My '92 w/ 4AFE is finally put together. I had the blown engine it came with replaced with a low mileage used motor. Got a compression test done on the motor to make sure it was good. Got readings of 180psi, 175psi, 185psi, 180psi. Good readings according to the mechanic. That said, how can I get more horsepower from this motor? Do K&N filters help? Any ideas? I live in California so I am limited in what I can do and keep my vehicle "legal" but I would appreciate any helpful suggestions in my quest to squeeze out whatever extra horsepower I can from this engine. I know I am not driving a "tuner" street rocket, but a little more "umph" for for merging or going up the hills that make up San Francisco would be nice. Thanks!

4AFE motors don't get much more powerful than they are from the factory. A K&N filter may net you 1 or 2 crank hp but nothing noticable. You're really not going to get very far with one, especially if you are under the Naz.. I mean Cali emissions laws.

I'm not sure what the laws are like, but an intake would be a fun mod. You wouldn't really gain much (if any) power but at least it would sound cool

Well, what about an intake??? Do you know who makes one, bolt on??? I have considered doing this but am not sure which one I'd be able to install with a minimum of intervention to the existing system. I'm all ears.

From what little I know about engine swapping and modifying (for Hondas anyway), horsepower increase is usually accomplished by building up the engine itself.  Intake & exhaust mods will do a little for an engine, but nothing spectacular.  Putting a turbo on the engine, sleeving the block, or honing the cylinder walls and then getting appropriate pistons & rings... sometimes changing out the crankshaft & rods.  A lot of it has to do with the engine itself, in that you can't make a monster out of a mouse.  You can only get so much out of an engine by modifying it, and then you have to ask the question, "is this engine worth putting the money into?  Or should I just get another engine that already has more power?"  Not wanting to discourage you, but I hope this helps a bit!

Given the restrictions on the engine due to emissions, some HP gains can be had with increasing the exhaust output with a higher performance exhaust and increasing the input of air with a better air filter.  Other ways include cam shaft changes to alter valve timing and crankshaft changes, but these aren't too common for a 4AFE engine.  There is still debate on whether using high performance spark plug yields to better fuel combustion and greater cylinder compression.

Pehaps the biggest change that you can make is to put in a different engine, such as this mod: http://turbocorolla.com/cars/larsc.htm

That said, I did notice an increase in horsepower after some major changes, such as when I fixed the clutch.

And, running on higher octane, yielded some "oomph' and "vroom".  Some say that using a lighter synthetic gear oil in the front differential and rear differential yields a bit more horsepower, as well as having cooler-running gear boxes.

So you are in the Bay Area?  I used to live in the East Bay for years (Berkeley, Oakland, El Cerrito) before moving to SoCal.

Well, the radiator sprung a leak the other day, I'm waiting for the replacement to be delivered... there goes my upgrade for this month. I am thinking of a K&N filter to help it breath. What about exhaust? Any suggestions?? I am not going to be doing any internal mods/upgrades to the motor, only bolt ons. I also consider replacing the stock spark plugs, suggestions?? Thanks

I second that question about plugs....mine are a little grungy, and could use replacement. Currently planning to throw in some straightforward ngks...

Quoted from ajmcafee

I second that question about plugs....mine are a little grungy, and could use replacement. Currently planning to throw in some straightforward ngks...

I put some straight NGK coppers in and they work fine.  A nice cheap way to improve horsepower a bit.

In addition to my all-trac wagon I also own a 2000 corolla with a 1zzfe motor. does anybody know if these new motors will bolt on to our transmission/tranfercasses?  the 1ZZFE makes 130 horse power as opposed to the wagons 105HP. In addition its all aluminum(light weight), Lager displacement(1.8L), it also gets 33+MPG (My all-trac gets around 27mpg at best). Is there a way we can convert updated technology to our beloved all-trac wagons?

Is that 27 on the highway or in the city?  I used to get around 31 mph on the highway and 24 in the city.  Because of the propeller shaft and differential drive drain, fuel efficiency is about 25% less for the All-Tracs than for the regular Corolla.  I'm told that using pure lightweight synthetic motor oil (5W30, Mobil 1, Amsoil, Royal Purple), light synthetic transmission fluid, and light synthetic rear differential fluid can lead to somewhat increased fuel economy without sacrificing protection.  A K&N Air Filter might help; I bought one but haven't put it in yet.  But also put in a better exhaust, or at least a better exhaust manifold.  There were some for sale on eBay.  Your 2000 Corolla will always get better gas mileage than the All-Trac due to being front wheel drive, even with a bigger engine.

What about a higher-performing exhaust system.  Putting in more colder air (through a high-flow cold air intake is great, but you have to get all that extra air -- now very hot -- out of the engine as fast as possible.  

Here's a website that has some horsepower performance mods:  http://www.ferraridoors.com/horsepowermodification.htm

I'm going to start implementing some of these mods soon after I finish some electrical mods that I'm involved in.
I'll post those electrical mods soon.

Well, Gentlemen, Here's my Lake Tahoe Runner '92

sick...what are those rims from? if i get the '90, would like to put some on it.

Nice... looks like the same color as mine.

Thanks for the comments...the wheels are 14" MB Wheels that I was able to pick up at a local America's Tire for about $110 w/tires per corner thanks to a promotion the store was offering a few months back. It's a work in progress that right now has me a bit dumbfounded by the amount of oil it burned on it's maiden trip up to the mountains and back to San Francisco considering the replacement motor is supposed to have less than 50k on it. I had topped off the fluids before the run and after checking it upon returning realized that the dipstick was at the half way mark. Hmm. Also seemed a bit underpowered cresting the mountain passes. To date the project has cost me approx $2300.00 US including the $600 I paid for her with a blown rod (plus the cost of the wheels which I leave out of the equation as they were a cosmetic enhancement more that anything. It came with brand new 13" all weather Michellins on the stock wheelset with factory hub caps). Fortunately, the body is intact aside from some minor oxidation of the clear coat in a couple spots, which I think some Maguire's clay and a bit of elbow grease would take care of. No rust and the interior has been well cared for. I'll post a few more pictures once I get her cleaned up and the road grit off of her.

Quoted from rickyzee

Well, Gentlemen, Here's my Lake Tahoe Runner '92

Very nice -- and it seems to handle winter well. I wish mine was in half as decent shape; but, I've been putting my money toward school instead of maintenance.  Those 14" wheels make it look like it could handle anything.
How many miles on it?

The vehicle itself has about 190,000. But I replaced the motor with a used one from a local warehouse. It supposedly has less that 50k, but I'm finding that it is burning more oil than it should. It's a bit of a mystery as there is no residue on the plugs. The warehouse offered me another replacement but I am apprehensive as to swap it out will cost me another 500 bones which I really don't have right now. Fortunately I started off with a clean body and interior and relatively sound mechanical. As I've mentioned before, it's a work in progress and as long as I can have it completed for under $4000 I feel I will have come out ahead. On it's first winter run to Lake Tahoe, I did notice the less that ideal power of the motor, but you can't really go all that fast in the snow to begin with. And it is very sure footed in the snow, will be more so once I replace the struts (down the line sometime) which I believe are the originals from '92. As for the wheels, they can be had for not that much at Americas Tire.

Nice vehicle man....

As mentioned in another thread here's all the things I've done with my 1st gen 4afe - real simple stuff .. & YES it definitely makes a big difference - runs better than ever.

"You know for people who just want more out of their 4afe, I'd recommend:

1) run a cleansing treatment through your fuel system a couple of times - this should free up your engine & injectors a bit.
2) change your oil filter for the largest compatible one you can find - increases flow & doesn't get clogged as quick as a standard one
3) Run a cleanser through your oil system, then change your oil - use synthetic - it's worth it
4) change your fuel filter - it's 20 years old.. & yes fuel does have dirty impurities that build up in the filter over time
5) install a cold air intake with high flow filter - use google to learn more
6) get some performance headers

All these are a reasonable start & safe intro to modding. They can be done on a budget bit by bit if you don't have the money to spend all at once."

I also use high octane fuel - yes it costs a bit more but I value the result

One more mod I know of but haven't actually done:

1) Indexing your injectors - bit lengthy to explain but basically you mark a line on the top of the spark plug in line with the open point where the plug sparks.
Screw the plug back in by hand only, then using a torque wrench screw the plug in until the line you've marked is facing directly at the intake runner.
How this works: The 4afe is poorly ported & valved creating a slow combusting cylinder head, meaning the air/fuel mix doesn't spread evenly inside the head.
By facing the spark point of every plug as close to the intake runners as possible, ignition & burn time is improved

Thanks for those tips!  I will have to consider some of those soon, like the fuel & oil treatments.  The spark plug thing is interesting, never heard of that before, and will have to try that one sometime.  Fuel filters (there's two, one in the tank around the pump, the other in the engine bay) are on my short list, so that would be great to do before the fuel treatment for the injectors.

Cheers Rogue, I've just bought a 4agze engine, hopefully I have the dilligence to do a good write up on the whole conversion including photo's

So here is a link to someone's A-T that shows a horsepower of 175 but it does not say if the engine is a stock 4AFE or an upgrade.  Also, the displacement is listed as 1.3 L, which is smaller than the 4AFE.  I think Toyota made 1.3L engines for the Starlet, Echo, and Yaris, among others.
http://www.theautolog.com/profile.php?member=RacerDOHC16&vehicle=7514.
As far as a 4AGZE, that would be my future engine mod for me as well. . . when I have the money and assuming I can find one that is in good shape and reasonable.

For those of you who have 4AGZE engines, what sort of gas / petrol are you getting per liter or gallon?

Дл� тех из ва�, кто Toyota 4AGZE двигателей, какой газ / бензин вы получаете за литр или галлон?

Datsa, the only people on here that I'm aware of who've successfully completed 4agze conversions are Kebin & trbowgn & they're not on this forum very often.

Maybe you could PM them..

What I can say is that all 4age series engines were built for performance not economy so yeah..., your gonna lose some mileage.
Also the 4agze was designed to run on high octane fuel only. 98 I'm pretty sure, so this is also gonna cost more.
But the supercharger on a 4agze means the engine exerts less effort generating power during initial acceleration, so if you drive moderately with a mild amount of boost then your mileage will still be respectable.

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Re:link to someone's A-T that shows a horsepower of 175 but it does not say if the engine is a stock 4AFE or an upgrade.  Also, the displacement is listed as 1.3 L, which is smaller than the 4AFE.  I think Toyota made 1.3L engines for the Starlet, Echo, and Yaris, among others.
http://www.theautolog.com/profile.php?member=RacerDOHC16&vehicle=7514.

I suspect that 1.3 might be a typo, why would anyone down grade to a smaller literage only to modify for performance.
Plus 175 HP from a 1.3 sounds incorrect.
Agressive tuning & access to an engineering workshop + high octane fuel could get 175 HP out of a first gen 4afe

The 1.6Ltr 4afe came out standard with 105 HP, getting it up to 175 HP would be quite a challenge, getting 175HP from a 1.3Ltr engine just doesn't sound right...

A few things that are out there....

1) If you have an 88, or 89 model, you can swap the intake for a 90-92 model for improved low end torque, and a bit more hp



2) there are extractors available.... I'm currently TRYING to get an OEM Toyota manifold from the 1997+ 4AFE, it is a tube header



3) to go along with the extractor, Fujitsubo offers a mandrel bent exhaust system - http://www.fujitsubo.co.jp/prods/detail/000000000000000912/00000000000000004478/00000209



Those are all "bolt-on" mods...

I just dismantled a late model intake from a newer generation 4afe & got some injectors from a 5sfe toyota engine.
(Much to my horror I got home & realised the 7afe engine I have already had the exact same intake! There goes 80bucks & 45minutes I'll never get back!)


Anyway...
I'll be swapping them over on my base model wagon as an experiment in the search of increased horsepower for all you guys who don't want to do a full conversion..
..meanwhile I continue with the 7agze engine build & search for an optioned up SR5 model.

My results will be anecdotal as I don't have a tacho & am not going to bother with a dyno tune (I do have a tacho dash I could swap in tough...hmmmn.. more sideline work!!!)

I'll keep you posted

Quoted from BAM

In addition to my all-trac wagon I also own a 2000 corolla with a 1zzfe motor. does anybody know if these new motors will bolt on to our transmission/tranfercasses?  the 1ZZFE makes 130 horse power as opposed to the wagons 105HP. In addition its all aluminum(light weight), Lager displacement(1.8L), it also gets 33+MPG (My all-trac gets around 27mpg at best). Is there a way we can convert updated technology to our beloved all-trac wagons?

The 1zzfe engine does not share the same engine mounts.
The 7afe should fit with some grinding of the block similar to how the block & transfer case on a 4AGE or 4AGZE would require a small amount of grinding.
It's mounting points are the same & so is the intake & runners. The only difference between late gen 4afe's & 7afe's is the 7afe is 15.4mm higher in the block. I'm not sure if the heads are any different at all. They look identical at first glance.
You'd have to fit in the entire 7afe system though, meaning the wiring loom & ECU because a 4afe ECU wouldn't be able to control the air fuel mix of a 1.8L engine

Quoted from rickyzee

Well, Gentlemen, Here's my Lake Tahoe Runner '92

i got those rims but there 13's see my sig there now painted black.

I think that style of wheel suits the alltrac wagon well.

I'm fitting some old skool mags to my granny spec runaround soon.

Will post pics once they're on.