TEMS Stands for Toyota Electronically Modulated Suspension. special system that was an option on the Japanese cars i think. and ECT is Electronically Controlled Transmission, no ideas that the 'S' Could stand for...
Ok, so how do they work? Why not anywhere else? I've never been able to engage economy mode, even though it's on the A/C control as well? The car I bought today has TEMS, - electrically controlled struts? swaybars? It's like the cars here were made by somebody else
not sure, my car dosent have these... (i wish.) but im guessing struts, they are supposed to stiffen the ride when its turned on. im not sure about the ECON on the aircon either, mine has the A/C Econ switch too.
Guess I'll find out when I pick it up, damn thing is an 87 GE and has power fold mirrors as well as power seat. I think the econ mode is supposed to shut off the aircon pump under load but maybe mine's faulty. It was raining hard & I noticed the TEMS sticker but didn't put 2+2 together till I saw that rev counter tonight.
wow thats really cool, these things had so many different options and specs its ridiculous. very interesting though
LOL, the mirrors are worth more than I paid for it! Looks like I found a rare gem by accident Yeah - I can't believe the guys at Toyota were that bored, but then there's a new model every month
the tems has electronically adjustable shock dampeners. good luck repolacing thos when the time comes.
O/D drops revs by about 1000 rpm but has no effect on "econony mode", but my car may be faulty. If somebody has it working, please let us know Yeah Mafix you may be right, seems they were made by Tokico and fitted to Trueno, Soarer, Supra, st162, st182, Cressida amongst others as an option. I found plenty of non electric replacements but no originals. Interesting to read the info behind them, almost asif Toyota was looking to use "active suspension" but instead it was an option and it looks like the shocks weren't as reliable as normal types. The valving would change under braking, cornering, acceleration, speed etc - so there must be a ton of sensors & extra wiring, which some guys say weighs an extra 10lb.
Yeah I think that's the economy mode, just the sensor/dash light isn't on for you due to a fault somewhere. -K
The O/D has it's own light & works fine Here's a guy selling TEMS shocks for a Supra, I've heard heaps that the Celica uses the same shocks but these look totally different http://www.trademe.co.nz/a.aspx?id=220601652 Funny he is quick to say "as is" and "not leaking" but doesn't say that they are actually still working! I got to fire it up the other day, the motor is f/d but the TEMS lights are weird. The lights move as you accelerate, brake, corner etc - could take some getting used to?
It's a cool technology - pretty ground-breaking for road cars back in the 80's. They react to speed/braking/cornering and automatically stiffen (the lights) - to a greater degree in sport mode. They use a similar system to the TEIN top mounts, stepper motors in the top mounts to actuate the stiffening. Just google for a better description. Like you, however, I found the LED's lighting up a bit distracting.
All I could find was very old threads for Supra, Soarer, Trueno etc You have one as well? How many of these are there? It's a simple form of "active suspension", more advanced forms couldn't distinguish between a rock and ball of paper, so no wonder they died but I can't see why TEMS was abandoned. Unless the struts are unreliable.
It was a pretty expensive option on all the cars mentioned. I guess in the end there wasn't enough money in it for Toyota. I haven't got it on my 162 - in fact I didn't realise it was available on the 16x until this thread - but I owned an ST183 for a short time with it on.
Glad to have someone with your knowledge aboard I'm just glad to have a black 162, the TEMS was an added bonus not mentioned in the auction. I paid $350 for it and a week later people were offering thousands for it, I don't think I'll lose money on it? Oxi has some catalogs listing TEMS, PEGASUS, LASRE etc. I don't think it was an extra as the harness, rev counter etc are different and I suspect some extra sensors hidden away as well. This is the second TEMS 162 I've come across, the first was an auto which sold here about 2 years ago. This car has an interesting past, ex JDM, it sold new here from a Sports car importer for $18k - which was a hell of a lot of money in those days. The first lady owner must have liked it, she kept it for 15yrs! What is it with the 16x and chicks? They say "nice car, wtf is it?" - like it's an exotic
you should see the looks i get stig, lol. i'm sure it's a similar system to the nissan active suspension. great when it works, but god help you when it breaks.
Found another one! A lady contacted me this week from te Puke N.Z. for some decals. (where?) I asked her for some pics for my collection and not only does she have a rare 2 tone silver car - it's a TEMS as well This one is an 89 Auto in original condition
