Identifying my Dad's Mystery Car

DadsCar · Post by **DadsCar** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 9:40 pm

My Dad that lives in Kenya, East Africa, believe it or not. He bought what he "thinks" is a Toyota Tercel 4WD several years ago in Africa. He is needing a replacement for a "Transfer Shift Fork" which he is unable to acquire there, so I am making an attempt to locate a supplier for that part on my end here in the States.

I believe we have correctly identified that part by looking at the online factory manual for the 1985 Tercel, page 298. His description of the vehicle is as follows:

The car is actually listed as CARIB, rather than TERCEL. It is a four door sedan. Here are the specifications:

Chassis Type and No. AL25.0169144
Year of Manufacture: 1988
Engine; No. 3A.2324544
Rating: 1600cc

Unfortunately, neither he or his mechanic in Kenya have been able to identify the VIN # which my local Toyota dealer says they need to track it down. They've searched high and low on the vehicle with no luck.

The guy at the local Toyota dealership said that he thought that the car numbers imply that it was never even imported into the US.

Does anyone know if it is safe to assume that the 1985 manual indication of the part is enough to track down the part? Where does one go to track down parts when you don't have the VIN #?

Any help you provide me is greatly appreciated!!

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 10:03 pm

AL25 is the wagons designation as far as I know....

Toyota Sprinter Carib= Our car. So yes, same thing. 88 eh? Sedan eh? Well, there was a 4wd sedan made in some countries.... See if he can find the transmission code. That'd help a lot.

A 1600cc 3AC? Hmmmm... Somehing's fishy about that... The 3AC is a 1.5L. The 4AC, however, is a 1.6L. Odd....

Any more info you can give us?

Mac · Post by **Mac** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 3:03 am

AL25 is the 4WD wagons, The 3A engines are all 1500CC's, 1600CC's is for the 4A, same engine, only the 4A has a larger bore.

anyways, you are correct in assuming your dad has what is known in the US and Canada as a Tercel wagon 4WD. the Vin number should be on a plate riveted to the door jam on the drivers side, on another plate riveted to the dashboard visible through the bottom of the windshield on the right hand side of the car, and stamped on the firewall in the engine bay right in the middle. it will start with a "J"

Post by **Mattel** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 4:10 am

I think Caribs were only sold in Japan.. also the only market to have the sedan in 4wd. A lot of japanese cars are sold in africa after only 5 years in there own country.

probably a good idea to request more gearbox information i.e 6 speed manual or 4 speed, Auto etc. Any photos?

Good luck, if you have no luck stateside, I can check here in Australia for you

Matt

DadsCar · Post by **DadsCar** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 8:15 pm

Wow, that is fantastic information guys! I'll try to dig as much info from my Dad as I can and respond back as soon as I can.

Mac: Thanks for identifying multiple places the VIN # could be located. I'll let my Dad know to check for those and report back. I thought it was kinda fishy that it was so hard to find (as if it might have been a black-market car).

Typrus: Where would the transmission code be found? Since Mac indicated that the VIN # was stamped in 3 places, maybe Toyota does the same thing for the transmission code somewhere in the chassis or something?

Mattel: That would be going above and beyond the call of duty, and thanks! I will see if I can get my Dad to snap some photos and somehow post/link them in a follow-up post.

DadsCar · Post by **DadsCar** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 8:48 pm

My father managed to get what is probably more accurate info from the inside of the car as follows:

Code: Select all

TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION        JAPAN 
MODEL: E-AL-25G--MWFEB
ENGINE: 3A-SU     1452 cc
FRAME No: -AL 25 - 0169144
     COLOR           TRIM
        2R7         /     GA 43
 TRANS/AXLE    Z54F        2292
PLANT:     A 32
 
16200   (followed by Japanese letters)

A contact in my local Toyota dealership confirmed that "Toyota did not import that engine/transmission into the USA" when I showed him the above info.

I'm still digging for the other info (i.e., transmission code).

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 9:41 pm

They did too import the Z54F! heh... Just not the 3A-SU. Good engine according to our Central American brethren.

That is about the best info on it we could get. As far as I am aware, the Z54F is the 1985-1988 Toyota Tercel 4wd transmission. If that is the case, download the manual on the main page (http://www.tercel4wd.com under technical info) and go to Manual Transaxle and check out some of the diagrams.

Transaxle=transmission.

Mac · Post by **Mac** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 9:42 pm

is it a wagon your dad is driving?

DadsCar · Post by **DadsCar** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:43 pm

Maybe, I'll ask him to confirm. What makes a Tercel considered to be a wagon? just the outside frame?

DadsCar · Post by **DadsCar** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 11:07 pm

Typrus wrote:They did too import the Z54F! heh... Just not the 3A-SU. Good engine according to our Central American brethren.

That is about the best info on it we could get. As far as I am aware, the Z54F is the 1985-1988 Toyota Tercel 4wd transmission. If that is the case, download the manual on the main page (http://www.tercel4wd.com under technical info) and go to Manual Transaxle and check out some of the diagrams.

Transaxle=transmission.

Got it. That is the same manual I sent to my Dad (well certain pages of it) to have his mechanic identify the part. The part is a "Transfer Shift Fork" on page 298 of the manual (page numbering reported by Acroread versus what is on the pages).

Hmmm, since the Z54F transmission/transaxle was imported into the US, I wonder if my local auto-parts stores here in the US be likely to stock that part.

Gasoline Fumes · Post by **Gasoline Fumes** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 1:57 am

DadsCar wrote:Hmmm, since the Z54F transmission/transaxle was imported into the US, I wonder if my local auto-parts stores here in the US be likely to stock that part.

I think most internal transmission parts are dealer-only items.

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 9:28 am

I can't find any tranny parts at any parts stores. Have yet to ask the Stealership. I want to find out if I can rebuild the tranny myself or not.

DadsCar · Post by **DadsCar** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 9:28 pm

Typrus wrote:I can't find any tranny parts at any parts stores. Have yet to ask the Stealership. I want to find out if I can rebuild the tranny myself or not.

I had thought of that possibility. I asked my Dad if he kept the old broken part, but I've not heard back yet. Seems that any good machine shop with a lathe and a small blacksmith forge could fabricate a new one if they had the broken part in hand. The online manual doesn't give details as to the type of steel or other type of metal it is made of (aluminum alloy).

Mickey_D · Post by **Mickey_D** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 1:36 am

At that point it would be cheaper/quicker/easier to just go to a wrecking yard and locate a non-functioning tranny you could tear apart and retrieve the shifter forks from.

Jts · Post by **Jts** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 3:35 am

if you really need a shift fork, its 99% sure to be made of steel. Alum shift forks dont make any sense. The part you need will probably need to be ordered from a dealer, and even they might have trouble getting it. You should also try transmission shops. My local jy wants 150 for a tranny that you pull, so you're not looking at getting away cheap in any case, unless you can find someone with a blown transmission that is willing to sell you a part. You might get lucky and find that the shift fork is the same as a normal fwd only tranny, which makes finding the part alot easier. However, it is still alot of leg work, as in finding out if the parts match and then finding a used one. Ask around