Eugene Oregon Misadventures of the third kind!

[Rivrfox]

Hello All!

[TL:DR} Eugene, OR craigslist 84 sr5 wagon bought from CL with tranny out of the car while on east coast. Bartering mechanic work for shop cleaning but that trade has run its course for the most part. Mechanic trusted PO that tranny was good, wasn't. Need to purchase tranny or cannabalize the parts car tranny that slips out of 4wd in 1st/2nd. Front Passenger wheel bearing needs replaced and this car is Vermont bound or bust!

Love the site here and in a bit of a pickle and a budget. This is my third Tercel but I am a novice mechanic at best. I will regale you with the story and photos of the first two at a later date. I am the PROUD yet mechanically uninclined owner of a tough yet lovable cream colored 84 sr5 4wd wagon that is currently not named yet (manufactured 10/1983 I believe)!

The story starts with me seeing this car on craigslist while visiting family & working in CT. A female adult owned daily driver for most of it's life to about just under 200k. Babied and taken good care of. It's last 15 years it's been not used as much and not garage like the first fifteen. Result is 225k miles and a guy bought it last year with a bad clutch. Got 1/2 through the clutch job and broke a throwout bearing retainer clip and sold it due to...hmmm. Sold it to me stating that the transmission was good as well as the engine but it just had the clutch done and the t/out bearing retaing clip was broken.

Here's where things get interesting!

The owner of the shop is going to the east coast for family but busy with a engine swap on a bmw. I can't find a T/O bearing retaining clip anywhere and he said I could pull anything off the parts car that I sold him for $100. He has 14" racing alloy rims I sold him for $100 as well that I think are for sale.. I pull the engine with a friend...2.5 hours later we have that silly retaining clip!

Finally get the transmission back together, the carb quickly cleaned and it's not sounding smooth. Rough idle and the clutch feels a bit thin and the transmission sounds off. Turns out the main shaft from what we can gather is toast and there's a phantom leak that is eating the tranny oil with no obvious spots.

We're going to work on the car tomorrow as the owner of the shop got back from the east coast yesterday. I'm two weeks behind schedule for starting our journey east. The car interior is very nice, the seats are a kind of weave fabric I've never seen on a Tercel wagon and I would say mint condition. Heat works great, engine seems strong and can't wait to get her roadworthy.

Pics to come. If anyone has any info or help on the tranny or otherwise. Please post or message me. I'm excited to shadow/help and not pay a shop rate.

Thanks,
Michael

ps will update throughout the day/week.

<3

[Petros]

welcome to the forum!

If you have a parts car you can swap out the whole steering knuckle to replace the wheel bearing, it is a fairly easy and straight forward swap. No special tools required (a wheel alignment might be a good idea, but not necessary if you change it out carefully). Once you have the axle nut and axle off you can spin the wheel hub by hand and feel if the bearings are good, if so than you can swap it out.

the main shaft bearings on the trans are worn and sloppy, causing it to slip out of gear. It is a major operation to change the trans main shaft bearings, might be better to swap out another trans. if the input shaft bearings are shot it might be the source of the gear oil leak, out the main shaft seal (if the bearings are wobbly gear oil gets past the seal). Replacing the whole trans sounds like a good plan, if you can find one. It may make it across the country if you can keep gear oil in it, otherwise you could be suck in Wyoming in a snow storm with a bundled up transmission.

Good luck.

[Rivrfox]

Hi Petros!

Thanks for the reply. The owner of the shop thinks it rear main shaft bearing or the countershaft bearing from a quick test drive. We have lift time tomorrow.

I'm curious if we can can swap out the transfer case assembly between the two cars? The parts car transmission pops out under heavy load when in 4WD. We also know of a transmission man that's quite knowledgeable on these 4wd Tercels so I'm going to call him or stop in by in the morning but I'm a tight schedule and budget.

Thanks for the warm welcome!
Michael

[Petros]

I do not recall the country shaft bearings wearing out particularly often. the main shaft has a large bearing at the front and the back of it, when they get worn and sloppy the whole main gear cluster tends to move forward under load, and than backwards when you decelerate (because of the gear helix), pushing the shift sleeve far enough to pop it out of gear.

you can swap out the transfer case, but that is not where the problem is, it is on the main gear box main shaft, not the transfer case at the back of the trans. In fact the transfer case almost never gives you any trouble.

Best you can do is pull the two trans and try and determine which is the least worn between them and keep that one. you might consider replacing the input, rear output and front axle shaft seals while it is out. And the 4wd selector shaft seal. These are the typical causes of leaks. the input shaft is easy to pull out, pull them both and keep the one that is in the best condition.

It is about a 2.5 hour job to remove and replace the trans, and It is about a 3-4 hour job for an experienced professional to rebuild a trans (if he has all the proper pullers and a press). You can still get all the major bearings and the seals, but there are no more syncros available, so you just have to use the best of the used ones you have available. So it is not usually a practiacal nor ecomical option to rebuild the trans. Some of the bearings can be replaced without pulling the whole trans apart, but most of the important ones require almost a full dis-assembly to be able to replace them.

You might check all the local wrecking yards to see if any have a Tercel4wd trans. The '83-'84 has a 3.73:1 front diff gear ratio, and the '85 and later has a 4.1:1 diff ratio. the trans can be interchanged but you will have to swapped out the front diff assembly so the front and rear diff ratios match.that is presuming your old front diff assembly is usable. You can also get the rear diff out of the car you get the trans from and swap out both the trans and the diff so they match. DO NOT even think about driving it with mis matched front and rear diff ratios.

Good luck

[irowiki]

DO NOT even think about driving it with mis matched front and rear diff ratios.

Good luck

Unless you just treat it like a FWD car and not use 4WD, in a pinch.

[Rivrfox]

When driving to the shop. It hesitated at a stop light. Wouldn't shift into gear. When on it stops making noise when clutch is depressed. When off I can run the shifter thru the gears smoothly. I'm at a shop but the bays are full.

I was so kindly helped by a member in here. Told me to pull the input shaft and check the teeth. If they're good to check the front diff for teeth with the metallic drain plug.

Will update if anyone is in my area or knows someone in Eugene I'd be happy to chat with you. Thanks all!

Kind regards,
Michael

[Petros]

a messed up clutch or stretch out clutch cable can make it hard to shift, making many think the trans is bad. perhaps you will get lucky and you only need a clutch. Better find the sourse of the leak and fix it while you are at it.

good luck.

[Rivrfox]

Swapped partial trans and the passenger axle/wheel bearing today. All systems a go! Will test drive and smooth things out tomorrow. Bit of a rough idle from sitting for a bit.

Thanks for everyone's help via forum or personnel correspondence. Made things go smoothly!

♡

Ps Drove her for 30 minutes and get better as I drive more.

[Petros]

that is great news! Make sure your gear oil in the transmission/front diff is topped up before you take your trip. Top up all your other fluids while you are at it, if you have time you might consider flushing out all of the old brake fluid (bleed all of the brake lines), replace the motor oil, and change the fuel, oil and air filter too. New anti-freeze in the coolant, clean the battery terminal posts, and adjust valve clearance as well.

Set your spark timing at 10 deg before top dead center instead of the factory spec of 5 deg BTDC.

If you have access to spare parts I will try and carry any parts (in addition to a tool kit) that might leave me stranded: fan belt, timing belt, alternator, fuel pump, complete distributor assembly, water pump, extra motor oil, upper and lower radiator hose, form-a-gasket sealant. If the starter goes out you can roll start it, short of a blown engine or trans, most other things you can fix with stuff you can get at a local autoparts store.

good luck. keep us posted on your road trip plans.

[Rivrfox]

Thanks for the wise words Petros & all.

Update! Sadly my mechanic charged me a full ass for a half ass job (on top of the 30+ hours I put in cleaning his shop & cars) but he did get the partial tranny swap in and the passenger axle/wheel bearing exchanged which I'm grateful for. We've made it to Montana and stayed in a tiny house in Missoula! Looking for lodging in Billings at the moment. Five inches of snow or so and we're about to take off in a few! All fluids checked and although it's runs a bit rough still things are looking up.

Have photos, just need to upload!

<3

[Rivrfox]

IMG_20151205_160817.jpg

Great hospitality throughout the trip BUT

Lost heat thru north Dakota into Minnesota. :brrrr:

Figure the thermostat is stuck open or it's something to do with trapdoor to the heater box.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10804&p=80241&hilit ... tat#p80241

pic from Eugene

[irowiki]

Were you messing with the heater controls before it died?

Check to see if the heater valve itself is open.

[Rivrfox]

Cold air is coming from the passenger side glove box feet area. Engine was running cold as well. Defrost barely works.

[Rivrfox]

The blower seems fine but there's a burning smell when switching to bi-level heat.

[irowiki]

If the engine is running cold it is your thermostat!