6G Celicas Forums

Ahhh wiring. Therein lies the rub.

A few basics: Oil capacity is determined by the capacity of the oil pan sump and oil filter, and any other optional devices such as a cooler or accusump, if equipped. If a larger-than-stock filter is utilized, more oil will be required. Obviously, oil capacity varies from engine type to engine type. Larger engines generally take more oil, but sometimes not. It just depends on the design.

Regardless, the factory dipstick marking is the standard. If it indicates the oil level is high, it is.

The side effects of overfilling the pan vary in degree, based on how much over full. Under normal conditions, the crankshaft does not come in contact with the oil in the sump. When over full, the crankshaft counterweights do come in contact with sump oil and will churn it, causing foaming. The foam is light enough to be picked up and carried into the positive crankcase ventilation system, which means, as mentioned above, oil will begin to collect in or near the air cleaner and often be ingested into the engine, with the possibility of fouling the spark plugs. If only slightly over full, this condition is self correcting, once the extra oil is burned away. In a grossly over full engine, the crankshaft will throw so much oil toward the bottom of the cylinders the oil (bottom) rings are deluged and are unable to control oil on the cylinder walls, and oil ends up in the cylinders, making the engine smoke like a bandit, and really wetting the spark plugs. Although I have not seen it, in theory, under these extreme conditions, the crankcase pressure could become high enough (normally the crankcase is neutral or under vacuum) to blow a valve cover or oil pan gasket. I have seen the oil dipstick pop out of the tube, but Toyota gaskets are quite superior and really hang in there.

Also, oil filters on many Japanese engines mount horizontally, preventing us from pre-filling them. When the engine is started, it certainly isn't dry but it is unpressurized until the oil pump fills the filter, in less than 5 seconds. A genuine Toyota oil filter has a check valve which keeps it full each time the engine stops. I only use Toyota filters because one "dry" start every 3000 miles is better than a "dry" start every time.

UPDATE: We purchased a '94 7AFE from a wrecking yard with 89K miles showing, freshened the timing belt, tensioner pulley, water pump, spark plugs, and clutch. Time was wasted trying to remove and replace only the engine. (It comes out relatively easy if the crankshaft pulley is removed). We were unable to stab the replacement engine back in, with the transaxle still in the car. At last we removed the transaxle, then handily put them together (after recentering the clutch disc, it had slipped off center, presumably during initial attempts, as we had tried depressing the clutch to coax it together. Didn't work. That pilotless input shaft was a headache).

One more day's work had everything back together and running great.

Tip: Don't EVEN try to take apart the exhaust pipe at the flange behind the rearmost motor support. It will be rusty and impossible to work with. We cut the pipe about six inches forward of the flange, in the straight section, using a exhaust pipe cutoff tool (looks like a pair of pliers with a cutter attached). Later, we used a temporary splice (We took the forward section of the exhaust pipe to the muffler shop, as an example. They made up a very short piece of tubing to join the pipe back together, held with 2 muffler clamps). Once finished, we drove to the muffler shop and had it welded back together for $10. The splice tube was discarded.

We missed being able to drive the Celica while it was out of service, especially when gas got to $3.49 after Hurricane Katrina. Had to break out the V8 pickup (gas hog).

Just for the record, plain and simple, the displacement of an engine is determined by the volume of the cylinders that are swept by the pistons. Bore and stroke. Pistons and crankshaft. For 4 cylinders the formula is: bore x bore x stroke x 3.141592654 (pi).

As has been discussed, changing to a crank with a longer stroke will increase displacement, but the pistons and/or rods also have to be changed to address piston height dimension conditions, meaning the piston can travel lower into the bore but not higher than stock. A stroker kit solves all these issues.

Now, compression ratio IS determined by the size of the combustion chamber. Small chambers equal high compression.

Thanks for the insight. It helps. On this one I'm going to stay with the stock configuration.
BTW I went to high school in Belmont just up the peninsula from San Jose, back in the sixties. Let me tell you hot rodding was alive and well in the Bay area then, and I saw one of the first sub-7 second 1/4 mile Top Fuel passes at Fremont. Shoot, Pro Stocks run 6.60 on 2 four barrels nowadays at over 200. And Top Fuel is running 4.4 seconds @ 333 mph. Blowers and tires got them there.


Hey, that 3SGTE is turbocharged. Hmmm.

I see that swaps are a topic of much discussion, and one of the the main subtopics is wiring difficulties. Absent from the theme is a How-to Article complete with a debugged cross-wiring diagram for the most popular swaps into the most popular chassis'. Probably because it is such a massive undertaking not only to complete but to document. This certainly intimidates the novice and even the wrench-bender. Even though there have been some successful swaps, residual issues, as Chrobis signature states, seem to be the rule as opposed to the exception. That's enough to scare me off. And make me think there might be a market for a shop with the knowlege and skills to perform a turn-key swap. A running car, out the door, debugged, revving properly, meeting emmissions, and capable of making the guy in the other lane say "Damn that's a runnin' Celica!". Do these shops exist?

Bummer. I guess I'm destined to the low power, good economy, and dependability of the trusty 7AFE. Thanks.

I have a '95 ST Liftback 5 speed (AT200) with a bad 7AFE. I kinda hate to replace it with another anemic 7AFE but I'm not up to the 3SGTE swap. I see no mention of a 7AFE to 5SFE swap on the boards except that it is not plug-and-play and it is as much trouble as a 4AGE 20V or a 3SGTE.
MY question: What is required to upgrade my AT200 from 7AFE to 5SFE, and what year or years ST204 GT should I select as a donor car?
I'm hoping to hear I'll need the ECU and engine wiring harness from the ST204 and that the engine will bolt up to my transaxle. If the swap requires harness splicing and pinout changes I'll probably just settle for 110 HP and stick with the 7AFE. Thanks for any info.