Previous Owners boasts and reality

Ogedei · Post by **Ogedei** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 1:26 pm

So when I bought my car the previous owner had a seemingly unnatural affection for the car. He had notebook pages listing the miles dates and what service was performed. He was replacing oil every 1500 miles and filter every 2 changes, air filters regularly. As far as I can tell he was doing that.

However it was the big things he did that are bugging me. He replaced the half-axles and I have already replaced 1 after less than 2000 miles and the other one has a split boot (if it ain't a knockin I'm not replacing). He also replaced the Water pump and the timing belt and the water pump has gone bad. at about 15000 miles. So I am rebuilding everything he did and I am not happy about it. So far the Timing belt is as far as I can tell ok. except I am starting to leak oil from the cover near the head/engine block seam.

So here I go getting ready to replace the water pump, I am reaching the boil point when driving in 40 degree weather, and beginning to think that I should replace the timing belt as well based on the past. I wonder if I can really redo 40000 miles of oil changes since I am redoing everything else he did.

So to end this verbose post has anyone else experienced issues with the previous owner and how reality meets what was explained?

tercel4wdrules · Post by **tercel4wdrules** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 3:57 pm

Well the '84 I have is leaking oil exactly like yours is. I have most of the major repair orders but the clutch and engine are starting to have problems after 35k miles since they were repaired by a reputable shop.

Post by **ARCHINSTL** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 6:02 pm

Well, this is certainly an interesting thread about the oil leak...
All of a sudden (last week), mine is leaking at the same spot as you two guys' cars - what gives? The leak is perhaps 10 +/- drops per day.
I have scanty records on previous upkeep, beyond the head replacement and some brake work.
Tom M.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 7:15 pm

I am assuming the car is the 84 with 140,000 miles. What kind of miles..city driving...short trips? Seems like low miles for a car that age. I've got 338,000 on my 86.
As far as the problems...a low quality water pump can fail in short miles as can a CV axle. If you are overheating I would not suspect the water pump. I would look at the t-stat or a blown head gasket or even a clogged radiator. Does both radiator hoses get hot or just the top or neither? Is the radiator fan coming on when it should? Is the gauge functioning correctly or is it giving you a false hot reading? Fluid level up? I once overheated due to a bad radiator cap...it couldn't maintain proper pressure therefore the coolant was boiling at a lower temperature. With the heater on full bore does the temperature drop? The oil leak could be coming from the camshaft seal or the half plug on the valve cover gasket.
Let us know a little more and maybe we can help you? or console you with a beer.

Later
Chris

Ogedei · Post by **Ogedei** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 1:07 pm

The car is a 84 and it either has 144,000 or 1,144,000 miles. It has lived most of its life as a second car to take some one too and from work, thus the low miles. However my 20 mile one way commute will quickly change the mileage.

The wter pump is making much noise lots of scraping per my mechanic.

I will drive the car home and test the two hoses for temperature.

The fan does engage.

I will look around at the oil leak in the next couple weeks I have other work to perform first.

My post was mostly meant for a lament of buying in to the hype of the seller and suffering the consequences. But thanks for the help

Ogedei · Post by **Ogedei** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 1:01 pm

So I did some testing and stuff yesterday

First I added 1 qt of antifreeze after i found it a bit low

second I drove for 8 miles at 55 mph with the heat on and the guage stayed at 1/8

then i drove for 8 miles without the heat on and it climbed to 1/2 and then it droppped back to 1/8 (fan or temp guge kicked in maybe) and stayed at 1/8 for about 3 miles or so and then strated to climb and then I am home.

I touched both the upper and the lower hoses and they were warm but not hot I could wrap my hand around it for a couple seconds.
They were both about the same temp.

There you go any thoughts would be appreciated.

waynehoc · Post by **waynehoc** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:22 pm

I touched both the upper and the lower hoses and they were warm but not hot I could wrap my hand around it for a couple seconds.
They were both about the same temp.

Don't think this is right. I recently installed a new rad and a rebuilt water pump (checked the thermostat at the same time - an oem Toyota rplcmt of a couple of years ago - as per the FSM and it was okay). After either a short or long run (in today's B.C. 'Winter' temps) my top hose is very hot and my bottom hose is very cool. I don't think they should be the same temp.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 7:23 am

Previous owner replaced the clutch... less than 10K miles later, I was doing it over. Amazing how many loose, missing bolts I found. While the engine was out, I replaced the thermostat, water pump, and timing belt.

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 10:13 pm

Hmmmmmmm....
Okay, 2 things.
First off....
YOU ADDED A QUART??? Holy crap! Thats low! That right there is a significant amount of the radiator, which would explain the lack of overheat described by 1/8-1/2. I sit on 1/2-3/4 all the time, the 3/4 coming when I'm not moving over 20mph. It has a new rad cap, new thermo, and I flushed the rad with pure water when I swapped the engine.

I would suspect that if the coolant were that low, the pump might have lived with a lot of air in it, and the bearing may have worn down. Also, make sure your belt isn't hyper-tight. That will eat the ape-dooky out of the bearings. Does the pump leak from the weep-holes? If it does, then your inner seals and/or pump bearings are shot. Lack of fluid, over-tight belts, etc can cause this in very short order.

Hows about trying a professional coolant system flush? I believe that Grease Monkey will do them? I think my local one charges $60 plus fluids... If the upper and lower hoses are close to the same temp, there might be a deposit layer on the interior of the cooling fins, and a professional flush might fix that up.

How old is your coolant? Not that it won't cool after a while, but the alkalinity levels... Or was it acid levels? Can get very high and cause a lot of coating inside. If you saw my 3A-C Guts pics, you can see the inside of that engines water jacket. COATED in white deposits. Those white deposits limit thermal transfer, and inhibit your coolings systems heat evacuation capabilities. Lol... Just had to throw in some bigger words. Essentially, that white gunk will keep the coolant from getting the heat out of the metal. Result=overheating. And if that gunk is on the water jacket, it is inevitibly in the radiator. A mineral-flushing solvent will get rid of that for you, but don't use just anything. Again, a garage or Quick-Lube place will have the tools.

I really hope that helps.

kingtercel · Post by **kingtercel** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:49 pm

I Recognise this situation as a similar thing happened to me, and it realy lets down ur faith in other people, especially asociated with the "quokka" (trading post).
I bought my 87 tercel under two very unrecomended conditions; at night and without it running.
the previous owner claimed that the water pump 'broke' just as he pulled into his drive a couple of months previous, and it started spilling coolant but apart from that it was a super car.

We ignorantly believed this but after replacing the water pump, cranked her over, and discovered the head had warped, gasket blown, radiator was blown (due to compression into water jaket after gasket split) which also killed the water pump. and to top it off, the clutch was like a jar of vaso on an icy lake.

I think this bloke mustve driven at 8000rpm over a mountain halfclutched for a couple of hours AFTER blowing out his cooling system, before he decided sell

BTW "Ogedei" connecting the water jacket to a runing cylinder may possibly blow the crap outa your radiator, it seemed to work for me, but if you want to keep your car running i suggest mineral clearant stuff