help, please! issues with my new (to me) FWD ‘88 EZ

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blueberryhill
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My tercel:: 1988 tercel ez
Location: nyc & adirondacks

help, please! issues with my new (to me) FWD ‘88 EZ

Post by blueberryhill »

hi all.
i recently bought an ‘88 tercel ez, manual trans. former owner pointed out vibration in the steering wheel when getting to higher mph, said they took it to the mechanic who recommended new tie rods to fix it. i took it to the same mechanic who inspected it again and he did say it just needed new tie rods and tires.
easy enough—bought tie rods on rockauto, dropped them off with the mechanic and will have tires shipped there. he gave me a call after i dropped off tie rods and said he would also recommend a new rack and pinion. i asked if it would be unsafe to drive if i didn’t replace them right away and his answer was no, just would cause uneven tire wear (and possibly going through tires faster?). i’m stressed bc i’ve been searching for a new manual rack and pinion for this model, as well as the mount bushings/grommets. bushings are really really hard to find, i know oem’s are discontinued. rack and pinion search is confusing, hurting my brain. some sites say a certain reman unit will fit the ez, some sites say the same unit won’t (ie: cardone rack and pinion 24-2610).

can anyone guide me to any interchangeable/aftermarket steering parts for the ez ? bushings + rack and pinion specifically?

also, based on what the mechanic has said re: rack and pinion safety, do you think the replacement can wait while i find the right parts (and save $)? i will only be driving it around local streets for the moment, for fun/practice.

honestly, i’m a total car noob. but i am ambitious to learn. i want to take care of her, learn how to care for cars.
any guidance is welcome and very much appreciated ! thanks for reading
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dlb
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Re: help, please! issues with my new (to me) FWD ‘88 EZ

Post by dlb »

I'm afraid this site is specifically for Tercels from '83-'87. '88 was the start of a new generation of Tercel which has no interchangeable parts, completely different carb system, etc, so we will be limited here to how much help we can be to you.

That said, the first thing I would check regarding vibration in the steering wheel at highway speeds is the tire balancing, particularly on the front tires. That's the classic symptom for out-of-balance tires. Any tire shop can do that, and it's cheap.

I can't speak to the rack and pinion or availability of it or other parts of your car since it's totally different from ours but I would get car back from your mechanic (make sure he set the wheel alignment after replacing the tie rods), see how it is with the new tie rods, and if the problem persists, get the tires balanced.

Good luck.
blueberryhill
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My tercel:: 1988 tercel ez
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Re: help, please! issues with my new (to me) FWD ‘88 EZ

Post by blueberryhill »

dlb, thank you for the advice.
i spoke to him again today—he said that it wouldn’t make a difference now, new tie rods or not, because it’s the rack and pinion that should be replaced (and a replacement usually comes with new inner tie rods).
he also said the steering wheel vibration is bc of tires (which at the moment are bad—very worn, smaller sized rears and less worn larger in the front). i will be taking the car to a different mechanic, who is more familiar with older toyotas, after i get tires changed and wheel alignment at the current mechanic. will get tires balanced if vibration still occurs.

if anyone else out there has any helpful knowledge on steering parts for ez model/models outside the ‘83-‘87 range, please chime in! a good place to get discontinued parts? is japan imports my only option?
Jarf
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Re: help, please! issues with my new (to me) FWD ‘88 EZ

Post by Jarf »

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, my first Tercel experience was a transverse mount fwd.
3 doors, 4 gears, 4 cyl's and a 45L gas tank and on the highway you could count on at least 650Km.
It was nearly bullet proof. The salt monster took it from me at 500K

I would start with a new mechanic/shop
I would also recommend that if you are in the habit of buying parts, you should also get into the habit of installing them yourself.
Most shops aren't interested in customer supplied parts.

Aside from the obvious loss of profit, it becomes a nightmare if there is a problem with a part, either being incorrect, poorly machined/built or just poor quality, the customer will ALWAYS blame the installer, not the cheap part.
To be honest, it isn't a fair position to put the shop in.

AS far as working on them, they are actually easier than a T4, which is saying a LOT.
While I am not a huge fan of motors mounted the wrong way, that really was its only flaw, well that and the lack of 4WD :)

In 470,000km I went thru 3 sets of fr brakes, 1 set rears, 3 timing belts, 2exhaust systems, fr struts 3x, rear shocks once and 1 clutch.
It wasn't very stylish and didn't impress the girls, but it was cheap as dirt and gave new meaning to reliable.
I cannot count the number of tires I went thru but they were always bald and evenly worn, when replaced.
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rer233
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Re: help, please! issues with my new (to me) FWD ‘88 EZ

Post by rer233 »

Well put Jarf- I like to tell customers that come into our shop "do you take your own eggs to a restaurant and ask them to cook 'em for you? And then bitch about it if they don't taste good?" Like you said, don't buy your own parts unless you're gonna install then (unless of course the shop can't get 'em.)
if it aint there, there's a good chance it won't break!
83 SR5 Silver/Blue (Snowmobile/work beater)-totaled but drivable
85 SR5 Blue
88 SR5 White (the 'good' one)-not anymore-totaled
87 fwd silver wagon a/t
87 4wd dx Cream (a/t- not anymore- now m/t)
blueberryhill
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My tercel:: 1988 tercel ez
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Re: help, please! issues with my new (to me) FWD ‘88 EZ

Post by blueberryhill »

the mechanic asked me to. he called around and couldn’t find parts for my car. will definitely be taking it to a different shop.

jarf, hoping my ez will also go that far for me with little problems. also, funny that yours didn’t impress the girls—i’m a girl and the lil tercel impressed me :)
Last edited by blueberryhill on Mon Jun 10, 2019 1:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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MrWrench
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Re: help, please! issues with my new (to me) FWD ‘88 EZ

Post by MrWrench »

One thing to note. if you get the tires replaced by the shop you're currently dealing with, the tires should be balanced after they're installed on the wheel. That's standard for a tire replacement. So if the problem persists, I would rule out improperly balanced tires.

Old tires, especially worn out ones like you're mentioning can cause all kinds of wandering and steering issues.
There was an older Honda Civic I did a bunch of suspension work on last year, the tires that were on it had nice tread and we're only a few years old. But once I replaced all the worn our suspension parts, the owner has issues with the car wandering all over the road. A new set of tires were put on and it rode like a dream.

I hope the car feels better with new tires and tie rod ends!
1984 SR5. Lifted offroader with a snorkel. Aka "Thunderbucket"
1985 SR5. Daily driver. Aka "Spud"
1986 SR5. Dakar Rally clone build.
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Petros
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Re: help, please! issues with my new (to me) FWD ‘88 EZ

Post by Petros »

Hi Blueberryhill,

welcome to the forum, I would also recommend not using that mechanic. he should have known before he told you to buy tie rods, that was not the problem. they are easy to check if they are bad and need replacing. Recommending a fix without even diagnosing the problem is just incompetence.

it is also really rare that a bad steering rack would cause vibration. most likely cause is out of balance wheels/tires, bad tire (de-laminating tread) bad CV axles, out of alignment. all are far less costly to fix than a new rack. Did he even check the CV axles for wear?

You need to find a reliable repair shop, it is not easy. many are dishonest, incompetent, or both. And many are not familiar with the older cars. In smaller towns it is not as bad, they have a local reputation, but in larger cities, they can burn every customer they get and never run out of victims. That is why many of us do our own work, it not just saves money, but time as well since you do not have to keep taking it back to get them to fix it correctly.

The fix should be much easier than replacing the rack. At worst, the rack has an adjustment in it than can be used to take up slack or wear. One quick check you can do yourself: park you car with wheels straight ahead, open the window and put one hand on the steering wheel, and one hand on the front tire. Move the steering wheel back and forth, you should feel the tire moving left and right. there should be little or no slack in the steering wheel (amount of steering wheel movement where there is no moment of the tire and wheel. One to two inches of slack or play is usually the limit, though many get used to driving it with more than than. it never causes steering vibration unless there are other problems with the front end, than it can exaggerate the vibration.

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)
blueberryhill
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My tercel:: 1988 tercel ez
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Re: help, please! issues with my new (to me) FWD ‘88 EZ

Post by blueberryhill »

mrwrench, thank you for your input & petros, thanks for the welcome and your input as well.

getting new tires on today AND finally registering it (was suspended due to previous owners insurance lapse)—i’ll finally be able to drive it around and take it to my local shop (currently at a mechanic in brooklyn, where the previous owner had it)
a friend who has a ‘91 corolla wagon recommends the local mechanic—he has sourced parts for her over the years, including a new rack and pinion. word is that he loves working on older toyotas. even though i’m in manhattan, this is the neighborhood mechanic and all my car owning neighborhood friends have recommended them. i know the shop sees a lot of older cars, an 80’s bronco and a first gen honda civic, some hoop-d’s...the idea behind getting this car was to be able to learn how to do my own work eventually. looking forward to getting advice here :)

will update when i have news, if anyone is interested. thanks again to all!
blueberryhill
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My tercel:: 1988 tercel ez
Location: nyc & adirondacks

Re: help, please! issues with my new (to me) FWD ‘88 EZ

Post by blueberryhill »

honestly it feels just fine. no play at all in the steering wheel while driving. new tires on, vibration is almost nonexistent. there’s very very little when reaching ~40mph, but i think that’s normal? will try your tip tomorrow petros, just to be sure abt no play.
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Petros
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Re: help, please! issues with my new (to me) FWD ‘88 EZ

Post by Petros »

great! sounds like you do not need a rack. presuming the new tires are balanced, it might just need an aliment. when you find a reliable place to have the alignment done, tell them about the vibration and to please look over the front suspension for anything that might need to be fixed. Be wary however, they may try and BS you into unnecessary repairs.

That car sounds like a good car for owning in Manhattan, easy to park, easy to move through traffic, old enough it will not attract criminals as much.

It is also easy to work on and parts are available and cheap. We all can likely help you maintain it, even though most of us have less experience with that model than our Tercel4wd. We can also advise you on what tools you will need to buy, usually the savings on your first DIY repair will make up for the cost of the tools.

keeps us up to date.
'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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