Tercel 4wd in Seattle

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slOwtwitch
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Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2016 8:18 pm
My tercel:: 1986 Toyota Tercel 4WD

Tercel 4wd in Seattle

Post by slOwtwitch »

Hi!

I joined the forum last spring but neglected to post before this. Last January, I purchased a 1986 Tercel 4wd. It's a 5 speed manual with 188,000 miles. I was looking for an adventure wagon and newer cars in my price range on Craigslist were all either a) fake ads or b) too boring. I enjoy problem solving and challenges and saw that there was good support (such as this forum) for these cars so decided to go for it. It's been my daily driver since February and, once I got it fixed up and safe, I've trusted it to go on all sorts of adventures in Washington state.

Here is the list of things I have repaired or replaced since taking over stewardship of this nice vehicle:

First there were some minor items to get it all legal and make sure it would start reliably
- replaced missing driver's side mirror
- purchased and installed new front passenger marker cover and bulb. Maybe replaced the whole unit? I can't remember but I do know that the bolts were horribly rusted and getting them off involved a dremel.
- new license plate bulbs
- new battery and bracket

Then, it was making a terrible clattering noise and not able to maintain/generate any power. I took it to my mechanic who determined that the Woodruff key on the crankshaft was worn and causing timing issues along with the bad noise. He replaced it, problem solved.

Once that noise was taken care of, the car still sounded like a sewing machine so
- valve adjustment + new seals
- replaced leaking distributor o-ring. I had never set the timing on a car and learned not to grab the distributor by the top with the car running.

Then, for comfort and convenience
- replaced both front window regulators and fixed non-functioning driver's side door handle
- installed LED dome light
- cleaned out the charcoal canister

Once I had some time and garage space it was time to make things MUCH SAFER
- replaced shocks and struts
- replaced front brake pads and rotors
- replaced original wheels and 15 year old tires with MR2 wheels and new(ish) tires
- did some carburetor troubleshooting. There was black gunk all over and under the front and rear of the carb and I was worried there might be fuel leaking. In hot weather, I would notice a pretty strong fuel small but couldn't find any kind of leak. Once I cleaned it up though, nothing else happened. I used some carb cleaner, bits of rag and dental picks and everything stayed clean after that. The best I could tell was that previous owner had put some kind of lube on all of the springy moving bits and it was heating up and dripping and being smelly.

Then, payed a professional to install a new steering rack because the old one was done and I was tired of fussing with things myself.

It's leaking a little oil from behind the cover on the crankshaft. I asked my mechanic to take a look and he advised me not to worry. Says it's a seal that's a pain to change and not worth it for the amount of oil coming out.
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Tercel 4wd in Seattle

Post by Petros »

welcome to the forum!

Nice looking T4wd. you might try some seal stop leak in the oil, it softens and swells the seals that are stiff and brittle. it is usually a good temporary fix, when it comes time to replace the front timing belt you can replace the front seal at that time. Also, if you ever change out the clutch, you should also change the rear main seal as well. It is too much of a pain to replace the rear seal, you have to pull the trans, clutch and flywheel, so you do it when the trans is out so you do not have to do it again later.

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)
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ARCHINSTL
Goldie Forever
Posts: 6369
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 1:52 pm
My tercel:: Goldie is a 1986 SR5 attualmente con Weber/also owned the first T4WD in STL in late '82
Location: Kirkwood, a 'burb of St. Louis

Re: Tercel 4wd in Seattle

Post by ARCHINSTL »

Welcome to the Club!
I am surprised that the mech, when replacing the crank's Woodruff key, did not also suggest replacing the timing belt, tensioner, and front crank seal - after all, in for a dime, in for a dollar, esp. as the radiator and front pulley had to be removed.
That front seal is NOT a "pain to change," esp. as the mech was replacing the key! Maybe s/he is looking for more bucks down the line???
Tom M.
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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helipilot77
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Posts: 382
Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 9:03 pm
My tercel:: 1984 SR5 wagon
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: Tercel 4wd in Seattle

Post by helipilot77 »

Glad to have another Seattle 4wd Tercel owner on the forum.
. / TOYOTA
./_| |/|/ |]
slOwtwitch
Newbie
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2016 8:18 pm
My tercel:: 1986 Toyota Tercel 4WD

Re: Tercel 4wd in Seattle

Post by slOwtwitch »

ARCHINSTL wrote:Welcome to the Club!
I am surprised that the mech, when replacing the crank's Woodruff key, did not also suggest replacing the timing belt, tensioner, and front crank seal - after all, in for a dime, in for a dollar, esp. as the radiator and front pulley had to be removed.
That front seal is NOT a "pain to change," esp. as the mech was replacing the key! Maybe s/he is looking for more bucks down the line???
Tom M.

Hi Tom,

Looking back at my records, my mech DID do all of that work. It's not the front crank seal that's leaking... I think he said it was the cam seal. The leak got worse after getting the new steering rack installed (not by my regular mechanic). I imagine there may have bee a fair amount of jostling during that process that disturbed an already delicate situation. I trust that he's not looking for extra money. I used to take my Civic to him and he would talk me out of repairs or tell me, realistically, how much longer I could go before spending the $$.
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ARCHINSTL
Goldie Forever
Posts: 6369
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 1:52 pm
My tercel:: Goldie is a 1986 SR5 attualmente con Weber/also owned the first T4WD in STL in late '82
Location: Kirkwood, a 'burb of St. Louis

Re: Tercel 4wd in Seattle

Post by ARCHINSTL »

The cam seal is not difficult to replace, esp. while the timing belt shtuff was being renewed.
I believe it can be done without removing the belt - at least I hope so. When I replaced the belt, tensioner, and crank seal a few months ago, I had a new cam seal, but did not install it - it was getting late and the old one had leaked nary a drop; we shall see ...
Tom M.
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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Posts: 11930
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Tercel 4wd in Seattle

Post by Petros »

the cam seal can be replaced any time, though they are usually long lasting and reliable, they do go bad sometimes.

You can leave the lower timing cover and belt in place, but the upper pulley has to come off. the way that is done is you set the crank at TDC, wedge a block of wood down the lower cover to wedge the timing belt and tensioner, etc. in place when you take off the upper pulley. You have to double check the cam timing once it back together, I have on occasion had it slip a tooth. That is not so bad, you back the tentioner off, and than wiggle the belt into place, and verify the upper and lower timing marks are lined up, than apply tension to the belt. Than check the cam timing again. but there is no need to remove the lower pulley, tensioner, lower cover or anything else excpt the upper pulley and the upper timing cover.
'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)
slOwtwitch
Newbie
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2016 8:18 pm
My tercel:: 1986 Toyota Tercel 4WD

Re: Tercel 4wd in Seattle

Post by slOwtwitch »

Summer Update:
After the initial work on the car last summer it's been really dependable. It's been super capable for forest service road dithering and some light off-roading. It's serviceable but not the most comfortable on the interstate (slow, lots of road noise, etc.) I've done a couple of oil changes, bought two new tires, and changed a frayed power steering belt.
Mileage is up to 193,600

I have some free time next week and plan to take apart the dash and address:
Broken horn
Heater blower that only works on high
Maybe replace dim dash light with something brighter?
Maybe replace stock (non-working) cassette deck and speakers?

Also:
Brighten up faded grill and front emblem
Considering repainting faded ATM on hatch but kind of like the unrestored look back there.
Considering replacing front seats as they're original and thus, old and worn out.
I've done nothing to the rear brakes since owning the car. They probably need some attention soon too.

I'll be taking a deep dive into the repair threads here but in the meantime, advice, comments, questions, and concerns are welcome!

Image
Image
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Petros
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Posts: 11930
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Tercel 4wd in Seattle

Post by Petros »

nice pictures, these cars look so at home in the wild...their native habitat.

1. Blower: the problem with the blower is the resister built into the blower assembly, it is some resistance wires in a little coil on a panel that is out in the air stream of the blower to keep them cool. they burn out like a light bulb filament, when both "low" and "med" resistors are gone it defaults to the full on position (no resister to slow it down). you can get similar wire and rewind your own to fix it (make sure it is resistor wire). Might be possible to add a regular resister, but the simple wire resister is pretty rugged. There is thread in the archives I think on winding your own resister for the heater.

2. dash lights: you likely have some of the tiny dash lights burnt out. you have to pull off the hood, and than you can remove the instrument cluster (easy, a number of phillips screws, than you remove the speedo cable and wire connectors off the back). there are about 10 or 12 dash lights for the cluster, pull each one out and hold it up to the light to see if the tiny filament is still good, any auto parts store should have these lights available. They should have a green plastic cover you can slip off to install on your replace bulbs. You can also buy different color lights, or even LED replacement lights, but I find I like the greenish tint for night vision (that kind of orange color looks "modern" but I do not care for it). with all of the lights working you will want to dim it down for any driving outside of the bright city lights, the dash is too bright when on full. there is also a thread on this topic in the archives.

3. the speakers and stock radio wear out and signal quality, and speaker quality gets poor as it ages, your is well over 30 years old. If ever played too loud (which sometimes happens because of the noisy car), the speakers are likely shot. Replacement is the only option. you can find fair quality speakers that are direct replacements (take your old one out, easy to do, a few screws is all that holds the cover on), and you can either go to a discount car stereo place, or order on-line replacements once you know the dimensions.

it is common to remove the ATM and front grill and paint them flat black, or charcoal. helps appearance greatly. I always wanted to remove mine and paint them a bright contrasting color to just brighten the car up, mine is light yellow, so I thought burnt orange would look good. For blue, paint the grill and ATM a light bluish white could be fun, or something similar. I keep changing my mind, I do not want to draw any more attention to myself in traffic than driving a 34 years old car already does.
'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)
slOwtwitch
Newbie
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2016 8:18 pm
My tercel:: 1986 Toyota Tercel 4WD

Re: Tercel 4wd in Seattle

Post by slOwtwitch »

Thanks for the reply Petros!
Petros wrote: Sat Jul 29, 2017 7:34 pm it is common to remove the ATM and front grill and paint them flat black, or charcoal. helps appearance greatly.

I do not want to draw any more attention to myself in traffic than driving a 34 years old car already does.
Maybe flat black bumpers and charcoal grill and ATM! I think a BRIGHT ATM would look awesome but I too like to fly under the radar.
User avatar
ARCHINSTL
Goldie Forever
Posts: 6369
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 1:52 pm
My tercel:: Goldie is a 1986 SR5 attualmente con Weber/also owned the first T4WD in STL in late '82
Location: Kirkwood, a 'burb of St. Louis

Re: Tercel 4wd in Seattle

Post by ARCHINSTL »

Heater blower resistor link containing other pertinent links: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=11731&p=89462&hilit=resistor#p89462
Tom M.
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
slOwtwitch
Newbie
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2016 8:18 pm
My tercel:: 1986 Toyota Tercel 4WD

Re: Tercel 4wd in Seattle

Post by slOwtwitch »

ARCHINSTL wrote: Sat Jul 29, 2017 10:03 pm Heater blower resistor link containing other pertinent links: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=11731&p=89462&hilit=resistor#p89462
Tom M.
Perfect! Thank you.
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helipilot77
Top Notch Member
Posts: 382
Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 9:03 pm
My tercel:: 1984 SR5 wagon
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: Tercel 4wd in Seattle

Post by helipilot77 »

What lake was that? It looks beautiful!
. / TOYOTA
./_| |/|/ |]
slOwtwitch
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Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2016 8:18 pm
My tercel:: 1986 Toyota Tercel 4WD

Re: Tercel 4wd in Seattle

Post by slOwtwitch »

helipilot77 wrote: Sat Jul 29, 2017 11:51 pm What lake was that? It looks beautiful!
That's a dispersed camping spot in the Gifford-Pinchot NF, on the Cowlitz River.

Edit: I should mention that pic was taken after I walked around and picked up several bags of trash and debris left by previous visitors. Pack it in, pack it out folks!
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helipilot77
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Posts: 382
Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 9:03 pm
My tercel:: 1984 SR5 wagon
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: Tercel 4wd in Seattle

Post by helipilot77 »

I might need to go check that out.
. / TOYOTA
./_| |/|/ |]
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