Engine noise

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
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NWMO
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Engine noise

Post by NWMO »

Hey all,

Just changed the oil today. I have noticed an engine "tick" for the last few weeks. After changing the oil I listened to the engine, I was hoping for lifter noise, but seems deeper.

It is always worst right after start up and particularly under load. My gut/ear makes me think a bearing is bad or I'm getting piston slap for another reason. I am running conventional oil, 10W30. Any thoughts?? Should I likely start my search for a 4ac to rebuild?

TIA,

Chris
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Engine noise

Post by Petros »

have you checked your valve adjustment? do that first. not likely bearings, if they are bad it will not "tick" but "bang". might be piston slap, no good solutions except to perhaps add STP or similar oil additive to try and minimize additional wear.

It is always a good idea to look for a 4ac to install in your Tercel4wd. find one, take your time to rebuild it, and have it ready for that inevitable time you will need to replace your engine.
'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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NWMO
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Re: Engine noise

Post by NWMO »

Hey Peter,

What engine is likely in this Corolla/Tercel?? Looks pretty similar in the pics.

https://stjoseph.craigslist.org/cto/d/1 ... 70635.html

Chris
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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NWMO
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Re: Engine noise

Post by NWMO »

Peter,

This is the same year, I believe the engine (3ac I assume) would fit, how about headlight assembly, hood, park lights?

TIA

Chris
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Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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Petros
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Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Engine noise

Post by Petros »

that first gen Tercel uses the same engine as the second gen (such as the T4wd), some of the emissions, oil pan, mounts, etc might be different, but the long block is identical.

All of the second gen tercels from'83-86 use identical engines as our 4wd model. there was slight differences on some of the external parts from one year to the next, alternator, emissions, etc. but again the long block is all identical.

Which BTW is also true of the 4ac that came in the corollas, it was just 1600 cc instead of our 1454cc. some of the larter ones were transverse installed, the long block can be used but you will need to swap over all the external parts, front pulley, oil pan, intake/exhaust man, mounts, etc.
'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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irowiki
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Location: Farmington, NM

Re: Engine noise

Post by irowiki »

The 4WD wagon uses different lights. The turn signals might work though.
Former Tercel Enthusiast (not a practical family car anymore but they still have a place in my heart)

Site administrator, if something is broken, PM me!

87 Corolla FX16, 105k
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95 Camry Wagon, 170k
97 4runner, 275k
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
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Re: Engine noise

Post by Petros »

that picture is the second gen tercel, everything firewall forward is the same except grill headlights, bumper and length of front struts. the corner marker lights are different but might be made to work (lower edge is different because the bumper height is different from 2wd to 4wd).

A lot of interior parts are also interchangeable, dome light, sun visors and mirrors, etc. I have used the 2wd tercel for parts before, you just to to verify if the parts are different or not, most are the same. Also, on the manual trans for the 2wd, many itnernal parts are interchangeable and the trans is worth salvaging for parts to allow a 4wd trans to be rebuilt.
'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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Ace
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My tercel:: '83 DLX 4WD Tercel wagon 3AC

Re: Engine noise

Post by Ace »

I used to have a 'tick' in my Tercel motor which had me concerned until I decided it was the fuel pump. The fuel pump runs off the camshaft so it's a slower rate of 'tick' than other engine faults. Eventually I had to change the fuel pump when it developed a fuel leak and I haven't had the noise since.

You might try using a stethoscope or a hose to your ear to try to localize the source of the sound.
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NWMO
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Re: Engine noise

Post by NWMO »

Thanks for all of the replies,

Definitely noticeable at start up and first 5 mins or so. Most of my driving is hwy and after a 30 minute drive at 3,300-3,600 rpm, it sounds fine. Has anyone experienced a hydraulic lifter that is puny at start up, but does load up after driving?

Chris
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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rer233
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My tercel:: Multiple

Re: Engine noise

Post by rer233 »

Our cars don't have hydraulic lifters..
if it aint there, there's a good chance it won't break!
83 SR5 Silver/Blue (Snowmobile/work beater)-totaled but drivable
85 SR5 Blue
88 SR5 White (the 'good' one)-not anymore-totaled
87 fwd silver wagon a/t
87 4wd dx Cream (a/t- not anymore- now m/t)
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NWMO
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Re: Engine noise

Post by NWMO »

Thx,

I wasn't sure if they were solid or hydraulic.

Chris
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
oldfaithful
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My tercel:: 1984 Tercel 4WD

Re: Engine noise

Post by oldfaithful »

Overhead camshaft, NO Lifters.
xirdneh
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My tercel:: 87 tercel 4x4 wagon w/reringed engine, 83 tercel 4x4 wagon w/salvaged engine and 4.1 Diff's
Location: seabeck, washington, USA

Re: Engine noise

Post by xirdneh »

i have messed with several tercels with ticking engines
two had cracked pistons , i drove one for many years like that until pulling it apart to see what was going on.
my current driver i'm pretty sure has piston slap since i replaced the broken piston in cylinder three with a new one and it has ticked since day one (that was about three years ago) cylinder was probably too worn.
ticking at startup and quieting down or stopping after engine warms up is almost always piston related, as the heat increases the piston swells up filling the cylinder better.
its almost always piston 3
my friend went thru two engines that ticked for a year or so. the ticking kept getting louder and eventually both #3 pistons blew up. the skirts on both were totally gone and damaged the cylinder beyond repair in both cases.

if it was my car i would keep driving it till the noise began to get much louder.
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
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