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87 GL Wagon (picture heavy)


ystrdyisgone
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Actually there's 2 wires that come from the ecu that send the signal for the fans to turn on. You then use one of those wires to hook up your own relay to turn on the fan(s) when the ecu senses the right temp. And yes, both come on at the same time.

 

Mine was running, just couldn't get it to rev past 4k. We tried everything. We are swapping out the harness and ecu to an obd1 setup thanks to Gloyale.

Edited by bratman18
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Well folks, it only took me 7 weeks, but the new engine is running! Here's a short clip of the proof:

 

 

What's left is making permanent connections on the wires (can't decide between butt connectors and shrink wrap, or solder and tape), securing the radiator in place, wiring up the fan, order another fan, and replacing the knock sensor. Then that's it for the swap!  Oh yeah... exhaust too.

 

Got my 6 lug fronts coming tomorrow, replacing the tie rod end while I'm down there, then hopefully puttin the whole thing back together.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Good call SmashedGlass, it was a bit more time consuming, but I went with the heat shrink. I've got a couple more hours left of buttoning everything back up, and it will be a complete, running car again!

 

She sure does move more nicely now. It's not crazy fast but it's good enough for me. I am glad I put some bigger wheels on at the same time as the swap though, those little 13s would be too tempting :burnout: :burnout:

 

I'll get a picture of the finished product tomorrow. Well almost finished, gotta get my u-joints replaced in my driveline, and exhaust done from the stock headers back.

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Thanks man, it's been running great. I can hold speed on hills now. Oh and I can actually pass people too!

 

The only thing I've noticed is that sometimes on longer drives, my idle stays at 1500-2000 rpms at stop lights, it won't fall back to its standard 1000 rpms.

 

I'm going to either polish those wheels up or just cover them with some black plastidip.

 

Another problem that persists is the rising of the front end on acceleration. I thought that would go away after I lowered my subframe, but it has not. Read somewhere on here that an alignment helps with that, putting the wheels a bit toe out?

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Question, did you ever devise a way to hook up that neutral switch? I've been thinking about doing it to mine but it just runs so good i haven't dug into it, and my ecu is tucked so nicely under my steering wheel :)

 

Also, did you ever end up hooking up the VSS wire as well?

Hope you're having lots of fun with it!

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No I didn't. I grabbed the brake, and clutch switch from the legacy pedals, but I never hooked them up. I have had no issues concerning the neutral switch, so I'm leaving it for now.

 

I didn't touch the vss either. Not even sure how to do that on our cars, and haven't done the research. Again, no issues noticed there, so I said F it.

 

I'm really enjoying it. I haven't beat on her at all yet, I'm just so glad to have a running car again that I've been kinda babying it. I sure do like shifting around 4-4.5K though!

 

Still gotta get the exhaust done, waiting on a local shop to give me a quote. I guess they're having a hard time coming up with the necessary flanges??

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  • 2 weeks later...

Got my exhaust done today. 2" from the cat back, and I think it's a standard ol muffler, I requested high-flow, but opted for whichever was cheaper(they didn't tell me) The thing is silent now! Pretty crazy compared to running with no exhaust. Now I can hear all the body/suspension noise again :/

 

Got my front and rear u-joints on the driveshaft replaced as well.

 

This thing is almost a brand new car! Gotta replace the PS outer tie rod end at some point, as well as take of the IACV and throttle body and get those cleaned out. Hopefully that helps with my erratic idle.

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  • 2 months later...

Working on the car again today, my "disability" has been preventing me from taking care of business on it, but the snow is coming so I gotta get to it.

 

Got some barely used 195/65/15 Hankook iPikes for a song, as well as some Toyota wheels for dirt cheap as well.

 

mJUZi3Rl.jpg

 

This size tire is perfect in every way, no more rubbing on turns, my gearing corresponds with the engines powerband almost perfectly now. Much more torque where I need it. I liked the look of the stance, but the handling was a bit sloppy compared to what it is now. And to top it off, I think it looks like the car came that way now!

 

Will be replacing my power steering pump today, current one is making all sorts of horrible noises. Got a new PS knuckle with 150K on the bearings, cheaper and easier than doing the bearings(I know they aren't that difficult to do) but it sure saves me some pain in my shoulders. I'll also be replacing the PS outer tie rod finally, and if I get to it, still gotta do the IACV and throttle body work.

 

Oh yeah and my old mags and tires are for sale in the "Stuff for sale on craigslist" section. Will offer a USMB discount to anyone interested.

Edited by ystrdyisgone
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Well only got one thing done today. I went to put in the replacement PS pump and the diameter of the bearing/shaft assembly was too large to fit in my existing PS bracket, why they did that I don't know. AFAIK the pump that czny got me was off a 94? leggy, shouldn't be different, same reservoir and everything. Luckily I have my EA82 sitting here still. I took the ea82 reservoir off, and the ej22 one fits perfectly. Same size shaft and everything. Only difference was the two side bolts that attached it to the bracket. So I removed the bracket and drilled out the holes, and voila. She's on. Will get pics later.

 

I did have an afterthought. Now if I have to replace this PS pump, it either has to be an ea82, or I have to fill the holes, to take up the slack.

 

We'll cross that bridge when we come to it though!

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Thanks Levi. Yeah power steering is nice, I generally like the better feeling of control that you get from a manual rack though. Feels like you're more in touch with the road.

 

Ha funny story about that song actually. So I went to go buy the wheels and tires, and checked them out for a bit. Then I gave the guy the money. Then he asked me what I do for a living, so I told him I was an evangelist. But not like christian church evangelist, like, speaking the truth, that I didn't get from any man or church in this world. Long story short, I have knowledge of things that people in this world don't know. Like huge, amazing, mind-blowing things that everyone really needs to know, if they want to. And just to be clear, this isn't coming from a place of pride, it's just the way it is. So back to the point, I told him all this amazing stuff like I tell everyone, and when it starts, it doesn't stop it just flows out of me like the most beautiful song you ever heard.

 

After about an hour of that, the dude was really excited and thankful, and tried to give my money back. And I said "hey man, I don't do this for filthy lucre's sake(money/worldly gain) I just want you to have this information because it belongs to you."

 

Then while I was loading the wheels up on the roof rack, he must have slipped the cash through my window, cause I found it between the pass seat and door when I got home.

 

So that was pretty cool.

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Oh yeah, here's the pics of the power steering pump frankenstein.

 

OrqrylJl.jpg

 

Tts3gRrl.jpg

 

 

Funny thing though, turns out it wasn't my power steering pump making those squealing noises. The pump was on it's way out, but the noises are actually coming from the timing belt pulleys or idler. Good thing I left those covers off! Another thing added to the list..

 

More progress tomorrow probably.

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Got a lot done today. Got the PS pump bracket from czny and put in my new/used pump that actually works. It's great to have power steering again.

 

I received my replacement IACV today, and put that in. While I had that out, there was access to the coolant temp sensor, so I got a new one from the dealer.

I'm hoping one or both of these were causing the intermittent very high idle issue.

 

We'll find out in the next week or so.

 

I also replaced my passenger side steering knuckle, tie rod end, and ball joint. The bearings were on their way out, so I just decided to swap out the whole knuckle.

 

Getting idlers and pulleys sometime next week.

 

I think I've replaced just about everything on this car. One of these days the repairs will end! Right?

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  • 2 weeks later...

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