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Just ordered a standard ratio manual rack, and an entire column and EPS ECU out of a 2009 Prius. From what I’m reading, a Prius ecu only needs 12v, gnd, and a switched 12v to enable the ecu. After it gets power, it searches for a VSS signal, and when it doesn’t see that, goes into fail safe mode, and defaults to an “ assist” level for 40 mph. Reviews say it’s very similar to the effort required for power steering at that level. Furthermore, if it completely fails, it’s a pass through design, and the thing just no longer assists. After that, it’s the effort required to steer the car like it has a manual rack.
Im gonna try and be considerate of a fox body, and modify mine to work without compromising the entire existing support structure, so that the 1 or 2 of you that might consider doing this to your car, will be able to use my example.
what was the cost of those parts, ecu etc..?
 
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what was the cost of those parts, ecu etc..?
The 30k mile complete Prius junk was 229 shipped. The standard ratio rack was 99.00. I’m sure if I wanted to dedicate a half day or more dialing a dozen salvage yards, and then tromping through the mud and weeds in some salvage yard, then laying on the floor of a car full of swampwater, have to wait to have the car lifted so I could get to the steering coupler, I could’ve gotten the column for less.....but.......No.
Said...
The finger.:nono:
 
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Just ordered a standard ratio manual rack, and an entire column and EPS ECU out of a 2009 Prius. From what I’m reading, a Prius ecu only needs 12v, gnd, and a switched 12v to enable the ecu. After it gets power, it searches for a VSS signal, and when it doesn’t see that, goes into fail safe mode, and defaults to an “ assist” level for 40 mph. Reviews say it’s very similar to the effort required for power steering at that level. Furthermore, if it completely fails, it’s a pass through design, and the thing just no longer assists. After that, it’s the effort required to steer the car like it has a manual rack.
Im gonna try and be considerate of a fox body, and modify mine to work without compromising the entire existing support structure, so that the 1 or 2 of you that might consider doing this to your car, will be able to use my example.
Are you going to try and give it a VSS signal?
 
I've seen them on a couple local hot rods. It works and doesn't take up as much space as you'd think.

I don't want to hear any complaints ( well...can't hear them anyways...but.... ). Seems easier to make a bracket to bolt power steering on the 2jzte. You'd have all the nasty fluid to deal with....and the AN fittings, 'cause you gotta have'em. Alright....alright.... I'm convinced that this way is about the same price or possibly a little cheaper....time cancels out because it would be custom either way. No one wants to fight manual steering in a show parking lot.

I'll be watching and taking notes on all 3 variations you create.
 
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I’m sure if I wanted to dedicate a half day or more dialing a dozen salvage yards

Not sure if you've ever tried car-part.com before? Just beam up what part you want and it shows you what's available, and how far away. I think most of the places pull the stuff for you too if it isn't already on their shelf.
 
Not bad at all. I totally get the time/cost equation!!!
Finally! Somebody that agrees with me.
Are you going to try and give it a VSS signal?
No,..if I was gonna try and figure out a vss signal ( and the mapping that relates to it) I would’ve just supplied the existing 2jz variable effort ps pump that. Didn’t want fck with the hoses, and that circuit.
I cannot wait to see this implemented, I may be copying you...
.
I gotta try to be considerate of what’s under the dash of our cars...I can do anything I want because of the custom interior, but it’s important that I try and make this fit under the fox dash
So would this work on a standard manual rack such as flaming river?
Yes,..you just have to make sure it’s not the “ sport rack” . I’m guessing. It’s all about “the assist”. After having to blow a nut trying to steer the red car in a parking lot with the same size front tires that are currently on the monster, ..I figure the less effort the little EPS motor has to generate to steer the car, the greater the chance that this will last, a sport rack would be even more tougher for the motor to assist.
I've seen them on a couple local hot rods. It works and doesn't take up as much space as you'd think.

I don't want to hear any complaints ( well...can't hear them anyways...but.... ). Seems easier to make a bracket to bolt power steering on the 2jzte. You'd have all the nasty fluid to deal with....and the AN fittings, 'cause you gotta have'em. Alright....alright.... I'm convinced that this way is about the same price or possibly a little cheaper....time cancels out because it would be custom either way. No one wants to fight manual steering in a show parking lot.

I'll be watching and taking notes on all 3 variations you create.
I have both my old remote reservoir, late node ps pump, and the 2jz remote reservoir 2jz ps pump. I don’t want to have to adapt any more bracketry over to allow for that pump, and then add a circuit that had to be tuned to tell the pump how fast I was going. The old pump was alway leaking..it was always dripping, regardless of how tight I tightened that damn fitting. If this works, it’ll be worth the time/expense/ labor to make a fox steering column adapt to the Prius column.
And it won’t leak.
 
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Not sure if you've ever tried car-part.com before? Just beam up what part you want and it shows you what's available, and how far away. I think most of the places pull the stuff for you too if it isn't already on their shelf.
Yeah,..I tried that this afternoon,..the only result that popped up wouldn’t ship the stuff.
 
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I wasn’t gonna have a drink tonight in light of the big day that I’ve got tomorrow. I need to get the garage OR clean before I bring that engine into the metal shavings, and dust that is everywhere.
But...in lieu of that...

It’s not everyday that you get to see the worst piece of sht ever to hold the highest office in the land get handed over his piece of history...

Even if...it never makes it through the snake pit now known as the senate,... He gets to wear that crown on his empty,...orange head.

It’s a good day gents!,.....Heres to the Constitution of the United States.:cheers:
 
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image.jpg

There now...No more political rhetoric....

All better?
 
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Just ordered a standard ratio manual rack, and an entire column and EPS ECU out of a 2009 Prius. From what I’m reading, a Prius ecu only needs 12v, gnd, and a switched 12v to enable the ecu. After it gets power, it searches for a VSS signal, and when it doesn’t see that, goes into fail safe mode, and defaults to an “ assist” level for 40 mph. Reviews say it’s very similar to the effort required for power steering at that level. Furthermore, if it completely fails, it’s a pass through design, and the thing just no longer assists. After that, it’s the effort required to steer the car like it has a manual rack.
Im gonna try and be considerate of a fox body, and modify mine to work without compromising the entire existing support structure, so that the 1 or 2 of you that might consider doing this to your car, will be able to use my example.
Dammit Mike!

Now I want to put electric steering in my car.

I was just checking the forums while a rotor cut on the lathe, and next thing you know, I'm down the rabbit hole reading a whole damned how-to on Hot Rod magazine's website.
 
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Let this serve as a testimonial to how a 2jz isn’t as common as some here would have you believe.

I started last night trying to get stuff prepped so that I could begin assembly of the engine. This morning I got back at it, hoping that I could get the bottom end assembled. I had perfect weather, the wife is out of town ( nobody to drag me out of the garage because they’re hungry). I attached the block to the engine stand, and got to work.
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2jzs are no different than any other engine, the casting process still leaves behind parting lines, and casting slag that should be removed if you care about any of that breaking free and getting sucked up into the oiling system. There is a big difference in the metallurgy though.
Ordinarily, grinding that crap is tedious work, and a Ford cast iron block is one tough sonofabitch when trying to grind that off with a little carbide burr on a die grinder. A 2jz on the other hand,......must be made out of sand. Every time that burr hit a parting line, or a blob of casting slag,..it disappeared in seconds. After only about 10-15 minutes, I had every offensive area smoothed out to my satisfaction. The down side was that there were grinding shavings in every hole and passage that engine had.
 

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Let this serve as my point of reference
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So here you are,..filling up the sealed up oil galley with grinding debris, and all kinds of engine killing sht. Ordinarily, you’d remove the oil galley plugs so that you could clean this crap out before even thinking of going forward, but this engine is different. Evidently, the geniuses from the land of the rising sun must’ve been short on freeze plugs, or out of 3/8 NPT pipe plugs when they were faced with the dilemma, so they chose to press in hardened steel ball bearings to seal up the oil galleys.

Now, since these things are second only to the LS as a common everyday swap engine, you’d think that somebody who has put this engine into their Mustang, or their Camaro would have came across this.

So I did some research.

The only forum the search query popped up on however was the Club Lexus forum. Some member asking about how to remove them from the engine,.....that was in his car,.....that had come that way,....from the factory.

Turns out that the only way to get this things out was to weld a bolt onto the front ball bearing, and pry that bitch out. After that was done, you simply slide a bar in the oil galley hole, and beat the one in the rear out.

After that was done, I shallow tapped the holes with a 3/8” npt tap, ground the part that hung out of the front of the block flush, and will never have to weld anything to anything to remove an oil galley plug.

*To tell the truth, I don’t even know why I bothered going online, I probably coulda just jumped in my car and asked the guy at Auto Zone to look up the process on his computer,
I mean after all....Freakin 2jzs are everywhere in everything. You can’t even turn on the TV now without watching some Chevy boy in some Chevy boy show where he has removed the LS from his car because it wasn’t common enough and is now swapping a 2jz in it instead.;)
 
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And furthermore..
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So....I finally have a clean block,...it’s tapped for the new galley plugs, I can finally start putting the thing together. First I mask the thing off, and give it a fresh coat Of Gila Monster Copper. After that dried, I install the oil squirters that help keep the cast pistons cool, and lay my new coated “ race“ bearings in the main saddles. I open the box that the main studs are in, and my eye gets drawn to the big, red “ATTENTION“ warning written on the instructions. It warns me that main studs could potentially distort the main journal, and that I should have had the main journal line honed just to make sure that there were no issues with the fasteners clamping force on the main cap.

Fcking great...Now I gotta worry about this?

It is what it is. I figure I’ll torque the crank and see if the force required to spin the crank changes as I torque it. I start installing the studs. There is only 10 studs. I need 14. I look at the box, this is a stud kit for a freakin 4 banger...and I don’t have a clue where I got this kit from, or whether It was ordered wrong by me, or incorrectly picked shipped by the vendor.

I say screw it. I’ll just go downtown to the engine parts warehouse, and buy a set of TTY main cap bolts for the engine, and eliminate the worry about main bore distortion.

I call em up. They don’t have them.
I get online,..nobody out there is selling them.

When you watch the YouTube goobers assembling 2jzs, they are using TTY bolts on the main caps. Nonetheless,...nobody sells them.
* And these engines are so freakin overdone...how can this be?
All I can do if I want to go forward is to use the existing TTY main cap bolts for today, just to hold the crank in place. I thread those dudes in but don’t tighten them, I intend to replace them.

I check the rings,...they are in spec. A little loose, but within spec.
I install all six piston/rods into their respective holes..I bought a taper bore ring compressor specifically for a 86 mm std bore. The pistons slide in flawlessly.
But,..things take a decided WTF, when I spin the engine over and bring #1piston up to TDC.

it’s supposed to be above deck, but the pistons are down in the holes a tremendous amount.

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They are at least .025-.030” in the hole. The stock spec only has the piston down .010” How in the hell is this piston down so low???
When the guy resized the rods, did he shorten the rod so much that these freakin things are now too short? And now I’m gonna have to take all of this sht back apart, and have the block decked another .025-.030”?
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Naaahhh....I just had to remember that I only hand tightened the main cap bolts..the above pic shows the piston .005 out of the hole.....exactly like I was expecting.
 
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I would wager the dearth of information regarding the ball bearing plugs has more to do with most people forgoing smoothing the casting seams than the 2jz being a rare swap engine (at least compared to the LS).

in any case, that copper looks fantastic.
 
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