The Diary of my Tercel Journey

takza · Post by **takza** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:04 am

Ogedei wrote: So I found <a href='http://www.toyotapartstore.com/Toyota_Tercel_06013.html' target='_blank'>http://www.toyotapartstore.com/Toyota_T ... 13.html</a>
and they had an OEM cluthc kit for around 100. I could get a aftermarket cheaper but is OEM worth it?

I'd check that clutch adjustment before doing anything drastic....might get lucky. I think OEM is probably the way to go....

Ogedei · Post by **Ogedei** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 10:44 am

OK thanks.

OEM for me as a computer guy means little. It is thrown around as a good thing but in the end it is not as flexible as a non OEM piece of software.

I will look at the adjustment side but I think it is prolonging the inevitable, So if I can get the car to drive to the base shop I will.

So we toed the car home last night and I was surprised at how the Tercel was able to slow down the NIssan Pathfinder SE using four drum brakes. Smelled a bit though. Toughest part of the tow was keeping the tercel from running up the Pathfinders rear end since the two cars do not coast at near the same rate.

The good news, finally good news huh. I am lucky enough to work for a national laboratory that is located on a military base. The military base has a fully functional Auto Hobby shop that I can use. Lift bays, tire equipement, alignment, specialty tools and mechanics on duty for assitance and guidance. Now I have no excuse for not doing my own repairs.

Ogedei · Post by **Ogedei** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 8:45 pm

OK Easiest E-Bay auction ever
24.99+ S&H (51.49) buys me a borgwarner clutch kit no competitive bids so I bought at minimum.
So now to get quotes on grinding my fly wheel.
I have to say I hate looking at the car just sitting there and though my pathfinder is awesome workhorse that I most likely will have forever, it is not as enjoyable as an everyday driver.

Other than the instructions in the Chilton anyone have any guides for clutch replacement?

takza · Post by **takza** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 6:57 am

There have been a few discussions of R&Ring the clutch...worth checking out (3AC?). Some have had problems getting the engine mated to the diff housing.

If you have the flywheel ground...also have it balanced. Pilot bearing.

tercel4wdrules · Post by **tercel4wdrules** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 10:18 am

Ogedei wrote: Other than the instructions in the Chilton anyone have any guides for clutch replacement?

I saw a Popular Mechanics book at my library that shows you what you need to repair and replace things in vehicles, but this one had the clutch replacement instructions aiming at RWD cars. You can look at the 85 FSM in the main page (http://www.tercel4wd.com) if haven't done so already and maybe I'll take a look at my Bentley service manual again to see what I can find in terms of making the clutch replacement easier.

Ogedei · Post by **Ogedei** » Fri Sep 16, 2005 11:08 am

OK so it took awhile for me to get the money and the time to invest in some work on this car, lucky for me I have a backup unlucky that it gets13 miles to the gallon.

So I towed the car to the local military base auto hobby shop and started the clutch replacement. The halfshaft was bad as well since I had to remove it to remove the clutch I am replacing it as well, oh yea the front brakes and rotors upon inspection are horrid and the flywheel is pitted so I am really doing a Clutch, halfshaft, front brake, flywheel job.

So I took a friday arriving at the shop around noon and 6.5 hours later I had the tranny off, the clutch and flywheel removed and everything placed back into my wagon so I could move the car back out of the bay. Paying by the hour don't you know.

Thoughs on the tranny pull. A) their seem to be far more bolts than either the repair manual or the Chilton refer to. B) some bolts face differetn directions which makes finding them hard C) some bolts are really there just to bolt a part to and not really tranny bolts but none the less need to be removed. D) The bolts were not to hard to break loose I rarely used the deep creep I had on hand

I will try to document a little more about the bolts and some experiences as I put it back in.

I had it on a lift, I had a tranny jack mounted to a platform so that I could do everything standing, and I had access to all the tools and knowledge the hobby shop had to offer. Long story short I will be very careful putting it back in because I never want to take it out again.

Granted I am not a full time gear head and just a person who is not scared of getting dirty or doing a little manual labor in order to save money this was crazy.

Well I am off to day to see how far I can get into putting the car back together. I will let you know how it goes.

Mac · Post by **Mac** » Fri Sep 16, 2005 9:31 pm

take it to a toyota dealer and have them do a diagnosis/assesment of the car, then take it somewhere else and get them to fix it because its cheaper to get someone else to fix it.

thats what alot of people do because if you go to joes garage, 90% of the time they will just try to sell you everything, dealerships don't do that because they want to justify the higher costs they have.

probably also a good idea to go through the BBB and find a good mechanic, theres alot of shady ones out there. but judge their charachter, if they are a nice person, they will be a good mechanic, bad mechanics tend to be A.H.'s

takza · Post by **takza** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 5:26 am

Ogedei wrote: Well I am off to day to see how far I can get into putting the car back together. I will let you know how it goes.

diff in 1st...trans in 2nd?

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 11:47 am

Make SURE.. ABSOLUTELY SURE that you properly torque it all back. I got baby up on my schools lift (that was fun) and examined all my handiwork to make sure I had not fuxxored it over. Well, sure enough, one of the engine mount bolts had backed out about 1/16th of an inch. That would have sucked to havre lost. Also, one of the trans-stiffener mount bolts had just gotten loose. I torqued them all back down as my classmates all mused how "That piece of shit wagon" had a bigger driveshaft, bigger rear diff, thicker CV-half-shafts, and a beefier frame than the Eagle Talon TSi (the AWD one) had. They all shut the annoying "piece of shit" talk after that. And yes, we put the Talon back up to remeasure its driveshaft, and mine was beefier by a whole 3/8 inch. He's pushing 290 horses. Suddenly I'm not so worried about a snapped driveshaft in a 4AGE setup... Still want to find a solid-axle with similar mounting I could use... From looking at our resident 7M-GE Supra MK2 (I believe uit was a Mark II) and the Talon, the whole independant setup looks like it would be.... Interesting to customize. Let alone setup to take offroading. But don't doubt the Independant setup. Humvee's (The real ones, not those pussy H2's or H3's) use a beefy independant suspension setup in front and back. And they go dang near everywhere you tell them to.
I'm still wondering how impossible/possible putting a AE86 axle in, or maybe a 80's 4wd truck (did they have another name for them until the T100 came out?) axle. I want something I can lsd, can take for track use, but also handle a mid-level offroad trail. Perhaps an impossible compromise, but who knows.

At any rate, be thankful you aren't working with a 200lb trans. Just judging off how easy it was to wrestle the engine out, I can't imagine the trans to be a whole lot harder. Most difficult part for me was getting the engine past the radiator support rail, and then getting the engine back on the trans. BTW, when you do that, not only watch out for your pressure plate, but try to keep from massacring the rear main seal. Dunno how possible that is on our setups, but keep an eye out none-the-less.

Ogedei · Post by **Ogedei** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 1:45 pm

Rear main seal did seem to be taking a bit of a beating in a couple areas.

The tranny slid out about as well as it slid in which is to say poorly. Once it was in though the bolts were going on easy enough. Really have to follow a finger tighten one side then the other or you line up funny. This is the biggest issue I am having so far. I would attach bolts and torque down and then have to loosen to line up other side.

The next issue is the damn exhaust is in the way especially some weird peice that sits on the other side of the engine from the exhaust manifold. its pipe is welded to the muffler so even though you can loosen one end it is basically in the way.

Oh well the installation has been much more enjoyable than the removal and life is progressing

Ogedei · Post by **Ogedei** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 2:06 pm

So she is running. After a few tweeks to the clutch pedal.
Drives real nice now I can definitely feel the difference a good clutch makes.

Sounds like I might have lost a vacuum hose connection. though I have a rough idle when cold and lots of smoke from the muffler connection until warm

Going to put it back up on the rack friday and take a gander at everything to be sure it is stuck together. I will post some tips on the trans posts for future references.

I feel like my journey turned around a bit after this weekend, the rest of the mods can not be as time consuming and difficult.

2wagons · Post by **2wagons** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 9:16 am

Hey Ogedei,
What was the clutch sellers' ebay name? I need to get a new clutch too. Thanks for giving me some direction to finally replace my clutch!

Ogedei · Post by **Ogedei** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 1:17 pm

I have no idea who I bought it from I did think this person was buying surplus so if the seller came across something he would put it up but I do not think he has a lot on hand. Sorry