New Member

[Carbineone1964]

Not sure if this is the place for a introduction. But just got approved this eve to log in..Late and have been working on my 1986 Tercel all day..Been having fits with it for the last month.. I think I have it wipped today..But thought that before. But I think I do now..I have had it around three years now..Been great till just recently..

I will post a photo tomorrow, and a explanation of the problems I was having...It is a cool little car and it is my daily driver..See you tomorrow. I am located in Nebraska..Thanks for letting me sign up.. I really have a thing for all that is Toyota..

[Carbineone1964]

Heck I somehow mustered up the strength to post a pic..Talk to you tomorrow

[NWMO]

Welcome and great looking car! Where in NE, I am in northwest MO. I assume your car was repainted after removing the side moldings?

Chris

[Carbineone1964]

Yes I repainted it after I bought it.It has some rust in the usual places along the bottom..But underside is reall solid yet, has near 200,000 miles on it now..Had around 150,000 when I bought it..Interior is decent for an older car.. I paid 325.00 for it at a Garage Yard sale,LOL

Now my issue is it started overheating, I first flushed the system out..That did nothing. I then put is a new Stat and waterpump..Still to no avail..I then noticed I had bubbles going into the overflow tank..So started suspecting head gasket..But then my top radiator tank split open..So I ordered a new radiator.. Put that in about ten days ago.. It seemed great for 1 week, ran cool, even with the AC on..But that did not last long..

So I was back to the head gasket..I put in a new head gasket, but my stupidity and impatience caused a another mistake there..I did not have the head checked out..Really stupid and I knew better but this is actually my daily driver and got impatient..But it worked OK again for a few days..Then back to bubbling and overheating and severe white exhaust smoke.. I knew then it was a serious problem..When I pulled the head the 2 and 3 cylinders were actually washed clean..1 and 4 had Carbon yet....So it was obvious..

So Friday night I pulled the head again..Took it to my buddy who owns a Machine shop and is a great knowledgeable Engine guy..We put the straight edge on and sure enough it was bowed around .007 thousandths in the center..Now he said he could mill it but was somewhat concerned about the bow causing a problem with the camshaft..But we decided that he takes a .002 off the two center lobes..Itrust him completely, he has done this stuff for over 40 years, and does all the local racers, airboaters and Farmers stuff around here.

Anyway I put the milled head back on yesterday.. It seems ok now but I only have around 100 miles so far..Keeping my fingers crossed..Will check and retorque the head again tomorrow. And keep and eye on coolant levels..I never had any oil in the cooling system or water in the oil at all.

Another problem cropped up too.. MY dang AC quit..I think I may have disturbed the line that runs across the top behind the radiator.. That will be the next thing to tackle if all else works out..

If I have to find a new head..I will..But kinda looked a little and really have not seen any for sale..

Really like the car and I also have a 1985 that was given to me by a friend about a month ago..It runs great, tranny good, but that one has bad rust problem underneath for sure..Mostly because it sat on dirt and the tires went flat and everything went low into the dirt..I do drive it after some brake work, tuneup, tires and such..

Will post a pic of the free one..

I am about 60 miles west of Omaha so not real far from you..

[NWMO]

Good luck with your daily driver. I too use mine daily and actually should have two drivers shortly, as there is always some type of trouble on the horizon. My brother just moved out to Elkhorn, I’ll try to drive up sometime.

Chris

[Mattel]

Hi Carbine, have you changed your thermostat and radiator cap while you were there? water pump?
Good luck. make sure you change the transmission and rear diff oil as well!

Regards,

Matt

[Carbineone1964]

Yes waterpump, cap and thermostat were some of the first things I tried..I used a quality pump and Stat..I do think anything was wrong with any of those though..

I am hopeful it is fixed..Will keep updated..

[Carbineone1964]

Forgot,pic of the free Tercel from my friends Wife..

[Nordical25]

Free Tercel is always a good one! Take good care of it! Or use it as least as spare part donor. Parts for these are getting harder to find all the time.

[Mogordo]

Whew! That was a lot. At least it sounds like you might have it good to run for now.