Defi Oil Temperature Gauge Installation

With the help of Kam80, this was installed. I cannot stress enough how immensely grateful I am for his help. The installation was stressful for a noob like me as the uncertainty of whether it would work got to me, but Kam's stoic resolve pulled me through.

The temperature sensor is fixed to the oil cooler sandwich plate. Wiring for the gauge is attached to the aircon control harness. Today, I tidied up the wiring inside the cabin - got a couple of 3M Command wire holders and matte blacked them.

See here for the wiring instructions:
http://zkthlz.blogspot.com/2009/12/defi-oil-temperature-gauge-wiring.html

Results so far with oil cooler
Air temperature: 25º C or below
Stop/start on roads 80kph or less: 79-82º C
Freeway: ~75º C

Air temperature: 25-30º C
Stop/start on roads 80kph or less: ~85º C
Freeway: ~80º C

The next step is to test with the oil cooler core covered on the street and then some on-track temperature readings.

Trust/Greddy Oil Cooler Installation

With the impending hot weather and upcoming December track day, I thought I would get an oil cooler. So last week, this arrived:

The sandwich plate contains a thermostat which I believe opens between 71 and 85 degrees Celsius +/- 2 degrees.

With the help of Kam80 and c2888, installation was fairly simple:

1. Take the front bumper off.
2. Mount the cooler core in place.
3. Fit the oil filter sandwich plate.
4. Connect and tighten hoses.

One small hiccup - As my Japanese literacy is non-existent, I didn't see that I was required to use an oil filter for a 1JZ/2JZ. As a result, my OEM filter did not screw on as the sandwich plate thread pattern was different. Luckily, c2888 had a spare Corolla filter that fit - that will do for now.

Big thanks must go to Kam providing a heap of help and taking photos during this stinking hot installation, and Dan for his technical know-how.

Skidpan Training

This was my second time on a skidpan but my first with formal training from an instructor. It was another great opportunity to test out the behaviour of the car at its limit of traction. The time with the instructor was very valuable as it helped to further solidify the concepts required to be understood in order to hold the car in a slide.

What I learnt:

1. After initiating the slide, maintaining it consists of counter steering and throttle application, and these two concepts work in tandem.
2. Applying throttle further breaks traction at the rear tyres and swings the rear of the car out.
3. Lifting off throttle allows the tyres to regain traction.
4. After counter steering, it is a matter of holding the steering in that direction and modulating throttle between grip and wheel spin. Steering should be minimal as the direction of the car should be controlled through the rear swinging out and being pull back in.

Here are some highlights from my time on the skid pan thanks to Shaun.