Ecotek Valve fitment to ST205 Toyota Celica GT-Four

Early in 2002 Paul Wigzell contacted us to check that the Ecotek CB-26P worked on the Celica GT Four - he was anxious to test it for the members of the GT4 Owners Club of which he is Chairman - after what looks like a very thorough test these are his findings: 

"Fitting the Ecotek on the GT4 is very easy as the servo hose is positioned at the top of the plenum chamber on the left hand side as you look at the engine. I cut the pipe about 2-3” from where it joins and inserted the valve into position. Adding a couple of jubilee clips to secure it.

Once in I closed it off completely and started the car up, waited till it got to operating temp and the idle was reading the usual 750rpm. Now all I had to do was unscrew the valve until a rasping noise could be heard. Once happy I had the right position I then turned it back through 90 degrees and locked it off with the locking screw.

Now was time for the test drive. At first I didn’t think the valve was working correctly as I could not hear the valve making any noise so I stopped and checked it was working. I lifted the bonnet and revved the engine; on over run it made the expected rasping noise, so I could obviously not hear it when driving which was good. One way this might have been helped is that I pointed the valve to the front of the car, therefore pointing the noise away from the cabin.  Now I knew it was working I carried on driving to see if I could feel any difference in the way the car drove. In the lower gears I couldn’t really tell as the engine responds very well to start with, but in 4^th and 5^th especially on the motorway I could tell the car picked up slightly better before boost came on. So I was happy with this, first test was a success.

As for an emissions test I could see straightaway there was no real drop in the emissions. The tester decided to do it again and I thought that tweaking the valve might help slightly. I opened it up bit by bit to allow more air to bleed in, as I did this the emissions actually rose above 1% CO from 0.65% CO, my previous attempt before the Ecotek gave a final reading of 0.70% CO so the valve had obviously failed in this dept. The only reason I can see why this happened is that the ST205 has a MAP sensor in the manifold, so it was detecting the extra air being bled in and compensating for it by adding more fuel?

So now knowing the emissions had not improved I was convinced there would be no MPG improvement. If the same amount of fuel were being used then surely the fuel economy would not change - untrue. The way the valve works to improve throttle response had obviously worked in the same way to improve my fuel economy by agitating the mixture before it enters the combustion chamber. This in turn gives a much better burn of the mixture and therefore improves the response making the car more drivable.

Before the valve was fitted I did two MPG tests on my car both of which gave me 22mpg over an average week of driving to work and back etc. with the valve fitted this test was done again and my average rose to 24 the first week and 25 the second. Giving a good increase (10%+). These driving tests where done by brimming the tank right up to the spout on a Sunday night. The following Sunday night I would return the same pump so I didn’t get any variations and brimming to the same level again and reading the amount of fuel I put in.

All in all I think the valve would work better in the emissions department on the ST165 and ST185 with them having air flow meters instead of MAP sensors. This in turn could result in even more savings in fuel economy, as the car would run slightly lean off boost.

You can contact me direct if you have any questions at paul@gt4oc.com."

Paul Wigzell - GT4OC Chairman

Many thanks Paul for the pictures and such a thorough review! Visit the GT4 Owners Club web site here: www.gt4oc.com

Chris Allmark contacted us in Feb 2002 with these pictures of the fitting to his Celica GT and said:

"Thought you might like to see pictures of the Ecotek valve fitted to my 1989 Toyota Celica 2L GT.  I must say that I was skeptical at first, having been in the motor trade for some years, however since fitting the car does seem to rev more freely.  As I do around 700 miles a week in the car the device soon bedded in and I definitely noticed when it needed re-tuning as the fuel economy dropped off quite noticeably !!!

Fitting was quite straightforward, rather than cutting the original servo hose I simply cut a piece from a spare hose & used that between the valve and the plenum chamber, retaining the original from the servo to the valve.

The unit has been on for around 6 months now & I haven't noticed any detrimental effects.  On servicing the plugs did seem a bit white, indicating that the engine may be running a little lean, however there is no sign of pinking or loss of power - I may richen the mixture slightly to compensate.  One thing I have noticed is that the car seems to run better on certain brands of fuel, I think that some fuels might have a slightly lower octane ratio that stated.  Possibly because the car is running borderline weak this may be more noticeable?

Congratulations on a quality product." Chris Allmark.

Thanks Chris - always good to hear from someone in the trade!

Still on the subject of Toyotas - Tom sent us details of his 91 Toyota Starlet ep81 - he said:

"First read about it whilst surfing around the internet, looking for gadgets and other stuff for my car. decided to purchase one earlier on this year. fitting was quite straightforward, although the brake vacuum hose didn't suffice; it only fed 2 cylinders!

So I went for the pcv hose and fitted the cb26p using a set of jubilees... only took a Stanley knife and a couple of minutes to fit in right in. first impressions were a smoother ride and, of course, staggering economy results! First couple-o-tanks delivered 10 to 14% improvements in economy.... it's definitely worth a try!!  Regards Tom"

Many thanks Tom - glad you like it!

One of the most popular Cars Worldwide - the Toyota Corolla benefits considerably from the CB-26P.

Here is the 2002 Toyota Corolla 1.8 litre ZZ-1 - fitted by our Indonesian Distributor.

Here is what he said: "Quite an easy task as there is an unused pipe behind the throttle body. So I simply took out the rubber plug, replaced it with a hose and fitted the Ecotek on top of the hose. The original rubber plug was then used to plug the other end of the T connector."

Works a treat - better response, smoother running as well as the emissions and economy benefits!