Intercooler fitting and more electrics

So first of all, following on from the last update on the 'starting electrics' I had a problem with the starter motor kicking in when the key was turned to the On position, before actually getting to the start position. After 3 hours of tracing backwards, up to the point of the relay then searching online I found out I had missed a key Earth, this earth attaches from the loom under the intake manifold to the intake manifold itself.

This earth can cause many types of weird and wonderful behaviours...don't miss it like I did!!

After that I proceeded to fit the intercooler now the pipes that I had measured arrived, the bracket was designed for an OEM intercooler but I had a more beefy after market one so had to design my own pipework solution and will adapt the brackets. So I ordered various 45 degree bends, reducers and alloy pipes and ended up with the below;

After this it was back to the wiring. The fuseboard I showed installed in the footwell of the passanger side in a previous blog update is the hub to all the electrics outside of starting and charging. so first was to hook up a permanent battery feed to the board (for Hazards) and the ACC switch from the igntion (indicators / lights / Radio etc...)

Once this was done I first completed the column stalk wiring for the washer jet and wiper motor, simply put because this was the easiest and a good test for me. I got this working first time, which is a good start! I also decided on the route the wires would take through the bulk head to get to the front of the car.

Once I had tested the wires (using block connectors temporarily for testing) I then lightly bundled them separately. Shown below from left to right in this photo

Red - Headlights (not wired in yet)
Yellow - Horn
Blue bundle - Wiper motor and Jet
Green Bundle - Indicators
4  seperate leads in choc block - starting wires

The reason I have bundled these separately is for future maintenance although they will be put in a single conduit.

Now I have not had to label any wires, the reason for this is I am using the MR2 original loom for a wire source and stripping it of the required wires and building my own loom, because of this I'm using the same original colour codes meaning once complete the MR2 Electrical Manual will be able to be used for working out what wire is what when required. This should make it easier for any future diagnosis or future owner of course (one day!)

As listed above the front indicators were put in and tested and working correctly, at the same time I tested the hazard switch which worked fine,  although I'm waiting on the 3 pin relay so they just stayed on rather then flashed. The photo below shows the green and blue bundles heading in their relevant directions and the self tapped cable brackets. Remember 300mm maximum spacing for IVA, so its a lot of holes.

Once I was happy everything was working, I then looked to change the choc block with proper automotive connectors, I'm still waiting on water proof connectors to arrive for those areas but I could do the interior connections for the indicators and wipers.

The wire bundles should be quite small under the dash due to my dial cluster solution which will be explained when it arrives soon.

As well as the above I finally fixed the rear fusebox to the chassis and made it secure, there is still more wire securing required down there to be done, but it will be fine until I work out brackets needed.

I also re-bundled the rear lighting harness for the rear clusters and have already run the indicator cables back to them ready to be tested again (in original Mr2 wiring loom colours)

I've found this stage of the wiring easier then I thought I would. The next stage will be the headlights and using the relays and when the one missing intercooler pipe arrives I will attempt to start the engine for the first time in 1yr and 8months!