SMT Off!!

So I finally took off the SMT bits of the transmission and learnt how the SMT works... Surprisingly, its quite not anywhere near as complicated as I thought... Before taking the SMT components off the tranny, you must first depressurise the SMT hydraulic system. In the BGB, it is instructed that this be done through using the Toyota Handheld Scanner plugged into the OBD2 port (under the driver side dash on the right - Australian version). However, not having access to this, and give that I am not going to be using the SMT anymore anyway, I just unscrewed the HPU (Hydraulic Pump Unit) fluid tank cap to release the pressure. Much to my surprise, there wasnt any pressure at all in there!! Well, I suppose the car havent been operated in over 3 months now, so it probably depressurised itself.

Anyway, onto the pics...

This is the transmission with the SMT hydraulics taken off... I've screwed the bolts back onto the tranny so I remembe where they go. The SMT shifter shaft is the shaft between the two top bolts... This is the thing that the shifter cables will ultimately connect onto and link the action between the manual shifter (inside the passenger cabin) and the position of the gears inside the transmission. The shifter shaft can be moved in the familiar H pattern of a manual car. This shaft will be replaced with a manual version.

The black rubbery looking thing to the left of the realy long bolt is the clutch actuator arm.. more pictures below to explain its operation.

Clutch disengages (clutch pedal down)

Clutch engages (clutch pedal up)

This is the SMT unit... the thing on the left of the picture is the HPU (the fluid tank I talked about is the thing with the white plastic cover on it. The cap is directly under the cover. The thing on the right is connected to the shifter shaft as well as the clutch actuator arm. The SMT ECU will control the mechanism on the right to coordinate the movement of the shifter shaft as well as the movement of the clutch actuator arm.

Now, this picture has nothing to do with the SMT, but you know that famous Turbo Intake Manifold EXPLOSION?? Well, it never blew a hole in my intake manifold, but it did break something inside the manifold!! Its a big piece too! Dremeled and cut at it for almost 3 hours to get it all out! Need to get this intake manifold pressure tested to ensure that it seals properly!

Ok, thats the latest... on the engine front, still waiting for speciality tools to arrive from the USA so I can get those head studs off!! Also need a special twist off socket for the one head stud which I rounded off when trying to undo with an Allen Key... moral of the story, dont use an Allen Key, use a proper 12 point (also know as double-hex, or triple-square), 10mm bit!!!

Got the Crank Shaft Pulley Bolt!!!

Alright!! Cause for celebration... Like I was saying in my last post, I was having trouble with the crank shaft pulley bolt because it was torqued to about 140NM, and I couldnt keep the pulley still while I tried to break loose the bolt.

Well, a trip to Bunnings (our local major hardware chain retailer), and some imagination solve that problem. I spent $40AUD making up something myself vs buying the "harmonic balancer" which costs $80AUD from the local car shop.

So this is the "contraption" I ended up using to hold the crank pulley still while I torqued loose the bolt.

Ok, so one of a bolt got a little out of shape!! :-P But it still worked!



Ahhh... finally got to the timing chain! Soon, the head will be off, I am betting its a bent valve!!

Damn Crankshaft Bolt!!!

Yet another bolt which I cant take off... slowing down progress. I have to get the crankshaft bolt off before I can take the timing chain cover off, which needs to be done before I can get the timing chain off, and then take the head off!

Anyway, dont have the right tools to hold the crankshaft in place while I try to break the bolt loose. So what I ended up doing tonight was modifying the Throttle Body. See, the SMT throttle body is DBW (drive by wire), but it also has a manual linkage. The manual linkage will be the one I will be using since I am disconnecting the SMT computer, hence the DBW. However, the manual part of the throttle body will only open the throttle plate to about 45degrees, not fully open. To make it so that the manual part of the throttle body will allow the throttle body to be fully open, I had to cut a plastic tab on the throttle body to allow the manual linkage mechanism to rotate fully to the WOT position. See pictures.

There are four plastic/rubber tabs as shown (2 on the left, two on the right). Cut the bottom right one off.

Once the bottom right one is cut off, this will allow the manual mechanism to rotate fully.

The throttle plate now fully opens.

Progressing.... SLOWLY!!

Just a few picture updates. Took off the valve cover today. Yeah yeah... I know... its only a valve cover! I've never seen inside one before! The cam lobes are much sharper than I thought on these engines.