GDII's 1990 G-Limited

[GDII]

Ordered a new pump rotor set from Toyota, next day delivery.

I'll put it in tomorrow night and start to button things up and get the cam belt back on. Currently the front and rear engine mounts are off so hanging off the gearbox and sitting on a jack. I took off the muffler and CAT to get to the rear mount as the poly inserts don't allow the engine to drop far enough to get the crank pulley off and trying to get the centre bot out with the muffler on is harder than taking off 4 more botls and dropping the muffler out. It needed a good clean anyway. Thanks Olaf. Not hard to put back on, just glue it back up.

[ClanFever]

There shouldn't be any exhaust fires at least now

[GDII]

There shouldn't be any exhaust fires at least now

Yeah that. Although for the amount of oil leaking on hot things, it didn't smell like hot oil. Or I just got so used to the smell I couldn't tell anymore...
For the amount leaking there was very little on the sump pan. All on the cross member and muffler. Some got on the exhaust after the flexi join and the gearbox doesn't look too happy due to the distributor O ring.

[ClanFever]

Who did it better

[GDII]

I have no idea. We will let the crowds decide!

Overnight parts from Palmy!

GEN2 3SGE Oil Pump Rotor set 15102-63010

[GDII]

Update, car is running, no fuel or oil leaks so that's good start. I'll post some more later with photos.

[Benckj]

Good job. Do you use synthetic as this tends to leak more than the dinosaur oil?

BTW I noticed the alignment marks on the oil pump & impeller. Never really figured what they were for as when I did mine it can go in any slot when assembling. I'm sure you will have great pics and a write-up on the process. Will be helpful if you could show the pump shaft & casing seal as these are the ones which tend to leak.

[GDII]

Good job. Do you use synthetic as this tends to leak more than the dinosaur oil?

BTW I noticed the alignment marks on the oil pump & impeller. Never really figured what they were for as when I did mine it can go in any slot when assembling. I'm sure you will have great pics and a write-up on the process. Will be helpful if you could show the pump shaft & casing seal as these are the ones which tend to leak.

I've used everything I can think of with oil. Put in 20W-50 Mineral this time as it was $39 for 5 litres and a filter. Filters are $19 retail.

Yeah the marks help get the pump housing lined up with the main pump housing. Obviously they can never line up exactly but they go next to each other. Once you spin the rotor they come out of alignment. Check the BGB, I thought that was your go to document

I have some photos of the process but the underside of the car was super dirty and oily, as you'd expect with 9 month of neglect and driven every day, so I may have missed some stuff. There are some posts on my Instagram and Olaf took some for me while he was there helping.

[GDII]

Update, no pictures ready yet but the alternator has stopped working for 7th time in 11 years. This is starting to get old.... But each failure has been a different thing.
I haven't confirmed what is causing this issue yet as I have not taken it out to test but I did buy a used one from an ST184 Celica with a 5SFE. My car uses a small alternator so the Celica one works. I'll see if it has parts I can use or I just straight swap it. Fun times.

It seems that even though my car has power steering it uses the small alternator with the small bracket.
Part number is:
12501-74010 for the 89-93 Manual G/G-Limited. It appears this is one of the small alternator brackets.
12501-74020 for the 89-93 Automatic G/G-Limited. It appears this is one of the large alternator brackets.
12501-74020 for the 89-93 GT/GT-S. You couldn't buy an automatic version however you can see they are the same part as the NA autos.

There are further part numbers but I can't confirm what size alternator they fit so I won't list them.

[ClanFever]

I honestly think with the Alternators you've got more chance of getting the right one if you've bought it for another Toyota than if you try buy one for an MR2 - as we found out from the Weekend, plugs get converted, brackets change, who really knows

[GDII]

You are quite right. I'm not sure if there is a part number stamped/cast on the bracket. I do have a spare bracket from what I think its a 1990 turbo so I'll go check that with my Celica alternator to confirm.

[GDII]

Pulled the alternator out last night. Being the small one it comes out the top.

Checked over the replacement one. Apart from a rather worn top slip ring it checked out OK so in it went. Charges so that's all I need for now.

Worn slip rings. Cleaned up the contact surface after this photo was taken.

Genuine Denso part so all good there.

My current alternator appears to have got dirty again and filled with oil and grime. This is what stopped it working the last time but I guess the oil leak got to it and gummed up the brushes and slip rings. Makes sense that this was the cause as it would charge a bit, enough to keep the 3 lights of death off but not enough to push the volt meter gauge up to normal position. I cleaned out all the parts, cleaned off the slip rings with sand paper and put it back together ready for the next round of alternator failure.

Unhappy looking diodes.

Very dirty slip rings.

Also adding to the alternator bracket sizing. I have the small OEM one on the car allowing smaller sized alternators. I have got a spare from a 1990 GT that will not fit this alternator. Confirming that the part numbers line up for the early cars. And working on Olafs 1990 Auto it also has the larger bracket. I do quite like that I can use Celica alternators as they are far more common. Not sure what AMP rating this one is, 60-70 maybe. Not even sure what my other one is.

[Benckj]

I think the oil leaks from engine that contaminates the alternator increases the failure rate. Oil combines with the cuttings from brushes, slip rings and bearings during normal operation forms a nice 'goo' which accelerates the internal wear. Only solution is to repair the oil leaks and re-build or replace alternator. Not an easy or cheap job as you have already found.

I'm having some electrical issues myself. Installed an aftermarket new alternator but I don't think the quality or parts used are OEM spec. Have already had a voltage regulator fail but after installing a new one the variations in my levels are only slightly better. Rectifier checks out but was swapped from another alternator which has been tested. Slip rings & brushes look perfect so not sure where else to look unless its a stator pole fault. Maybe I have a dicky ground strap which is hard to believe as I've thoughourly cleaned and installed an extra from block top chassis. Removal is not an option at this stage.

[GDII]

I think the oil leaks from engine that contaminates the alternator increases the failure rate. Oil combines with the cuttings from brushes, slip rings and bearings during normal operation forms a nice 'goo' which accelerates the internal wear. Only solution is to repair the oil leaks and re-build or replace alternator. Not an easy or cheap job as you have already found.

I'm having some electrical issues myself. Installed an aftermarket new alternator but I don't think the quality or parts used are OEM spec. Have already had a voltage regulator fail but after installing a new one the variations in my levels are only slightly better. Rectifier checks out but was swapped from another alternator which has been tested. Slip rings & brushes look perfect so not sure where else to look unless its a stator pole fault. Maybe I have a dicky ground strap which is hard to believe as I've thoughourly cleaned and installed an extra from block top chassis. Removal is not an option at this stage.

Yeah Toyota put the alternator right in the oil stream. For now I have a leak free 3S which is rare. Moving onward and upward!

Hmmm, maybe buying a genuine unit is better than stuffing around with cheap questionable parts from some random ebay store. Mine is a Repco reman from 10+ years ago. Out of 7 failures some have been user error rather than the unit itself. I think the only thing that failed that was out of my control was the voltage regulator.

Maybe we need to do a full GEN4 swap with forged pistons and rods, a G25 turbo and a proper modern ECU to make it all work.
If only we had more spare money to do such a thing.

[tw2]

Glad your getting it all sorted. I was lucky mine hadn't failed. I turned it from black to grey with a couple of cans of electronic parts cleaner and replaced the valve cover gasket. Do Toyota still sell the alternator?

I will preventatively replace the oil pump, water pump and all gaskets when the timing belt is due in 30,000km. Not looking forward to that one.