Soarer UZZ30 1UZ W58 Limp Mode and Other Problems

**ra23celica** · 07-02-2015, 04:47 PM

G'day everyone.
I'll try and make a long story short. My son has turned 18, got a job and then bought a car, without talking to me first. Independence and knowing more than everyone else it seems. Anyway...its a 1993 Soarer with the 1UZ and the A340, replaced by a W58. At least its not a 'Falcodore'!
Previous owner had some issues with it, and seems to have got it running just to sell it. It has run OK for us for the first 3 weeks. We have been fixing the problems with it, including removing the Altezza tail lights and putting stock ones back, and trying to sort out the brake and reverse lights. Brake lights now working, reverse still a mystery.
Battery has been slowing dying until once the car would not start at all and my son jumped the number 3 and 5 ports on the starter relay and got it going. But only in limp mode it seems.
I have fitted a new battery and pulled all the fuses, including the EFI ones and they are all good. Car starts and idles but only revs slow and rough - still in limp mode.
No check engine light codes at all, can't even get the steady regular flashing one to come on.
The ECU had it capacitors replaced by Driftmotion (California USA) and the owner is listing a spare 1UZ for sale on Gumtree, but it only works in limp mode. So I am thinking the ECU may not be the problem somehow...
I'm no wiring guru even after fitting a 1GGZE to my RA23, years ago, but I have listed what I found on the auto trans harness wrapped around the W58 under the car.
1 x grey medium size 3 wire plug, plugged in to the back of the gearbox on the right hand side, blue/red; red; yellow wires.
1 x black medium size 6 wire plug, hanging loose, red/blue; blue; white/red; yellow; black/red; black / red.
1 x small black 2 wire plug, hanging loose, brown; yellow wires.
1 x medium size black rubber sheathed plug, wires unknown, but hanging loose.
1 x large grey 10 wire plug; 2 x black wires 'on top'; red/black and white just below, and on a new row: yellow, white, green, blue and green/yellow. The red with black and the white wires have been joined by a wire across the plug face, just pushed in to the ports, so I'm guessing that that is the neutral start circuit 'jumped' to fix that concern.

Also found under the car no cats, and the secondary O2 sensors cut/hacked/maimed and there mounting points in the exhaust pipes blanked off. Other fun stuff found were auto trans cooler pipes cut and left hanging and the power steering cooling hose had been scraping on the ground at some point.

If anyone can throw their two cents in with things to try, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mitch.

**dumbass** · 07-02-2015, 10:08 PM

if its got a manual u need to bridge the start wires together on the gbox for it to crank
this then has a problem where the ecu thinks its in neutral all the time and on some cars has a 4000 rpm rev limit so
u need to cut the nsw wire at the ecu this might help

reverse wires are yellow is power for rev and red black is from rev switch to rev lights
so hook these two wires up to the two on the rev switch either one can go on either wire
they are not polarity conscience

with having worked on many shitbox soarers
I recon a falcon or commodore is a slightly better car

1uz soarers are only just good if they are well maintained
but hardly any are so a lot fo them are utter crap and falling apart
trim is crap
doors wont open far enough so u can work under dash
after about 15 to 20 years the ecus start going on them
fuel pump ecus fail
cluster lcd display fails
ecus fail and expensive and hard
stereos fail
air suspension fails
hope nothing goes wrong behind dash because they are a prick to work on
atleast if its a ford or commodore they r easy and cheap to fix

I know u don't want to hear this but tell him to sell it and buy a cheap corolla
then maybe buy a decent sports car in 5 years
the soarer is the same as what the camira is to holden
anyway in afew years u will come back and I will say I told u so

**dumbass** · 07-02-2015, 10:08 PM

i forgot to say my two cents

tell him to SELL THE SHITBOX

**ra23celica** · 08-02-2015, 08:11 PM

Thanks for your advice.

**dumbass** · 08-02-2015, 09:22 PM

sorry for being blunt hehe
I just really hate them from a mechanics point of view

**George** · 09-02-2015, 03:14 AM

Selling it would save tons of time which can be turned into money for buying less crappy car. It's worth to find out however if any quick fixes are available , so you could dump it with more profit.
I would start with reading the DTCs. Check that the bulb in the dash is ok, that earthing the W terminal at ECU side flashes the light (if ignition is on). And that there's continuity between TE1 terminals of ECU and diagnostic connector. That should make it.

Make sure the warning light is on when ignition is on, and it goes off when the engine has just started.

**ra23celica** · 09-02-2015, 12:19 PM

The trouble I have is that the 'hot cat convertor' light which doubles as the check engine light on the digital dash does switch on at start and go out a few moments later, and I cannot get any codes out of the diagostic port, TE1 and E1 are connected and W is joined to the +ve terminal via a 12v lamp. It won't give the steady, regular flashing of 'everything's OK / no codes recorded' either. I have pulled the EFI fuse and disconnected the new battery a number of times to clear the ECU memory, still no go.

**dumbass** · 09-02-2015, 10:21 PM

if u cant get check engine light to come on in the dash
are u getting any errors in the window
u need the jap translation pdf to figure that out

I would be rechecking the ecu
they are very prone to failing and if the guy was on here he prob paid 20 bucks to get it repaired
where a proper shop charges 400 bucks but then they can test the ecu

**ra23celica** · 12-02-2015, 11:06 PM

Yes, getting many errors through the dash, the most common one being 'Engine Electrical System'.

Checked the ECU and found evidence of the capacitors being replaced, as expected, and no burnt tracks or toasted circuits.

Googled up some wiring diagrams and worked out that the loose plugs around the auto trans are:
- Data Check Connector (D1)
- ECT Solenoid (E3)
- Vehicle Speed Sensor (V2, two wire, reluctance type), and
- Auto Trans Indicator Switch.

None of these plugs have any bridging wires except for the A/T Indicator Switch which has Neutral Start Switch connected to the Back-Up Light Switch.

These seems wrong. Shouldn't at least the 'N' pin be connected to B+ (IGN Power) so that the ECU thinks the trans is in neutral?

Also, should the ECT Solenoid have various resistors connected to the plug so that the ECU sees these at work as well?

**dumbass** · 13-02-2015, 12:04 AM

sounds like an abortion
the ecu knows its in neutral by the two black and black white wires

just find the nsw wire to ecu and cut it and see if that's the problem
some of these ecus will have a rev cut at 2500 to 4000 if the ecu thinks its in neutral

don't worry bout the auto plugs as ive done hundreds and never had problems when converting to manual

also find the w wire at ecu and connect test light there
maybe the dodgey prick u bought it off cut the w wire at the ecu

I stil recon u should burn it hehe