The Toyota A Series engines are a family of inline-four internal combustion engines with displacement from 1.3 L to 1.8 L produced by Toyota Motor Corporation. The series has cast iron engine blocks and aluminum cylinder heads. To make the engine as short as possible, the cylinders are siamesed.
The development of the series began in the late 1970s, when Toyota wanted to develop a completely new engine for the Toyota Tercel, the successor of Toyota's K engine.Finnish "Tekniikan Maailma" Magazine, 17/82 The goal was to achieve good fuel efficiency and performance as well as low emissions with a modern design.Finnish "Ajovalo" web page http://www.ajovalo.net/Historia/toyota_tercel.htmFinnish "Ajovalo" web page http://www.ajovalo.net/Historia/toyota_corolla83.htm The A-series includes one of the first Japanese mass-production DOHC, four-valve-per-cylinder engines, the 4A-GE, and a later version of the same engine was one of the first production five-valve-per-cylinder engines.
Toyota joint venture partner Tianjin FAW Xiali produces the 1.3 L 8A and resumed production of the 5A in 2007.
1A
The 1.5 L 1A was produced between 1978 and 1980. All variants were belt-driven 8-valve counter-flow SOHC engines with a single, twin-barrel downdraft carburetor. It used Toyota's Turbulence Generating Pot (TGP) lean combustion system to meet Japanese emissions standards at the time with only an oxidation (2-way) catalyst. The 1A engine was only long.A better car than its styling would indicate, p. 178
1A-C Applications: AL10 Tercel
1A-U Using Toyota two-way catalyst.
Output: at 5,600 rpm and at 3,600 rpm (compression at 9.0:1)
Applications: AL10 Tercel/Corsa (Japan only)
2A
The 1.3 L 2A was produced from 1979 through 1989. 2A engines in 1982 onwards AL20 Tercels have a slightly different valve cover and timing belt cover than early AL11 Tercels, as well as an automatic choke, and automatically controlled hot air intake (HAI) system. It also has higher compression ratio, and reformulated combustion chambers to improve the fuel economy and emissions. All variants used belt-driven SOHC eight-valve counter-flow cylinder heads with a single downdraft carburetor.
2A, 2A-L, 2A-LC Output: at 6,000 rpm and at 3,800 rpm (compression at 9.3:1)
Applications: AE80 Corolla 1983–1985 (excluding Japan, 2A-LC in Australia) AL11 Tercel 1979–1982 (excluding Japan and North America) AL20 Tercel 1982–1984 (excluding Japan and North America)
2A-U, 2A-LU Using Toyota TTC-C catalytic converter.
Output: at 6,000 rpm and at 3,600 rpm (compression at 9.3:1)
Applications: AE80 Corolla 1983–1985 (Japan only) AL20 Corolla II 1982–1986 (Japan only) AL11 Corsa (Japan only) AL20 Corsa 1982–1989 (Japan only) AE80 Sprinter 1983–1985 (Japan only) AL11 Tercel AL20 Tercel 1982–1989 (Japan only)
3A
The 1.5 L 3A was produced from 1979 through 1989. The 3A engine is the successor of Toyota's first A engine, the 1A. All variants were belt-driven eight-valve counter-flow SOHC engines but no longer used Toyota's "Turbulence Generating Pot" pre-combustion system from the 1A.
3A, 3A-C
Output: at 5,600 rpm and at 3,800 rpm (compression at 9.0:1, European spec) at 4,500 rpm (N. America, AL-21 3 door liftback) at 4,800 rpm (N. America, AL-25 5-door wagon)
Applications: AL12 Tercel 1979–1982 (excluding Japan) AL21/25 Tercel 1982–1988 (excluding Japan)
3A-U, 3A-LU Using Toyota TTC-C catalytic converter. On some models marked as 3A-II.
Output: at 5,600 rpm and at 3,600 rpm (compression at 9.0:1)
Applications: AA60 Carina 1981–1987 (Japan only) AT150 Carina 1984–1988 (Japan only) AE70 Corolla 1979–1983 (Japan only) AE81/85 Corolla 1983–1987 (Japan only) AL21 Corolla II 1982–1986 (Japan only) AT140 Corona 1982–1987 (Japan only) AT150 Corona 1983–1987 (Japan only) AL12 Corsa (Japan only) AL21/25 Corsa 1982–1989 (Japan only) AW10 MR2 1984–1989 (Japan only) AE70 Sprinter 1979–1983 (Japan only) AE81/85 Sprinter 1983–1987 (Japan only) AL25 Sprinter Carib 1982–1988 (Japan only) AL21/25 Tercel 1982–1989 (Japan only)
3A-HU High compression version with Toyota TTC-C catalytic converter.
Output: at 6,000 rpm and at 4,000 rpm (compression at 9.3:1)Car Graphic Car Archive '80s, p. 10
Applications: AL21 Corolla II 1982–1984 (Japan only) AL21 Corsa 1982–1984 (Japan only) AL21 Tercel 1982–1984 (Japan only)
3A-SU Twin carburetted swirl-intake version with Toyota TTC-C catalytic converter, introduced in August 1984 along with a facelift for the Tercel (and its sister variants) in Japan. Features two variable-venturi carburetors, which Toyota wanted to test in Japan before launching them in export along E series engine, albeit in single carburetted version. Because of the swirl-intake, the sealing surface between cylinder head and valve cover is different from other SOHC A-engines, featuring vertical curves on the manifold side of the head. Thus, those parts are not interchangeable between each other. The swirl was supposed to improve burning of the air-fuel mixture, thus enabling cleaner emissions, improving fuel economy, and increasing power.
Output: at 6,000 rpm (compression at 9.3:1)
Applications: AL21 Corolla II 1984–1986 (Japan only) AL21/25 Corsa 1984–1989 (Japan only) AL25 Sprinter Carib 1984–1988 (Japan only) AL21/25 Tercel 1984–1989 (Japan only)
4A
The 4A was produced from 1980 through 2002. All 4A engines have a displacement of . The cylinder bore was enlarged from the previous 3A engines at , but the stroke remained the same as the 3A at , giving it an over-square bore/stroke ratio which favours high engine speeds.
Numerous variations of the 4A design were produced, from basic SOHC 8-valve all the way to DOHC 20-valve versions. The power output also varied greatly between versions, from at 4,800 rpm in the basic California-spec 4A-C to at 6,400 rpm in the supercharged 4A-GZE.
4A, 4A-C, 4A-L, 4A-LC
The basic 4A is a SOHC 8 valve carburated engine which produces at 4800 rpm and of torque at 2800 rpm, though the power and torque output figures vary between different regions of the world. in European versions, the combustion chambers were reformulated in early 1986, resulting in an increase of 2 hp, up to at 5600 rpm, along with improvements in fuel economy and emissions.
North American market engines: 4A-LC 1.6 L I4, 8-valve SOHC, at 4800 rpm
4A-C 1.6 L I4, 8-valve SOHC, at 5200 rpm
European (and other) market engines: (excepting Sweden and Switzerland) 4A-L 1.6 L, I4, 8-valve SOHC, at 5600 rpm, and torque at 4000 rpm (compression at 9.0:1) (Indonesia) 4A-L 1.6 L, I4, 8-valve SOHC, at 5600 rpm, and torque at 3600 rpm (compression at 9.3:1) (Europe)
Australian/Swiss/Swedish market engines: Australia, Sweden, and Switzerland shared emissions rules for a period in the 1970s and eighties. 4A-LC 1.6 L, I4, 8-valve SOHC, at 5600 rpm
Applications AT151 Carina II 1983–1987 (Europe only) AT160 Celica 1985–1989 (excluding Japan) AE71 Corolla 1982–1984 (North America, Australia & South Africa only) AE82/86 Corolla 1983–1987 (excluding Japan) AT151 Corona 1983–1987 (excluding Japan) A60 Daihatsu Charmant 1984-1987 (excluding Japan) Elfin Type 3 Clubman Chevrolet Nova (USA NUMMI rebadged Sprinter) 1985-1988
4A-ELU Fuel injection was added. This increased output to at 5600 rpm and at 4000 rpm. This version is also equipped with Toyota TTC-C catalytic converter.
Applications: AT151 Carina 1984–1988 (Japan only) AE82 Corolla 1983–1987 (Japan only) AE82 Sprinter 1983–1987 (Japan only)
4A-F
A narrow-valve (22.3°) DOHC 16-valve carburetor-equipped version, the 4A-F, was produced from 1987 through 1990. Output was at 6,000 rpm and at 3,600 rpm (compression at 9.5:1, EU spec). This engine featured an aluminum-alloy cylinder head with scissor-gear driven twin overhead camshafts, centered spark plugs, and employed pent-roof combustion chambers which were designed to improve thermal efficiency. It also featured a fully counterweighted crankshaft with five journals and eight balance weights. The 4A-F was designed to provide more powerful torque in the low-to-mid RPM range as well improving top-end power output.
This engine was the first in the series to use Toyota's dual camshaft system known as High-Mecha Twin Cam, where the timing belt drives the exhaust camshaft and the exhaust camshaft then drives the inlet camshaft via scissor gears. The inlet camshaft acts as a slave camshaft to the exhaust camshaft (the latter acting as a master camshaft for the engine), which led to the system being unofficially known as the "slave-cam system". In contrast, on the 4A-GE engines, both camshafts are driven directly by the timing belts rather than being geared together.
There was a version which featured dual Weber carburetors for Thai market limited edition AE92 Corolla Sporty sedan in 1988, converted by TRD Thailand. It produced at 6,000 rpm and at 4,200 rpm.
Applications: AT171 Carina II 1987–1992 (Europe only) AE92/95 Corolla 1987–1992 (excluding Japan) AE95 Corolla 1988–1989 (Japan only) AE101 Corolla 1992–1998 (Asia, Africa & Latin-America) AE111 Corolla 1997–2001 (Asia, Africa & Latin-America) AT171/177 Corona 1987–1992 (excluding Japan) AE95 Sprinter 1988–1989 (Japan only)
4A-FE
The fuel injected 4A-FE is the successor of the carbureted 4A-F, manufactured from 1987–2001. Toyota designed this engine with fuel economy in mind. The 4A-FE is basically the same as the 4A-F (introduced in the sixth generation of Corollas), the most apparent difference being the electronic fuel injection system as noted by the 'E'. The engine was succeeded by the 3ZZ-FE, a 1.6-liter engine with VVT-i technology.
There are three generations of this engine, which can be identified by the external shape of the engine. The first generation (1987–1996) featured a plate on the head which read "16 valve EFI" and fuel injectors in the head.
The second generation had a higher profile cam design in the head, a cam cover with ribs throughout its length, and fuel injectors in the intake manifold runners. Mechanically, the late-model engines received MAP load sensing and redesigned pistons, intake ports, and intake manifold. The second generation engine was produced from 1992–1998 (1993–1996 in the US).
The third generation (1996–2001) was released exclusively for the Asian market (Japan, Philippines, Pakistan, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia) only. Although it is very similar to the second generation externally, it only has a slight difference in the top section of the intake manifold and throttle body. This last generation also has a higher additional output of compared to the second generation.
Engine displacement: Layout: DOHC Inline-4 Valves: 16, 4 for each cylinder Redline: 6300 rpm Compression ratio: 9.5:1 Fuel Delivery System: TCCS or MPFI
North American market engines: at 5,800 rpm, and torque at 4,800 rpm
European market engines: at 6,000 rpm, and torque at 3,200 rpm
Asian market engines: at 6,000 rpm
Note: power and torque specs for North America and Europe are from the 1988–1992 Corollas.