Only goes into gear in 4wd? (First post!)

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Intermodal
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Only goes into gear in 4wd? (First post!)

Post by Intermodal »

Hello, fellow Tercelians. It pains me that my first post to you guys is kind of a nightmare of a topic, but my transmission is having a hard night.
I bought the car recently and have driven it lightly (aside from the 600 mile voyage home) and about ten minutes ago while coming home from work I sort of popped the clutch off of a stop sign and lost all power to the front wheels. I tried getting it rolling in all gears, but got no response aside from a slight rattle/grinding sound while the shifter was where the gear *would be*
But when I tried engaging 4wd to see if I could limp it home that worked just fine in all five gears. Has this happened to any of you?
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Petros
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Re: Only goes into gear in 4wd? (First post!)

Post by Petros »

Welcome to the forum:

Sorry to hear that, it can be fixed. Do not drive it any more until you know the cause, you could do a lot more damage to the gear box. one of two or perhaps three items:

1. easiest fix, if one of your two front cv axles broke at the spline, it allows the front diff to just rotate. You just have to replace the cv axle. Jack the car up and see if you can rotate either axle without turning the diff. most difficult part about that is getting the broken off stub out of the diff assembly. you drill a hole and tap it, than spin in a bolt, and pull it out from the bolt head.

if your CV axles are good, than it is likely one of the following:

2. front differential broken, either ring and pinion or one of the spider gears gone. Usually it will make a lot of crunchy noises when it rotates if this is the cause. You can drain the front diff and see if you get broken gear parts. Best way to fix is to replace the whole front diff assembly/bell housing as a unit. Make sure you flush out the rest of the gear box before you put it back together to prevent any broken off parts from doing more damage.

3. sometimes the shaft that drives the front diff breaks off, this is especially true of the auto trans Tercel4wd, they have link between the gear box and the front diff that often fails. the only option is to pull apart the trans and replace it, once you locate a replacement. could be just as well, and easier, to replace the whole transmission if you can locate a replacement.

good luck,

let us know what you find out.
'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)
Intermodal
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Re: Only goes into gear in 4wd? (First post!)

Post by Intermodal »

Thanks a ton for the prompt reply! I just fell asleep watching the beautiful video of a guy reassembling a terc gearbox; the ease with which he was working seems to have soothed my aching heart. Luckily it's parked in a private lot behind my house so I can have my way with it in the morning. I'll report back tomorrow!
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Re: Only goes into gear in 4wd? (First post!)

Post by BaileySims »

Agreed with Petros in the cv. Once while changing mine out in the very beginning of owning the car that I knew nothing about, I slid the cv into the trans and then into the hub, not realizing that it slid out of the transmission on final assembly. Go in it to prepare for a test drive and none of the gears seemed to do anything but only worked in 4wd. Scared the hell out of me but easily found my problem
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Intermodal
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Re: Only goes into gear in 4wd? (First post!)

Post by Intermodal »

You guys are making me feel much better about this. The car has had some cv issues in the past (previous owner had replaced one) and maybe the repair just didn't take. Crawling out of bed soon, will report back in a few hours!
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Re: Only goes into gear in 4wd? (First post!)

Post by Intermodal »

Update! The axle the previous owner had replaced somehow popped itself out of the transmission (perhaps it was never fully inserted) off to the used tool store for a 30mm socket to pull that baby out and assess the damage.
Petros, I might want to take those axles off your hands if you've still got them and if any damage has been done to the splined end of either axle.
Edit: Petros, I saw you had commented on a thread regarding a pair of axles for sale and erroneously thought you were the one selling them.

Update 2: the axle appears to have not been installed correctly and the end 3/8" of the splines is completely worn to shit. Is it inadvisable to have a machine shop clean these up, as it's a new axle with less than 2k miles on it?
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Re: Only goes into gear in 4wd? (First post!)

Post by Intermodal »

Ouch
Update to the previous update: found one at a local parts house for mega cheap, picking it up tomorrow and hoping to have it back on the road by late morning! Thanks for consoling me; I was close to losing all hope in my new baby.
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Petros
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Re: Only goes into gear in 4wd? (First post!)

Post by Petros »

that likely would work okay, but the snap ring is missing so it would just pop out again. Unless you found a replacemnt clip. best use your new axle. save this one as a spare.

If you have time I would drain the trans, pull off the front cover and wash it out with solvent, make sure you get all the broken metal bits out of the diff housing. look for the missing clip as well (likely well mangled). No point in take a chance on having any metal shavings do damage to the gear box and diff, those are very costly to replace.

make sure you get the gearbox/trans axle full with new gear lub, not so easy to do, see the procedure given elsewhere on this forum.

if you got a new axle, best use it. looks like a fairly easy fix.

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)
Intermodal
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Re: Only goes into gear in 4wd? (First post!)

Post by Intermodal »

Oh, that was after I had popped of the (well mangled) clip. I think I'll get it put back together and limp it over to my shop for the tranny drain/re-lube as I'll be able to get it onto a lift (and I'm sure my landlord would appreciate the lack of gear oil stains in his parking lot)
I'm trying to figure out if he didn't press it in far enough, or if it's just the wrong part? Maybe it's too short? I dunno. Looking forward to getting this tackled, and I'm so darn glad it's not the tranny that is toast. :D
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ARCHINSTL
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Re: Only goes into gear in 4wd? (First post!)

Post by ARCHINSTL »

@ Intermodal - do not take it the wrong way, but ...
Review the proper procedure on filling the trans/diff!
In particular, remove the fill plugs before the drain plugs!
Check out this link if fill/drain plugs are boogered (not unusual, as they are soft material!): viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6976&hilit=socket
and : viewtopic.php?f=4&t=12876&p=99383&hilit=drain#p99383

Welcome to the Club, and - Props for being cautious!
Many resources here, and helpful peeps!
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Petros
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Re: Only goes into gear in 4wd? (First post!)

Post by Petros »

it is easy not to get it all the way into place, the final "click" so it is all the way home and the clip holding it. When I install the axles, I make sure it is driven all the way in, and than I give the cv joint a sharp pull outward to confirm it is held in place. quite often it just slips back out.

I have also seen the clip get messed up on the installation (usually due to poor after market clip quality), and it feels like all the way in, but it is not held in place due to broken or mangled clip. driving loads on the spline shft works the stub out, until only the end of the spline is holding on, and they shear off.
'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)
xirdneh
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Re: Only goes into gear in 4wd? (First post!)

Post by xirdneh »

its easier to get it in if open end of clip is pointing "down"
adding bit of grease keeps it there while installing
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
Intermodal
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Re: Only goes into gear in 4wd? (First post!)

Post by Intermodal »

All better! Runs like a top, and the mysterious "clunk" I had been feeling while winding up in first gear has disappeared. Sounds like I should've paid a little more attention to that noise ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thanks so much for all your help, and I look forward to picking your collective brain more in the future.
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Re: Only goes into gear in 4wd? (First post!)

Post by Rednecklawrence »

Off topic, but is your back hatch two tone?
Intermodal
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Re: Only goes into gear in 4wd? (First post!)

Post by Intermodal »

Sorry for the lag, Lawrence. It's not a two-tone, but a weird shade of silver/bluegreen
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