Blowing black smoke and is running rough.

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
Post Reply
InSaneTercel87
Newbie
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2022 1:26 pm
My tercel:: 1987 Toyota Tercel 4WD
Location: Somewhere in Finland

Blowing black smoke and is running rough.

Post by InSaneTercel87 »

Hello, i recently bought two 4WD Tercels for a good price(700€) and im trying to get the better one fixed before snow.
My problem is that after reviving the car i got it to start and run but it seems like its running extremely rich when i put the pedal to the floor, it wont idle properly and its just blowing black smoke like a diesel and backfiring a lot,almost sounds like it hits a limiter. It got little better when i changed the carb from the other car as it looked almost new inside. Its a euro car so it has a standard distributor and external coil.I've changed distributor cap, set points gap, changed spark plugs, put a know good coil on the car, got new spark plug wires and checked the common things with the vacuum system. Im at a lost right now as i have been doing a lot of research about the car and the problem but i have not yet figured whats wrong.
User avatar
dlb
Highest Ranking Member
Posts: 7305
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:03 pm
My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
Location: bc, canada

Re: Blowing black smoke and is running rough.

Post by dlb »

Welcome to the forum.

Black exhaust is a sign of excess fuel, in other words it's running way too rich. A common cause of that is a ruptured AAP diaphragm on the carb -- I know you swapped the carb but AAP's fail fairly frequently, plus it's easy to check so that's the first thing I'd look at.

Have you checked the timing? Make sure to disconnect and plug the vacuum hoses that go to the distributor before setting the timing. Stock is 5 degrees BTDC but most on this forum set it closer to 10 degrees. Makes it a little peppier.
User avatar
Mark
Highest Ranking Member
Posts: 883
Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2013 9:49 pm
My tercel:: 1984 Automatic, 1981 sedan
Location: Victoria, B.C.

Re: Blowing black smoke and is running rough.

Post by Mark »

And check the little window on the carb to make sure the fuel level is about in the middle of the window.
User avatar
Mark
Highest Ranking Member
Posts: 883
Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2013 9:49 pm
My tercel:: 1984 Automatic, 1981 sedan
Location: Victoria, B.C.

Re: Blowing black smoke and is running rough.

Post by Mark »

carb window.jpg
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
InSaneTercel87
Newbie
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2022 1:26 pm
My tercel:: 1987 Toyota Tercel 4WD
Location: Somewhere in Finland

Re: Blowing black smoke and is running rough.

Post by InSaneTercel87 »

Thanks for the replies, i got the car running today and it runs pretty well now, idles nicely but the idle mixture and idle speed screws doesn't really do anything. I changed the spark plugs again, adjusted the float height and tinkered little bit with the ignition timing, i'll have to check it when i get a timing light. Next step is to fix brakes and start doing some rust repairs.
User avatar
dlb
Highest Ranking Member
Posts: 7305
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:03 pm
My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
Location: bc, canada

Re: Blowing black smoke and is running rough.

Post by dlb »

Remember there are two idle speed screws. One is for the "fast idle" (aka initial idle when the car is started and cold), the other is for regular idle. Have you looked through the factory service manual here on the forum? It's pretty useful for stuff like this.

It's impossible to set the timing without a timing light so make sure to do that before tinkering with other stuff too much. No point getting it running decently only to find out the timing is way off and then have to redo carb settings.
InSaneTercel87
Newbie
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2022 1:26 pm
My tercel:: 1987 Toyota Tercel 4WD
Location: Somewhere in Finland

Re: Blowing black smoke and is running rough.

Post by InSaneTercel87 »

I used the fsm quite a bit already, i've only touched fast idle screw a little bit to get it idle cold better. I will leave it for now and adjust the carb again when i get my electronic igntion conversion kit as i have to check the timing then anyway. Is there a post about differences between euro cars and us cars? Thanks.
Jonas.00
Newbie
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2021 3:27 pm
My tercel:: 1987, stock, with electric sunroof

Re: Blowing black smoke and is running rough.

Post by Jonas.00 »

Hi!

I saw that you had a electronic igntion conversion kit on the way to your euro tercel, where did you find that?

/Jonas (Sweden)
User avatar
Nordical25
Top Notch Member
Posts: 307
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2022 11:49 pm
My tercel:: 2 4wd 1987's. One with 4a, other with 3a
Location: Finland

Re: Blowing black smoke and is running rough.

Post by Nordical25 »

Jonas.00 wrote: Sun Sep 24, 2023 1:34 pm Hi!

I saw that you had a electronic igntion conversion kit on the way to your euro tercel, where did you find that?

/Jonas (Sweden)
Hi Jonas, unfortunately InSaneTercel87 has not been active since last year but I may know an answer to your question. You can find a used US Tercel 3A distributor from Rockauto/Ebay, which needs only one wire to be connected. Two wires if you have a tacho. You want to look for a model that has only one vacuum advance port. Another option is to find a 4A distributor from 1983-1987 Corolla. It should fit straight similarly to 3A distributor. Weights on those distributors are a bit different so you may need to find an optimal timing setting. I run 10 degrees on my US 3A distributor and my engine works well. One wire is 12v ignition on, another one to tacho. I have a wiring diagram if you manage to find one. They are called Toyota IIA distributors.

There is also a third option but it is very rare. You may find 1st. gen 3A electronic ignition with external coil+ignitor unit. I have one here but I have never tried it in my Tercel since my second gen distributors are working fine.

I have heard also a rumor that you can build an electronic ignition conversion from a Volvo distributor. But I don't know which model it could be because Volvo has so many different distributors according to my understanding.
Post Reply