage 2 clutch. If I had to guess, there is less than 2000 miles on this throwout bearing. Is the throwout bearing going bad or is it just going to make that noise because it is not an OEM part?

>

It looks like I will be dropping the tranny and replacing the throw out bearing and applying grease. That should correct the problem. I will be documenting the work in the following thread:
http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showto...p;#entry1087219

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Let me know how it goes when you raise it to 15! I plan to be around 15 to 17 (peak) so I'm curious as well hahaha. Great stuff so far man, hopefully all the other kinks will wear off soon!

Cheers

>

I have raised the boost to 15 psi and holy crap! The car pulls like crazy! Even with the LSD in the tranny, I get a little bit a torque steer. I am loving the way the car feels and I cannot wait to take it out to the track.

And the saga continues. . . . .

I was struggling with some engine heat problems with my 3sgte. The engine would run fine but any long stretches on the highway would cause engine temps to rise, not overheat but get a little warmer than I would like to see (around 215 F). I was scratching my head on this one so I changed out the thermostat (even though he one on the engine was brand new), went from my 2 row radiator back to a stock one, and put the stock radiator fans back on (I was using an aftermarket shroud and fans before). Then the problem went away. The car ran fine and temps would bounce between 195 and 205 F. I made all those changes about a week ago.

Fast forward to yesterday and I had the intercooler coupler close to the turbo pop off after a hard pull. I thought, no biggie, it has happened to me before. I replaced the T-clamp and everything was fine. The interesting thing was when the intercooler pipe came loose, it sprayed oil all throughout the engine bay. At first I thought the turbo seals were leaking but after taking a look inside the intake, I found it to be blow by from the crankcase vent routing back to the intake. I ordered a catch can last night and thought that was all I would need.

Then today, I decided to take the car for a spin on a couple back roads. I did a couple short pulls and the car was doing great for a while. Then the engine temps started to rise like the problem I was having before. I turned the heat on full blast and it helped. As I turned around to take the car home, then engine started knocking. Crap! I have heard that sound before on my 5sfte. The knock quickly turned to a banging and then I pulled over and cut the motor.

I think I got a bad 4th gen 3sgte (bad head gasket and worn piston rings). I was only running 14 psi and when the car started overheating and knocking. I wasn't in boost and I have put a total of 1000k miles on this motor since the swap (did my first oil change at 500 miles to make sure any crap that had settled in the motor was out). Also, the engine has a 7k RPM redline and I never went over 6k on the rpms. I am so frustrated with my 6th gen Celica. I feel like I am at a crossroads here with this car. I am thinking of going one of 4 ways:

1. I have an e-mail out to the company that sold me this motor because it is BS that this motor died so fast. I am hoping they will be able to work something out to get me another motor or refund.
2. If #1 does not work, after a little bit of a break, I am thinking of rebuilding the motor with all forged internals and ARP head stuts so I will never have to worry about rod knock again. I still have my 5s block so maybe a 5sgte????
3. Or if I do not feel up to doing #2, get another 3sgte and swap the wiring over.
4. Last choice is to sell the car as is. Someone else can get a 4th gen 3sgte, swap over the wiring and have a good running car with some decent supporting mods.

Let me know what you guys think. Oh yeah and Happy New Year!

This post has been edited by HardHead93: Dec 31, 2016 - 8:34 PM

It's really hard to kill a 3SGTE. They can take a beating all day long in triple digit heat without issue. I boost 20+ psi on my 3rd gen and bang through the gears at 7k on my commute to work. I've been doing this for the past 40k....These engines are STRONG

In my opinion your engine was knocking and you didn't realize it. The reason I say this is because a common symptom of knock is rising coolant temps. knock breaks through the thin insulating film in the combustion chamber and exposes the cylinders to the full heat combustion, thus raising temps.Don't believe such an insulating film exists? ask yourself how an aluminum piston doesn't melt during normal driving...

Also the stock cooling setup can handle the 3sgte no problem. So considering you replaced everything and yet the temps still rose, I'd say knock was dumping heat into the system. Knock also puts crank and connecting rod bearings through hell, leading to similar damage to oil starvation.

It look like you know what you're doing, and I'm not insulting the quality of your build. I just want to convey that knock can be sneaky and lead to a situation like this.

>

Only a compression test, leakdown test, or hydrocarbon test can confirm whether your head gasket/rings are shot. Thing is, a knocking engine can absolutely cause both of these as well.

Anyway, I only raise boost with the proper supporting mods in place. Colder plugs and water injection are good for staving off knock into the low 20 psi range. A handful of other guys on here will agree. Consider doing the same if you get a replacement engine

Good luck

This post has been edited by enderswift: Jan 1, 2017 - 3:01 PM

Thanks for the information. I am wondering what was causing the knock. I have been running colder NGK BKR7E plugs and I was having heat issues even when the engine was set at 7 psi before I ran a boost controller. Like you said, it is hard to kill a 3sgte, and with me taking it a lightly as a did for these initial miles, I am really thinking I was sold an engine that was not well taken care of by the previous owner. Most people run 16 psi with no problems on these engines with the exact set up I have. I read that the PRIMEMR2 guys run into this occasionally where they get a 4th gen that is either dead or dying. Just my bad luck.

I know hindsight is 20/20 but I really wish I would have took the cylinder head off and inspected the pistons and bearings with a little more detail. Sure it would have cost me at a minimum a head gasket but it would have given me piece of mind. Looking back I did notice a dark yellowish/orange tint to the cams and cylinder head under the valve cover. That is a telling sign of a higher mileage or abused engine, maybe over 60K miles like advertised to me. Also, now that I think about it, the highest Octane around here is 91, could that have caused the knock problem? It may be something other than the gas because I was having heat issues at 7 psi. Like I said in the previous post, I was having some large amounts of oil in the blow by even while not on boost, is that normal?

I am really hoping when I pull the engine that there is not too much scaring on the crankshaft so I can get it machined. I am definitely leaning towards rebuilding the motor with forged rods and pistons. Even if I get another motor because I cannot save this one, I am going to rebuild it with forged internals before I put it in. I am not going to sit back and hope my next JDM motor was treated well before it was handed to me. But who knows, I am still not against selling the car and getting another project down the road.

This post has been edited by HardHead93: Jan 1, 2017 - 5:19 PM

I would definitely contact the company that sold you the motor. Regardless if it was an issue that they sold you, or something that occurred while the motor was in your possession, it doesn't hurt to try. maybe they will be accommodating and help you out. I had a buddy who bought a skyline that a company imported, blew the motor within two weeks, and they helped him source a new engine and rebuild at a discounted rate, so you never know.

It really sucks that this has happened after you've put so much time and effort into it. I'd hate to see you give up and simply sell the car though

So after a lot of cussing, kicking, and screaming, I decided to get back to work on fixing this car. I pulled the motor and broke it all the way down to determine what failed.
Mostly apart:

Cylinder head looks pretty worn and I am not liking all that black on the intake cam:

The bare 3s block:

All the 3sgte parts:

Engine bay:


What I found was rod knock on cylinder #1. The rod was black from the excessive heat. I inspected all the rods and it looked as if the previous owner of the car either did not take care of the engine or there was more than 60K mile on the motor. When I opened up my 130K mile 5sfe, the bearings did not look as worn as these ones. Oh well, time to move on.

I decided to get another 3sgte instead of rebuilding the other one. I just got it in today and hopefully this time it will go well. Here is the 3s on the truck once I got home from the warehouse:

Now on the ground next to the 3s block:

Another shot of the 2nd 3sgte:


I will swap over parts that I replaced from the other 3sgte. Then replace the oil pump and rear main seal and drop the engine back in. My goal is to have this all done by the end of the 3 day weekend. (Deep breath) Time to get to work!

This post has been edited by HardHead93: Jan 13, 2017 - 8:32 PM

So I am part way through getting the motor ready for the car. It looks like the first 3sgte I bought was severely worn out. I figured this out when I took off the valve cover on the 2nd motor I got. Here is the 1st motor with the valve cover off:

Here is the 2nd motor with the valve cover off:

There is a BIG difference between the two. I found this write up on the Wiretap site that tells you what to look for in a motor and to determine its quality.
http://www.wiregapinc.com/2013/02/buying-a-used-motor/
As you can see the first motor has a lot of dark yellow and black coloration in the cylinder head which means the engine should have been rebuilt before it was put into the car. Less than 60K miles my a**!
On the 2nd motor it also looks like someone has recently replaced the water pump. The pump looks almost brand new. Score!!!!

I am finishing up replacing the oil pump and rear main seal then I will drop the engine back in.

I hope you were able to get at least some money/discount back on the crap motor... Sure, you can part it out, but that takes lots of time and good amount of effort before you see that money back.

Props on determination. Let's hope you've got enough karma points with the car by now that it will let you have some fun at last.

I feel like I have been here before. . . Oh wait, I have, the first time I did this motor swap. The clutch and tranny are attached to the motor and it is ready to go back into the car. Fingers crossed!

Good luck to you.
Perhaps it was necessary to immediately change the path for the connecting rods 3 gene.
What do you think?

I have the engine back in the car, here is a video of one of my first starts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wVM86aUXhY

Maybe I am being paranoid but when the engine is completely warm, I am hearing a very faint ticking. Does anyone know what it could be? I hope it is not another bearing.

>
My guess is valve tick - valve clearances a bit high. Happens to my 5S when warmed up, such as after a lengthy drive. Not a big deal - may be a tad down on power due to valves open less than designed, but that's about it. May want to check at some point.