First post

[brianp]

Hello,

I just got my first car, a 1985 Tercel SR5 4wd wagon (manual trans), which is in excellent condition, with only 120,000 miles on it. This forum looks like it will be a good resource.

I was wondering, is there any way you can check the level of the transmission oil, as I don't see any dipstick in the engine compartment. How would you change it? I should probably get one of those repair manuals from an auto parts store. Also is there anything as a new person to the Tercel know about maintaining it?

Thanks,
Brian Plett age 20

[GTSSportCoupe]

Hey Brian, glad you found us. There are a couple things that will really help you out. One, you can download the .pdf factory repair manual from through our main site (http://www.tercel4wd.com) - if you need help let us know. Second, many of the question you have are already answered on this site, so a good rule of thumb is to quickly try the search feature before asking a question. When you use the search feature, be careful with the settings, otherwise you won't get many returns on your search.

If you have a standard transmission, you have to crawl under the car with the car on jack stands perfectly level and remove the filler plug. The oil level should be right to the bottom of the filler hole; it should spill out our you should be able to feel it with your finger. Look in the factory repair manual after you download it to see the location of the filler plug. You change it by removing the drain plug to drain out the old fluid, then replace it and pump new fluid in the filler hole.

You don't need to buy a repair manual. The best you could possibly buy is the same as the one on our site; just download it - its free! Read the maintenance section of the repair manual and you'll see everything that could possibly be maintained on the tercel.

Good luck and feel free to ask any questions or revive old ones that you find in your using the search function.

Have fun.