do not click

[takza]

I've seen Corollas just stop running due to clogged fuel filters. Cheap part.

[Ed]

I've seen Corollas just stop running due to clogged fuel filters. Cheap part.

Thats the first thing I replaced when my carb was starting to hesitate. I also unkinked a hose that had to do with the choke assembly. That improved it for a bit, for a day or two. I also put in a different fuel pump - it made no difference. The reason I'm sure its the carb is becuase it was running like crap one day until I sprayed some carb cleaner in it, and it ran great afterwards - for a short while.

[Ed]

PM'ed you Mac.

[takza]

The reason I'm sure its the carb is becuase it was running like crap one day until I sprayed some carb cleaner in it, and it ran great afterwards - for a short while.

Maybe some loose screws? Vac leak? I'd snug down the manifold bolts carefully...carb holddowns and any screws on the carb.

[Petros]

You know ever since this thread was posted the pics of the failed panhard rod mount have been haunting me. The car does not appear to be rusty, nor the mount. From the pics it appears that the failure was due to fatigue. How many miles is this car? I wonder if a lot of rough road driving might cause the mount to fail. These are fairly light cars and I do not suppose they were ment to live longer than 200k miles (every manufacturer works to a design life). Although many last much longer, it is just that odd things could fail at any time after the design life is exceeded.

I have owned three with very high miles on them and have not noticed this problem. But the one I am driving now (216k miles) has the best body of any I have owned (no rust), yet the rear end is loose feeling, and I can not locate the sourse of several "clunks" and pops.

Fatigue cracks develope when cyclic loading execeeds its life limit, a tiny cracks starts at a stress point (usually a minor defect), and propagates a little tiny bit with each cyclic loading. The failure occures when the slowing growing crack gets big enough to cause the part to fail with a single load cycle. The only other thing that could cause this (short of a factory defect) is perhaps a road hazard or collition damaged the mount which failed sometime later.

This is not common with cars from Japan, I have seen it on a number of US made cars (one reason I hate them, even though I own several). However the original Tercel was designed as an entry level car (i.e. "econo-box"). Of course the 4x4 version has a differnt body/frame, the whole rear end was designed specifically (I think) for this 4x4 model. However I do remeber reading in an off-road magazine when these cars first came out that they did not consider them "off-road" vehicles but more for driving on paved road covered in snow.

I am going to take a close look at my panhard rod mount this week-end just for peace of mind. I suggest everyone else do so as well. We should all report back on what we find.

It can be fixed by welding, it should not be too expensive (worth it I think considering how nice the rest of the car appears in the pics). You might consider putting some doublers at all the stress points to prevent this from occuring.

[brianp]

Interesting point Petros. We were just talking about that in one of my engineering classes today. You'd have to look at it a lot closer to be able to tell if it was fatigue or not; but it could be.

I wonder what life rating Toyota had for their parts...

[keith]

Would you believe the design life was 4 years. In Japan, most cars are junked after four years because the inspection requirements make them uneconomical.

Life for a car in Japan is a harsh life. Most driving is done in 1st or 2nd gear. It can take several hours to go a few kilometers. Little "bumps" are a common occurrence. There's barely enough housing for people, so cars live outside.

The Japanese don't have a lot of mechanics, that is why their view of quality was so different from ours in the 60's and 70's. Or cars were meant to last 10 years and 100k miles, IF they were maintained properly and necessary repairs were done. The Japanese expect their cars to last 4 years WITHOUT any maintenance. Turns out that works for most new vehicle buyers. Second and third owners benefited from the American version. However, the second and third owners don't provide a profit for the manufacturer.

This 4 year life design works out well here where the roads aren't as crowded and we do some preventative maintenance.

[ARCHINSTL]

Petros and keith -
Interesting points you guys raise. I had not thought of the cycle of life in Japan, but it does make sense and ties into the "buy a JDM motor" theory.

This may sound naive, but does one look for obvious cracks in the mount (after cleaning, of course), or ....?

I think this is the first time this mount breakage has been reported here - I wonder if the French guys (who really, uhhh, exercise their Tercs) have encountered this?
Tom M.

[keith]

I would NOT recommend a JDM motor. They won't have a lot of miles on them, but those miles will be hard miles. When I junked my Datsun Bluebird SSS over there, it only had 68,000 km (40k miles) on it, but it was worn out. She was "smokin". It was a shame to drive a very HP car in that environment. Transmissions, however, are a good deal.

[Petros]

You are wrong about the design life of the these cars based on the Japan market trends. These cars have been designed for the US market mostly. In 1980 as much as 86 percent of their sales were in the US, and about 96 percent was overseas. You would be a fool to design a car around only 4 to 6 percent of domestinc sales.

Like it or not, for good or for bad, those cars have been, and still are designed for the American market. All the rest is just gravy for them. They knew that to get foothold over here they had to design for quality starting back in the late '60s. That is when there was a significant improment in their export quality.

The best way to look for fatigue cracks are to yes, clean it real good (soap and water with a big stiff brush, then follow with brake parts cleaner spray), and then visually inspect around all the stress riser points: welds, corners, folds, etc.

There are florestent dye kits you can buy, comes in a spray can. Then you shine a black lite on it, makes any cracks or small defects really stand out. But likely on the mount, if they are not big enough to see when looking close with a good light, they likely are not big enough to cause failure.

[keith]

Maybe I should have expanded on that last line in my previous post. I'm going to stand by my statement about 4 years. To last 4 years over there with no maintenance requires a car that thrives over here. A car that lasts 4 years there can 10 or more years here and go 200k+ miles, some even longer. With a formula that works there and over here, why change?

Keep in mind that when they first started selling here, most new car buyers only kept their cars about 3 years. Even now, there aren't many who will keep a car for 20+ years or buy a car more than 20 years old.

[ctishman]

Man, Ed. Your car is exactly like mine.

Color, interior upholstery, the wheels, everything. For comparison:



Of course, that was before it was stolen twice and beaten to hell. Right now it's still hobbling along as Toyotas tend to do, but could use some serious maintenance and care, which as a student I haven't been able to provide.

Now, here comes the grim question: Should you decide to part out the car, can I buy a bit of the internal trim off you? Specifically, I'm looking for the stereo housing and the center console, which were ripped off and destroyed by the thieves.

Thanks,
Charles (in Oregon now, will be moving to Seattle in the summer)

[Ed]

ctishman, I don't think I'd be able to get much for parting it out...unless you could use the whole thing as a parts car. But with a bit of work I can get it in good running order, and that's what I'll most likely do.

I have seen in a wrecker here that exact car with all good interior and pretty decent exterior too, the wrecker is located in abbotsford B.C. 1 minute outside of the Sumas WA. border crossing...road trip?


Ed

[ctishman]

I got in contact with a fellow Terc owner in Oregon, and will be going to have his son take a look at my car sometime today. I'll definitely consider your wrecker if that doesn't work out.

[Mac]

anyone got a RR driveshaft?