New Member and my story and help please

[haystacknat]

Hi-

In 2000 I bought a 1985 Tercel with 125K on it. I loved it and drove it like crazy, even moved 4000 miles in it. Unfortunately, I moved to New Orleans (okay, it wasn't that unfortunate), but the car was "moved" by the National Guard during the hurricane mess and they forgot where they put it. I've been pining for that shiny navy blue wagon for four years... and the brand new Yakima rack I had put on it.

So a couple months ago (now living in AK again), I bought one (1985) off Craigslist for $1000 and put $1500 into it (front end work)- it's even a six-speed! It isn't as shiny, has way more miles (250K), and is bronze (one of my least favorite colors on a Tercel- oh, elusive 2-tone green, where are you?). As I'm sure you all know, it is extremely fun to drive- so much power for such a little engine! Everything is good: body is good, interior is good, drives great... but for a few exceptions. The rear wiper doesn't work (gah! and it is weirdly my favorite amenity!), the heater is weak in the cold (I guess that is normal?), and... the starting. On a cold day (every day here is cold) it takes about 20-30 pumps of the gas and a minute or so of cranking to start up, but just the first start of the day... the rest of the day it will start right up. After random uninformed googling, I came up with the possibility that the problem is the "cold start injection switch"... can anyone tell me what that is and where to find it? Supposedly has new plugs and wires and we replaced the fuel pump ourselves (the old one exploded the day after I bought it). All I can come up with (again, I'm uninformed) other than that is the possibility of gunked up fuel lines? The old owner said he replaced the fuel filter. I can do some work myself whenever I can find time (I have 2 young kids and my husband works constantly), with my old one I got to the point of doing tune-ups and replaced the distributor myself, etc.

Anyways, thanks for letting me spill. I'm glad to find a place where people don't look at me like I'm insane for thinking this is the best car ever made!!! Oh, and can anyone tell me if it is bad to run it in 4WD all the time? The roads are crappy right now but if it is detrimental I can ease up on the 4WD. And I always give it the highest grade of fuel... in my mind it runs better, but it could be my imagination?

[takza]

Some help...maybe...

* rear wiper...mine still works...barely...haven't had to check out the wiper much...can't find a new arm for it though...I'd check the fuses and wiring connectors

* hard starting...probably the autochoke...mine always worked real well...I'd occasionally spray some carb cleaner on the linkages...work the choke a bit...then follow up with some light oil. When the engine is cold...have the air cleaner off and check to see if the choke is setting...that is closing when you work the throttle and it is cold

* my heater puts out heat...might check that the heater valve is opening OK...sometimes the cable gets out of adjustment...can check it by moving the valve manually under the hood at the back pass side of the engine...if when the engine is warm...you can move it so that you have good heat with the heater fan running...then it's the valve/cable adjustment

* never hurts to replace the fuel filter if in doubt...easy to do and inexpensive...I've seen a Corolla not run at all due to a clogged filter

To find these parts...try the FSM on the front page?

[ARCHINSTL]

Welcome!
Do you have AC? The blower must overcome the AC cooler before the air hits the heater core. Mine has non-operative AC and (hopefully) this week I am removing the AC cooling unit and installing the "regular" heater intermediate duct (courtesy of bleakhorizon's late wagon!). This will improve it. If you have AC, simply removing the cooling unit internally while keeping the AC housing may help the flow - unsure, but it sure can't hurt. Also a good time to clean everything out, particularly if the PO was a smoker - or if mice have taken up residence.
You can also just unhook the control wire from the valve in the engine bay and manually pull the valve all the way open (also put a couple drops of silicone lube on the "plunger"); I do that as Goldie's does not open quite all the way.
The rear wiper arm and motor are particular to the wagons - the JY sedans will be of no help.
Where did you encounter "cold start injection switch?" I don't think I've seen that term in this Forum?
Tom M.

[Petros]

Welcome to the list!

These little wagons are one of the best 4x4 cars ever made, a bit underpowered and a few other issues, but simple, tough and economical.

Your car does not have a cold start injector, that is used on cars with fuel injection. Check that the choke is working (see the on-line service manual), check the linkage to the choke is functional and all the vac lines are in-place and not leaking (study the vac diagram, lots to chase down).

Pumping the pedal should puts lots of fuel down the intake, so check to see if you get a little squirt of fuel by looking down the carb with a flash light, engine off, air-cleaner off, and push to full throttle rapidly. If you are not getting a visible squirt of fuel down inside the throat than you need to replace the throttle pump. My first one acted just like yours and it needed the throttle pump. It is a little piston connected to the linkage that will richen the mixture with extra fuel when you stomp on the throttle. It likely needs the carb rebuilt, this is not hard but a big job since it is a complicated little carb, you could short-cut that by buying a rebuilt carb and replacing it yourself (also kind of complicated, but not as bad as rebuilding it). On mine, I left the carb in place and just removed the top and cleaned out the passages ways and float bowl, and replaced just the throttle pump and check valves. It worked perfectly after wards. Watch out for the tiny parts however, this is definitely a delicate operation.

On your rear wiper, fist check the fuses, and the wiper relay (in the rear door) and than the motor. the motors rarely fail, but if the wiper was frozen to the window and someone turned it on they may have blown any number of parts in the system.

On the heater, first thing is to replace the thermostat with a good one (do not get a cheap one from china, they are junk out of the box). NAPA makes a good one, and so is the factory one from Toyota. If your ducts are clear (my daughters CRX had several rat's nests in the heater ducts since prior owner let is sit around outside for several years not running), than you might try flushing out just the heater core. Drain and save your coolant, disconnect the heater hoses and put longer ones on, open the heater valve all the way and fill the core with vinegar and water mixture or diet coke overnight (these will remove any scale), flush out the next day with high pressure water from a hose, than install the correct hoses and refill with coolant. That should make the heater run real hot.

If you need any used parts you can not find there, PM me with what you need. There are quite a few in the yards around here, and we can send you parts via USPS at reasonable rates.

Good luck.

[sdoan]

Oh, and can anyone tell me if it is bad to run it in 4WD all the time? The roads are crappy right now but if it is detrimental I can ease up on the 4WD. And I always give it the highest grade of fuel... in my mind it runs better, but it could be my imagination?

I didn't see it answered so I will.

It is definitely hard on the transmission to run in 4wd all the time... And the transmission is one of the weakest links (if you can call a transmission that fails after 250,000 miles "weak"). The reason running in 4wd is hard on it is that there is no slippage in the entire gear train - the front and rear axles are geared together so all the slippage has to be between the tires and the road (you can feel this when turning a tight circle in 4wd) which puts extra load on the gears and bearings. Newer cars solve this by putting a fluid coupling, like an automatic transmission torque converter, between the front and rear axles. I always run in 2wd until I really need 4wd on gravel, mud or snow.

Toyota recommends replacing the gear oil in the transmission every 30,000 miles which is usually not done. Replacing the gear oil requires a procedure so different from other 4wd and fwd cars I'd recommend you do it yourself or someone who knows these particular cars (dealer?).

The car should run on regular gas just fine - it shouldn't need premium, but better brands of gas might be good.

My rear wiper failed due to a broken wire in the rubber sleeve between the roof and the rear door. Had to pull the rubber sleeve back to get to the wires and repair the break (it was under the insulation.).

BTW - good luck finding the shiny blue car - then you'll have 2!

[takza]

With this wagon it is so easy to slip in and out of 4WD...I don't use it unless it's really needed.