Help me save an 86 T4WD DLX!!! Need auto trans!!!

[LeeBiew]

(BTW, both the "Auto" and "RWD" are still very much in consideration!)

[LeeBiew]

I would keep looking for the right tranny.
Autos are not as fun to drive but it sounds like you could have a trouble free tercel for years to come!

So far, he's made the best point so far. Why mess with a good thing? WHO will be disappointed with an Auto DLX T4WD that made it to 500,000 km?! Especially for $250 + Trans!!

[LeeBiew]

Besides... ("Auto" means my Dad AND my Mom can drive it too, hopefully spread some of the T4WD "virus" to them... I know my Dad is VERY close to "infection" )

...I already have my "Humble Bee"! (I was NEVER supposed to have "The Goose" to begin with! )

[irowiki]

The auto wasn't so bad, just noisy.

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2& ... =automatic

[Mark]

What's wrong with your auto trans anyway? What are the symptoms? Is there no way it just requires a part to be swapped out from another A55/A55f transmission?

[marlinh]

Pick and Pull in Edmonton has a wagon in the yard. It doesn't say what kind of trans it has. Kelowna used to have one that was an auto, but it appears to be gone. The last time I was in their yard their inventory list was wrong and the car was there, but not on the print out. It maybe worth a call.

[BrownBadger]

The pnp in Antelope, CA has an auto trans wagon. Might try one of the parts pullers on row52.

[LeeBiew]

Pick and Pull in Edmonton has a wagon in the yard.

Holy cow! This wasn't on there yesterday! I am going right after work today!

[LeeBiew]

SOOOO........

Didn't make it to the yard, closed at 6pm.... BUT....

The Goose!!! SHE DRIVES!!!

Before I headed off to the yard, I wanted to just look over The Goose to see if there was anything else I needed.....

Before I bought the car, I was hoping that the Auto was ok, and that it was something else, something more minor, like the CV maybe. I wondered if he tried 4WD. When I met him, he DEFINITELY did not seem very familiar with this car, or even, cars in general. The mechanic told him he needed a new trans and he just believed him, no questions (didn't even know HOW it was broken). It was sitting in a backyard for a month and a half, hasn't moved. I wanted to try it out for myself... First, "D", nothing, but nasty grinding. Then "D" + 4WD, nothing, but even nastier grinding. With 4WD on, it made a lot of noise like it was trying to engage, but couldn't (light, broken grinding, free-spinning)... So I immediately gave up, unclicked 4WD, and put it in "P". A deal was made, and it was put on the back of a flatdeck and taken home. So today, I decided to try it again. I started it, PERFECTLY, made sure it was in FWD, and put it in "R". Nothing. Engine revs freely. Put back in "P". Then I clicked-on 4WD... THIS TIME, NO NOISE. I HEARD THE SMALL CLICK OF THE 4WD ENGAGING! So... The moment of truth... Put it in "D"... slowly release the brake,.. AND SHE MOVED!!! NO HESITATION! NO GRINDING! Put it in "R"... SHE BACKS UP!!!

I am guessing that during the process of towing the car, it rotated the wheels just right/enough to release any tension on the gears, kinda like putting regular 4WDs in reverse for one tire rotation to fully engage/disengage. I am also guessing that because it is 4WD and not AWD, the grinding went away because the front and rear wheels are now keeping the front diff (or related broken part) from freely spinning/grinding. The broken parts are now spinning inline with each other. I backed her out the garage, drove to the end of the block and back, up the drive way, and back into the garage. NO HINT OF A BROKEN ANYTHING! While back in the garage, I unclicked 4WD and the same (actually less/no grinding now, I guess the broken parts all ground off).

In "RWD", it totally drives like a normal car! I read somewhere in this forum that a guy's buddy had a broken CV (or something) and drove it 5 YEARS in "RWD" before having it repaired, and it was still fine after the repair!

I wanted a RWD car... and it seems that, YET AGAIN, the T4WD Gods have smiled upon me and given me a gift, much better that I could ever have expected. MIND BLOWN!
I think I will drive it like this for now, until I can decide on a sensible solution for fixing this... But I'm not sure I want to... I am just as inclined to spend the same money making this PERMANENT! HAHAHA... Sawed off CVs?

As for the Red 84 SR5 (trans unknown) at the Edmonton PickPull... I will be returning 9AM!!! I want the SR5 gauge cluster, THE INCLINOMETER, THE "FALCON" STEERING WHEEL, and if I can, ANYTHING ELSE THAT IS SR5 (Hopefully VARIABLE Intermittent wiper stalk). As for the WHOLE DRIVETRAIN... I will check it out. But I have never pulled an engine or a tranny before, and I only have hand tools... But I am gutsy if I have the right information Ultimately, if I could buy the WHOLE car, I would And I am definitely gonna try to (I would only have 3 hrs before I would have to go to work and that would totally simplify everything)...

...Anyone want anything from it?

[irowiki]

It might just need axles?

[dlb]

agreed with irowiki. check the cv's for tears in the rubber boots or lots of leaked grease. it's possible one or both have totally failed, resulting in no drive being delivered to the front wheels, although it is pretty odd that the car would not move and made bad sounds in both FWD and 4WD earlier.

definitely change the ATF and trans filter, but also change the gear oil in the front diff and check the magnet on the drain plug for chunks of metal. if there are big ones, your problem is probably in the front diff. if the magnet only has a metallic sludge on it, that is normal wear. clean the magnet off and refill the diff. you might consider adding some seafoam trans tune or similar detergent to the ATF before replacing it to give it a good cleaning.

important note: open the fill plug on the diff BEFORE draining it. the last you want to do is drain the diff only to find you can't refill it for whatever reason.

[Petros]

if only one of the stubs on the cv axle was broken it would behave this way; in FWD the front diff just spins with one axle broken, the grinding would the the broken ends rubbing together. In 4wd, it would act like a RWD car, and appear to drive normal.

I would change all the fluids in all the drive train, and even perhaps add some ATF additives too. And than verify if it is a broken axle, just to make sure you know the cause, even if you decide to fix it later, best not do worse damage because you do not know what it is. If it is a known cause you can better asses if it will do no harm to keep driving it or if you should fix it right away.

[Mark]

Those are the exact same symptoms mine had when the splines on the centrifugal governor coupling sheared off. There was a nasty grinding noise and the car wouldn't move in 2WD. I put it in 4WD and there was no change. We pushed it to the side of the road and I tried it in 4WD again. This time there was no grinding noise and the torque went to the rear wheels and I was able to drive away fine. I drove it like that for a few weeks (I actually liked the handling better with in in rear wheel drive). Taking it out of 4WD brought back the grinding and no movement. I ended up buying an old core 2wd transmission from a local transmission shop. It was a bit of a gamble since I didn't know what components were destroyed in it. I removed the governor coupling (which only had minor wear in the splines) from the 2wd trans and installed it in my 4wd. It's been working fine now for over a year.
Another member on here had similar symptoms with their auto trans and it was a destroyed front differential. -Basically the symptoms are of no torque going to the front wheels. I'd take the cover off the front diff and look for damage. If it looks good and everything rotates properly, I'd suspect the governor valve coupling. Replacing it involves removing and separating the trans from the front diff. The governor valve is the coupling between the trans front output shaft and the front differential shaft. I don't know how much you want to restore the car to full functionality or how much stress you put on the components by putting 100% of the torque to the rear wheels. Mine was my only Tercel wagon so I wanted to repair it, but if you already have another and are not intending to use this one for long road trips, I'd probably just drive it around in RWD for awile.

[KootenayCadillac4wd]

I'm getting a parts car (87 manual) I'm taking from for my 86 manual. I'm sure we could figure something out so you can have the trans . I'm in the Kootenays (hence the name).

[marlinh]

Which part of the Kootenays are you in? There's a few of us in the Nelson area.