First MR2 - Widebody 3VZ SW

[Gleshlich]

Might as well start my ride page sooner than later.

This car used to be owned by Gerrit and has been through a few other hands since then.

Car started life as a Red Turbo 1989 SW20. Chassis number is in the first 2000 if that means anything

Notable Stuff done:
Engine/Trans:
3VZ-FE Conversion (http://mr2.org.nz/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=13744)
Fresh engine rebuild as of Dec 2015 (last owner blew it up on Manfield)
Fidanza Flywheel
GT Clutch + Excedy Case/Release Bearing
AC Delete
Rebuilt Gearbox from end of 2014 - E153 w. LSD
Ported & Polished Heads
Exhaust

Suspension:
BC Gold Adjustables
Ultra Racing Sway Bars (21m F, 23mm R)
Enkei RPF1s 18x 8/9 - 235/40 Michelin PS3s R, 215/35 Falken FK452 F

Misc:
Widebody
Certed (sort of)
Shoddy Sportline Steering Wheel w. Genuine Momo Boss

Short Term Plans (will probably take me till Chistmas to get sorted):
Fix the vacuum loop for the ACIS (have a 3VZ Camry I got for $450 to strip) - Done
New Filter (thinking K&N) - Currently has a foam HKS Done
Replace the door and t top seals - Old owner has smeared black silicone over them to make the window seal better (didn't know about adjusting the glass) - Done
Alarm and GPS Tracker (booked in for next week to get a AVS S5 + Tracker (w. microwave sensor so I can park with the roof off). Bonus of a $0 theft excess with my insurance - Done
New headunit - Current one is caveman - Done
Door cards - Someone stuck tacky red leather to the door cards. Ideally want a set of GT leather ones to go in Done
Shift Boot - same deal as door cards - Can't seem to get my shift knob off. Maybe the boot is stuck in the threads? Done
Fix blown bulb in gauge cluster
Fix climate control only blowing on Hi or Auto - Lo/Med do not work at all
Fix temperature gauge. Will go from cold to full hot very shortly after starting the car. Ground issue? Done
New steering wheel Done
New window tints
Cup holder!!! - Part arrived. Will be installing on the centre box behind passengers head Done
Shift cable replacement - Current cable is a tad too long and sometimes pops out of 3rd and 5th New short shifter has solved issue
Fix driver side wing mirror motor
New Tyres Done along with alignment
Remount passenger side exhaust pipe - Currently rubbing on bumper and rattling from 1000-2000 [rpm]
Get reverse lights working Done

Long Term Plans(Dreams):
Wider wheels to fill out the widebody better - Could probably fit 10s in the front and 11s in the rear Done
Respray - Paint work is cracking in spots around the car. Paint is only single stage Done
ECU and rewire Done
Forced Induction?

Will be adding to this list later possibly and will come through and tick off the things I've done.

Have close to no photos of this car. Hopefuly will be more when the weather gets a little better

[*84vvt]

Nice

[JasonFriday13]

Fix temperature gauge. Will go from cold to full hot very shortly after starting the car. Ground issue?

Maybe. The temperature circuit uses a pull-up resistor, that's why it goes full hot. My guess is that in the engine bay the sensor wire isn't connected to the sensor itself (the sensor is grounded through its threads).

[Gleshlich]

Fix temperature gauge. Will go from cold to full hot very shortly after starting the car. Ground issue?

Maybe. The temperature circuit uses a pull-up resistor, that's why it goes full hot. My guess is that in the engine bay the sensor wire isn't connected to the sensor itself (the sensor is grounded through its threads).

What colour wires are they normally?
I have a black and white wire and a black wire (together) that aren't connected to anything near the throttle body

[JasonFriday13]

What colour wires are they normally?

The wire you are after is yellow/green stripe. There is no ground wire.

[Gleshlich]

Hooked up the vacuum lines properly according to the diagram.

Had a look for this yellow/green wire and saw that it was hooked up to the coolant temp sensor.

These are the wires I was talking about that were left on their own.

Haven't had a chance to have a drive yet. I'm convinced my plugs need replacing though. Have developed a miss

[Gleshlich]

Got the ACIS Vacuum Canister installed and all the vac lines hooked up. Appalling job by the engine rebuilder. Had 6 or 7 vac hoses not attached to anything and one of the fuel lines not attached to the charcoal canister. Couldn't find any spare 10mm holes so ended up on the firewall above the fuel neck

Figured out why my reverse lights don't work

[Gleshlich]

Aynone able to help with the temp gauge issue? I'm currently stumped. There is only 1 spade connector going to the sensor in the block which is the yellow and green wire. Is this correct?

[pbaron]

There is an additional ground wire that needs to be grounded to the motor, I had a similar problem with my Gen4 conversion in that the temp gauge would go straight to hot. There was a good article I had a link to that covered the 3VZFE conversion including the wiring that pointed out the issue with the temp gauge, will check when I get home if I still have the link handy.

If you have got any spare white wires one of these may be the ground for the temp gauge that needs to be grounded to the motor.

Did a quick google and this doc is the one I had a link to: http://www.v6mr2.info/toyota/MR2V6SwapC ... 20v1.4.doc

Aynone able to help with the temp gauge issue? I'm currently stumped. There is only 1 spade connector going to the sensor in the block which is the yellow and green wire. Is this correct?

[Gleshlich]

There is an additional ground wire that needs to be grounded to the motor, I had a similar problem with my Gen4 conversion in that the temp gauge would go straight to hot. There was a good article I had a link to that covered the 3VZFE conversion including the wiring that pointed out the issue with the temp gauge, will check when I get home if I still have the link handy.

If you have got any spare white wires one of these may be the ground for the temp gauge that needs to be grounded to the motor.

Did a quick google and this doc is the one I had a link to: http://www.v6mr2.info/toyota/MR2V6SwapC ... 20v1.4.doc

Thanks heaps for the link!
Definitely sounds like the same problem I have. Would the white/black wire I have photographed be what I'm looking for? Also where would I ground these wires?

[JasonFriday13]

Chances are the two wires you have photographed are for the air-con idle up solenoid, or for the charcoal canister purge solenoid.

Any ground wires are usually white/black stripe and are grounded to the engine block. There should also be a beefy ground wire from the gearbox to the chassis.

[Gleshlich]

Yea that would make sense since both of those have been deleted on my car. Still can't figure out the temperature gauge. The gauge will drop back to C when I unplug it, so that removes any problem with the dash? Could the actual sender sensor be grounding on the block and causing a hot reading?

[JasonFriday13]

You could try using an MR2 temp sensor instead of the V6 one, but I don't think that will make much of a difference.

I don't know if you know much about electronics, so I'll keep this simple. The temp input pin on the dash is pulled to positive using a resistor, and the temp sensor pulls the input pin to negative. This setup is called a voltage divider. The sensor changes it's resistance based on the temperature (a thermistor, usually NTC).

So based on this, there is a chance that your sensor is dead (not responding to changes in temp), and you might need another sensor.

[Gleshlich]

Have noticed my coolant slowly declining in level over the past month. Not sure if it's a bad bleed or there are bigger problems. Problematic, since the temperature gauge isn't working yet.


Got new tyres all round. Michelin PS3s for the rear in 235/40/18, and 215/35/18 Falken FK452 for the front.

[mknz]

Have noticed my coolant slowly declining in level over the past month

Check the back end of the fuel tank, often the coolant leaks where the heater pipes have the mounts