The confusing wonders of teh 7M-GTE

**EldarO** · 10-05-2006, 12:32 AM

My cam covers vibrated loose, and alot of oil leaked out, so i went to check the level...

What i noticed however, was that my dipstick was rather discoloured, so i went to grab my spare one, from the 7M-GTE that used to reside in my car....

What i noticed was, they're the same length, material (built the same) and design, yet, at the end, my spare one has a different end, its more elongated at both ends (where it hangs off the end, and the part that attatches to the metal wire)

now, the car is a genuine jap import, so the original motor was too, im not saying its the same motor, couldve been swapped in after it got here, but all the numbers matched, everything was written in japanese...

The new motor is fresh out of japan, so they're both jap spec, the car is 1990, i was told so was the motor.

so, everything should be the exact same, but i keep running into these little "anomilies", stuff before, where ive said... "hey, i dont remember that on the old block..." but just put it down to my crappy memory...

i know that the later model motors we're slightly different, but does anyone know what these differences were? obviously the MAP Turbo A doesnt count, id imagine just the tune, and maybe timing settings or something...?

Eldar.O.

**CrUZida** · 10-05-2006, 11:18 AM

Cam covers coming loose is perfectly normal (ie, it happens to every 7M)

The trick is to put the covers on with a bit of goo, and loctite the bolts down.

**Ben Wilson** · 10-05-2006, 11:31 AM

The amount of minor variations in older Japanese cars is amazing. I've got a friend who is into old Nissan Z's, you're hard pressed to find any two cars the same. You'll find two cars built in the same month and there will be differences in trim and little odds and ends.

**JustCallMeOrlando** · 10-05-2006, 12:24 PM

The other trick is to use something better than the POS Phillips head bolts which Toyota used. I have new hex-head bolts and they seem to be working well.