Doin' the brakes....

Here's some good repair guides for your Tercel :) Look here for help first!
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takza
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Post by takza »

This is just a list of a few things I've found and repair ideas as far as the brakes on the Tercel 4WD wagon.........


You need a GOOD MANUAL....for the details. ;)


FRONT BRAKES:

* you can buy (2) rotors for the front of this car for less than $25. These are made in China. I thought, well I'll try them...for a while. Along with some AdvanceAP Gold pads, they have worked just fine for at least a year or so. It does not pay to have the front rotors turned...buy new ones?

<span style='color:blue'>"I found out at the parts store that the newer Tercel discs are the same diameter as the old ones except they are vented instead of solid. So these discs would make an easy upgrade for an old Tercel. 3ACPower"</span>

* as far as the braking capacity of the Tercel wagon....the brakes are NOT inadequate...in fact they are probably at least as good or better than my other car, which is supposed to be a "sports" car.

* need to check the front flex lines at the calipers...the rubber on both of mine was cracked...I replaced them.

* my front calipers were OK...no leaks...sliders were OK....bleeder valves loosened OK...


REAR BRAKES:

* BIG issue with these is probably the condition of the brakes lines going to the rear (mainly in RUST country). I found 2-3 places where the steel lines were seriously weakened...so I replaced ALL lines from the distribution "thingy" (below the master cylinder) back.

* this is not a minor job. I tried to buy a double flaring tool to make the lines up myself...but found that to do it right (and you HAVE to), you will need a very GOOD QUALITY flaring tool. So I ended up using off the shelf brakelines with fittings. Since longer lines will be more difficult to work with...this isn't that much of a problem....except maybe with the lines on the rear axle.

* brake lines to buy: buy ONLY the painted brakes lines as sold by Autozone (as an example)...the silver colored ones as sold by NAPA (as an example) will start to rust within a year.

* you can have problems finding the right lengths with these off the shelf lines...best bet is to do the best you can...use ALL mounting points, and be sure and keep the lines away from surfaces they can vibrate against...especially where they mount on the rear axle.

When you bend these you need to be very careful not to kink them and you should plan on bending them ONLY 1 TIME...with a minor adjustment later if needed. So PLAN AHEAD.

* for the rear drums you'll need to check the amount of wear according to the wear limit as cast onto the drum. If you have enough metal left...they can be turned to clean them up for new shoes. Otherwise you'll need to buy new ones at around $110.

Note: the drums on my car had been recently turned 1 mm oversized...they worked fine, but one shoe only hit the drum by about 1/2 it's length.

* the brake cylinders need to be checked for leakage....if there is any sign of this (pry up the dust cover?), they should be rebuilt or replaced. If they have been on the car for a good while in RUST country, the mounting bolts or the bleeder valves might break off...they will HAVE to be replaced in this case.

* even after adjusting them the first time, the rear brakes will take some time to wear in..till then they won't hold all that well.

* DO NOT force the self-adjusters on the rear brakes...these need to work...otherwise you will end up adjusting them manually all the time.


UPGRADES

* the later Tercel vented front discs could be used.....and high performance pads for the front and shoes for the rear?


BLEEDING the BRAKES:

* the Tercel wagon is about the only car I've worked on that I couldn't bleed using the old pump and bleed method...after trying many times, I ended up buying a vacuum bleeder. This did the job. It can also be used to test the various vacuum "gizmos" under the hood.
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