Tercel is DEAD

[SirNik83]

My tercel died this weekend.

The last year has been interesting for my car.

I bought her for $80 after I had another tercel stolen from in front of my apartment. this was bout 3 years ago. I got the $80 wonder car running. but then parked it for 2 years.

In the last year I pulled the car outta the field it was parked in. I took it on a business trip to do a radio survey, the trip turned out to be during the worst storm of the year. after the tercel conquered the storm (nearly hit by lightning) I decided it was time for the tercel to get the make over it had earned. I took out the interior and installed insulation, I cleaned everything, and I got it painted. She was looking like a new car. then my friend and roommate lost his car, so I let him drive my Mercedes, because i didn't want to give up my "new" tercel. after he had broken most of the luxuries on the Merc I took it back from him and let him drive the Tercel... There is nothing you can break on a tercel. well somehow he broke the distributer cap... don't ask me how that happens. but he fixed that. and gave the car back.

this last weekend i drove the car to my dads. It was running like a new car. I was impressed with the condition of the car, after how the Mercedes faired under my friends driving. well I got to my dads house no problem. then i went to go home, and i drove down the block and the car died.

I've owned a tercel from the time i got my drivers license. I know the engine like the back of my hand. I checked everything. She had fuel, and spark. but she wouldn't run. so i thought i lost the timing belt, so i changed that. No luck, the belt looked perfect. but i installed a new one because it was there. the car still doesn't run. I had to take my dads Honda in order to get home. There was no catastrophic failure, no bang, no snap. just running one minute, and dead the next. I didn't check the compression. but all i can think is some how i lost compression.

The only source of engines around me is the Pick and Pull. its good because they are cheap ($200). but bad because there is no guarantee.

Here she is the day she died... my friend had to take pictures

[4wdchico]

Check the compression. Put a set of jumpers on it from a running car so you get consistent cranking speed across all the cylinders. Make sure the choke and throttle plates are wide open. Let us know what the results are.

My '85 t4wd is running so well that I feel safe in parting with my '84 t4wd sr5 spare car. Has a really strong running engine in it and what looks to be a new carb. Only issue the motor appears to have is that it will start to smoke a bit if you let it idle for a while. So it could use a set of valve stem seals. My '85 was smoking way worse when left to idle and changing the v.s. seals was really quick and easy and absolutely not one bit of smoke after. We could start it, warm it up and do a compression test so you would have a good idea of what you are getting into. Tranny, driveline and rear end seemed to be fine also, I was really surprised you well it drove. AC worked very well. Have not really driven it since fall of last year, but have started it every couple of months. It is a salvage title because a limb fell on it during the big storm just after the first of this year.

So if you are interested, I'd be willing to part with it.

[SirNik83]

4wdchico,
Thanks for the offer, I'll keep it in mind.
I'm going to the pick and pull tomorrow to scout out engines. just to see what they have. the yard down here has been crushing a lot of its inventory. so it might be hard to find an engine. I have my hopes up that there will be a 4ac out there.

I need another car like a hole in the head. but I really want my tercel back. Its my puck up truck, my commuter car, and i use it for pretty much everything.

The storm that brought that tree limb down on your car is the same storm that i was out in when i was near the lightning strike. I was between Willits and Eureka on the 101. that was the best driving i've ever had in the tercel! I loved driving in the storm with the 4wd.

[gervin]

Sorry about your car man... You will get it fixed.

Isn't it weird how easy it is to love these cars lol.

I bought mine because I didn't want to drive my 94 325is in the snow. It was $350 and knocked louder than hell. When I bought it I thought it was the worst looking car ever. I drove it about 3 months before the engine finally blew. I left it on the side of the road for a good 2 months when the city finally caught on and gave me 24 hours to move it. It sat at my house for about 6 months while I contemplated taking it to the junk yard. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It is far too good looking to me now and still in such good shape. I am just finishing up putting a new engine in it. Now it is the only car I want to drive. I plan on keeping this car forever!

[Neu]

I plan on keeping this car forever!

same here ...gah

[Mattel]

Truly a cult car. It's not even a car I considered until my friend left me his when he went OS and my VW Golf was needing another $2,000 sunk into it. after driving the Terc trouble free for about 3 years I was driving up a sandhill with 3 mates a dog and 4 surfboards on the way to semi secret surf break and I had a moment...

There I was parked next to $40,000 hilux ute's and $100,000 landcruisers in my "pretend subaru" that I had paid $1,600 for and having just as much fun as anyone (without the interest loans). Funny enough a couple of those mates have got Corolla AWD wagons now.

Nowadays I couldn't think of anything to replace it with (well maybe a Peugeot 307 HDi 6 speed Touring wagon with 320nm of torque that does 5litre per 100km IF I had a spare $20,000 even then I probably would probably spend the money on travelling). I will keep maintaining it as it is dirt cheap. For instance I just got a brand new clutch plate for $10 US off ebay.

You mentioned Eureka California, is that where all the hippy communes are? looked like a beautiful spot on the doco that I saw.

So keep your car, you have done a lot of work to it and it looks great - even if you have to garage it for a while you will come back to it. Good luck with the engine. Keep the stories coming!

[takza]

My tercel died this weekend.

I know the engine like the back of my hand. I checked everything. She had fuel, and spark. but she wouldn't run. so i thought i lost the timing belt, so i changed that. No luck, the belt looked perfect. but i installed a new one because it was there. the car still doesn't run. I had to take my dads Honda in order to get home. There was no catastrophic failure, no bang, no snap. just running one minute, and dead the next. I didn't check the compression. but all i can think is some how i lost compression.

I'm thinking that there is something fairly simple causing it...espec with no noise involved. You can put a wrench on the front pulley bolt and listen as you slowly turn the engine for compression and leakdown per cylinder. I'm thinking ignit timing.

[SirNik83]

I'm thinking that there is something fairly simple causing it...espec with no noise involved. You can put a wrench on the front pulley bolt and listen as you slowly turn the engine for compression and leakdown per cylinder. I'm thinking ignit timing.

Yeah, Its stuck at my dads for the moment. which is a good thing, because I got my first Tercel as a hand-me-down from my dad. he had owned 2 of them and gave me one. and then I totaled the one he gave me, and replaced it with another tercel, that one got stolen, so i replaced it with... another tercel!

Anyway, my dad is a wiz with the tercel. so at the moment hes looking into it. I'm pretty sure i checked everything. but my dad just called and said the same thing you did takza, "I'm thinking that there is something fairly simple causing it"

I'm waiting for a call back. I'm going engine shopping if the news is bad. and i'm going to get a nice lunch if the news it good!

[SirNik83]

You mentioned Eureka California, is that where all the hippy communes are? looked like a beautiful spot on the doco that I saw.

Here are a few pictures from my Eureka trip





I was running radio equipment in the car, thats why there is an extension cord coming from under the hood.

[SirNik83]

Compression test reports back positive. 155 PSI on all cylinders after 4 cranks. My dad said its the healthiest tercel engine hes seen. So now... Why isn't it running! Saturday I'm going back up to my dads to figure it out.

[hberdan]

Check the distributor, sounds like it's cracked or seriously out of time. That will cause an engine to not even turn over.

[Petros]

On a recent head gasket replacement my distributor went dead at the same time, and it would not start. It was really annoying when I got it all back together with the new head gasket and it just would not start. After several cranking sessions doing various checks, and several battery recharges, I damaged the battery (killed one cell). I then had to replaced the battery under warranty (still had to pay $26, but it could have been worse), and I checked over everything I had removed and replaced. But it was all fine as near as I could tell, I even had spark. After spraying some starting fluid in the carb, and seeing that it acted the same way (weak sputters), I thought maybe something was wrong with my distributor. I first doubled checked I had the timing right, and then I swapped it out with a spare distributor I had just for this reason. It started right up the first try. So even with a spark there could be something else wrong enough that it will not start.

Good thing I had the spare (I paid $7.50 for it at a Pull-a-part, I figured it was worth it to have around as a back-up, and it was!). Having a spare anything, especially electronic parts, makes a quick and simple test if you suspect a componet.

So even if you have fuel in the carb, or spark at the spark plug, there still could be something wrong enough where it will not run. Usually if it just shuts off, it would be a failed electronic part, like the igniter or coil, but a failed fuel pump could cause that too. So once you did the obvious quick checks, than do the more careful ones until you find out why it will not start.

Remember there are only two reasons it will not run, no fuel, or no spark. If you have both then you go to determining if you are getting enough fuel, and enough spark at the right time. And so-fourth from there.

Good luck.

[SirNik83]

The Tercel fixed its self...

I still don't know whats wrong with it.

I went to my dads with a distributer. my dad and I ate breakfast and then went to work on the car. he said "try and start it before we mess with anything" and WHAP it started on the second crank of the starter. like it was in perfect shape. I let it idle for about 30 min. and it didn't stumble. it ran fine. My dad and installed Christmas lights instead of working on the car. we took the car to town, and it ran fine. so I drove it home last night. without a problem. I have no idea what the problem is. but its home now. so I'll do i full investigation in the coming weeks.

[Neu]

I'm ganna say water in your distro, but that's a long shot. it can take a long time to dry out sometimes too.

[Petros]

floating crap in the carb can cause this too. It plugs an important fuel port, and it stalls. Than let it sit and it floats free. Kind of rare, but it does happen, another reason EFI is superior to the carb.

Sometimes electronic parts can act like this too, they get hot and shut off, and then run fine the next time. Check the fuel shut off solenoids on the carb, they might be sticky.

Good luck.