Mike's 85 FWD 5dr Tercel

[Notmikeb]

Hey folks! My name is Mike and I've been lurking on this forum for about a week now trying to learn as much as I can about these cars before tackling my new project. Thought it would be fun to document a rebuild log as I went along and hopefully have some feedback on my many future screw ups!

A few weeks ago, I was having a conversation with my wife about cars we had as teenagers and I started reminiscing about my old 85 4wd Tercel that I owned 15 years ago. I told her it was one of the most reliable cars I've ever had and while it wasn't fast by any means it had character and was genuinely fun to drive. It was a car that I sold to fund a move to NYC and I told her I'd love to have another one someday just to tinker with and to have an alternative commuter car that doesn't get abhorrent gas mileage (I also own a Chevy Suburban, 13mpg if I drive like a grandma!).

This past Father's Day, she asked me to go out to the garage to get something for her and lo and behold there is an 85 Tercel 5dr sitting there! Not the exact car I had but still something fun to play with.

It's an automatic car that has a/c (doesn't work), p/s (barely works and leaks like crazy) and I believe it's been repainted (somewhat sloppily) once but I couldn't find any evidence of major accidents or bondo.

The greatest thing about this car is the total lack of any kind of body rot. Small sections of surface rust on the hatch corners but nothing through the metal. A rare find on the east coast (Maryland).

Short list of things I've found wrong so far:
-idles a little rough but once above 1400 rpm it's fine
-headliner is super saggy
-radio doesn't work
-front tires very worn on outer edge, almost new center to inner edge
-clunk on hard turn
-very leaky power steering (may just convert to manual)
-coolant leak coming from under timing cover (water pump? Freeze plug? *gulp* head gasket?!?
-exhaust hanger bent on rear muffler, rattles against body

I'm sure I'll find more but it's in pretty good shape for a 30 year old car. Very low mileage for the age too at 132k

I'll post pics as I go along with my fixes and if I'm doing something stupid PLEASE let me know!

[ARCHINSTL]

Welcome to the Club and a New Adventure!
Props to your wife!
Tom M.

[dlb]

welcome to the forum, mike.

most of those fixes sound pretty straightforward. i like the idea of converting the power steering to manual. it's a bit of a job from what i've read, it's not difficult. just lots of steps. i plan on eventually doing the same in my 4wd corolla wagon. to de-power a rack, you must remove the rack and housing from the car, pull the rack (the long, toothed, internal part) out of the housing, cut the seal off of the rack, plug the lines on the housing that used to allow the PS fluid to flow in and out, remove the PS lines and pump, and put the rack and housing back in the car. i think it's a pretty common mod on older corollas used by drifters and also mazda miatas.

besides that, it sounds like you may need to inspect the carb (annoying at first when you are unfamiliar with them but actually quite straightforward), a new CV axle or tie rod (depending on a few details about the clunk you hear on turning), alignment (toe can be accurately adjusted at home, camber can be adjusted at home until you are satisfied but is difficult to measure), and then fun jobs like replacing the stereo and gluing the headliner back in place.

a coolant leak from under the timing cover sounds odd. the water pump is around there so i would check it first to see if it's the culprit. if it's fine, i would check the torque on the head bolts. they are easy to access, just under the valve cover. if you're lucky, they are just a little lose and allowing some coolant to leak out the side. normally when a head gasket goes, it is between two cylinders. i don't think i've heard of one blowing out the side.

keep us posted, and good luck. be sure to check out the FAQ here:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7442

[marlinh]

Coolant leaking from under the timing cover is probably the o ring between the block and the rear of the water pump housing. As they age, they dry up and crack.

[Notmikeb]

Thanks for the tips! I haven't spent any real time crawling under the front of the car yet so I don't have an exact source on the leaks so far. I'm hoping it's a water pump seal issue but it don't really see any signs of that from the top of the water pump. I'll disassemble some time over the next week and inspect a little further. May invest in some UV due for the coolant to see if that helps pinpoint the exact spot it's leaking from.

In order to convert the power rack to manual is it necessary to remove the inner seal on the rack piston or can I just cut and join the crossover lines so pressure remains equal on both sides? Anybody know what size those lines are?

I'm pretty familiar with carbs in general but most of my experience is from older American 4 bbls and the rat's nest of vacuum lines on this one seems like it will be a challenge to get in order. There was only one obvious split line but replacing it didn't help with the choppiness at idle. Vacuum reading seems to be ok fluctuating between 18-20 inHg but with enough flutter that seems to indicate another small leak somewhere in the system. Most of the lines seem original so in sure there's a hardened one allowing leaks somewhere. I don't have to pass emissions tests with this car in MD so the idea of the weber conversion is intriguing......

The rattling exhaust just needed one of the hooks on the underside of the car straightened and is now perfectly secure.

I think tomorrow I may take all 4 wheels off and give the suspension and brakes a good cleanup and check to see if I can figure out this clunking noise and make sure there's nothing else showing signs of wear or impending failure.

[irowiki]

Congrats on your Tercel! The four door hatchback is actually very rare, since it sat in between the 2 door hatchback and the FWD Wagon, most people just went with a Wagon for $2,000 more or so. We had one, in red, but ended up selling it because we had a baby on the way and 6 cars was 2 cars too many!

Give us a picture of your dashboard, particularly the radio area.

Everything from the dashboard forward is the same on the hatchbacks and FWD/4WD wagons.. Which means you can swap a SR5 cluster in and gain a tach/clock for example. We never had a chance to see if the 4WD wagon seats will fit in a FWD wagon or hatchback though.

Rear brake drum and shoes are specific to the hatchback. Front rotors and pads are universal to all 83-86 Tercels.

The weber opens a whole new can of worms. It doesn't like running in very cold or very hot conditions, for example, and needs tuning with jets and such.

[JackWagon]

I've only had mine since Feb of this year and started much the same way: Just cleaning and making lists.

[Notmikeb]

Took it for a quick drive around the neighborhood this morning. Runs really well once it warms up a bit but idle is still shaky. Once warmed up though I had both the charge light and the brake light come on at the same time at low rpms. Alternator sounds pretty tired and smells a little funny but I'm not sure why the brake light would come on too. Weird electrical quirk?

I'll pull it and bring it to the parts store and have it bench tested. Autozone's website says it's a special order item but I've seen this alternator in some form or another on every 80's Toyota I've ever worked on so maybe I can match it up with something that will work in stock. Hopefully I can up the amperage a bit so I can install a 500w sound system with 4 or 5 12" sub woofers kidding..

[irowiki]

That's what it does on this car, turn on both lights if not charging

[Notmikeb]

Bad alternator indeed. Found that an alternator from a 22r pickup truck fits well and comes in a 70a version that is cheaper than the stock one. The case was a bit larger but the pivot is the same width and the pulley is in the same plane as the original. It came with a v-belt pulley but the original 3 rib one swapped out without issue. The mounting ear is at about 11 o'clock instead of 12 o'clock on the stock alternator. Just barely fit in the adjustment arm in the slot but it has the right belt tension there so I'm good for now. If I need to tighten the belt more later I can always remove the bracket, heat it up with a torch and try to re-arc it to work with the slightly different radius of the new alternator. Might never be an issue though.

Although I am all for used parts whenever possible and I have a great "pick your own parts" junkyard 5 miles from me, I like buying things like alternators and starters from somewhere that has a lifetime warranty if they're cheap enough just so I never have to pay for one again. This one was only $60 which justified not spending my afternoon walking through the mud.

The part number was 14668a.

[Petros]

welcome to the forum!

looks like a great project car, good info on the alternator. they are usually very reliable, my factory one last over 200k miles (I am approaching 400k miles on my daily driver now, on a used alternator), but it is nice to know the truck alternator can be made to work too.

klunking sounds like a worn CV axle, check by twisting the joint in opposite directions with one hand on each side of the CV joint. There should be no noticeable play, a small amount is okay, but a noticeable clunk means it is wear out and will not have much life left. Try and buy only new replacement axles, the re-manufactured ones are often junk right out of the box and often a wasted of effort.

Also check all of the rubber bushings, ball joints and tie-rod ends on the front suspension. fortunately almost all of the suspension parts are still still available from aftermarket suppliers like Rockauto.com or the dealer. Usually once you replace the worn suspension parts the alignment come back to normal.

Watch your coolant level closely, if it was ever overheated the head gasket is likely compromised. Not that bad of a job, I have a thread on replacing the head gasket over in the repair guides section. OTOH, it may have just stated leaking because it was sitting for a long time without running, and the o-ring or coolant pump seal dried out and started leaking now that it is being driven again. both are easy fixes. I also recommend a new, not re-manufactured coolant pump, if you have the choice. If you replace the front belt, better also replace the front main and cam seal too, easy to get to once the timing belt is off.

good luck with it. It will be fun to see your progress on it.

[Notmikeb]

I still haven't looked at the suspension and cv axles. I have decided to get a few fun things out of the way before I tackle that potential mess.

I installed an aftermarket tach and a new radio. I'm not thrilled with the look of the tach (looks a little too Honda Civic racer-ish) so I may eventually try to score an sr5 cluster for the tach but it works for now and I had one lying around anyway.

The radio was super cheap on Amazon and has Bluetooth built in which is nice for not getting pulled over . After I wired it up, I realized the drivers side speaker was terrible and the passenger side was silent. I got a pair of cheap Pyles to replace them with ($18 for a pair). Let me say that I emphatically do NOT recommend Pyle speakers. The sound is TERRIBLE even for a small 4" speaker. I guess you get what you pay for. I'll be on the lookout for some better replacements at some point in the future but they're installed and they work so I'll leave them for now.

I also replaced my sagging headliner. I had an old sheet that my wife didn't mind me hacking up so I went a slightly less than stock route. I think it looks great and gives it a fun interior look. While I had the headliner down I ran speaker cables to the rear of the car in case I ever decide to install rear speakers I won't have to remove the headliner again. The 30 year old plastic trim didn't like being removed in some spots so I have a slight crack in the drivers side A pillar trim and completely disintegrated piece at the front of the headliner. I reinstalled without the front trim and I think it looks fine but I'll be on the lookout for replacements if I ever find on of these cars at the pick n pull.

I've driven it to work twice now this week (40 miles round trip) and it's been running great but it seems to lose 1/2 a quart of coolant each leg of the trip. I may have to do this water pump and seal sooner rather than later.

Btw, THANK YOU to whoever uploaded the FSM. I had it printed out 4 to a page for easy reference. It's pretty legible and if I ever really need to zoom in on a wiring diagram or something I can always pull up the PDF. Awesome to have this.

Anyway, it's coming along! Pics!!

[irowiki]

If it is losing coolant that fast the head gasket might be blown.

[Notmikeb]

It's definitely all ending up on the ground and seems to be all coming from the front of the engine. I really hope it's not the head gasket. Although it would be a really good opportunity for a "get to know you" session with the car

[marlinh]

You could definitely be losing all that coolant externally.

Great job on the manual.