I bought an 87TR about a month ago, the car has 80,000 miles on it and I've noticed a few problems.
1.) The idle is a little eratic, when the car is first started the rpm's run between 3500 and 4000(I'm going by the stock tach, it's off), after about a minute or two the rpm's drop and the car almost stalls, it then goes back to around 3000. After the car has warmed up the rpm's run back and fourth between 2000 and 2500, it also does this when the car is in drive. I don't own a scan tool so I don't have any numbers. Any suggestions?
2.) When I floor the gas pedal, there's a slight hesitation about half a second or so into it, it almost feels like the trans is slipping a little. The trans seems fine when I'm not getting on the gas, shifts good from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd. Any ideas?
3.) I just bought an Autogauge tach and I'm not sure where in the ignition to hook into. I looked around on this site and wasn't able to find any docs.
Here's a list of the modifications that I've noticed on the car.
-Down pipe(not sure what make, there's a
exhaust temp sensor in the pipe)
-Eastern Performance Iginition Coil(E.S.P),
are these any good?
-TPS Enhancer(I took this off after talking
with a guy at a local speed
shop)
-Heated O2 sensor
-Exhaust(Not sure what make, did have to
have the test pipe removed and replaced with a new Cat.)
-Cold air kit.
Here's what I've replaced so far.
-TPS(I set this using the TPS Enhancer)
-Heated O2 sensor
-Crank Sensor
-PCV valve
-Idle Air Sensor
-MAT Sensor
-195 degree thermastat
As far as I can tell the car is mostly stock, I don't think it's chipped. I wanted to thank everyone in advance.
P.S. Wanted to let you guys know this web site kicks but, I've learned a lot in the last few weeks reading your articles.
Thanks,
Ron K.
First, the stock tach is woefully inaccurate. So its hard to believe that your idle is really up to 4000.
Erratic idle: See other recent discussion elsewhere on the board. There are a LOT of things that may cause idle wander. This is one place where a scan tool would really help chase down the problem.
Hesitation: Why do you feel the hesitation is the trans slipping? Do the RPMs go up but the car doesn't respond?
Tach: The tach connection is a green connector on a white wire roughly behind the alternator. Your tach may require modification to work with the "5 volt squarewave" signal these cars generate.
Did you put in the correct PCV valve? The ONLY one for the 86-87 TRs is an AC CV893C.
Is the 'idle air sensor' you replaced under the throttle body? This is the Idle Air Control. If you replaced this, do the procedure at http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/faq/IACreset.html and you might get your idle straightened out.
Why did you choose to use a 195F thermostat? I don't believe the stock piece was that hot (180?) and most people use a 160 in these cars.
It would be good to know what chip is in the car. And it would also be good to have access to a scan tool to help with the adjustments and tuning.
Scott thanks for the help. I'm going to try and hook up the tach a little later and I'll give you the real rpm's. I'm not sure what PCV valve was put in the car, I had a mechanic do it and I never got the part number. The old thermostat had 195 stamped on it, also when I went to get a replacement, the listing at the parts store had it as a 195 degree stat. I wouldn't doubt it if there listing was wrong, even the 195 on the old stat as far as I know could be a serial number or something. I'm not real sure about the hesitation, if I power brake the car and run the rpm's up it doesn't seem to hesitate but if I just gone it there's a slight hesitation a few seconds into it. When I get the new tach installed I'll let you know if the rpm's drop. As far as a chip, I don't think there is one. I'll pull the computer tonight and let you know what markings I can find.
Thanks again.
Scott I was able to find the green connector, there's two white wires coming out of it does it matter which one I connect to? Should that connector be connected to something because it currently is not? There was also a black connector one white wire next to it and it isn't connected to anything, should it be?
Thanks again.
Just plug into the green end...
It is a test connector so it doesn't connect to anything. The black connector is the fuel pump test lead ...
DO NOT connect those two things together ... at best your tach will stop working
About the hesitation I'm feeling when I hit the gas hard, it looks like the boost drops a pound or two. I'll floor it and according to the boost gage(VDO) the psi will hit around 14 and then drop to about 12, then 1/2 second later the car will shift into 2nd and everything is fine. Is this normal? Could it be the wastegate?
Thanks.
Ron K.
Could be several things, but first impression is weak valve springs,, do you know if they are the originals?
Don't know for sure, but there hasn't been to much work done to the car. I'd assume there still original.
I had a few things replaced and the hesitation is gone. I ended up replacing the fuel pump, injectors, put a chip in it, and changed the plugs(the old ones were bosh platinums). It also turns out that injectors 4 and 5 were switched, meaning 4 was in 5's place and 5 was in 4's place. So it could have been any of those, I'd like to think it was probably due to the injectors being switched.
Well, the injector harness for those two injectors was switched. The injectors are all the same. Perhaps it wasn't 4 and 5 that were switched, however. Those are on opposite sides of the motor and I'm not sure the harness is long enough for that to happen. Regardless, something was swiched, and its fixed.
Might want to avoid Bosch platinums in these cars. They've been found to quickly deteriorate. The little platinum tip often disappears.