i can't seem to find the quidelines for 4wd use in my owners or shop manuals.
i know not to use on dry pavement. what is max recommended speed, engage/disengage speed limit. i'm using it for the first time--the 4wd makes the almost used up tires bite better than anything i've driven--and i keep forgetting to disengage before i get up to highway speed. oh yeah, i've got the 3 speed automatic does anyone have info on the automatic tranny reliability? i believe it has been rebuilt once. i'm past 230,000! dan
My '83 6 speed manual...manual...doesn't say too much other than that the car will feel like it slows down if turning a corner on dry pavement in 4WD.
I try to keep it OUT of 4WD on dry pavement at all times...except when driving in a straight line as a test. Don't think there is an upper speed limit...except that if you are driving on snow/ice you don't want to go too fast....
Main thing is 4 equal tires with equal pressure. The 4WD engagement is done by moving a splined sleeve as far as I know...since the rear axle is turning all the time...it simply engages or not. Unless you are turning a corner or have unequal tires...then you have problems.
Give a boy a gun-give a biatch a cell phone-and pretty soon you almost got yourself a police state.
Orwell said: War is peace! Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength...
(dances in his office chair... I Like to move it move it.... lol)
Yeah, I find unequal tire pressure makes things a bit more fun.
You think theres a more intelligent system we could come up with? Maybe something involving a spring-loaded synchro with a friction material lining? Just to smooth things up a bit on the splines? Ever seen what happens when those go? Not too fun. Had it happen on our boat (engine mated to transmission via a splined cuff) With our boat, no further damage happened, only because the tranny wasn't spinning anymore. Imagine if a spline were to get wedged somewhere? I personally don't like that aspect. It is possible right? Seeing as how the transfer case and tranny are mated in one?
RIP 10-07- 1984 Toyota Tercel SR5 4wd Wagen 6 speed
RIP 04-05- 1986 Toyota Tercel SR5 4wd Wagen 6 speed
I'm amazed that the splines work so well. It's all in the angles where the splines first contact each other. That and the more splines there are, the easier it will be to engage. Having a little angular play on one of the mating rings will ensure that wherever they are relative to each other, they will find a match. I don't know if the transfer has any play or if it's a tight fit. From the way it works, I'd guess there's a little slop designed into it. A synchro would be useless on such a mechanism because it would have to transfer enough torque to spin one of the drive wheels (a transmission synchro just has to speed up the input shaft and the clutch disc when the clutch is released).
The automatic is different because it uses tranny fluid pressure to force the transfer together or apart, resulting in more wear on the transfer. The Tercel automatic is pretty reliable as far as automatics go. While the manuals have issues of their own, automatics are always more likely to fail and more expensive to fix or replace. With a manual, you're more likely just to have a bad 2nd and 3rd synchro and alot of input shaft bearing noise. If you can do your own tranny work these aren't really expensive problems. Although some guys here have had worse luck with their manual trannies. Automatics are really sensitive to tranny fluid being changed regularily - something that is not often done well. If your auto works well, keep good fluid in it and get it flushed out rather than drained and filled. It's more expensive but will definitely make it last longer.
so if i'm buzzing along at 45 on the on ramp i can back off a bit on the gas and disingage the 4wd? likewise if i'm doing 30 in town and run into a patch of snowy street i can just punch the 4wd button?
thanks for the auto tranny tip. i've always prefered a manual but my spouse doesn't and this tercel came along at just the right time. how often (time/miles?) would you recommend the fluid flush? filter too?
Valoline MaxLife ATF might be the best...it's a little thicker.
I'd think you could shift it in and out of 4WD at any time....except when you are going around a corner. You'd want to be off the accelerator...& going in a straight line.
Not sure what would happen if you'd try to shift into 4WD and the spines couldn't engage, but were trying to....might want to pay attention to how it sounds when it engages?
Give a boy a gun-give a biatch a cell phone-and pretty soon you almost got yourself a police state.
Orwell said: War is peace! Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength...
My Tercel has been in the garage too long for me to remember what it is like to shift 4WD but when I drive my nissan Pathfinder around (assuming they are slightly similar? I think there are splines in the front axle that engage) if I pull the lever into 4wd while driving, it just goes right in...then I can push the lever up into 2wd at any time, but the light stays on until the conditions are right and it slips out...like letting off the gas to remove any load on the splines etc.
I think I read that alot of vehicles, you shouldn't shift INTO 4wd at speeds above like 30? but going faster once you are in 4wd would be fine...but if those splines are going like Mach8 they might not mesh well? I was going 60 in 4wd last night on the highway in my truck....I wouldn't have, but I forgot it was in 4! then I was like "oops" but it seemed to be fine.
does anyone have info on the automatic tranny reliability? i believe it has been rebuilt once. i'm past 230,000! dan