OT: Camry Motor swap (semi-long)

George Roffe geo3@earthlink.net
Sat, 18 May 2002 17:25:01 -0500


Peter Serwe wrote:

>I know this is the SR20DE list, but I thought someone might actually
>know what's going on with this thing.
    <snip>
>Everything seemed smooth, but it seems to be getting too much fuel, and
>the radiator fans are stuck always on - they shouldn't be - bad temp
>sensor?

Ok, this is a *big* clue.  And as it turns out, is useful to the SR20
community.

The ECU has plenty of choices (well the programmers do) of how to react to
certain situations.  One of these situations is when the ECU is blind to
certain data it expects to be receiving.

In a worst-case scenario, such as no MAF reading, it may go into limp home
mode.  In case of the SR20, it won't let you rev above 3k rpm.

For lesser signal failures, such as temp sensors, knock sensors, and
probably others, the safest thing for the ECU to do is:

1) Add fuel (keeps the engine cooler and minimizes changes of detonation
2) Retard timing (same reasons as above)
2) Turn on the radiator fans (again, same reasons)

So, when you are doing a swap or other major work, when you encounter these
symptoms, the ECU is almost certainly missing a semi-critical data
stream.  You must go hunting for it.

Good luck Peter.

George Roffe
Houston, TX
91 SE-R (well modded)
91 G20 turbo (well modded)
84 944 SCCA ITS race car under construction
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