DaveT

Fuses fed by the heavy white wire - Heater | Heater | Stop & Room & ECC | Position (= parking light switch ) Middle row is here, none on the white wire. R-DEF | R-DEF Those not listed are not on the white wire. Try the rocker switch on the top of the steering column. That is the parking light switch. They should light even without the key in the ignition. If they don't, continue tracing the white wire problem. It is also good to put a load on circuits as part of testing - that is, say you have your voltmeter on the white wire, and it shows 12V. put that switch on - does it stay? Change a very small amount down? Or drop to near zero? [assuming the lights do light]

Does the always on power at the fuse box stay there while you are turning the key? Yes, then trace towards the ignition switch. No, look for a flakey connection back toward the battery.

Before you remove the fender - check [or double check] - The fusible link box is mounted to the overflow tank. It comes off by pulling and wiggling. Get it oriented so you can inspect the wires where they come out. You don't want to see corrosion or burned / discolored insulation. There are 4 wire on one side, and one wire on the other side. The single wire is the connection to the battery. While it is loose, get a meter probe on the contact for the heaviest white wire. This is the feed for the always on fuses, and the alternator output terminal. That should have 12V on it always. If it doesn't, the problem is the link, one of the contacts, or the wire that goes to the battery. The other 3 also should have 12 V on them always. IF there is 12V on the 4 wires, and not on the fuses, I'd want to check the back of the fuse box, the big heavy white wire, before pulling the fender. Don't know if you checked or anyone mentioned, but also a good idea to verify the 2 ground wires on the battery (-) terminal - the fat one to the starter mounting bolt, and the mid size one that goes to the body..

Tests with engine running, room temperature, not run long enough to get to 190. Pinched off return line gets me 45 PSI. Current drawn by the pump rises noticeably while doing this, which does not surprise me. Put a vacuum gauge on the small line to the pressure regulator, get no reading = no vacuum. Manifold vacuum looked normal. Fuel pressure still doing the bouncing between 20-22 PSI Still have to check the other things.

Some new data: On my 93 the fuel pump is getting 12.5V while drawing 1.37Amps. Does not change much at idle VS heavy throttle. Drops to 1.35A On the 1987 - Pump is getting 13V while drawing 1.26Amps. Didn't get to try heavy throttle w/ high RPM, as my yard is too small, and I didn't care to risk getting stuck anywhere at the moment. The fuel pressure is odd. however - instead of a steady 21PSI, I have the gauge bouncing between 20-22 PSI - steadily, at a pretty good rate that a mechanical gauge can keep up with. Does not vary with throttle position.

Waxoyl helps.

It's been a crazy few days... I will let everyone know what I find. Thank you for all of the suggestions.

4000RPM at 65 is very normal for the 3AT. From around 88 and up. My 86 had slightly different gears, and was a little lower RPM at 65. But even more gutless.

Weird to be getting so many... check the ground wire in the engine harness, it is bolted to the lower part of the thermostat housing. Near the CTS and the temperature gauge sender.

Year of Toyota is not critical. Back when I first made the modification up, I used solenoids from similar year Toyotas. I'm still using the same solenoids.

Yeah, I though that a few time through ended up mixed up, yes every 180 on the crank one is at tdc.

Car has been great. 2 drives today, nothing unusual. 3rd run, I'm on the highway, going up a medium slope hill, 65MPH, 4000RPM, and start getting random pops / backfires / coughs / skipping. Like seconds apart, not like 1 cylinder quitting. Loosing power. Lighter throttle lessens the problem. End up downshifting to 2nd for a bit. 4000 RPM light load doesn't bother it. Get off at the next exit, and continue on back roads. Drove ok until the long hill, where again, same thing, random pops / coughs. Downshift, get to the top of the hill - it's a good couple of miles or so. Start down. Idles to zero. Crank, fire, shuts down. As if the fuel pump isn't running, and you just dumped an ounce of fuel down the intake. Coasted down the hill, a mile or so to a better place to take a look. Though maybe intermittent fuel pump, so swapped that fuse with another less important one. Same thing, crank, fire, shutdown. Hmmm. Tried it again, while holding some gas, and it stayed running. revved, stayed running. Drove to work, since it's on the way home anyway. Ran ok, until again, a uphill grade. Decided to head home, all back roads. Started normal. Ran normal until the hill up to my driveway, then same deal. Normal temperature the entire time. It's in my garage now. I've had water and crud in a fuel filter, this isn't like that, that just made power loss on the uphills, not the crazy pops / backfires bucking. Not running like one cylinder dead, that's steadily rough, and low power. Not like the time I had an IAC valve die, that just made idle = 0RPM, so I had to do it manually with the gas pedal. Hard to imagine timing being a problem, because it comes and goes, except acts up on hills. I had a catalytic converter block. almost totally once, that just made massive power loss, not the skipping / weird stuff I got today. I'll put the fuel pressure gauge on it, see what that says. Anyone else ever had this sort of thing?

Yeah, you might. ..

The bearings are pretty destroyed by now, grease won't put the metal back. The needles get out of round, grooves get formed on the race surfaces.

A good local shop can modify the "non serviceable" U joint mounts. At least the local one here did with my older Loyale "non serviceable" driveshaft. The U joints on my 09 Forester look pretty much the same as the ones on the Loyale shaft, although I have not measured them.

Easy check for exhaust blockage - loosen the 4 nuts on the Y pipe to head studs. Get a gap at least 1/4" or so. It will be loud, but if you have normal power, the exhaust is blocked. If the performance does not change, it is something else. The O2 sensor and the ECU won't care or know until the engine is up to normal temperature. All you need is a short drive to check for normal power.

I never checked. Just put the crank and cams on their marks, slip in the belts and go. I've done it numerous times, could not be just lucky that many. As long as the rotor is pointing to the cylinder that is at TDC it is going to run.

Turn it 3 more revolutions. Each TDC will point to another plug. Re check the timing marks. Put the crank at the 3 lines. One cam dot should be uo, other down. One rotation of the crank they should swap.

Some of the fuses are switched by the ignition switch. So, yes, if there were an open circuit between the always on feed to or from the ignition, switch, it could cause the switched fuses to never get power. The always powered ones are not effected by the ignition switch, the are fed directly from the fusible links. A wire could be broken inside, or a connection or crimp could be loose and corroded, causing the intermittent troubles.

The only way to know for sure is to start with carefully checking the level and the air quantity in the upper hose. Before each drive. Short drives at first.

That all makes sense to me.

I did this once, many years ago, on a 1986 EA82 . Don't remember doing anything particularly unusual. All I had was an ordinary combination wrench and socket sets. Might have to take 1/12th of a turn at a time, flipping the wrench, or remove some other obstructing part?

It's not a relay problem. Some of the fuses have power all the time. Some only when key is on run position. There is a relay for some other circuits also, but it doesn't matter if you don't have the always on and the switched power from the ignition switch. Anyone have scans of the schematic online?

Lifter tick can be surprisingly loud, but it is a thin mettalic tapping clicking kind of sound. It may come and go for a while also. Rod knock would be a deeper sound.

Look up Amsoil bypass filters. I have been running with them since the 80s.