Tranny: Rebuild?

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
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seantp
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My tercel:: 1983 SR5 4WD Wagon
Location: White River Junction, VT

Tranny: Rebuild?

Post by seantp »

After the clutch was replaced my 1983 started making transmission noise about a week later. I parked it and had it towed to a garage. They said it needed an entire transmission swap. Would a rebuild be better that a used trans? If so, where would I find parts? I am definitely going to change mechanics because it has been one thing after another with this place. It's been frustrating to the point that I am starting to lose my passion for this vehicle but I'll soldier on because I love the damn thing too much.
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BaileySims
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My tercel:: 1983 Tercel SR5 4WD
Location: Texas
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Re: Tranny: Rebuild?

Post by BaileySims »

They probably didn't fill the transmission up all the way with gear oil. Mine started making a noise awhile back and it turns out I have a leak somewhere on the tranmsission. When the gear oil runs low then you will start to hear noises, the harder you accelerate the louder it gets. I can't really describe the sounds but if I had to it would sound like loose metal chunks flying around in there. As for the rebuild, I haven't seen any parts around other than berings. I would try topping the gear oil before anything else.
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
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Re: Tranny: Rebuild?

Post by Petros »

sorry to hear about your troubles. the trans on these cars are generally fairly reliable if cared for with proper gear oil changes. sounds like the mechanic messed up, but it may not be your trans, it might be something with the clutch coming loose. I would advise finding another mechanic, or even buy yourself some tools and let us here teach you how to work on it yourself.

I once was getting some parts off a tercel4wd in a pick-n-pull in the wrecking yard. The body was in perfect condition which usually means it has mechanical problems someone told the previous owner it was not worth fixing, so it ends up in the wrecking yard. I pulled the trans and found loose clutch parts in the bell housing, they had been rattling around in there based on the number of nicks and scratches inside the housing. It was never diagnosed, some mechanic told them it needed a trans, so it ended up in the wrecking yard. What a shame, and clearly perhaps a well meaning, but incompetent mechanic. Perfectly good Tercel4wd sold for scrap. Many mechanics do not even want to work on such older cars, most were not even born when these cars were in production, and do not want to learn about something that is pretty rare now. So their advise is always to scrap the car (my wife will often take our other car to a local mechanic for simple oil changes, etc when I do not have time, she always asks them about this noise or that problem, they always tell her it is not worth fixing and it should be scrapped).

that is why you ALWAYS have to diagnose the problem BEFORE you try and fix it.

A bad throw out bearing or pilot bearing will also sound like a bad transmission, these are usually part of a clutch kit, and often the after market parts in the kit are crap and start making noise only a few months after they are installed (this happened to me, lived with the noise for several years until another reason I had to pull the engine, I put back in the original factory pilot bearing and throw out bearing and still driving on it after almost 400,000 miles).

Describe what kind of noise you hear, and when it makes them (acceleration/deceleration, clutch in/out, etc.). Perhaps your trans is okay, but do top up the gear oil if you have not had that checked. we might be able to diagnose the problem if you describe in detail the noise it is making.

having it rebuilt properly, if you can find a competent transmission tech, would cost way more than getting a good used transmission. New parts are also hard to find, bearings and seals no problem, but syncros and hard parts not so much anymore. There are good used ones are out there, but they are getting hard to find because all of them are about the same age as your car.

If you are lucky, it only needs gear oil, or it is a bad clutch part. OTOH, it might just be an input shaft or some other trans part that is not difficult to replace, so your trans can be made good again.

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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