Can I hotwire the electronic shocks?

pdudley42 · 06-05-2009, 01:59 AM

I'm running an 1986 1/2 Supra in the 24 hours of lemons and our car has the stepper motor-controlled shocks but the switch controlling them is gone. Is there any information out there on how to hotwire them. Basically I'll just put them in their stiffest setting and leave them there. I'm pretty crafty with wiring and willing to be creative, but I figured one of you guys had run into this problem before.
As an alternative I'm considering installing some conventional dampers. Can anyone recommend a good value on a damper that works well for a $500 Supra?
Thanks, Paul

Kevin · 06-05-2009, 02:46 AM

are you talking about the button under the shifter?
heres a link to all wiring. http://cygnusx1.net/Supra/Library/TEWD/MK3/

mirage83 · 06-05-2009, 03:00 AM

Don't need to rewire them. Pull the TEMS motors off the top of the shocks and you'll see the shock adjustment shaft. It'll have a slot in the top for the adjustments and you'll probably see settings 1-5. Use a standard screwdriver and turn the slot on all your shocks to "5", and just don't put the TEMS motors back on. That's the stiffest setting for your suspension.

That's all there is to it. GL.

pdudley42 · 06-09-2009, 01:53 AM

Thanks GL. That's the answer I was hoping existed. Full-stiff it is. As an added bonus we get to take the little motors out as well...less weight (insert smiley).
We are going to shake down the car at an autocross next weekend at Stowe mountain resort in Vermont; it snowed at the last one. The radiator we got from car-parts dotcom turned out to be a leaker under pressure so I've got to play the whole "used radiator crapshoot game" again, but I'm very optimistic about the car as a whole and my team is extremely excited to run it in the Lemons race. I custom-fit a twin-fan from an air-conditioned Nissan Altima to the radiator that will work perfect in the event of a long red-flag period where we'll want to avoid shutting the car off.
Oh by the way, any good advice on brake pads?

mirage83 · 06-09-2009, 02:49 AM

Given what you've got planned for it I don't personally think the brake pads are gonna matter much.

Seriously though, I'm far from an expert on the best kind of pad for your purposes. Maybe someone with more experience on what you'll need for the race will chime in.

pdudley42 · 06-11-2009, 01:33 PM

I think we're going with Porterfields. The other choice is EBC Yellowstuff.

pdudley42 · 06-15-2009, 10:32 PM

So today we removed the covers from the electronic shocks. What I found I did not expect. There were no markings to indicate which setting was which and the tabs just spin and spin, with no noticable difference is stiffness or behavior. Does this mean the shocks are just plain worn out? Perhaps someone just replaced them with nonadjustable ones? Our car is an 86 1/2; perhaps the notches denoting which setting were not used until a later year? I could use some more advice.

The rollcage is done, the seat is mounted, and there is an autocross next Sunday for shakedown.
It's on!!!!!!!
Paul

carl johansson · 06-26-2009, 02:11 PM

hey Paul,
How did the autoX go?,

Probably to late - but we just bought 25 buck shocks from the local autozone to replace the TEMS units - which were shot. No matter what you do - for 500 bucks - the bodys gunna roll quite a bit on you - heavy car - built as a highway cruiser. One thing that helped our lemon car - alot! is to remove the whole rear hatch - takes away about 75 or 80 lbs - and it's high weight - well above the center of gravity.

we typically go through a set of pads each day, change em over before the next day starts - unless it's a 1 day deal with no break - then we try to ride it out. We have found out that least is more on this car - the less you use the brakes - the faster your laptimes will be - letting off early - letting the car settle before tyou enter the corner - and accelerating through the corner is alot faster than grinding the brakes to slow the car - having it be squirrley through the corner - and getting a low exit speed.

we learned our lesson ther hard way - we had an adopted team member (as a favor to a friend) who thought he was going to prove to all of us and everybody else that he was NASCAR material - he completely destroyed the brakes in a 45 minute stint - and got out of the car bragging about how fast his lap times were. now we had a car that was vibrating and whining metal on metal - and had 3 hours to go. My brother and I both drove it using the brakes a grand total of 1X per lap (this is out at thunderhill - where brakes are King!) - anyway to make a long stiry short - we turned the fasted laps of the event (for our car) doing that - and made sure our ex co driver knew what a putz he was !

Hows the prep coming? we just started our second lemons supra - so we have one stationed in the midwest - and one here in california!
Carl Johansson
Johansson Brothers racing
87 supra - car 86!

pdudley42 · 06-26-2009, 11:25 PM

Carl.
Last weekend's autocross went well for us. 3 of our 5 drivers entered the car so we got a lot of shakedown time. It seems to handle well, very neutral. I think our diff is a viscous cause it wasn't much help (meh). Good power and torque. I found two concerns. One is bubbles in the coolant overflow. I don't think it's a headgasket because it would continue to bubble long after the engine was shut off. Probably a radiator cap, I'll find out on Sunday. The other disconcerting find was when it lost spark for a moment during a run and had to coast off the course. It cranked well and I could smell fuel, so I assumed no spark. I wiggled all the wires from the distributor and the coil and it started right up, never to fail again. This weekend I'll pull all those connectors apart and clean them and check for problems.
Had there been a little more time, I would have definitely gone for the autozone cheapies, as our shocks are definitely not helping much. Our car doesn't have detents for the shock settings, the screw just turns and turns with no indication that it's soing anything at all (meh).
I appreciate the advice on smoothness over aggression, I tend toward the latter. For enduros, however, you gotta make it last.
This Sunday should be our last work day except for paint.
Here is a photo frrom the autocross.
Paul
http://vermontracing.com/gallery2/ma...2_itemId=43500

06-05-2009, 01:59 AM	#1
pdudley42 Stock Join Date: May 2009 Location: Waitsfield, Vt Posts: 8	Can I hotwire the electronic shocks? I'm running an 1986 1/2 Supra in the 24 hours of lemons and our car has the stepper motor-controlled shocks but the switch controlling them is gone. Is there any information out there on how to hotwire them. Basically I'll just put them in their stiffest setting and leave them there. I'm pretty crafty with wiring and willing to be creative, but I figured one of you guys had run into this problem before. As an alternative I'm considering installing some conventional dampers. Can anyone recommend a good value on a damper that works well for a $500 Supra? Thanks, Paul

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06-05-2009, 02:46 AM	#2
Kevin 3" Exhaust Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 194	are you talking about the button under the shifter? heres a link to all wiring. http://cygnusx1.net/Supra/Library/TEWD/MK3/

06-05-2009, 03:00 AM	#3
mirage83 12psi boost Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Georgia Posts: 359	Don't need to rewire them. Pull the TEMS motors off the top of the shocks and you'll see the shock adjustment shaft. It'll have a slot in the top for the adjustments and you'll probably see settings 1-5. Use a standard screwdriver and turn the slot on all your shocks to "5", and just don't put the TEMS motors back on. That's the stiffest setting for your suspension. That's all there is to it. GL.

06-09-2009, 01:53 AM	#4
pdudley42 Stock Join Date: May 2009 Location: Waitsfield, Vt Posts: 8	Thanks GL. That's the answer I was hoping existed. Full-stiff it is. As an added bonus we get to take the little motors out as well...less weight (insert smiley). We are going to shake down the car at an autocross next weekend at Stowe mountain resort in Vermont; it snowed at the last one. The radiator we got from car-parts dotcom turned out to be a leaker under pressure so I've got to play the whole "used radiator crapshoot game" again, but I'm very optimistic about the car as a whole and my team is extremely excited to run it in the Lemons race. I custom-fit a twin-fan from an air-conditioned Nissan Altima to the radiator that will work perfect in the event of a long red-flag period where we'll want to avoid shutting the car off. Oh by the way, any good advice on brake pads?

06-09-2009, 02:49 AM	#5
mirage83 12psi boost Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Georgia Posts: 359	Given what you've got planned for it I don't personally think the brake pads are gonna matter much. Seriously though, I'm far from an expert on the best kind of pad for your purposes. Maybe someone with more experience on what you'll need for the race will chime in.

06-11-2009, 01:33 PM	#6
pdudley42 Stock Join Date: May 2009 Location: Waitsfield, Vt Posts: 8	I think we're going with Porterfields. The other choice is EBC Yellowstuff.

06-15-2009, 10:32 PM	#7
pdudley42 Stock Join Date: May 2009 Location: Waitsfield, Vt Posts: 8	So today we removed the covers from the electronic shocks. What I found I did not expect. There were no markings to indicate which setting was which and the tabs just spin and spin, with no noticable difference is stiffness or behavior. Does this mean the shocks are just plain worn out? Perhaps someone just replaced them with nonadjustable ones? Our car is an 86 1/2; perhaps the notches denoting which setting were not used until a later year? I could use some more advice. The rollcage is done, the seat is mounted, and there is an autocross next Sunday for shakedown. It's on!!!!!!! Paul

06-26-2009, 02:11 PM	#8
carl johansson 3" Exhaust Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Auberry, California Posts: 141	hey Paul, How did the autoX go?, Probably to late - but we just bought 25 buck shocks from the local autozone to replace the TEMS units - which were shot. No matter what you do - for 500 bucks - the bodys gunna roll quite a bit on you - heavy car - built as a highway cruiser. One thing that helped our lemon car - alot! is to remove the whole rear hatch - takes away about 75 or 80 lbs - and it's high weight - well above the center of gravity. we typically go through a set of pads each day, change em over before the next day starts - unless it's a 1 day deal with no break - then we try to ride it out. We have found out that least is more on this car - the less you use the brakes - the faster your laptimes will be - letting off early - letting the car settle before tyou enter the corner - and accelerating through the corner is alot faster than grinding the brakes to slow the car - having it be squirrley through the corner - and getting a low exit speed. we learned our lesson ther hard way - we had an adopted team member (as a favor to a friend) who thought he was going to prove to all of us and everybody else that he was NASCAR material - he completely destroyed the brakes in a 45 minute stint - and got out of the car bragging about how fast his lap times were. now we had a car that was vibrating and whining metal on metal - and had 3 hours to go. My brother and I both drove it using the brakes a grand total of 1X per lap (this is out at thunderhill - where brakes are King!) - anyway to make a long stiry short - we turned the fasted laps of the event (for our car) doing that - and made sure our ex co driver knew what a putz he was ! Hows the prep coming? we just started our second lemons supra - so we have one stationed in the midwest - and one here in california! Carl Johansson Johansson Brothers racing 87 supra - car 86!

06-26-2009, 11:25 PM	#9
pdudley42 Stock Join Date: May 2009 Location: Waitsfield, Vt Posts: 8	Carl. Last weekend's autocross went well for us. 3 of our 5 drivers entered the car so we got a lot of shakedown time. It seems to handle well, very neutral. I think our diff is a viscous cause it wasn't much help (meh). Good power and torque. I found two concerns. One is bubbles in the coolant overflow. I don't think it's a headgasket because it would continue to bubble long after the engine was shut off. Probably a radiator cap, I'll find out on Sunday. The other disconcerting find was when it lost spark for a moment during a run and had to coast off the course. It cranked well and I could smell fuel, so I assumed no spark. I wiggled all the wires from the distributor and the coil and it started right up, never to fail again. This weekend I'll pull all those connectors apart and clean them and check for problems. Had there been a little more time, I would have definitely gone for the autozone cheapies, as our shocks are definitely not helping much. Our car doesn't have detents for the shock settings, the screw just turns and turns with no indication that it's soing anything at all (meh). I appreciate the advice on smoothness over aggression, I tend toward the latter. For enduros, however, you gotta make it last. This Sunday should be our last work day except for paint. Here is a photo frrom the autocross. Paul http://vermontracing.com/gallery2/ma...2_itemId=43500