Front wheel drive broken

[Foryst]

I have a 1984 toyota tercel 6 speed wagon and it all started out with a clinking when I turned I thought it was my cv joint but I have replaced botth and the problem continued I tried driving her down the street and the front wheel drive goes out completely I can hear something In my tranny but do you guys have any thoughts? I can put her in 4 wheel drive and it's only going rear wheel. I'm taking the tranny out soon to check but anything helps thanks

[xirdneh]

drain the gear oil from the tranny removing the front plug (differential) first
metal parts may drop out while draining
then pull the front cover off the differential and look at the ring gear
I'm betting there are lots of missing teeth
I recently had this problem

[Foryst]

Is it worth it trying to rebuild it or I have to find a new tranny thanks for the reply

[xirdneh]

if it turns out to be the differential
the tranny will probably be ok
you would just have to come up with the bellhousing/differental (front half of the whole tranny assy)
the replacement differential gearing would need to match the rear differential or you would swap the rear diff to match the front

you will need to inspect the gears on front of the tranny to see if any of the broken pieces found their way to the gears
if there are no broken teeth
use one of those magnets on a stick (extension like a boom box antenna) to fish around the inside of the tranny for pieces of metal
there are oil passage holes to probe

anyway all of that is getting ahead of the game
first drain oil and pull front cover

[Petros]

I sencod what xirdneh wrote, if it is the diff (it sounds likely), it is not too difficlut to just replace the front bell housing/front diff case as a unit with one with a good diff in it. Far less work and less costly than trying to just replace a damaged ring and pinion, or spider gear set. Just replace the whole front diff assembly.

you will know more once you get the front cover off the front diff housing. Do that and get back with us, post pictures if possible. but if it is not a broken cv alxe, most likely it is in the front diff, especially if the rear wheel drive still works. Slight chance the trans main shaft if broken, but it does not seem likely it would drivable if that were the case.

[Foryst]

I just drained the gear oil and there were a few metal pieces in the middle section of the tranny but none in the front I'm gonna take her out this weekend to see what I can find out. what would be the problem if I can't see any broken teeth in the front of the tranny? thanks for the replies.

[Petros]

we do not know anything until you pull it apart. I have had perfectly good drivable trans that had a few broken parts in the bottom of the case. They did not come off anything that would cause it not to drive normal, so it would be sepculation.

Have you pulled off the front cover yet? that does not take long and you do not have to pull the trans.

[Foryst]

Just removed front cover and one of the gears has a tooth or two missing . Its not letting me upload pictures. But the gear connected to the center rod that runs all the way through the tranny. Sorry I'm not good with names . thanks

[Foryst]

The part that both the cv joints connect to. There are 4 gears in it and 3 of them are basically stripped smooth. The big gear that turns the whole looks fine. Just the gears that the cv joint are connected to is stripped. I tried to take it out but theres not enough room to pull it out all the way. Looks like I have to drop the tranny. like I said I'm not good with names so I dont know exactly what the part is called

[Petros]

I think you are referring to the 4 small bevel gears in the center of the differential assembly, these are the spider gears. the symptoms you describe would be consistent with this kind of failure. You need to pull the whole trans-axle and remove the front bell housing/diff assembly and replace it with another used one (replace the whole assembly as a unit). It is possible to replace just the spider gears, but not really worth it since setting the clearances and gear lash is not easy and very critical. Better to just replace the whole assembly with the housing as a unit, it is far easier and you will not have to get the bearing clearances correct since they are already done.

If you actually have a 1984 Tercel (not a 1948 as shown in your "my tercel" listing), than you would need to find a front end with the 3.73:1 ring and pinion ratio ('83 and '84) to install.

[Foryst]

Thanks for the info do you know of any available in washington? Preferably near tacoma but willing to drive

[Petros]

There are 3 Tercel4wd in the Lynnwood and Arlington picknpulls right now, but all are '85 and newer. I have two extra front diffs, but I do not know what their ratio is. I have to check. You are welcome to either one if you can use them.

I also have an extra 4.1 rear end, if one of my extra front diffs is a 4.1, you can swap out both the front and rear diff and have a 1984 with 4.1:1 final drive. Extra work, but well worth it to get the lower final drive ratio.

[Foryst]

If its not too much to ask can you check the gear ratios so I can get her running again? I've been contemplating on selling her but I can't do that shes my baby but shes taking up too much room in the garage now. How hard would it be to change both the front and rear differentials?
Thanks , foryst