2nd Gen 4A-FE Swap

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
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Kozuto_98
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Re: 2nd Gen 4A-FE Swap

Post by Kozuto_98 »

20210220_191243_HDR.jpg
Little update, got the engine out of the donor car tonight.
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1987 Tercel Wagon SR5 4WD
1998 Honda Accord Coupe V6 J35 swap
1997 Acura CL (Sold for 4A-GE money)
RIP 2016 Civic (wrist pin recall)
drafting3d
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Re: 2nd Gen 4A-FE Swap

Post by drafting3d »

Have you any plans on cam upgrades?
82te72
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Re: 2nd Gen 4A-FE Swap

Post by 82te72 »

I used the entire engine harness and just tapped into it to the switched power that goes to injectors and distributor. And switched and battery for the oem ecu. Then had to extend a few plugs for the IAC and tps
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Re: 2nd Gen 4A-FE Swap

Post by 82te72 »

I have the oem electrical manual for a USDM 97 corolla if you need some pictures from it for anything.
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Kozuto_98
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Re: 2nd Gen 4A-FE Swap

Post by Kozuto_98 »

drafting3d wrote: Sat Feb 20, 2021 8:44 pm Have you any plans on cam upgrades?
I've considered it, but the majority of the cam upgrades I know of are all regrinds.
Most aftermarket manufacturers never really did new upgrade cams since the gears are built in, which adds more work.

Maybe in the future. I think Web Cams used to offer a regrind for the 4A-FE.

I will be for sure doing a light port and polish to the intake ports. Mainly to clean them up, but getting the casting slag off and a light knife edge in the
split should compliment the ITB kit I plan to run.
Last edited by Kozuto_98 on Sat Feb 20, 2021 9:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
1987 Tercel Wagon SR5 4WD
1998 Honda Accord Coupe V6 J35 swap
1997 Acura CL (Sold for 4A-GE money)
RIP 2016 Civic (wrist pin recall)
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Kozuto_98
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Re: 2nd Gen 4A-FE Swap

Post by Kozuto_98 »

82te72 wrote: Sat Feb 20, 2021 8:45 pm I have the oem electrical manual for a USDM 97 corolla if you need some pictures from it for anything.
I managed to find a couple wiring charts in PDF form thankfully. There is one electrical connector I'm unsure of though.
I think it's either A/C related or Auto trans related.

It's a 4 pin connector (1 left, 1 right, 1 top, 1 bottom), wire colors go light green (leads to a single pin connector), blue + red stripe, yellow + black
stripe, and light green + black stripe.
20210221_001133.jpg
20210221_001140_HDR.jpg
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1987 Tercel Wagon SR5 4WD
1998 Honda Accord Coupe V6 J35 swap
1997 Acura CL (Sold for 4A-GE money)
RIP 2016 Civic (wrist pin recall)
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Kozuto_98
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Re: 2nd Gen 4A-FE Swap

Post by Kozuto_98 »

After some long nights familiarizing myself with the 4A-FE EFI wiring, I am now ready to give a full overview of the necessary connections
with full pinouts, wire colors, and explanations.
Putting this here for anyone else doing this swap who might also be going with an aftermarket ECU (Speeduino, MS, ect).

Please note that the color codes may differ depending on year and model.
If you see ~ next to a fuse value, it is because I was unsure of the correct value.

Also note that I did not include anything in terms of O2 sensor pinout. Most aftermarket solutions will require the use of a lambda signal,
which in turn requires a controller. Please consult your ecu documentation.

4 Pin Distributor Connector
There are 4 wires coming from the distributor connector.
Pin 1 Thin Black Wire: IGC (ignition control signal from igniter)
Pin 2 Thick Black Wire: 12V in (power to coil, ~10A fuse)
Pin 3 and Pin 4 are the shielded black and white wires for the cam angle sensor (black VR+, white VR-).
Depending on the model and year this sensor will either be a 1x360 or 2x360 (1 tooth wheel, or 4 tooth wheel respectively).

5 Pin Igniter Connector
Pin 1 Blue + Yellow Stripe Wire: IGF (ignition feedback signal, confirmation of firing the coil)
Pin 2 Yellow + Green Stripe Wire: IGT (igniter control signal, ecu telling igniter to fire)
Pin 3 Thick Black Wire: 12V in (30A fuse)
Pin 4 Thin Black Wire: tachometer signal
Pin 5 Thin Black Wire: IGC (ignition control signal, goes to IGC on distributor)
The ignitor module also contains a ground area on the body, which is a Philips head screw.

A little note about the igniter module is than it was used in many different Toyota models of the time.
Camrys, Corollas, ect. Wire colors may differ but the pinout stays the same.

3 Pin Idle Air Control Valve
Pin 1 Black + Blue Stripe Wire: Duty % (PWM signal)
Pin 2 Black Wire: 12V in (~5A fuse)
Pin 3 Black + White Stripe Wire: Ground

Injectors
On all 4 injectors, the Black wire is the 12V in (5A fuse, 2 injectors may share 1 fuse)
Yellow Wire: injector 1 control
Black + Red Stripe Wire: injector 2 control
Black + White Stripe Wire: injector 3 control
Black Wire: injector 4 control

Something I'll point out with the injector color codes for the connectors is they don't matter much on the aftermarket ecu side of things
as long as you have them mapped correctly on the ecu side.

4 Pin Throttle Position Sensor
Pin 1 Brown Wire: ground
Pin 2 Blue Wire: idle switch signal
Pin 3 Light Green Wire: throttle position signal
Pin 4 Yellow Wire: 5V input

Note on the TPS sensor. Some aftermarket ecus will not use the idle switch signal.

2 Pin Intake Temperature Sensor
Pin 1 Yellow + Black Stripe Wire: signal to ecu
Pin 2 Brown Wire: ground

2 Pin Crank Angle Sensor
Note: Like the cam sensor wires in the distributor pinout, these wires are also shielded.
Pin 1 White Wire: VR-
Pin 2 Black Wire: VR+

2 Pin Coolant Temperature Sensor
Pin 1 White Wire: signal to ecu
Pin 2 Brown Wire: ground

1 Pin Oil Pressure Sensor
Yellow Wire

1 Pin Fan Switch
Yellow + Green Stripe Wire

3 Pin Manifold Absolute Pressure Sensor
Pin 1 Yellow Wire: 5V input
Pin 2 Light Green + Red Stripe Wire: MAP signal to ecu
Pin 3 Brown Wire: ground

MAP Note: Not all ecus will need this as some have built in MAP sensors. (Speeduino, Haltech Elite, ect)

Hopefully this write up on the necessary connections with pinouts and color codes helps whoever is doing the 4A-FE swap with an aftermarket ecu.
When I have the ecu I chose, the Speeduino, I'll be sure to give a full rundown of the settings I used and I will also upload a base map.
1987 Tercel Wagon SR5 4WD
1998 Honda Accord Coupe V6 J35 swap
1997 Acura CL (Sold for 4A-GE money)
RIP 2016 Civic (wrist pin recall)
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NWMO
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Re: 2nd Gen 4A-FE Swap

Post by NWMO »

Wow, great work Koz! I assume all/most of this would apply to the 7afe as well? The 1.8L with a 5-speed was a joy in my 95’ Prizm.

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Kozuto_98
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Re: 2nd Gen 4A-FE Swap

Post by Kozuto_98 »

NWMO wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 4:46 am Wow, great work Koz! I assume all/most of this would apply to the 7afe as well? The 1.8L with a 5-speed was a joy in my 95’ Prizm.

Chris
Pinouts should be roughly the same. I think the 7A-FE uses the 2x360 cam angle sensor, but this may be year and model dependent.
You'd also have to map out the knock sensor, which shouldn't be too involved.

Here's the PDF I worked with to build up that write up, it includes both 4A-FE and 7A-FE.
12925439-Toyota-Coralla-1996-wiring-diagram-overall.pdf
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1987 Tercel Wagon SR5 4WD
1998 Honda Accord Coupe V6 J35 swap
1997 Acura CL (Sold for 4A-GE money)
RIP 2016 Civic (wrist pin recall)
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Kozuto_98
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Re: 2nd Gen 4A-FE Swap

Post by Kozuto_98 »

Got another update and some thoughts to go over.
I had some free time this morning so I started playing around with a front mount distributor.
Right now it's just bolted to a spot where the timing cover would go. This is not where I intend to mount the distributor as I have plans
to make a bracket that will raise it up a little more, and also be a much more sturdy place to mount to.
20210225_122948_HDR.jpg
20210225_122955_HDR.jpg
What I plan on doing for driving the distributor is using 16mm wide drive belt meant for 3D printer replacement parts, this includes
the gears I will use. I'll need to pick up a spare cam gear bolt to weld a dowel to in order to add the extra gear.
So far for some rough estimates, the belt length should be between 280mm to 400mm depending on location.
I'll come back to that as I progress in this project.
20210225_123009_HDR.jpg
Another BIG problem is how close the distributor sits to the exhaust manifold.
Now again where it currently is set is for testing and getting some ideas, but I'm a bit bothered by how close this is.
With some extra spacing from a proper bracket the gap between the exhaust manifold and distributor could be widened, but I'd personally
still feel a bit uncomfortable, so I'll both heat wrap the manifold, and also create some shielding to protect the distributor.
20210225_123823_HDR.jpg
Final bit to overcome is the exposed portion of the head where the distributor once sat. What I'll end up doing is cutting a piece of thicker
steel and sealing this up.

That's all for now, any thoughts and opinions are always appreciated!
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1987 Tercel Wagon SR5 4WD
1998 Honda Accord Coupe V6 J35 swap
1997 Acura CL (Sold for 4A-GE money)
RIP 2016 Civic (wrist pin recall)
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AugustusFerdinand
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Re: 2nd Gen 4A-FE Swap

Post by AugustusFerdinand »

I wouldn't worry about the exhaust so long as you put a heat shield on the distributor and/or the exhaust. The 4AGE's distributor sits in about the same position, the 2JZGE sits even closer to the exhaust runners, same with the 7M motor. In Saab 900 Turbos the distributor sits directly above the turbocharger
1983 Toyota Tercel SR5 - 7AGE swap in progress
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Kozuto_98
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Re: 2nd Gen 4A-FE Swap

Post by Kozuto_98 »

AugustusFerdinand wrote: Thu Feb 25, 2021 2:42 pm I wouldn't worry about the exhaust so long as you put a heat shield on the distributor and/or the exhaust. The 4AGE's distributor sits in about the same position, the 2JZGE sits even closer to the exhaust runners, same with the 7M motor. In Saab 900 Turbos the distributor sits directly above the turbocharger
Hopefully all goes well. I do have plans for fabbing a custom header and I'll for sure heat wrap it, that should probably be enough shielding.
If not, I do have a spare distributor.
1987 Tercel Wagon SR5 4WD
1998 Honda Accord Coupe V6 J35 swap
1997 Acura CL (Sold for 4A-GE money)
RIP 2016 Civic (wrist pin recall)
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Kozuto_98
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Re: 2nd Gen 4A-FE Swap

Post by Kozuto_98 »

Quick but important question regarding replacement parts!
I was tearing down the 4A-FE in preparation for a quick rebuild and my balancer is completely toast.
HEAVY rust, pieces broken off, and the bolt has been rounded off in the past.

Rockauto thankfully sells replacement balancers, but I cannot find replacement bolts or keys. I can live with reusing the old key, but the bolt cannot
be reused. Where could I find a replacement bolt if anyone knows?
1987 Tercel Wagon SR5 4WD
1998 Honda Accord Coupe V6 J35 swap
1997 Acura CL (Sold for 4A-GE money)
RIP 2016 Civic (wrist pin recall)
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AugustusFerdinand
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Re: 2nd Gen 4A-FE Swap

Post by AugustusFerdinand »

1. Check parts.toyota.com to see if they stock a replacement bolt for the engine (put in the year, make, model that the engine came from).

2. McMasterCarr - Find the size and thread pitch for the bolt and you'll almost undoubtedly find a replacement here. Same with the key.
1983 Toyota Tercel SR5 - 7AGE swap in progress
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Kozuto_98
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Re: 2nd Gen 4A-FE Swap

Post by Kozuto_98 »

AugustusFerdinand wrote: Mon Mar 01, 2021 11:28 am 1. Check parts.toyota.com to see if they stock a replacement bolt for the engine (put in the year, make, model that the engine came from).

2. McMasterCarr - Find the size and thread pitch for the bolt and you'll almost undoubtedly find a replacement here. Same with the key.
Found what I needed. Thank you!!
1987 Tercel Wagon SR5 4WD
1998 Honda Accord Coupe V6 J35 swap
1997 Acura CL (Sold for 4A-GE money)
RIP 2016 Civic (wrist pin recall)
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