markjw Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 1991 Loyale So, here's where I'm at. (this is my wife's ride, btw) I installed the complete rear end out of a '89 RX sedan. 3.7 LSD, rear disk brakes and also, I did Jeszek's Toyota rear strut upgrade. It's stiff in the rear end for sure, but it seems a good improvement. I like the heft of the Toyota struts and the lower mount is a ball type socket that pivots easily. I also installed the tranny out of the RX. I really don't know what tranny I installed so this is where I need some help. I thought all RX's came with a Full Time 4WD transmission with a locking center diff. But, the placard on the shift console indicates to me that it is a regular GL D/R 5 speed. If I lift the 4wd lever all the way up and forward, it seems to engage in 4wd. If I pull it back one click, it puts the car in neutral, and even with the tranny in first gear, it won't move. If I pull the lever all the way back, I have gears again and it moves fine. So, my question is, is this a regular D/R 5speed, or is it something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 "The drivetrain featured a 3.70:1 rear Limited Slip Differential as well as a locking center differential and two speed transfer case. The gearbox also featured a 1.592:1 low range activated via a center console mounted lever." I got this off of Wiki...It's talking about the RX tranny. It just doesn't make any sense to me. The placard on the console doesn't match this info, does it? And what about the "neutral" position I have? Is this tranny suppose to have a neutral? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zacyork Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 my 1986 rx turbo is a part time 4wd dual range. i thought the later 80s were all full time but maybe not. what doesnt make sense to me is that you said one click down the top of your 4wd lever is neutral. it should put you in 4HI . why dont you put the car on jacks and run it. that should tell you pretty fast what you have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zacyork Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 when the 4wd lever is all the way down is it front wheel drive or 4wd? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 Yeah, the whole Neutral thing is weirding me out. I'll go lift the front of the car, see what happens. Good idea. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 With both front wheels in the air, lever pulled all the way back, I have power to the rear wheels. Push the lever forward one click, I am in a Neutral position. Engine running, tranny in first, clutch out and just sitting and idling. Lever pushed forward one more click, and the last click, power to all four wheels again. I couldn't find a lever position where only the front wheels got power. What's the deal with that Neutral position? Maybe this is a regular D/R 5 speed. A regular Broken one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 Ok...I'm an idiot. The linkage was binding. I cleared that up and now I have three distinct positions. All the way back transfers power to the front wheels and both positions forward transfers power to all four wheels. That Neutral position was Right before it went into FWD mode. So. This Is a regular D/R 5speed with No center diff lock? Regular meaning the same thing that would be in a say, '86 D/R wagon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 (edited) No - it's probably an older part-time D/R RX tranny - that's the only way it would match the 3.7 rear diff. Any other "normal" D/R tranny would be a 3.9:1 final drive ratio. The '85/'86 RX tranny would be 3.7:1 final drive and 1.2:1 low range. So it's most likely an '85/'86 RX tranny. It would not have a center diff lock because it doesn't have a center diff - none of the part-time 4WD trannies did. That is exlusive to the FT4WD stuff. GD Edited February 13, 2011 by GeneralDisorder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Ok...I'm an idiot. The linkage was binding. I cleared that up and now I have three distinct positions. All the way back transfers power to the front wheels and both positions forward transfers power to all four wheels. That Neutral position was Right before it went into FWD mode. So. This Is a regular D/R 5speed with No center diff lock? Regular meaning the same thing that would be in a say, '86 D/R wagon? The 85 and 86 RX trans is part time 4wd with D/R. The gearing is the same as the S/R trans. And its still 3.7 ratio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 Thanks for clearing it all up for me, guys. I was given some bad dope on what tranny this was. Well, I went out for a test drive and, it kinda sucks. I don't know. I think I'm so use to driving my AWD 5MT legacy, that this FWD thing ain't workin' for me any more. I know the D/R has benefits and the LSD is suppose to be something special but really, it ain't doing nuthing for me. The car seems unstable. Especially during hard acceleration. Squirly and light in the front end and it's easy to spin the front tires on wet pavement. I'm going to tackle the EJ swap next month. Maybe I will install a EJ AWD 5speed at the same time. I'm diggin' the rear disk brakes. This thing stops like it's suppose to now. Even with the 26.4" tires. Of course, it's my wifes ride. She'll drive it tomorrow and probably love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 What front axles did you use? and how sure are you that the front and rear axle ratios match? Yes, the only way you have a transmission that matches that rear end, but is Part-time 4WD, is the '85-'86 RX (technically an option on GL-10s of the same year, but rare). But that would have 25-spline axles. that loyale would have 23 (assuming it wasn't turbo, I guess there were a handful of turbo '90 loyales). Anyway, yea. for street use, EA drivetrains leave a LOT to be desired. Although some of that is also the stock alignment setup too. Low caster angle, high camber angle.....yuck. If you're EJ swapping it, I would very much recommend an EJ transmission to go with it. The rear diff, however, is something special! Definitely hang onto that, and swap it to match whatever transmission you use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 14, 2011 Author Share Posted February 14, 2011 I'm sure the front and rear ratios match. Everything came from a daily driver and I helped pull all the parts. This guy couldn't get a title so he parted the RX. A real shame. It Was a nice car. I'm really leaning towards the EJ tranny. The shortening of the drive line seems like not too big of a deal. The Toyota strut conversion isn't working out. The struts are bottoming out. It takes a good bump to do it, but it's pretty much unacceptable. I think I'll go back to stock struts unless I can come up with some KYB's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 Yup...The strut conversion didn't work out at all. The shocks bottom out easily. That's surprising to me, because I would have thought beings they are front struts, designed to handle the weight of the Toyota V6 engine, they would not bottom out on the rear of a lightweight wagon. I'm waiting on some KYB GR-2's for the rear. Maybe it has something to do with the lift kit. I had to trim the shifter console a bit to accommodate the new angle of the shift linkage, but in the end, it all looks very stock. I like the black, RX plastic, too. I gotta figure out a way to center the rear wheels in the wells. I can't stand the look. I have a fab buddy that lives in Nehalem. I'm gonna take the old rear end stuff down to him. See if he can build custom, longer trailing arms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 I should mention that, the reason I went with the Toyota struts in the first place, is because the wagon "squats" in the rear when I accelerate. Mostly in first and second gear. This squatting thing during take off lifts the front of the wagon, and the steering becomes unresponsive for those brief seconds. I gotta fix that some how. My thinking is, I need stiffer struts in the rear. The Toyota struts are not the answer. Has anyone ever overcome this problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 Here's a pic of the top of the Toyota strut as it's mounted on the wagon right now. The wagon has no extra weight in it. I measured the amount of piston rod that is showing on a no lift, bone stock '88 GL wagon I have, and it's about 4" compared to the 2" this yota strut has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obk25xt Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I've noticed the same thing on the rear of my lifted wagon. I really don't think it's strut related, but rather spring related. Also I'm not 100% sure why. What my intentions to do in order to solve it is just find the right springs to do the job (in the J/Y, anyone could just go have some made up but what's the fun in that?!). I've tried the Honda Accord front spring thing but that was way to stiff IMO, there was zero travel/articulation with them. I've looked and bought several other sets of springs and tested them unsuccessfully. Just gotta find the right ones. FYI rear (early 80's) Audi 4000 (fwd sedan) springs are a no go (too soft). I haven't really tried many others yet. Ones that *look* like they are gonna be worth a shot are the rears of an Accord wagon, they also are progressive if I remember correctly. Next time I see a set and am in a position to scoop em' up I will give them a go. Good luck on solving the problem on the rear of your wagon. Report back with any new info. Spencer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 Thanks for the heads up, Spenser. I installed some KYB's in the rear with stock ea82 wagon springs and it didn't fix the squatting problem. Whatever. I'll mess with that later. I started pulling the harness out of my donor car. I have some stupid questions, thou. First... Is there any reason to take all the wires off of the engine? I can save a Ton of work just unplugging the three connectors in pic #1 and keeping track of the plugs. Second... What about that part of the harness that runs underneath the radiator to the passenger side? Pic #2. Its for pass. headlite, radiator fans and some other stuff. Can I just cut that now, rather than try and fish all that out of there? Third...The under hood fuse/relay panel. Pic #3. I know I need Nothing from that. I unplugged as much as I could from underneath it. Alot of the wires don't unplug. They are in the fuse block more permanently. Can I just cut the rest of the wires now from the relays? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 My second question is no longer an issue. I pulled the harness from under the radiator, clear to the other side. No biggie. Probably a good idea in the end, as I will know what All the wires are now. I'm working on pulling the dash now. It'l be interesting to see how I'm going to get that huge a$$ harness thru the hole in the inner fender and into the cabin. Still wondering about the other questions, thou. Especially my first one about just unplugging the engine harness at the three plugs rather than pulling the engine harness off the engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capn_r Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Leave the harness on the engine. There are also I think three (single wire?) connectors near the throttle body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 Leave the harness on the engine. There are also I think three (single wire?) connectors near the throttle body. Thanks! I really didn't want to mess with all that. I'll check for the single wires around the throttle body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Thanks! I really didn't want to mess with all that. I'll check for the single wires around the throttle body. It's the Cam, Crank, and Knock sensor wires near the throttle body. These are in a harness section that comes from the firewall near the middle, along with the O2 sensor wires, and the transistor connector. You have to take the whole dash out to get that section in from the the middle. Also, you can get all the plugs out of the big fuse block. The 4 relays, 2 fuses, and one of the main Fusible link blocks all pry out of the housing and come out as seperate plugs. Feed them (the connectors) all slowly one by one through the hole in the a-pillar, they will all fit, if you go one by one. If you plan on using the engine from this car, defintely just unplug the harness from engine at the three big plugs. If you are getting an EJ22 from any other year, but want to run it on these electronics, definately pull the intake and get the engine harness off it. Or just keep the whole intake. It will bolt onto any Phase I, EJ22. Also an EJ18 and some JDM EJ20. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 Yes...This harness is coming from the same car I'm getting the engine from. So, I simply unplugged the three engine harness plugs. Piece of cake. I did cut the wires from the relays in the big fuse block under the hood. I found out after I did it that they unplug. How much grief will that cause me? Here's a pic of the carnage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Thinning the harness went well. It's been said that the swap is so well documented, anybody can do it. Along with Numbchuxs writeup (thanks chux!), and alot of searching and reading, this harness just might work. I still haven't tested it, and that'l have to wait. I gotta go to Portland for the rest of the week (work). But, when I get back, I'll have a full week to finish. The 13 Gal. bag is stuffed full of unnecessary wire from the EJ harness. No tape, no loom, just wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) The harness works, kinda....I took capt'r advice and started the EJ motor in the donor car before pulling it. The only thing that was sketchy about it all was powering the harness. Since I just ran battery power to the harness and ecu, and used a remote starter switch to the starter, it was quite a bit different. Anyway, the engine started, but would die right away. Almost as if it had a Major vacuum leak. And it was very consistent, too. Like instantly start, run for three seconds and suddenly die. I messed around with it for awhile, but got bored trying to troubleshoot it since the mock-up didn't have a keyed ignition. The engine did start right up, thou. I pulled the EJ out of the donor car today. That was a chore to say the least. The locating pins were seized into the tranny bell housing. I used a sharp wood chisel to get it to start. Once I was able to get my prybar in between the mating surfaces, things went much faster. I have to strip this EJ motor down a bit. I got a timing kit for it, front seals and valve cover seals. I'll leave the HG's alone as the motor runs perfect and only has 160K on it. Anybody have any ideas about the engine dying after startup? It's not too important right now. But, I am curious about it. Edited March 8, 2011 by markjw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obk25xt Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Anybody have any ideas about the engine dying after startup? It's not too important right now. But, I am curious about it. IAC valve!? That was the issue on mine when I first fired it off..... Had the same symptoms.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.