The MR2 Owner's Club of New Zealand

Test cleaning a spare GEN4 3SGTE Intake Air Temperature Sensor. Dunk it in white vinegar for an hour or so to help remove the oxidation and buff up the metal once done. Definitely a big improvement over the one in my intake manifold.

Do be careful with vinegar as it will remove zinc plating eventually. It's not a strong acid but it will do it. Sometimes this is good, other times, not ideal.

The GEN4 3SGTE coolant temperature sensor which is a 3 pin unit. 2 pins for the ECU and 1 for gauge.

Again dunked in vinegar for a few hours. Gave it a little polish and came out almost as good as a new part.

tw2 wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 21, 2022 12:02 pm

Looking great Phill. Nice driveway too, the house is looking good.

Thanks. Been a long time coming but I'm getting there.

More cleaning testing on a spare fuel pressure up vacuum valve. Thanks to a friend in Australia for sending me these spare intake manifold parts.
The vinegar has stripped off the gold passivate so I need to figure out how to strip the rest of the zinc without damaging the plastics for replating.

And it begins! Pulling the GEN4 3SGTE apart for a rebuild and slight upgrade. More to come.

The front of the GEN4 3SGTE with very little left on it. Time to open up the BGB service manual to start taking more parts off.
Although the online BGB seems to have stopped working since I did this. It is for the GEN2 3SGTE but it's mostly very similar. I do have a copy of the GEN3 for some stuff and the GEN5 bolt torques so the data is there.

Time to remove the cam shafts from the GEN4 3SGTE head. Referring to the BGB for the correct bolt sequence so you don't end up snapping a cam shaft due to loading from the valve springs.

Then bagging and tagging each cam cap and bolt set to make sure they go back in the same place. Yes, the caps are stamped with markings to denote the exact position and direction they should go but it definitely makes it easier to keep them separate.

Removing the buckets with shims from the GEN4 3SGTE. These are shim under bucket which works better than having the shim on top.
Each bucket and shim is individually bagged and tagged so I know where to put them back. The engine was incredibly quiet so I'm not expecting to have to get new shims but I will measure the clearances regardless.

Removing the head bolts using the correct sequence and method. The Toyota BGB outlines this information. Using a 12mm triple square and 1/2 inch bar tool to get the job done.

Thanks to my brother for helping hold the engine while we undid the bolts step by step.

These bolts can be reused if not damaged or out of spec. The service manual doesn't really specify much about them but I have a whole new set of bolts to go in anyway.

Lifting the head off just needed a few taps to get it off the locating dowel on the front.

The head gasket was all good apart from the coating being lifted off.

GDII wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 21, 2022 12:47 pm

Remove the Caldina brackets and install the MR2 brackets. Test fit to an MR2 firewall I prepared earlier. Thanks to Mo for the firewall cut. It has its uses.

As you can see under the black tape are 2 holes for the 3rd mount but the ECU is too tall to use it. I may make a custom one to mount it more securely. Minor adjustments to the existing bracket.

Could you drill and tap additional holes in the side of the ECU casing to move it down so you can utilise the third bracket?

85AW20v wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 23, 2022 5:23 pm

GDII wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 21, 2022 12:47 pm

Remove the Caldina brackets and install the MR2 brackets. Test fit to an MR2 firewall I prepared earlier. Thanks to Mo for the firewall cut. It has its uses.

As you can see under the black tape are 2 holes for the 3rd mount but the ECU is too tall to use it. I may make a custom one to mount it more securely. Minor adjustments to the existing bracket.

Could you drill and tap additional holes in the side of the ECU casing to move it down so you can utilise the third bracket?

That's possible but the ECU is taller. Keeping the plugs in the same place would be preferable. I could just make a new bracket for the top but everyone only runs 2 brackets so it's fine.

GDII wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 21, 2022 11:52 am

I've gathered most of the parts I need for the GEN4 swap. Now to make it happen. So for now, some photos of the actual car.

Car looks great and I'm jelly of your house - a beauty!

tulsamcclaine wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 24, 2022 7:18 am

GDII wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 21, 2022 11:52 am

I've gathered most of the parts I need for the GEN4 swap. Now to make it happen. So for now, some photos of the actual car.

Car looks great and I'm jelly of your house - a beauty!

Thanks! I designed it myself. Not the car...

Take the old head gasket off. No issues trying to remove it.

I've got a whole new OEM Toyota gasket set for the engine so I'll cover all the part numbers in it when I get to that point.