New Member

[Tershelly]

Hi,
I'm the recent owner of a 1985 Tercel 4wd Wagon. I've been on this site as a non member for a while now, reading endless posts and figured now that I finally found a ride I could officially become a member. I wanted to take a moment and introduce Tershelly to the forum, and let you know my plans/ get any feedback on good posts to read/things to do right away. I'm a novice mechanic but very excited about learning more and getting Tershelly in tip top shape.

After many months of craigslist searches I finally found Tershelly just outside of Portalnd OR where I'm from and drove her down to Oakland CA where I presently live without any issues, getting 33mpg the whole way down the 5. She was pretty rough around the edges so I cleaned her up and am getting ready to start digging in on the engine/suspension.

From reading some of the other new member posts and related topics It seams like the most important things for me to do right away are clean and change all my fluids, clean my engine bay, and chase down my vac lines. I noticed a bit of compression loss on hills which sounds fairly normal but seams like the vac lines would be a good place to start. On the 600+ mile trip from Portland I loss roughly 1/4 quart of oil (not bad...?) so my hope is that if I clean the engine I can identify any leaks easier.

Future Plans:

- Modest lift
- new bushings/go through suspension
- larger wheels (15X6 or15X7)
- webber carb (depends on how much this will effect my MPG)
- Interior projects
- SUGGESTIONS?

Here are some photos a friend of mine recently took of Tershelly

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The last two images are of a little leather work I did for the center console. I'll be posting how I made it soon.

Thanks for taking the time to look, any advice and comments are welcome! Also, if you're in the Bay area DM me if your interested in meeting up.

Cheers!

[irowiki]

. I noticed a bit of compression loss on hills which sounds fairly normal but seams like the vac lines would be a good place to start. On the 600+ mile trip from Portland I loss roughly 1/4 quart of oil (not bad...?) so my hope is that if I clean the engine I can identify any leaks easier.

Don't touch a thing on that engine except to find any leaks! 30+ MPG is fantastic for one of these, and the engine is running perfect!

You will see power loss up hills, that is just the virtue of a low power carbed engine. My own, 30+ MPG wagon also doesn't like steep hills, but runs fantastic otherwise.

Vacuum leaks would actually have little effect at high RPM, as there isn't much vacuum then anyway.

I would not touch the vacuum lines, the carb, or anything related to them. I would not get a weber either.

A well running Tercel is the thing of dreams and I have seen too many people try to make it run what they think is "better" and it all goes to hell

[Gottolovem]

. I noticed a bit of compression loss on hills which sounds fairly normal but seams like the vac lines would be a good place to start. On the 600+ mile trip from Portland I loss roughly 1/4 quart of oil (not bad...?) so my hope is that if I clean the engine I can identify any leaks easier.

A well running Tercel is the thing of dreams and I have seen too many people try to make it run what they think is "better" and it all goes to hell

Agreed leave it alone if she is purring like a kitten don't mess with it. LOVE THE LEATHER WORK post up how you made the logo.

Welcome to the forum

[dlb]

welcome to the forum. the car looks great. love the 'wagonsteez' sticker.

i agree with paul and dan: if it is running well and getting great mileage, i would not bother with a weber or the vacuum hoses. if it ain't broken, don't fix it.

i think by 'lack of compression' when going uphill, you must mean lack of power. compression doesn't change as you drive (besides slightly between when the engine is cold and up to full temp), and it's not related to vacuum hoses (vacuum leaks generally appear as rough running, hunting idle, poor mileage). the long and short of the matter is that these engines are tiny, just 1.5 liters and 62 hp. that's feeble, but that's also how you get 33 mpg in a 4wd.

but i do agree with you that changing all the fluids is a must. i also recommend checking the sway bar ends sooner rather than later. they are an achilles heel on this car in that they are prone to rusting out and can snap off while driving, which can throw the car in one direction or the other. very serious.

[Tershelly]

Awesome! thanks for all the advice, stoked to be a part of the forum. I'll move forward with my plans to change the fluids as well as cleaning the engine bay and hold on the rest.

but i do agree with you that changing all the fluids is a must. i also recommend checking the sway bar ends sooner rather than later. they are an achilles heel on this car in that they are prone to rusting out and can snap off while driving, which can throw the car in one direction or the other. very serious.

Thanks Dlb, Any good thread recommendations for checking/what to look out for?

LOVE THE LEATHER WORK post up how you made the logo.

THANKS Gottolovem! I'll post a thread this weekend on my graphic, CAD, and leather work. Glad you like it!

[dlb]

yeah, i made a thread with pics on the topic here:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7481&p=79257

[Petros]

welcome to the forum!

Nice looking Tercel4wd. your engine is likely in good condition. However, it will not harm a thing to check for vacuum leaks, and verify all of the vac lines are routed properly. A vac leak could be why the power drops off on high demand. Also, set your spark timing at 10 deg BTDC, that should help power a bit as well. The service manual has a number of simple tests to run on the various fuel and emissions systems, once you sort it out the tests should only take about 20 to 30 min to perform. If necessary, new spark plugs and wires might be a good idea as well.

Track down all oil leaks and fix them. but even if there are no leaks, 1/4 quart in 600 miles (or a quart per 2400 miles) is not too bad at all. A sea foam treatment at the next oil change might help that, and a half bottle of STP will stop the rest.

Be sure you check the level of gear oil in the trans before you drive it any more. And make sure it has all 4 quarts in the transaxle when you change the gear oil.

Before you do any suspension mods, first make sure all of the tie-rod ends are good, ball joints, CV axles, bushings, struts and shocks, etc. all in good shape, or replace as needed. when it comes times to replace the brakes you might consider up grading to the MR2 master/booster and front vented rotors per my thread in the repair guilds section. That can wait until you need to replace the brakes anyway.

Looks like you already have larger alloy wheels, that makes a big improvement in handling and how solid it feels on the road. No reason to replace what you have there now until you need tires.

Nice leather work. You planning on redoing the seats in leather too? I have been thinking about that for a long time, it would make my seats better (I would also rebuild the padding to better support my lower back, thighs, etc to make it more comfortable for long drives). I think it would kind of a fun project to modify the stock seat and make custom leather upholstery for it.

[Ridlbox]

Beautiful looking Tercel if you ever want to just go wheeling with it me and my Dad got a couple others near you. Well not that close we're halfway to Nevada

[Tershelly]

welcome to the forum!

Nice looking Tercel4wd. your engine is likely in good condition. However, it will not harm a thing to check for vacuum leaks, and verify all of the vac lines are routed properly. A vac leak could be why the power drops off on high demand. Also, set your spark timing at 10 deg BTDC, that should help power a bit as well. The service manual has a number of simple tests to run on the various fuel and emissions systems, once you sort it out the tests should only take about 20 to 30 min to perform. If necessary, new spark plugs and wires might be a good idea as well......

Nice leather work. You planning on redoing the seats in leather too? I have been thinking about that for a long time, it would make my seats better (I would also rebuild the padding to better support my lower back, thighs, etc to make it more comfortable for long drives). I think it would kind of a fun project to modify the stock seat and make custom leather upholstery for it.

Thanks Petros! That all makes sense, in general I think it will be good for me to locate and know what and where everything is located on this car in order to help me trouble shoot faster in the future. I'll keep all those fluid checks in mind as i start going through the engine this weekend, thanks for the advice.

I'm definitely interested in doing something to the seats too. I'm presently rebuilding/ reupholstering the hatch are cover as it was pretty beat from the previous owner, I'll post some photos when it's done. I hadn't considered leather on the seats but that could be an interesting project, I've seen some leather seat options but not with the plastic handles. I was thinking of replacing the wide knit material that runs down the middle of the seats with a tighter woven that is era appropriate, not a huge change but more of a slight modification.

Anyways, thanks for all the advice, cheers!

[Tershelly]

yeah, i made a thread with pics on the topic here:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7481&p=79257

AHHHA! I've actually read this thread before, just saved it in my to do folder. Thanks for sharing, wish I had the space for a parts car!

[Tershelly]

Beautiful looking Tercel if you ever want to just go wheeling with it me and my Dad got a couple others near you. Well not that close we're halfway to Nevada

Sounds good! I haven't taken it offroad yet and need to make that happen as soon as I get done with a few of these checks.

I'll let you know how things progress, Cheers!

[Petros]

I had been doodling with the idea of using different color leather to approximate the same style of seats, except in all leather. And as I stated, build it up the frame and padding to provide more support and look more "racy" like on expensive sports cars. Kind of like a souped up Tercel4wd seat on steroids, big "muscles" showing under the leather skin. Be a fun project, not sure it would be worth the effort, something to do with all that spare time I do not know what else to do with....

[rabalc]

Welcome, nice looking Tercel. Really like your wheels, any idea what they are off of

[Tershelly]

Welcome, nice looking Tercel. Really like your wheels, any idea what they are off of

Thanks, Rabalc,
Still need s a bit of love, but she's getting there.

I don't think they're OEM, there a brand called "MODERN" and at 13X6.5 4X100 other then that, I'm not even sure of their centerbore. I like the look of them a lot but I'm thinking of upgrading to a larger wheel size in the next few months, do you want me to let you know if I sell them?

[Tershelly]

Agreed leave it alone if she is purring like a kitten don't mess with it. LOVE THE LEATHER WORK post up how you made the logo.

Welcome to the forum

Here's the link to my leather center console work, let me know what you think

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11629

Cheers!