It's Happening! twotone's Build & Restoration Thread

[83GTCoupe]

Awesome! It is getting harder to find the original radios that still work. Usually the backlighting is burned out in them and they don't make the bulbs anymore. I really hate it when people spend a couple hundred for a new headunit but are too cheap to buy the $10 harness adapter.

If you ever want to sell that radio I call dibs. 

Hey Dan, if you are patient, and don't mind waiting until I can strip the supercharged '83, I'll sell you my factory radio. I have a CB installed in the lower half of the DIN, on the '82. I'm thinking of moving that to the new '83, or installing cup holders.
It will need some TLC before installation, as I mentioned above. With all that I have on my plate, I may never get to actually doing the repairs.
The '82 needs to be completely stripped first, since it's in my driveway. I may not get to the '83 until next spring.

[twotone_ra64]

Well, the only thing I can think of is checking to make sure the ground and power wires in the harness actually do what they're supposed to. Is the ground wire actually grounded? Do you have constant +12V and switched +12V? These are from different fuses, the horn fuse and the radio fuse.

That would definitely be the next step. I took the Celica out for a drive last night, and noticed that my horn didn't work. Probably a reason why I'm not getting power to the radio!

I also noticed during the drive that the hazard lights didn't work (most likely my fault from doing the whole dash swap), and I have a radiator/thermostat problem because it damn near blew itself up. Slow speed crawling through late evening traffic, and the temperature gauge needle kept rising, and rising... until it just rested fully in the red H! I thought I was going to blow a HG, but I started moving again and the temp started dropping again. After I parked the car, I noticed the coolant was boiling. Wait, I put coolant in there, not water! I took a look inside the radiator after everything had cooled down, and the inner core was brown and corroded. That's definitely got something to do with it. The coolant looked a little below max, so I topped it off and headed back home. Then I noticed the temperature gauge needle sat at C like the car was off, then bounced back to mid-range like there was something switching the temperature signal on/off. I got home with no issues after that.

Gee whiz, there's a lot to fix... well, this is why it's a project car!

[83GTCoupe]

OUCH! Sounds like you've definitely got your work cut out for you. Probably just a fuse or two, and some loose wires though, for the most part. Of course, a complete flush-n-fill and a new t-stat may also be in order. Glad you were able to get back home!

[danf]

That would definitely be the next step. I took the Celica out for a drive last night, and noticed that my horn didn't work. Probably a reason why I'm not getting power to the radio!

I also noticed during the drive that the hazard lights didn't work (most likely my fault from doing the whole dash swap)

I believe the horn and hazard are on the same fuse.  So that may be an easy fix...

, and I have a radiator/thermostat problem because it damn near blew itself up. Slow speed crawling through late evening traffic, and the temperature gauge needle kept rising, and rising... until it just rested fully in the red H! I thought I was going to blow a HG, but I started moving again and the temp started dropping again. After I parked the car, I noticed the coolant was boiling. Wait, I put coolant in there, not water! I took a look inside the radiator after everything had cooled down, and the inner core was brown and corroded. That's definitely got something to do with it. The coolant looked a little below max, so I topped it off and headed back home. Then I noticed the temperature gauge needle sat at C like the car was off, then bounced back to mid-range like there was something switching the temperature signal on/off. I got home with no issues after that.

Don't forget to check the water pump at some point. Our cars are 30 years old, it wouldn't be a stretch if the fins on the water pump vane are rusting away. Don't ask me how I know. 

I'd also get a Toyota OEM thermostat as some of the aftermarket ones don't have the bypass needle. If they don't have that it'll look like your car is overheating when warming up, then when the thermostat finally opens it will jump back to a normal temperature reading.

Gee whiz, there's a lot to fix... well, this is why it's a project car!

Yep! Having a 30 year old car generally means a bit more work, as previous owners most likely sold it because they didn't want to deal with it anymore.

[twotone_ra64]

OUCH! Sounds like you've definitely got your work cut out for you. Probably just a fuse or two, and some loose wires though, for the most part. Of course, a complete flush-n-fill and a new t-stat may also be in order. Glad you were able to get back home!

Mhm, it's a bit of work! Well, last time I checked the fuses, they all looked OK. And those are the fuses by the driver's side panel. I'll have to check loose wires next. Perhaps a new radiator core is in order too! There's shop nearby that can retain the original radiator and just swap out the inner core. Definitely a t-stat as well. And thanks! I live near the top of a rather large hill, so getting home without overheating was definitely a good thing.

I believe the horn and hazard are on the same fuse.  So that may be an easy fix...


Don't forget to check the water pump at some point. Our cars are 30 years old, it wouldn't be a stretch if the fins on the water pump vane are rusting away. Don't ask me how I know. 

I'd also get a Toyota OEM thermostat as some of the aftermarket ones don't have the bypass needle. If they don't have that it'll look like your car is overheating when warming up, then when the thermostat finally opens it will jump back to a normal temperature reading.

Yep! Having a 30 year old car generally means a bit more work, as previous owners most likely sold it because they didn't want to deal with it anymore.

Alright! I'll try to check that all out tonight and report back...

I think the previous owner did the water pump at some point, I'll have to ask. Well, he could have "done" it, but for all I know it could have been 30k miles ago. The car sat unused for over 2 years before I picked it up.

Okay! I had a look on RockAuto and the premium Gates t-stat (part # 33489S) says it has a "jiggle pin". Is that the same thing? Also, there appears to be two t-stat temperature ratings, 180 and 195 degrees. Which is the OEM spec?

[Dr.Jun.Manabe]

Okay! I had a look on RockAuto and the premium Gates t-stat (part # 33489S) says it has a "jiggle pin". Is that the same thing? Also, there appears to be two t-stat temperature ratings, 180 and 195 degrees. Which is the OEM spec?

180 is OEM, and most of us usually just chop off the jiggle pin, I totally forgot for what reason though, someone will chime in lol..

[danf]

Mhm, it's a bit of work! Well, last time I checked the fuses, they all looked OK. And those are the fuses by the driver's side panel. I'll have to check loose wires next.

Don't forget the fuse box by the battery, I'm 99.99% certain that's where the hazard/horn fuse is located. It's possible the OEM radio you plugged in caused the fuse to blow.

Perhaps a new radiator core is in order too! There's shop nearby that can retain the original radiator and just swap out the inner core. Definitely a t-stat as well. And thanks! I live near the top of a rather large hill, so getting home without overheating was definitely a good thing.

Alright! I'll try to check that all out tonight and report back...

I think the previous owner did the water pump at some point, I'll have to ask. Well, he could have "done" it, but for all I know it could have been 30k miles ago. The car sat unused for over 2 years before I picked it up.

Okay! I had a look on RockAuto and the premium Gates t-stat (part # 33489S) says it has a "jiggle pin". Is that the same thing? Also, there appears to be two t-stat temperature ratings, 180 and 195 degrees. Which is the OEM spec?

I'm not sure, like 11-12 years ago I used an aftermarket thermostat and the car was running warm all the time & showing high temp on warm-up. I've used the Toyota OEM ones since then, maybe someone else can chime in...

[twotone_ra64]

Don't forget the fuse box by the battery, I'm 99.99% certain that's where the hazard/horn fuse is located. It's possible the OEM radio you plugged in caused the fuse to blow.

I'll definitely make sure to take a look there.

180 is OEM, and most of us usually just chop off the jiggle pin, I totally forgot for what reason though, someone will chime in lol..

I'm not sure, like 11-12 years ago I used an aftermarket thermostat and the car was running warm all the time & showing high temp on warm-up. I've used the Toyota OEM ones since then, maybe someone else can chime in...

Alright, I decided to "search, n00b!!1!" and read about the jiggle pin. It allows coolant and trapped air to bypass the t-stat. Some drill out a 1/16" hole to allow a bit more flow if their car runs a little too hot. Seems like it might just be a good idea to buy a $20 OEM t-stat rather than a $5 aftermarket one in this case.

[sirdan]

the 20 dollar one is nice, but my 2 dollar one with the hole drilled in it works good too. really just up to your budget.

[swan song]

  remove jiggle pin so it can pass that small amount of water when cold and not trick the temp gauge into showing you an overheat situation.

[twotone_ra64]

the 20 dollar one is nice, but my 2 dollar one with the hole drilled in it works good too. really just up to your budget.

Well as long as it works I don't mind going that route! I really just want to go with what solution has been successful for others.

remove jiggle pin so it can pass that small amount of water when cold and not trick the temp gauge into showing you an overheat situation.

Ah, my bad, thanks for the clarification.

[silverliftback]

It's boring to look it up in a book, but that's what I do.  Fuse chart and tables for a 1984 Celica scanned into pics, going back to the topic of your head unit.

The horn/hazard circuit just keeps the head unit's memory alive for radio station presets and the like.  I'd think operating power should come from the switched 12v.  Does your antenna actually work, wires okay and all? I was surprised at how little (as in zero) radio reception I got with the power antenna down vs extended.  Antennas, who knew?

[ozzie]

The horn/hazard circuit just keeps the head unit's memory alive for radio station presets and the like.  I'd think operating power should come from the switched 12v.

In my experience, most car radios won't run without both the constant 12V and switched 12V power.

The hazard/horn fuse also has something to do with the headlight retract relays, so replacing it should also help with that.

[twotone_ra64]

Thanks you so much, fellas. It's really awesome to get all the help and input from you all.

So I had a look in the fuse box under the hood. This is what I found when I removed the 15A horn/hazard fuse:



And my following reaction:



I replaced the fuse and plugged everything in. And voila! You'll also notice that the radio bezel doesn't really fit around the faceplate... yeah.



The horn and hazards worked again, and the radio powered on! I plugged my phone in via the aux jack and played music. It sounded... interesting, given how tiny the speakers are (what, 3 1/2"?). I played around with the fader/balance, and found that the front left speaker would play audio even if I biased the audio only at the rear right speaker. So something's a little wonky there but at least everything functioned! Just for shiggles, I plugged in the factory radio...



And it all worked! Granted, I was missing a light on the right-hand-most equalizer knob, the left/backward tune button and [1] memo button didn't work, and there was some scratching in the audio from using the fader/balance knobs. But it worked!!! The tape player worked a little better, it didn't eat the tapes and actually played audio, but the audio cut out and came back periodically.

It's boring to look it up in a book, but that's what I do.  Fuse chart and tables for a 1984 Celica scanned into pics, going back to the topic of your head unit.

The horn/hazard circuit just keeps the head unit's memory alive for radio station presets and the like.  I'd think operating power should come from the switched 12v.  Does your antenna actually work, wires okay and all? I was surprised at how little (as in zero) radio reception I got with the power antenna down vs extended.  Antennas, who knew?

Thanks for the diagrams! My antenna mast is actually bent up and I don't know if the motor actually works or not.. I got decent radio signal even with it in its partially extended state.

In my experience, most car radios won't run without both the constant 12V and switched 12V power.

The hazard/horn fuse also has something to do with the headlight retract relays, so replacing it should also help with that.

Well, that's what ended up happening!

---

I haven't looked at the thermostat yet, that will be next on the list. I'll remove it and try the pot-of-hot-water test to see if it actually opens at the specified temperature. I'm pretty sure my radiator has something to do with it, the fins inside are all brown. Brown brown brown brown brown...

More to come!

[swan song]

What does the "memo" button do? Can you record a memo? No way...