Great project!
A build thread with pictures would be great!

 

OK, gs300 trans is tore down, new clutches and rebuild items installed. Now just have to disassemble the Cressida trans so I can swap parts and tailshaft around. Forgot how easy it is to take apart. Hopefully be done with trans by Tuesday.

 

Interesting build, post up some pics of the progress.
if it had signs of the top end being gunked up do the valve stem seals if you have the head off. its not just a gte problem the ge's will smoke badly on startup also if the seals are worn. if they are toast it will keep smoking. If you get the change do them is all I am saying, but you could get away for a while and do it later with cams its not a huge deal.

 

Well I really don't want to pull the cams and everything out again, I think I have a tool for removing valve springs without removing the head, and I do want it to be as fresh as possible, so we will see. I hate valve stem seals on these cars, such a simple cheap part but a pain to get to.

Today I put the trans all back together. Turns out the 1jzgte auto uses the same tailshaft as the Cressida, as I had a spare one laying around and compared them. Just the mag pickups/triggers for sensors on the back of the trans are different but swappable. So, this will be an A341e trans mixed with A340e pieces here and there to make a hybrid that will run of GS300 electronics but physically bolt in just like the Cressida trans if that makes sense. The Raybestos Stage 1 kit went in nicely, but since this is a GE trans there's a few leftover steels and clutches that I couldn't fit into it. Stopped the night with rebuilding the pump...which is a common fail point on many automatics, but everything specs out within tolerance so I might be lucky. Wish I could get an IS300 pump to bolt in but whoever sells just that?! Tomorrow it will be all buttoned up, then I can decide if I am going to do valve stem seals.

 

Okay, trans is all back together. One thing I'm anticipating is there will only be one speed sensor instead of the two the A341e had in the tail shaft. Hopefully this doesn't cause any big issues. The Cressida speed sensor mounted in the tail shaft is different than the Lexus but I believe essentially functions the same so I may just have to swap the connectors and wire the number 1 and 2 speed sensor wires together.

I put the engine all back together and installed all new silicone vacuum hoses on the whole engine, new PCV valve and ditched some of the extraneous brackets. Hopefully I got all the hoses hooked up right, there's so many! Anyone familiar with throttle cable requirements with the 2jz in the Cressida? Waiting on a different header to get here, the last one was too warped to use.

 

Oh one thing I forgot to mention is the bellhousings and torque converters all seem to be interchangeable.

 

you seem pretty knowledgeable on the a341e and the a340e i was curious if i could pm you some questions regarding a aristo swap with auto into a mk3 supra?

 

Sure I guess. Cressida and MK3 Supra are pretty much identical mechanically, so anything with the transmissions is going to be true for both. The closest match JZ trans is the JZX81/JZA70 1JZGTE automatic, which is very similar to the MK3 turbo auto trans with the added clutch packs and larger torque converter. My A340/341 knowledge is all firsthand from swapping them out a few times and noting the differences between all of them. I first bought a Cressida with a 1jzgte auto swap, swapped it to an R154, then bought a 96 GS300 with a A350E that went bad and I rebuilt that myself using the old 1jz auto for parts, then did a 2jzgte auto Aristo swap into a S13 and found all the differences in Aristo stuff, and then bought my wife a Cressida that had its auto trans give multiple issues throughout it 70,000 miles, resulting in new shift solenoids then finally a JDM 7mgte auto trans swap when it died, which I don't like because it has a higher 4th gear ratio and revs higher on the freeway. Now finally doing the GS300 2jz swap into her Cressie and using an unknown condition junkyard trans that I rebuilt and swapped stuff around in, which it really didn't need as everything inside was good but dirty. The only thing I haven't messed with is swapping valve bodies, but I'm sure that's fairly straightforward as noted on the mk4/Aristo swap threads.

 

OK I lied about the bellhousings, 7m and 2j are different obviously. Unknown about the torque converters, they may swap around. Pulled the engine tonight, accidentally broke a motor mount so had to order a few things including new heater hoses...looks like the 7m hoses will work. Have to lengthen the alternator wires to go to the other side of the engine bay and take off the power steering lines and reservoir since the 2j is on the opposite side. Also found out the long tailshaft uses a different kinds of sensors and reluctors. I have 3 different kinds, but basically the one to use is for a NA MK4 Supra. The long tailshafts are all the same except RHD drive cars have the #1 speed sensor on the opposite side, but the #2 is on the same side on all of them. So the GS300, Aristo, and TT MKIV use a short tailshaft and 3 pronged output shaft, the MKIV Supra, Cressida, MK3 Supra use a long tailshaft and splined output. I think the most ideal 2jz trans for a Cressida would be the NA MKIV auto for simplicity sake, this is due to the tailshaft setup being the same and using the proper #2 speed sensor and reluctor. The Cressida, GS300, and JDM MK3 use the wrong stuff back there. So I had to order a MKIV NA #2 speed sensor online. The early 89 and 90 Cressida have mechanical driven speedometers/#1 speed sensor, but apparently send the electronic signal for #1 thru the dash harness to the ECU, so a little wiring for that will be required. Hope to have it back up and running by next weekend now that I have to wait on parts.

 

Well, there's a lot more wiring involved for an auto swap, but I've got it about 95% figured out. Just confused on wiring the NSW since the GS300 and Cressida have slightly different circuitry. Also not sure what to do with the Circuit Opening Really since the GS300 doesn't use one. I think that's about it though, everything else I have figured out pretty much. Still waiting on parts to come too.

 

Engine and trans are installed, was a little tough to get one side's engine mount lined up but we got it eventually. After that everything has gone pretty awesome with it. The DM high pressure power steering hose didn't line up quite right but I got it. Had to cut the fuel line to add an inline filter, from a 2000 GMC Savanna, works good. Used all the Cressida heater hoses, and GS300 radiator hoses. Had to extend the O2 sensors with these headers which took a while since they're 4 wire sensors because it is a California emissions engine. Used the GS300 coil and ignitor, and the Cressida trans cooler tubes. Everything has gone together amazingly well. Trans bolted back into the original holes no problem, engine sits in nicer than my 1.5jz Cressida and 2jzgte 240sx even. Driveshaft and shifter rod bolted in like stock too.

 

Well, finished it up but it won't start. It turns over, gets fuel and spark and almost starts and runs but won't actually fully start and stay running. Throttle modulation and distributor adjusting doesn't help at all. Strong smell of gas though thru exhaust...so I wonder if MAF is having issues, or ECU, or injector stuck open even though just cleaned and tested, or crap engine. So will start with ECU swap, then test MAF, then pull throttle body and check spark at each plug followed by compression test...hopefully find the issue.

 

Turned out #1 and 2 cylinders were flooded with antifreeze...eventually got it started and smoked everywhere whilst blowing antifreeze and steam into the overflow...can you guess the problem???

Yeah, blown head gasket. So took it back out, swapped heads to a fresh low mile one with new seals and good lash, also going to drop oil pan and check stuff out, swap in new oil pump and try again. At least we now know why the car was in the junkyard! I will say the engine internally is the cleanest 2jz out of 4 that I've had yet so either was taken good care of with oil changes, had a recent rebuild or low miles, and or was a highway car. With digital odometers there's no way to tell with junkyard cars. Engine will be good to go now methinks!

 

Pics! :angel:

 

unusually clean combustion chambers is usually a sign that blown headgasket let coolant that steam washed the carbon away from the cylinders. saves time on the cleaning step =)

 

Yep, not that it matters much cause you'll have to swap it out anyways, but a really clean spark plug will tell you which cylinders the coolant is leaking into without having to dig into the engine too far. This thing was also puking coolant and steam into the overflow like crazy too. Tell tale signs of BHG.

 

Man, what a pain! All back together and won't move...well it moves in reverse for a little before it lets go and slips and big time slippimng in forward gears too...torque converter is the only thing not new in the trans so had to drop trans to install a new one. Other than that she seems to run good but I think I need to raise the idle or check timing again as it started idling too low and rough and tends to die. I pray to God the torque converter fixes this issue! Have to wait till tomorrow to get more ATF.

 

still no pics lol

 

Diagnosed a little more, trans works great when cold and slips when it warms up. Also when disconnecting all solenoids it still slips so definitely a mechanical issue. I have replaced the torque converter with no luck. I have a pressure gauge coming in today to see what the line pressure is doing. Its possible adjusting the pressure regulator valve may do the trick, we'll see. Once you get moving it grabs and drives fine, so it may just need a slight bump in pressure. Will drop the valve body too see, otherwise will prob just order a 1jz auto to replace it.

 

OK, got my new trans pressure tester in the mail and checked line and accumulator back pressures, they checked good, even on the high side actually. So, according to the FSM, with these issues it is indicating the overdrive direct clutch or overdrive one way clutch is the issue. This is the first piece behind the oil pump. I'm going to pull the trans and swap that piece, then have a rainy day trans, because it turns out a 1jzgte non vvti trans is also pretty much the same as what I just built with this one. With the extra clutches internally and better torque converter a 1jz trans will be a more reliable unit behind a warmed up 2jzge anyway and capable of turbo abuse if we decide to go NA-T ever. Just ordered it so should be here next week. Yes, I got sick of messing with this junkyard one slipping. When I pull it out I'll inspect which clutches were slipping and should be able to fix it with all the extra A340 pieces I have now.

 

not a single damn picture?

 

There's a billion pics of Cressidas out there, nothing that special here. I will post pics when I am bored and have nothing else better to do. As of right now I have a transmission to swap.

 

Had a check engine light for sub oxygen sensor. Apparently most slackers doing these swaps just deal with a CEL always on, except I hate CEL's stuck on, so I added the sub O2 sensor. Not to mention some states won't pass emissions tests with a CEL on. Ordered the downstream sensor for a 95 gs300 on Amazon, went to Auto zone for bungs, drilled a hole behind the cat converter in the exhaust, and welded the bung in. I have found spark plug non foulers work great for O2 bungs, they're always in stock in the Help! section and you get two for $3. Just have to cut the tip off. The sub O2 is a 4 wire sensor, my 40 pin connector wasn't wired for it so I pulled a couple pins with wires from a donor parts harness and installed them in pins 30 and 36. One wire is shielded so I used a shielded donor wire and properly grounded out the shielding and grabbed switched power from one of many sources on the harness. Ran wires from glove box area under carpet to a pre-fabbed hole under passenger seat that had a plug in it. Pulled plug on the hole and it was perfect fit for the O2 sensor and grommet...prob what it was meant for actually! Anyways, check engine light is off now! Yay. I don't know if it'll improve gas mileage or not but its shaping up to be a helluva good OEM looking and operating swap...just like I like em!

 

Got the 1jzgte trans in today. It sure is an interesting trans; would be most similar to the Supra NA auto but had a different tailshaft and no 1 speed sensor than the GS or Cressida, so had to swap those. Also swapped valve bodies and an accumulator because the GS has 4 solenoids vs the 1jz's 3. The SLN solenoid didn't pass its test so I am going to try to get one from the junkyard tomorrow and then start it up after filling up fluids. Otherwise a new one is $200!

 

Car is up and running good now finally! New trans works great. The 2jz with a header is maybe only marginally faster than the 7mge, except now we have reliability, no oil burning, and flexibility to do whatever we want with it. The coolant in the engine was nasty so going to flush it with distilled water a few times before putting antifreeze back in. All that's left now is to customize the cruise control to get that working. Wifey is out driving it right now with a big smile on her face. Oh and I need to swap diff's with my other one after the MaxGrip LSD kit comes in the mail, this one has way too much play in it. Cleanest swap I've done yet as far as functionality!

 

One thing I forgot to mention was that the SLN/number four solenoid tested bad according to the TSRM, accumulator back pressure did not go to zero during its test but did drop a little. Those solenoids are EXPENSIVE, $200 each new. The GS300 and TT Supra trans valve body uses a couple extra of these solenoids for controlling line pressure and accumulator back pressure. Turns out the LS400 trans uses the same #3 and #4 solenoids, so I snagged one from the junkyard for $20 out of an LS400 and it was exactly the same. The #1 and 2 solenoids looked similar too but I didn't verify if they bolt into the GS300 valve body.