hello to everyone! from the philippines...

my friend recently offered me a '91 surf 2lte turbodiesel a/t for a real low price
if i could sort out this problem he can't seem to solve. details are as
follows:
--engine ok(newly overhauled), no signs of blow by, low compression, etc.
--no black, blue or white smoke, no smoke at all.
--injector pump newly overhauled by denso-equipped with edc calibration. nozzles replaced. timing ok.

--turbo boosts to 7 lbs only but doesn't leak at all.

main problem: upon take-off, no power at all! no acceleration, nada,
zip.

i began to suspect transmission problems, but it changes gears 1 to 3
and o/d smoothly.. my last suspect: the torque converter. going up my garage
(a 15deg incline) the surf can hardly budge, but when i put it to
4lo it climbs without a hitch. i tried the transmission stall test
wherein you rev the car for a max 5 seconds in drive with brakes stepped on to determine max rpm. it only does 1400 rpm versus the
transmission's stall speed rating of 2000 rpm+. most tranny shops would
suspect a torque converter with this result but the low rpm could be also be
due to low engine power!

opinions please, so i can make a better guess on the
problem....engine related or transmission related(torque converter)

thanks!

- (#14495) George Rey, 9 Dec 04 03:31

You seem to have covered every possible problem and, with all the work done, it SHOULD be a perfect runner.
Has someone missed the obvious? Is the exhaust gas recirculating device still operating and, could the air inlet pipe be so restricted that the engine is starved of air? Are you entirely happy with the air induction system from the air cleaner/filter right through to the manifold? It's worth a check, as is the flow of fuel from the tank, via the filter/priming pump etc. Any air leaks here ?

- (#14495) John Davis (Leics), 9 Dec 04 04:26

Simple question: have you checked for fault codes?
7psi sounds too low, and boost is made by fuel. possible fuel or air temperature sender problem?...

- (#14495) david miller, 9 Dec 04 07:14

Thanks for your fast response. John, regarding the air leaks and fuel flow , these were among the first things we checked and they were all ok. EGR system was blocked with a plate during the overhaul and cleaned up.

David, I did suspect that there may be a fuel related issue here, but this also was ruled out when Denso rebuilt the pump with their ECD enabled machine. The only fault code which has been long cleared was a disconnected turbo pressure sensor.

It seems that in most forums, the main suspect is the fuel system or air leaks, etc. Does this mean that Toyota's torque converters rarely breakdown? I was getting ready to gamble on this one!
On idle and in neutral, once throttle is floored it readily goes to the factory specified 4600 rpm. And then when you perform the stall speedtest it does only 1400 rpm--about 800 rpm short. Some
transmission websites point to a faulty torque converter if stall is too low.

BTW , I did read up on ECUs going on limp mode. Is this applicable on a 91 model Toyota 2LTE?

Best regards!

George

- (#14495) George Rey, 9 Dec 04 08:56

Yes, too low a stall speed can be caused by a converter, but likewise, if the engine won't put out it's rated power even a good converter will read low...

Not sure about limp mode in a 2LTE. the ECD system is pretty simple compared to todays Bosch stuff!

- (#14495) david miller, 10 Dec 04 13:46