Engine trouble

white86tercel · Post by **white86tercel** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 4:46 am

Where can you find $50 Tercels with good engines?...

Victoria, BC (Canada). I'll admit, its not particullarly easy to find a Tercel for $50 but I've know 2 people who did it. The first one, lives in a 300 person loggin town 2.5 hours from the city. Some teenagers crashed a tercel on a loggin road near his home and they said he could have it if he paid for the tow out of the forest ($50). When he got the car home, he realised that the engine and tranny were fine so he drove them into the city (in one of his other Tercels) and sold them for $150 each.

The second one was actually an 87 Chevy Nova (which is another name for a Toyota Corolla). A friend of a friend of myne managed to buy one of these for $60 (Canadian). It had 235000KM on it and the guy who was selling it was about the leave the country. So he convinced the seller that it probably wouldn't run much longer and bought it for $60. I'm particularly jeleous of this buyer because he's gotten 18months of trouble free use out of the car and the car is in much better shape than the Tercel I bought for $500.

Even if you don't luck into one of these deals, I've seen a few $100 Tercels in decent condition. The first one I called and asked for details. The vehicle had accident damage to the rear bumper and quater panel. The seller explained, his son was broke and the alternator/battery had died on him 6 months earlier. He assured me that the engine didn't smoke and that other than the accident damage and alternator failure the vehile was in acceptable condition.

As for advice on finding a cheap Tercel with a good engine. Your best bet is to find one privatly with significant rust damage/accident damage. I recommend calling towing companies, garages, and reposition companies and making posts on local bulletin boards. If your city is anything like myne there is always someone trying to get rid of a Tercel with a decent 3A in it.

As for rebuilding a 3A, I think its fairly simple - easier than 3Es, 4As and more sophisticated engines but harder than the engine from a VW beetle. I would encourage giving it a shot. If you have access engine stand, the necessairy engine tools, and some freetime.

tercel4wdrules · Post by **tercel4wdrules** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 7:17 pm

It is going to be hard to find a $50 Tercel, here especially in Los Angeles. Most of the cars that are for sale cheap is because they have some sort of issue with the engine or trans or any other combination. I don't have a place where to put a spare car either so it would be hard to get my hands on one if I ever do. The AE82 Corollas are abundant down here. They're everywhere which means I'd probably find one in a junk yard. I paid $500 for mine and there are people who buy them for less and they still keep on running.

I'm just going to concentrate on removing the head on this one ('84) to see what's going on and then I'll take it from there, one step at a time. I really don't have any spare time and I don't have a reliable workspace so engine rebuilding would be complicated by this issue but it can be worked out if needed. If I find a good 4A-LC engine and if I have the money then I'll probably go for it to swap it in the '83 if I still have it.

I'll keep you guys posted and if I have any questions I'll post them up here.

sacwac · Post by **sacwac** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 1:36 am

if you try that method of lifing the head, and slipping a new gasket in there (assuming the old one comes off easily), you will need to lift it at least 1cm. If you take a look at the pic, there is a metal tube that sticks out of the block in the upper left corner.

The head, carb, manifold, etc assembly is going to be really heavy, you might want to use a ratcheting tie down strap, attached to the hooks, and a tree. Use a bar to operate the ratchet. Or just find an engine jack. Save your back from injury!

I just heard the audio clips on my sennheiser hd600's, does your car have exhaust leaks?

There was a russian web server that hosted a *mirror* of that entire decware site. It had all the schematics, plans, for free. That was way back in 2001, dunno if it's still up.

tercel4wdrules · Post by **tercel4wdrules** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 2:45 pm

Thanks for the pic sacwac!

Wow! This looks more complicated than I had initially thought. I'm going to have to get additional people to help me. The problem I see with lifting the head 1 cm or so is if part of the head gasket has disintegrated on the block and that would need to be scraped off. The other problem that I have is that the engine is missing the hooks!!

I don't know if I have any exhaust leaks, how do I know? I know it sounds different because the microphone I used to record was practically right next to the carb and manifold. I just know that the car runs real bad when cold and that the carb has issues. I think it also misfires. Not sure though.

sacwac · Post by **sacwac** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 5:30 pm

Yeah, placing the the microphone so close to the engine like that probably changes the tone. It's easier to hear the problem noise though. If the car seems way too loud, then you might have an exhaust leak. It's kind of hard to put into writing, but if you've heard small cars with rusted out exhausts, that's what a leak sounds like.

I had a similar problem with my speedo, when i got my first tercel, in '96. The speedo would not budge until I hit freeway speeds. Keeping up with traffic would read as 15mph. It's been 9years since I took it apart and fixed it, but i will try my best: The speedo cable comes into the odometer/speedometer housing, it drives a worm gear, and other gears for the odometer. It also spins this metal disc, right next to a metal disc attached to the speedo needle. It must have been magnetic, the faster the disk spins, the farther the other disc advances. Anyways, I think there was a spring, and you could wind that speedo needle tighter or looser. It needed to be set on just barely tight enough to rest on the 0mph peg. Mine was way too tight. You will need to disassemble the housing, i don't remember if you need to break it open. I also took that opportunity to wind UP the mileage. Whoa, that car has 480,000 miles on it (then, a 10yr old car).

tercel4wdrules · Post by **tercel4wdrules** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 10:48 pm

The exhaust doesn't sound loud until you get to the 2600 + rpm range. It sounds just like the other Tercel we have. The other thing is that the exhaust puffs intermittently and I'm guessing it's misfiring.

The speedo problem doesn't irritate me as the tachometer one does. That sounds like a lot of work! And the funny thing that've noticed is that the tachometer needle finally does go down to the "0" mark after it sits for a few days. I don't know... this is a strange car.

tercel4wdrules · Post by **tercel4wdrules** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 7:42 pm

I'm really frustrated not being able to fix it right away. However, I have one (or two) question. Is it possible that the "squealing" I'm hearing be from oil or something else on the timing belt? Maybe it's just the timing belt? Or one of the other belts or the accesories?

tercel4wdrules · Post by **tercel4wdrules** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 7:53 pm

Well I finally bought a pair of batteries for my digital camera, it took me 3 months but I did it.

Here is a picture of the oil cap... had my brother hold it up.

Another one...

There are definitely some traces of oil there where I was describing the issue...

It might be hard to see but there's oil on the timing belt cover...

tercel4wdrules · Post by **tercel4wdrules** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 7:58 pm

Here's the yellow tailpipe, I don't know if this is normal...

A tire with a bad case of goosebumps...

For some reason every time I see this car it's more messed up from the front than before... I don't understand. I hope the owner doesn't see this pic.

tercel4wdrules · Post by **tercel4wdrules** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 8:14 pm

I recorded the engine sound again... it seems worse than the previous recordings and there's an unusual background noise.

http://www.geocities.com/apple2guru/TERCELE.aiff