MOTOR FOR MY 4WD WAGON?????

[MEMO]

HELLO GUYS

I BEEN IN HERE BEFORE AND YOU GUYS HAVE HELP OUT WITH MY 85 WAGON I HAVE A NEW QUESTION MY MOTOR IT NEEDS TO BE REPLACE OR REBUILD WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK ABOUT THAT IS AN UPGRADE BETTER OR JUST REBUILDING IS FINE? THIS WAGON IS MY DAILY DRIVE AND I LOVE IT I LIKE TO GET MORE POWER OUT OF THIS WAGON. I LIKE TO THANK YOU GUYS IN ADVANCE

[dlb]

turn off your caps lock! or maybe i should turn mine on.

first, a couple questions: how do you know your engine needs a rebuild? does it act up or did you do a compression test? a lot of the time a rebuild/replacement is not necessary. ask me how i know.

if you do in fact need a rebuild or replacement, i would get a 4AC and put that in. they have slightly more displacement (1.6 L vs the stock 1.5) and it's a direct bolt in--no mods needed. i figure that if you have to pull the engine anyway and it's not going to make any more work, you might as well put something better in. just make reasonably sure it's a good engine (ie, buy it from someone you trust or, best case scenario, drive it in the donor car before pulling it). to swap the 4AC in, you need to pull everything that hangs off the 3A and swap it onto the 4A: alternator, starter, intake/exhaust manifolds, whatever else i'm forgetting, and the oil pan as well.

there are a lots of engine upgrades you can do but most take a lot of time, money, effort, and know how, and they are not worth it to me. the 4A is the only one i'm willing to bother with.

[Petros]

Good reply above. As for rebuild vs. replace, it is usually cheaper to get a replacement 3a or 4ac engine, presuming it is good. But do a compression test on your engine, and also, pull the oil sender (behind the alternator or a/c compressor), and install and oil pressure gauge (not too costly from an Auto parts store). Than drive it a bit and watch the oil pressure, it shoulds stay above 12 or more at warm idle, and run about 20 psi or more above idle. If it drops too low, or stays low, it should be rebuilt or replaced. Do the same test on any engine you are going to get if possible (if you get a running car for the engine, sometimes buying a rust bucket with a good engine is cheaper than doing a rebuild).

There are lots of simple up grades you can do with a rebuild, but some add so cost. Doing the same up grades to a 4ac is not a bad way to go if you intend to keep the car indefinitely, go get a 4ac from a wrecking yard and than rebuilt it in your garage. THan you can do the swap in a weekend, allowing you to drive your car while you are rebuilding your replacement engine.

But you want to make sure that it needs a rebuild, and it is not down on power or acting baulky for another reason. If you just have some oil leaks, but compression and oil pressure it good, it is far cheaper to just fix the leaks. Even replacing the head gasket is far less costly, and less time, than rebuilding the engine.

Do those tests and let us know what you find. Rebuilding an engine is a big job, but it can be a fun learning experience, and teaches you a lot about your car.

Where are you located?

[MEMO]

goodmorning guys thanks for the help

the problem with my motor is that I have oil leaks on the front back the very first spark plug gets oil, I could drive the car no problem I just want to be able to go every where on this car, I m sure that the oil presure is good I like to be prepare for my next motor I will look for a 4a like you guys suggestion thanks

Im in sandiego cal.

[dlb]

it might be worthwhile to just clean the engine off really well and see exactly where the leaks are coming from. i think the only seal you need to pull the engine to access is the rear main seal but other oil leaks at the back are more common: distributor o-ring, valve cover, fuel pump. all are pretty easy. i also had a leak forever and found it was that i simply didn't have a copper or rubber gasket on the oil drain plug. cost $.50 and fixed it. i was pretty pleased. anyway, take a closer look and you could save yourself a ton of work.

the oil on the first spark plug could be from worn rings and/or cylinder or worn valve guides. do a compression test as per the instructions in the following link to figure out which it is. if the problem is the valve guides, you can pull the head and do the job yourself (or have a shop do it) but if the problem is the rings and/or cylinders, the engine will have to come out.

see question #1, third paragraph:

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7442

[Petros]

One cylinder oil fouling is almost always bad valve stem seals. those can be replaced without taking the engine apart, just takes some cleaver improvisation to get the keepers and spring retainer off without dropping the valve.

There is a small chance something is very wrong with the piston or cylinder bore, but a compression test will tell you if the low end is compromised.

Isolate the leaks, and fix them one at a time. Front seal, cam seal, valve cover gasket, fuel pump and distributor are all common leak points and all fairly easy to fix. If the rear main is a major job, if it is actually leaking you might try the leak stop additive as a temp stop gap (they chemically soften and swell the seals, works for a wile sometimes). If the seal is totally falling apart it will not work, and you have to replace either pull the engine or transaxle to replace it (a big job). I once had a both front and rear seals blow out and leak like crazy, it was a Corolla with 375k miles on it. Turns out it had really low compression, the rings were very worn, the blow by was pressurizing the crank case and it blew out the seals! that one I had to rebuild.

If you have to pull the engine or transaxle to get to the rear main, you might consider doing the engine swap (almost as much work). But you might find once you get all the other leaks corrected you can live with it bit longer so you can take your time with a good performance 4ac rebuild.

And being in CA you have to keep it smog legal, and swaps are not technically legal unless it is the same engine type. But the 4ac is almost externally identical to the 3ac, so with a bit of guidance from us the smog inspector will never know based on a visual inspection (unless for some reason he pulls the engine apart--not likely to ever happen). A higher compression ratio, a mild performance regrind cam shaft, a few other internal tweaks, and you will both have more power, better fuel economy, and still pass the emissions inspections and test.

[xirdneh]

if you do try to replace the valve stem seals without removing the head from the engine
make sure the cylinder your working on has the piston at the top of its stroke
if the valve gets away from you it will not go very far before hitting top of piston
blowing compressed air into spark plug hole should push the valve back up
if you bust up an old spark plug and drill a hole thru it and solder a piece of copper tubing to it that fits your compresser hose you will get maximum pressure and can just let the compresser run while you work

[dlb]

if you bust up an old spark plug and drill a hole thru it and solder a piece of copper tubing to it that fits your compresser hose you will get maximum pressure and can just let the compresser run while you work

this is an excellent idea. clever stuff, rob.

[Petros]

i would just stuff some soft cord into the spark plug hole, filling the combustion chamber, leaving an end hanging out. The piston at the top with the soft cord filling the chamber will hold the valves up, and once you change out the seals and have the springs, retainers and keepers back installed, you just pull the cord out. No special tools required and less noisy than having the air compressor running.

[MEMO]

goodmorning guys thanks for the help I ll replace the gaskets on this motor and hope for the best thanks again

where do I get a gasket kit for a good price guys?

[dlb]

do a google search or search here on the forum for butler toyota in indiana. a few of the US forum members use them because they have some really good prices on OE stuff. up here in canada, i find online parts stores to be good.

[ARCHINSTL]

Since dlb mentioned Butler Toy - see https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php? ... ler#p56197
As mentioned, this apparently affected other Toy online dealers as well.
Where are you located?
Tom M.

[Lil Beast]

I would only try by changing your valve stem oil seal! Sounds like my engine when I pop a seal! It's fairly quick to do it! I would use a 3-4 foot long nylon rope and stuff into the cylinder by the spark plug hole! To do so you need your engine at TDC and turn counter clockwise a 1/4 turn to be at the beginning of compression on cylinder 1 and 3, fill the cylinder 1 with rope but leave a 6 inch of rope outside so you can pull it back out, turn it clockwise back to TDC(you should feel the rope compressing, time to attack that seal, follow fsm procedure, when done turn it back 1/4 turn and pull on the rope! Do it 1 cylinder at the time, valve by valve for your 1st time! And for the 2and4 cylinder the TDC mark should be on the bottom before backing up 90degrees! I've used the compressed technique before but find it sketchy as if you move the valve and lose the compression you will see that valve falling in! Then you have to remove the head! Won't happen wit the string!
Good luck!

[Petros]

most any auto parts store can order you valve stem seals, they do not cost much. Same with valve cover gaskets, front and rear seal, distributor o-ring. buying just what you need is usually way cheaper than buying a whole kit.

[GLet71]

Hey David, what do you recommend for online stores north of the border. They want $120 + tax for a clutch cable at Nelson Toyota! I was a dummy and just paid over $40 for an OE thermostat...gulp.