Second Impressions

[Scotty]

Hello All,

Just wanted to introduce myself and my latest purchase - a 1983 Tercel SR5 with 230k miles on the clock. The story of how I came to own this Tercel could probably be turned into a made for TV movie, but I'll give you guys the short version: On Mother's Day, I was hit from behind on the 10 freeway in Santa Monica, CA as I was headed home (to see mom of course) in my '97 Miata (a beautiful low mileage STO). While I have felt that I have been in good hands with All State for the most part, they were reluctant to repair the car as the damage was near its value. Not ready to part with it, I'm keeping the Miata and fixing it on my own, but I needed something to get me and my small lawn care business by in the meantime.

For the past few years, I've been keeping my eye out for one of these 4WD Tercels, and was fortunate enough to find this one when I needed it most. Funny how life works, isn't it? After hours of wheeling, dealing, and conversation with a self proclaimed "sea gypsy" living in San Diego, I was finally the proud owner of what I think is one of the most utilitarian cars every made. And, perhaps a runner up in the race for ugliest ever; second only to the PT Cruiser (my distaste for these has increased tenfold since being rearended by an out of control one on the 10 freeway).

To bring it full circle, a Toyota Tercel Wagon was actually my first car - My mom sold her '78ish Civic when I was born and bought her first "family" car. Not sure on the year, but it was probably a 1986, Wagon w/o 4x4. She hated it and didn't keep it much more than a couple years. I guess shifting wasn't as much fun when you had kids to entertain.

So here I am, nearly 30 years later, and I've got a Tercel Wagon of my own and let me say, this is a super bitchin little car!

Likes:
mechanical radio presets!
inclinometer
rear hatch stays up
fairly complete interior
engine/drivetrain feel good

Needing attention:
There seems to be a whine that kicks in at about 2200 and rises in pitch with engine rpms. It's minor, but doesn't seem quite right to me. Perhaps fan clutch not slipping at higher rpms?

Shocks are shot. Completely. Any favorite shocks out there? I don't mind spending a little money. I'll be setting some aside from the insurance settlement to tune this beast up and rustoleum roll it.

Possible funny smell...noticed mainly after parking. Smells like an oil, possibly gear oil. I can't tell if its just my imagination though. Car has recently been driven from Reno to San Diego and then from San Diego to OC without exploding, but I'd like to sort this one out before driving much further, lest I burn up the tranny.

Oil pressure light always on. Seller included a new OP sending unit, so I'll throw that in and hope that makes the light go away.

Digital clock doesn't work.



So here I am, looking forward to learning more about these little gems. I've already found the forum super helpful and I'm really glad this exists.

Take care,
Scotty

[Highlander]

Welcome to the Tercel life, Scotty!
Whine- No fan clutch, it's electric. You don't have power steering, so I'd suspect the alternator or water pump- if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Shocks- KYB, Gas adjusts are a waste of money on these cars (IMHO), I put one set on one car and regulars on the other the same day- no difference.
OP sender- check that the connector is on the sender, they sometimes are loose on the pin. Second, try slipping it off and grounding it to see if the light changes (I don't remember if it should go out or not when grounded, but it'll either be on and go out or be out and go on) to check that its the sender.
Digital Clock- I had to swap one out with one car, it had been disconnected due to constant increase in the hours like I was holding the adjustment knob turned-no clue as to why, troubleshooting was non existent since I had another.- Pull the Instrument hood and then the cluster itself to get to the clock, don't break the speedo connector when you remove it, it can cause the speedo to go funny when its cold outside.
Happy Motoring!!

[dlb]

welcome, scotty. post some pics of your new-to-you gem!

first thing i would do is get under the car and check the gear oil. a whine can be a lot of things but probably the worst thing it could be is the trans running low on gear oil. and when you mention the smell of gear oil when parked, that gets me thinking that you might have a gear oil leak. there are a few seals that are fairly easy to replace, the CV seals and rear tailshaft housing seal, so check those. to check the gear oil level, carefully clean all the dirt away from the the 24 mm plug that sits just behind the driver side CV. remove the plug. if gear oil comes out, that's a good sign and you can put the plug back in. otherwise, stick a clean finger in. the oil level shouldn't be more than a few mm below the plug hole. if it is, you should drain the remaining gear oil and fill it with fresh stuff pronto. you don't want to drive much if there is a possibility of damaging the trans because they are specific to these cars and are getting harder and harder to find. not to mention it's a pretty big job to replace it.

there's a fuse for the clock in the driver side kick panel. check that.

i assume the engine oil level is fine so i think it's a good idea to replace the OP sender and see if that fixes it. if the engine runs strong and doesn't make any funny noises, i think it's unlikely that the crank bearings are spun.

i can't remember the brand of shock i went with. it was the cheapest though, i'm sure, and they've been fine for 2 or 3 years now. if you replace the strut inserts, be sure to check the strut mount for play. i've found that when these mounts are worn and sloppy there are the source of a lot of clunking when engaging the clutch.

something else to check sooner than later is the sway bar bushings. i posted a guide/pictorial on this here:

http://www.tercel4wd.com./viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7481

[Petros]

welcome to the list!

My collage age daughter wants a Miata very much, but my wife made her drive a Suzuki Esteem station wagon instead (which she finds more pratical anyway). We might consider a Miata when she graduates, but only if I can find a fixable wreck, otherwise they are over priced.

All good answers above, I only want to add that the whine could be low oil in the trans, MAKE SURE YOU CHECK IT ASAP. Even if you have a seal leak, you can keep topping up the gear oil until you get a change to replace the seals on the trans. Other sourses of while could be front or rear wheel bearings, and center drive shaft bearing. These can get pretty bad before they become a safety problem, so if the gear oil does not make it go away, just wait until it gets more obvious and than fix it than. A wheel bearing can whine for 60k miles, so until it gets so bad that is annoying, I would just leave it for now.

Other common sources of oil leaks are the valve cover gasket and the fuel pump gasket, both of these could leak on to the exhaust pipe. For some reason the fuel pump always develop oil leaks, likely the hot cylinder head against the fuel pump getting cool fuel from the tank causes it to fail after too much temp cycling. I use the non-hardening Permatex "Form-a-Gasket". The oil sender unit can leak, and the O-ring on the distributor, both can leak a lot of oil and could make it back to the exhaust pipe.

A note on the oil sender/low oil light: I have replace my sender several times, and than I just unplugged the wire-the low oil light stayed on. Sometimes it flickers on and off regularly, so there is a short some where in the wire system that I have not located. I will likely just remove the bulb from the instrument cluster since I have installed an oil pressure gauge anyway. But seeing the oil light come on is very annoying, and scary, even though I know it has oil pressure because I can see the gauge!

I have installed the KYB gas filled inserts in the front, and gas filled shocks in the rear. I am happy with them. BTW, one way to improve the handling quite a bit is to install 14" alloy wheels and lower profile tires. The stock steel 13" wheels are very flexy and noticeable, as are the stock skinny tires. Check all your tie-rod ends and ball joints, as well as the rubber bushings, in the front suspension while the struts are being replaced. They are very reliable and hold up well, but almost anything can be worn out on a car this old.

[Scotty]

Thanks for all the tips folks. Already planned on checking the tran oil as soon as I could clear enough space in the garage (only flat ground at the house). I'm pretty confident the whine wasn't coming from the trans. Definitely hoping the oil isn't low though, because if it is...it probably has been for a lot of miles.

Petros, what area do you live in and how much do miatas go for? Here in socal people basically give them away and I'd be happy to find one for you. I bought my '97 in great shape with 60k on it for $1800 a year and a half ago. Best $1800 I ever spent. Interestingly enough this neglected, aged Tercel was $1700. Granted, that was a good deal, but miatas in higher mileage condition come up at that price regularly and BAM!...you've got the best modern roadster that money can buy....IMHO of course.

Highlander, I would agree with your opinion on the gas adjust shocks for the Tercel. A PO had installed Rancho 9000 adjustables on my '89 4Runner. I adjusted them once, to the middle setting, and happily drove on both road and trail that way.

Well, lots to do on my new toy, but, aside from a few key areas, this seems like the type of car where most problems can wait =]. I'm a pretty busy guy and my free time for working on vehicles has not kept up with my growing collection.