Replacing the muffler

sacwac · Post by **sacwac** » Sat May 15, 2004 1:05 pm

So, I replaced the muffler, and intermediate pipe on my '87 Tercel.

The old muffler was falling apart, and the intermediate pipe was so rusted, that it was split. The old exhaust system is pictured here:

<a href='http://mike.mounty.com/pics/exhaust1.jpg' target='_blank'>http://mike.mounty.com/pics/exhaust1.jpg</a>

Getting the old system off was the hardest part of ths job. To remove the muffler, I simply had to lift it, then rotate it, and pull it out. This was easy due to the intermediate pipe being split. Next, came removing the small part of the pipe still bolted to the catalytic converter. The TWO nuts and bolts on the cat were the most difficult I've ever had to remove. They were so rusty, that the bolt heads were round, and the nuts were a cone shape, blending with the bolts. I sprayed rust penetrant on them several times and several days before removing them, it had no effect.

I had to use a small hacksaw, and cut through the bolts, on the nut side. This was hard to do, as the car was not very high off the ground, and I had a bad angle on them. The right side came off after about 1 hour of sawing. But I could not saw through the left bolt. I tried, and tried, getting only half way through. I resorted to using a pneumatic chisel, and blasted the damn thing off.

So, now that the old system was off, I could just slide the new system in right? WRONG. The one piece Bosal muffler and pipe did not slide in. I had to drop the rear shaft (only the rear part), undo the bottom of the left rear strut, and undo two of the stabilizer bars that were in the way. Removing all that gave me enough space to slide the new system in at sort of a downwards/diagonal angle towards the center of the car. MUCH easier. Putting the shaft, strut, bars back on went really fast. I even found that I can compress that rear left strut with my hand, and it stays in! Bad, bad, bad.

I installed a new gasket, and got some new bolts, and finished off the muffler repair. Here is a pic with the new system:

<a href='http://mike.mounty.com/pics/exhaust2.jpg' target='_blank'>http://mike.mounty.com/pics/exhaust2.jpg</a>

I still need to transfer the heat shields from my other tercel. I really like the new muffler, MUCH quieter than before. Dunno about mpg, power loss or gains, it hasn't been on long enough. The whole job took about 6hours. Make sure to leave EXTRA time for those bolts.

After that, I went and got the car smogged. It's a car from Idaho, and to register it in California, it needed smog cert. It failed the first time, by +2 parts per MILLION on the NOx. 852ppm/850ppm max!! So I removed the egr, it was completely plugged up with carbon. Swapped it with the one on my parts car, and it worked fine, even smogged ok the next day. Here is a pic of the car on the dyno, doing the 15mph road test:

<a href='http://mike.mounty.com/pics/exhaust3.jpg' target='_blank'>http://mike.mounty.com/pics/exhaust3.jpg</a>

All in all, I'd say I had loads of fun repairing the car.

Thereminator · Post by **Thereminator** » Sat May 15, 2004 3:23 pm

Hey SacWac,Its Al from Down~Under(Under L.A.). Very informative and strait~forward Article,and those Great pictures are Extreamly-Helpfull!

tercel4wdrules · Post by **tercel4wdrules** » Sat May 15, 2004 8:03 pm

How many Tercel 4WDs do you own? A word about California smog: it's hard, my dad never got the 83 to pass the first time. Plus there are some technicians that don't know that the car is FWD! Well at least one.

icE · Post by **icE** » Sat May 15, 2004 8:25 pm

gj with the muffler, i'll be replacing mine soon with a performance one so this write up will help out a bunch

In florida, i don't even think we have a smog test

takza · Post by **takza** » Sun May 16, 2004 6:12 am

Good write up. I'll be doing my exhaust when the rain quits and I find a round tuit.

Glad I'm using flexpipe. Don't like the sound of removing a bunch of stuff to get the exhaust in.

I don't think you need the shields on those pipes and you would just be asking for rattles if you put them on there?

How bout a writeup on the EGR cleaning?

And how is your auto trans doing....could you say what you've done to it and how it is shifting? :huh:

sacwac · Post by **sacwac** » Sun May 16, 2004 10:41 am

tercel4wdrules: I own two tercels, pictured here:

<a href='http://mike.mounty.com/pics/2tercels.jpg' target='_blank'>http://mike.mounty.com/pics/2tercels.jpg</a>

The left one is an '86 with an automatic tranny, and the right is an '87 with a manual. The 87 is in much better shape than the 86, even with 200K miles.

takza: The heat shields on the 86 are in good order, and don't rattle. I think that car has never left California, so the underside is in good shape. But, the parts will eventually wear out and rattle.... I agree, I don't think you need them either. The 87 has not had them for a long time, and nothing has melted away. I'll probably just take the shields off the 86 and put them on the 87.

I could do a writeup on the EGR, but I just swapped a bad one (87) for a good one (86). It really was a no-brainer. That EGR was SO plugged with carbon, I couldn't even grind it out with the end of a screwdriver. It was that bad. That's why I swapped.

Also, I have not worked on my 86's auto tranny since I last posted about it. It has that same annoying 3rd to 2nd downshift problem. Scary as hell to take it on the freeway. The '87 has the 6sp manual, no problems there.

tercel4wdrules · Post by **tercel4wdrules** » Sun May 16, 2004 1:58 pm

Hey sacwac, I like your 87. Is it an SR5? Was kind of hard to tell on the smog dyno picture. Your 86 is white, right? I can't tell what color your 87 is. There is a member that is waiting to be validated I think his name is 2wgns. He was a member of the old yahoo groups and he has an 83 and 87. I just need the 87 to complete my collection, but I probably won't find one in a very long time and if I do it will probably a deluxe, I'm aiming towards a fully loaded SR5. I'll post pictures of the 83 and 85 once I can manage to get a digital camera.

sacwac · Post by **sacwac** » Sun May 16, 2004 11:27 pm

Yeah, the '87 is an SR5, it's a dark silver color. "Charcoal" or something. The'86 is silver. I know, it's hard to tell in the pic with both cars in it.... Collection??? Picture collection? I can give you pics of the 87, inside and out if you want them. Let me know.

takza · Post by **takza** » Mon May 17, 2004 4:59 am

tercel4wdrules wrote: I'll post pictures of the 83 and 85 once I can manage to get a digital camera.

Walmart sells one for $20 that looks to be useable. Resolution above 640X480 too.

tercel4wdrules · Post by **tercel4wdrules** » Mon May 17, 2004 8:28 am

Hey Takza, can you tell me the brand name or where it is located in the store? Yeah I'm looking for something inexpensive with all that money going to that 85 and later the 83.

takza · Post by **takza** » Mon May 17, 2004 6:14 pm

Saw it in an Walmart flyer and it was supposed to be on Walmart.com.....but when I check, it isn't there. I wouldn't bother with one that has less than a 640X480 resolution though.

tercel4wdrules · Post by **tercel4wdrules** » Mon May 17, 2004 9:17 pm

Yeah I'll check it out when I can. Won't bother with less than 640X480.

sacwac · Post by **sacwac** » Thu May 20, 2004 9:57 pm

Thereminator · Post by **Thereminator** » Thu May 20, 2004 11:47 pm

Yeah I saw that camera today at Wallmart($19.97). I think its the V3350 at the Vivitar website.8mb-ram,1640-480,HSB.

Thereminator · Post by **Thereminator** » Fri May 21, 2004 12:00 am

DAM! SacWac!...you need to take your Tercel down to the local carwash and BLAST all that Nastyfucation off your engine!!! With that new muffler,how do you know when its running? HURRY!!!