Transmission Issue

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north
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Joined: Sat Sep 19, 2015 1:43 am
My tercel:: 1985 SR5

Transmission Issue

Post by north »

Hi,
I am looking at a 83 Tercel 4WD.
It will not shift into 5th or reverse.

The seller doesn't know what is going on and this is what he describes

"I am certain that's not the issue (low gear oil) as the stick goes left from neutral but not right, like there's a brick wall there. So it only has low, 1,2,3 and 4. I'm guessing something is in the way of the shifter because I seized a clutch the other day and I could put it in any gear but the car wouldn't move just heard rubbing in the tranny. The car is navy except for the latch which is grey. I tested the 4wd last night it works."

Any ideas?
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BaileySims
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My tercel:: 1983 Tercel SR5 4WD
Location: Texas
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Re: Transmission Issue

Post by BaileySims »

WAGON MAFIA.
Blood, sweat and beers.
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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: Transmission Issue

Post by Petros »

this is not clear: does that mean it needs a clutch too, or he put a new clutch in it? can it be driven in 1,2,3 and 4th gear, or it does not drive at all, but it can be shifted into those gears sitting in one place?

what does he want for it?

I do not know what a "seized clutch" means, that is not really possible. It sounds like a major problem with the trans, but not sure by your description. If it can be driven in the 1-4 gears, than likely it is a fairly easy fix that might require dropping the trans, replace clutch and fix linkage issue. If it is not drivable, the trans could be trashed. Drain the gear oil in the trans and see if it has metal chunks in it, that would be bad of course.

Depending what exactly is wrong will determine the value. If the trans is shot, the car is not worth much. if it can be fixed without replacing the trans, it is worth a bit more if you can test drive it. without being able to test drive it, there is a lot of risk that there are other things you can not test until you get it back on the road. I once bought a 4wd tercel that "only" needed a rear diff, the brakes bled and the carb rebuilt. NOt derivable, but once I got the diff replaced I found a long list of very serious other problems, in addition to things that were not quite what the seller said. I did okay with it, but if I paid more than scrap metal price it would have been a questionable purchase.

good luck.
'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)
north
Newbie
Posts: 18
Joined: Sat Sep 19, 2015 1:43 am
My tercel:: 1985 SR5

Re: Transmission Issue

Post by north »

Thank you for the response. The car is drivable but the body is in really rough shape. He is only asking $300 CDN but it has a lot of little things wrong with it that don't even make that price seem worth it.

Andrew
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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: Transmission Issue

Post by Petros »

you are close to the scrap value of the car by weight at that price, perhaps $200. though you need to see what local wreckers are paying, that is your lowest value you will have to pay. So that is not an unreasonable price since the owner can likely get $200-50 by just calling a wrecker to have it hauled off.

if the transmission can be fixed, that alone is worth $250-500 by itself after it is pulled from the car. so the trans by itself is worth buying the car. If the engine is in good running condition, that might be worth $300-400 after it is pulled, depending on the condition. most of the rest of it has very little value, other than scrap, about $100 perhaps. The last time I took a rolling chasis to a scrap yard (with all the good and important parts pulled off) I only got $90 in scrap for the crunched and rusty body.

If it can be repaired and cleaned up to a good running Tercel4wd, it is worth from $1500 (for a rough but functional body), to $2500-3500 for good running daily driver (but not perfect or one fully restored). there is no real market for fully restored so it looks show room new, but that might happen some day. so if you do a fully ground up restoration on it, you would spend perhaps $6k-8k on it, and you would do it only for your self to enjoy and own, not to try and make money on it. You likely would not get your money out of it, let alone the value of you efforts and labor.

So it might be worth getting, just buy it knowing what you are getting into. Fortunately most routine repairs are fairly easy and not too costly for parts, but taken all together could be a lot of work.
'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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