80ish mph. Anyone else get er purring?

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
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SinusoidalTendencies
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My tercel:: 87 4wd wagon

80ish mph. Anyone else get er purring?

Post by SinusoidalTendencies »

So I think I need to do a valve job. Front seal or cam is likely leaking (but slow enough for now). And my exhaust pipe needs complete replacement. Keep patching and welding the darn thing every few weeks from a new rusty leak.

But despite all that I've been getting this 87 4wd AT screaming along like a bat out of hell.

I mean..not starting out on an incline of course. But once up past 55, 65 the power band seems more stable under load. Been pegging hills at 60-75 and purring along at 80-85 without load.

It's all about finding that sweet spot in acceleration where 2nd and 3rd harmonic oscillations go away by matching the higher pitched root oscillation of the engine with careful control of your acceleration to match with the load. Having secondary oscillation occurring appears to cost a wee bit of power/efficiency. Secondary oscillation is the slower wave harmonic tone oscillations you hear along with the over all engine noise when accelerating and de-accelerating.
Sure this would apply to any engine though.

I'm just learning still too so not sure if I'm using the he right words. Maybe many of you already know what I'm talking about better than I do.

What are your top speeds?
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atoyta
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Re: 80ish mph. Anyone else get er purring?

Post by atoyta »

I had my first Tercel up to 90 in Montana back in the "Drive at a safe speed" speed limit days. It sure took a while to get there though. This was an 1983 5 speed car.
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ARCHINSTL
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Re: 80ish mph. Anyone else get er purring?

Post by ARCHINSTL »

@ SinusoidalTendencies:
But - how are you compensating for the pre-credle secondary damaging waveforms/emanatings which kick in at 82 1/2 MPH?
Have you modified the engendered technoprobe of the Aisin carburetor (not many are aware of that component)?
I had a problem with that with my then-new '83 back in the day. Even my daughters commented on the bucking/wheezing at that speed.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=920op=7697&hilit=top+speed#p7697
Granted, my then-new '83 was an MT w/o PS or AC, but the coordinated hilater did not permit the flow to the carbie, sadly.
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LowBuckCanuck
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My tercel:: 1986 DLX 4wd Wagon "Jenny"

Re: 80ish mph. Anyone else get er purring?

Post by LowBuckCanuck »

Long downhill in an undisclosed location coming home from a camping trip. Car was full of camping supplies with all the windows down. I had wonky steering after I had hit a rock while crossing a stream. (Steering wheel is still 45 degrees off centre while going straight)

Passed a buddy in his tacoma while doing an indicated 165 km/hr. (102.5 mph for the 'mericans)

With a long enough downhill and all the windows rolled up with the car unloaded, I reckon I could bury the needle.

1986 with MT, slightly larger tires and rims than stock.
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Petros
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Re: 80ish mph. Anyone else get er purring?

Post by Petros »

the AT trans has a different ring and pinion ratio that either early or late manual trans ratios, also the auto trans does not have an over drive feature, so it is like being in 4 gear in a manual trans. when I drove an auto trans T4wd cross the SW desert in July, the fastest it would go was about 68 mph, and it would start getting hot (it only had the single row radiator in it, when I got to Austin I bought and installed a new double row radiator).

about the fastest I have ever driven a T4wd was about 90 mph...going down a long hill on the interstate. does not seem like a good idea with the skinny stock tires on those flexy 13" steel wheels.
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irowiki
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Re: 80ish mph. Anyone else get er purring?

Post by irowiki »

Our old Buck handled 80-85 on the Utah interstates just fine, even loaded!
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The Professor
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Re: 80ish mph. Anyone else get er purring?

Post by The Professor »

My carb is trash. Flat spots, dieseling, bogging, etc. That said, after a recent throttle cable adjustment I was able to (allegedly) get the old girl up to about 93 mph on a downhill. She'll do 70-80 all day at WOT, which is how she is usually driven, due to modern traffic speeds...
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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: 80ish mph. Anyone else get er purring?

Post by ARCHINSTL »

Well ...
1. viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3484&p=26744&hilit= ... 983#p26744
2. viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3484&p=26744&hilit= ... 983#p26744
Note the calibrated speeds mentioned by R&T and CandD when the cars were new ...
And these were from the first two years with the "highway gearing" ...
Tom M.
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"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
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Yaut
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My tercel:: 1985 Toyota Tercel 4WD automatic, lifted 1.5", 15 inch wheels

Re: 80ish mph. Anyone else get er purring?

Post by Yaut »

My 85' auto will cruise at 80 without much problem, just takes awhile to get there. The believe the final on the 85' auto is 3.909 and I have 15 inch tires so I'm sure that helps. Mine gets hot when cruising at that speed for long but I do have some flushing to do. a torque converter lockout would be nice.
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irowiki
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Re: 80ish mph. Anyone else get er purring?

Post by irowiki »

I did GPS confirm my various high tercel speeds, so there's that.

I can also confirm the auto hitting 80-85 and not liking it.
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larry mcgrath
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Re: 80ish mph. Anyone else get er purring?

Post by larry mcgrath »

The Rocket has seen 130 mph ---- TOMTOM--- fastest T4 around-- not stock-- 165HP V 20 Black Top-- lots of fun to drive. Larry
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Petros
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Re: 80ish mph. Anyone else get er purring?

Post by Petros »

Larry,

have you done any suspension mods/upgrades to your Rocket?

seems the stock tires/suspension are rather soft for those speeds, making it more firm and use of speed rated tires would make forays above 100 mph much safer and more controllable.
'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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Re: 80ish mph. Anyone else get er purring?

Post by larry mcgrath »

Qa1 shocks all around, 15" tires from a Mazda mieda -- other than that it's stock.
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splatterdog
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Re: 80ish mph. Anyone else get er purring?

Post by splatterdog »

larry mcgrath wrote: Fri Mar 01, 2019 10:45 am The Rocket has seen 130 mph ---- TOMTOM--- fastest T4 around-- not stock-- 165HP V 20 Black Top-- lots of fun to drive. Larry
Must have been close to 6000 rpm cruising speed!
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Re: 80ish mph. Anyone else get er purring?

Post by larry mcgrath »

splatterdog wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2019 9:06 am
larry mcgrath wrote: Fri Mar 01, 2019 10:45 am The Rocket has seen 130 mph ---- TOMTOM--- fastest T4 around-- not stock-- 165HP V 20 Black Top-- lots of fun to drive. Larry
Must have been close to 6000 rpm cruising speed!
This engine is red lined at 8200 rpm, that's where the rev limiter is set. This engine was built by Toyota but the cyl head was designed and built by Yamaha --- it revs like nothing I have ever driven.
Last edited by irowiki on Sun Mar 10, 2019 12:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Fix quote tag
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