Help Needed On Ae92

[D3ViAN7]

Hi guys, just after some (very) basic info, little unsure about something.

 

My GF has an '89 AE92 Toyota Corolla Seca TwinCam 1.6 Carby, the compliance plate says the engine is the 4A-FC, but a small silver tag on the front of the camcover has 4A 4A/T printed on it. It is definately the original engine. What's the dealy-o? Is it officially ID'd as the 4A-FC? Is the 4A 4A/T merely a reference to it being a 4A block on Automatic Trans?

 

I need to get a manual on it, but so far a few of the manuals I've found are specific to only one engine. I know next to nothing about these engines however I am very mechanically minded. I believe this engine runs a master cam and a slave cam setup? From the way it's running I think one cam is out one tooth.

 

GF overheated the car coming back from blue mountains, head was slightly distorted, she agreed to let a place in Silverwater (against my advice, I was away for a few weeks) to send the head away for recon and straightening, reco'd the engine (I believe a far better solution would have been to pick up a low kms 4A-GE or 4A-GZE), ended up costing her $1600 and they had the car for a bit over a week. Ran like crap when she got it back, sent it back to them, came back running passably but has no power from standstill to about 1800rpm. I'm still pretty pissed with her for going against what I said considering she knows nothing about cars and I've spent half my youth under various makes. Sick of trying to deal with the wankers out at Silverwater, so I'm going to fix it myself and give her stick every chance I get about how she could've had twice the power AND reliability for less money and far less stuffing around if she'd only listened to me. (I had arranged a mate's dad to pick up and drop in a 4AG(Z?)E as soon as she'd given me the go-ahead).

 

Long story short, I believe the spannermonkeys stuffed up and one cam is out of whack by one tooth.

 

Please advise on engine ID, I'll give an update on how I go.

[Des]

Its a 4AFC, If its Automatic it should have a sticker/tag on the valve cover saying 4A/AT and for a manual 4A/MT.

 

Take the valve cover off and see if the timing marks line up on head etc.

[D3ViAN7]

Cheers mate, what I thought but didn't know for sure.

[D3ViAN7]

Ok, just for follow-up and curiosity, here's the end rundown:

 

First I'd just like to say that previously I had a decent respect for the 4A-GE and 4A-GZE engines, having tinkered with them extensively in my mates cars (I'd like to say that I have some tips you'd like to know about, but chances are pretty f*ing good there are guys on here who know far more than me about these engines). But now my respect for the Toyota 4A-** engines has hit a new high. My initial assumption was incorrect, the slave cam is perfectly matched to the master cam. Why I have a new 'layer' of respect for Toyota is the master cam (so hence both cams) was out by not one but 2 (TWO!!) teeth on the cam belt.

 

Fair enough, it was on the 'good' side of being out (spark was hitting 'late', so it was over TDC, if it's 'early' ...well, good luck), but TWO TEETH!?! My TX3 would've been farting and coughing like a 90 year old grandpa after a nasty curry! The (now 18 y/o) 4A-FC was a bit laggy initially, then running a little limp, but still with some push. Big-ups for Toyota, may your further generations be strong, the sun on your face, the wind at your back. I salute you. :wub:

 

I think I may have to reconcile with a teenage dream and buy an AE86 Trueno big-port J-spec. :jamie:

 

(why is the "ohh, yeah, hey... ok, thumbs-up" Icon named "jamie"?)

[D3ViAN7]

Car has been running fine since I realigned TDC and adjusted the belt/cams accordingly, however seeing as a mechanic who didn't have much idea what he was doing put the belt on (at least two teeth out), and two more since have had a brief look and tinker (I have suspicions they merely fingered the carb tuning a little and scratched themselves), I'd like to get the say from someone who actually knows about these engines.

 

Wanting to know what kind of tuning you've had success with, Ie. Mixtures: Do you run factory, little rich, little lean...? Where's the sweet spot for these engines. Do they like their timing on the button or advanced a few degrees?

 

Any info would be muchly appreciated! :)

Edited April 29, 2007 by D3ViAN7

[7shades]

Mine responded very well to a foam air filter, better plugs, couple of extra degrees and a hit of 98 octane... actually gets better fuel economy now on the premium juice. More grunt in the midrange too. Thats the extent of my tweaking though as its just a daily... I can't justify spending any more time and cash on the 4afc. It serves its purpose more than adequately just as it is.