What have you done to your wagon lately?

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
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BaileySims
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My tercel:: 1983 Tercel SR5 4WD
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Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by BaileySims »

You da man. Had a pry bar on top with a scissor jack applying pressure and had the other at the bottom prying away. Rustled my jimmies quite a bit but it came out.
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4wdEconoBox
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My tercel:: 1985 Toyota Tercel SR5 4WD
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Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by 4wdEconoBox »

"Very nice", in my best Borat voice! Glad it worked!!! Never though about using a jack for the other prybar haha
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Petros
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Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by Petros »

some of the seal makers have a seal that is the correct OD, and ID, so they list as a replacement seal for the Tercel CV to diff seal. It will work okay, I suspect the blade around the factory seal acts as a shield to defect dirt and dust away from the seal surface on the axle, to make it last longer perhaps. fine dust will still get on the seal against the axle (it is difficult to keep dirt and dust away from any part under the car), so it may not make any difference.

I bought some of the correct seals from Rockauto listed as a Beck-arnly product, but the seal was made in Japan and looked identical to the factory seal. but they should show the actual part you are buying, not some picture they stole off the internet from someone else's seal.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
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4wdEconoBox
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Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by 4wdEconoBox »

Ohh ok, so it should still work though, right? Even if it doesn't last as long it'd have to be better than the one thats in there right now haha. But, yeah that does kind of make me mad that they're technically selling the wrong part.... If it was more expensive I would definitely be returning it, but at a couple bucks, I really can't complain too much, I guess haha.... Thanks for the information though, I hadn't thought about the fact that they may be using a different picture from another seal....
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Petros
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Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by Petros »

several times I ordered seals to have a spares from Rockauto, they were real cheap so I thought I should have some in my private inventory for when the inevitable happens. But one time the correct part number was on the box, but there was something else in the box (it was a "National" brand seal). I had to go to a local autoparts store when I needed it like TODAY!, which has one instock (paid about 4 times more for it, exact same brand, same part number, but different seal in the box). I did not bother returning it, it was only like $1.80 that I piggy backed on another larger order (so shipping was not any extra). Not worth explaining to them that National mislabled the box. Not rockauto fault, all they go by is the part number.

Some day I might actually find a place where that seal might fit, so it is my box of spares with the part number crossed off the box.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
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4wdEconoBox
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Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by 4wdEconoBox »

See, I'm honestly thinking that they ran out of National seals with that part number, so they sent me another seal brand with the same part number because the seals came in a Carquest box and every National seal I've ever got came in a black and red box with Nationals name all over it... But yeah, thats usually what all do with all of my cheap but wrong parts too... I usually find a use for them on one of my cars haha.
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Petros
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Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by Petros »

those head lights really modernize the look of the car...now to get rid of that darn "snow plow" bumper...
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
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4wdEconoBox
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Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by 4wdEconoBox »

Huh?! Haha

All this seal talk influenced me to make my own seal installer tool, 1.5 inch PVC pipe, the screws are measured to .325 inches but it looked like the seal wasn't in all the way so I made another "tool" where the screws were back .350 inches. I didn't have a caliper so I used some carburetor float measuring tools that came in my old carburator tool kit. I assumed that they were just as accurate if not more accurate than a caliper. I also made sure that my PVC pipe was almost perfectly square all the way around.

Image

I don't know, maybe next time I'll make one like xirdneh made that was completely adjustable, I just didn't have the right stuff around the house to do it this time...
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4wdEconoBox
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Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by 4wdEconoBox »

Ok, so today's been a productive day for me, I got the passenger side seal in and the new axle in. I had to swap my old axles c clip to the new axle though because the new clip seemed to stick out to far and looked odd... Old clip on the left, new one on the right....

Image

After I replaced the seals i checked to make sure everything was tight underneath because I been hearing a pretty bad clunk from the drivers side..... turned out to my engine mount, the nut was almost all the way off...... Whoops!! Haha After all of that I set my throttle positioner and fast idle. Then I took her out for a test drive and she sure does drive much better and doesn't feel like it's gonna break down and fall apart!!! Haha

After I got home i checked to see if the newly installed seal was leaking and it was completely dry under the axle, Yayyyy, but not really..... I spotted another good sized leak... :( It was coming from higher up the tranny and leaking all the way down the sides about 2 inches behind both of the axles if your looking at the tranny from the front of the car, so I'm thinking input seal? Or is there something else that could be leaking from up top? It definitely wasn't engine oil either.... I know the input seal isn't a "quick" fix either....
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Petros
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Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by Petros »

the most common leak on that side of the engine is either the o-ring on the distributor base, or the valve cover gasket (or the "half moon" plug at the back of the valve cover). These would leak engine oil of course, but might be worth a look just to make sure it is not from those areas.

there is nothing on that side of the trans that would leak down the side, the input shaft seal would leak out the bottom of the bell housing. That kind of leak is kind of rare too.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
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helipilot77
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My tercel:: 1984 SR5 wagon
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Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by helipilot77 »

-replaced leaking front main seal
-adjusted timing
-bought warn 4000 lb. winch (has anyone else done this?)
. / TOYOTA
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4wdEconoBox
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Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by 4wdEconoBox »

I'll definitely check that to make sure, but its coming down on both sides of the transmission.... I kinda looks like it may be coming from the bell housing and down the sides of the transmission, ya know? I can't see that far up either though... But I did check it a few minutes ago and there was only about a quarter sized spot on some new cardboard I placed under it. I'll definitely keep a close eye on it for sure though.....

I still need to adjust my timing also helipilot, I'll save it for tomorrow I guess.... haha, hopefully some others can chime in on the winch though, I don't have any experience with them!! haha
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ARCHINSTL
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Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by ARCHINSTL »

helipilot77 wrote:-bought warn 4000 lb. winch (has anyone else done this?)
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4wdEconoBox
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Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by 4wdEconoBox »

So I've got another symptom of my unknown leak is that it only does it after i start driving it, overnight it doesn't really leak, but once the car warms up and I drive it for a while, it leaks like crazy!!! I checked my valve cover, distributor oring and half moon plug and all of those were dry.... So I'm still going to go with my original thought of it being the input shaft seal.... :( Does anyone know how long it takes to change this seal? Can it be done in a weekend? Please say yes, because it leaks a good bit! Haha
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marlinh
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Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by marlinh »

Have you determined if it is engine oil or gear oil? Smell it. Gear oil is very distinct.
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