looking to buy a 4wd tercel. have some questions

[edgar]

im looking at a 85 tercel 4wd wagon 5spd.. 111k miles. price is 600 but it has $300 worth of dmv fees. my main problem with this car is the tranny. the seller calims 4th gear does not work.
is this common in these cars? will the tranny need replacement? how much do they go for?

or what are the motor/trans swap options for these car. im totaly new to them. not to wrenching though.

[tercel4wdrules]

You're looking at that one in Van Nuys, CA I presume. There are two JDM importers that carry that Z54F transaxle for that car, Soshin Trade Corporation in South Gate, CA and Engine Trend in Vernon, CA. Last time I stopped by Engine Trend, they had one in stock and the price was $280. I guess you could drive it without 4th gear, but that would mean going slow up long grades in 3rd gear, but I assume it's possible. I was doing some cost analysis, and by the time everything is fixed, you would be out at least $1300, including the cost of the transaxle replacement.

Seller claims it has a working AC, I've been wanting that for awhile...

[Petros]

Welcome to the list,

The transmission is fairly durable if not abused (run low on gear lube, or abusive shifting), but the transmission is the most costly part of the car to replace (for a used trans, and new ones are not available). If 4th gear is gone, the rest is likely not too far behind. The car is too expensive if it has a bad transmission, if the rest of the car is decent, at most it would be worth $300-400. If it has other major issues, either body or mechanical, than it is worth even less.

Replacing the trans is a fairly big job presuming you can find a used one at a reasonable price. You may also want to replace the clutch, rear main seal and perhaps the front axles/cv joints while you are at it. Even if you do the work yourself, it is a pretty costly job to do.

The easiest engine swap is the 4ac, it is slightly larger and bolts right up, but same poor breathing 8-valve head, and it uses a carburator. The next up swap is the fuel injected 4afe, or even better the 4age, both have significant issues to overcome. EFI installation, custom exhaust header, altered flywheel and some other messing around, but both of these engines have an excellent 16-valve head, and will make more power and give better fuel economy. There are threads in the archives on engine swaps for all three engines. the 4afe is a high torque, fuel economy engine with stock about 104 hp, the 4age is a high rpm performance engine used in the MR2 and other models, stock hp is about 116, and can be tweaked to much much more (but that might overpower the Tercel4wd drive train).

[edgar]

yea it is the one in VAN NUYS. id really like to get it but it seems like i might be able to find one in good running shape for the same amount im gonna spend or cheaper.

[Petros]

If you are willing to travel, to any of your nearby states, you can find them for some pretty good prices. They appear to be more common outside of CA, where I suspect the emissions requirements made them too costly to keep running.

[emmahumpfritter]

If you are willing to travel, to any of your nearby states, you can find them for some pretty good prices. They appear to be more common outside of CA, where I suspect the emissions requirements made them too costly to keep running.

yeap. This is true. They are all but extinct in Cal for this reason. Very sad. Oregon, Washington and Colorado seem to have the most, and the PNW has the best condition due to weather kindness. I got my rust free gem from Seattle, and a low rusty from Montana. Good luck. This is a great site with excellent help and knowledge.

[Brian D]

I live and work in Prescott, AZ. The Tercel 4wd is common in sideyards here pretty much everywhere. They are kept as extra cars by many families. I drive thru a lot of neighborhoods for my work. I see Tercel wagons sitting all over town. They just sit there until it snows.
We have a lot of snow and ice here on occasion. A lot of families hang on to the cars because they are basically snowmobiles. The car is incredibly effective on snowy or icy roads.
The little cars are rare here until the snow falls. Then they are common on the streets. They are everywhere! On snow days, you can't step off of a curb without getting hit by a Tercel!
I have a 96 Land Cruiser with lockers and 35" tires. My Tercel runs circles around the truck on icy roads. The Land Cruiser slides all over on ice. But the Tercel just doesn't care! It rides around on ice as if the pavement was warm and dry. A 6,000 lb. truck on ice is just plain scary, while a sure-footed small wagon feels secure. The only thing that the truck has and the wagon lacks is anti-lock brakes. For me, an old mechanic, I can mimic anti-lock brakes by personal pedal control. But for the average person, anti-lock is helpful.

[Petros]

they used to teach new driver how to modulate the brakes to prevent lock-up. I hate anti-lock brakes, another system to maintain and malfunction, and it feels so odd to new drivers that they react by lifting their foot off the brakes. The system sucks, and is a poor substitute for learning how to use brakes properly. consider that no race car uses anti-lock brakes and the drivers are looking for every braking advantage they can get.

I will keep my non-anti-lock brake car thank you.