need transmission for 85 4x4 in salt lake city

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taytercel85
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Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2011 2:48 pm
My tercel:: 1985 sr5 4x4 weber carb

need transmission for 85 4x4 in salt lake city

Post by taytercel85 »

My first gear has bit the big one and I have been forced to use EL and pop in and out of four wheel every time I come to a stop. This is my daily driver and I put 80 or so miles a day on her. I saw a post about three tercs in a pick and pull in SLC but I called five places and no one has them in their computer. AAamco is unable to find parts or a used tranny so I'd be very happy to find one.
TURTCEL
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Posts: 662
Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2012 11:42 am
My tercel:: 1985 4WD SR5 Wagon, Brown (TURTCEL)
Location: Everett, WA

Re: need transmission for 85 4x4 in salt lake city

Post by TURTCEL »

I have a friend with an "87 SR5 that has the 6 speed tranny in it. I live in Twin Falls, Idaho so not too far away. The car has 164K on it. The engine burns oil, it needs a rack and pinion, and the clutch is going. I have driven this car and the trans shifts fine. She was talking about selling it the other day. I have been wanting to buy it myself for a spare parts car but don't have the funds.

I will talk with her about it and find out what her deal is on the car. Don't hold me to this but she said she needed 500 for the car to help buy a plane ticket. Now you know why I wanted to buy it. 500 is nothing for a complete runner even with the probs it has.

I would love to see you keep your baby on the raod. I will give her a call and see what is up. If all goes well I will PM you. Do you have the means to tow it back from Idaho. About a 3 1/2 hour trip one way.

Peace
1985 Tercel 4wd SR5 Wagon, WEBER Carb, Brown (TURTCEL)
1988 Corolla DLX All-Trac Wagon, 4 speed AT, Silver (Wife's new car)
1993 Ford Escort Wagon LX, 5 Speed, Smurf Blue (Smurfette)...selling
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Petros
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Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: need transmission for 85 4x4 in salt lake city

Post by Petros »

unless that '87 is rust bucket/beater, it would be a shame to use it for parts just because it needs a clutch. It is worth far more fixed. Of course if the body and interior is rough it might only be worth parts. I have rescued more than a few Tercels headed to wrecking yards, made them in to good daily drivers and sold them at a good price.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
TURTCEL
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Posts: 662
Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2012 11:42 am
My tercel:: 1985 4WD SR5 Wagon, Brown (TURTCEL)
Location: Everett, WA

Re: need transmission for 85 4x4 in salt lake city

Post by TURTCEL »

This car is actually in great shape inside and out. Just figured that if someone is in need of a major part to fix something they love, especially being that these are hard to find it would be nice to help out.

I would love to see this car stay together on the road. I wish I had the cash to buy it for myself. Since I finally got my baby running really good now I would love to start building a fleet of these awesome little cars.

Peace
1985 Tercel 4wd SR5 Wagon, WEBER Carb, Brown (TURTCEL)
1988 Corolla DLX All-Trac Wagon, 4 speed AT, Silver (Wife's new car)
1993 Ford Escort Wagon LX, 5 Speed, Smurf Blue (Smurfette)...selling
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dlb
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My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
Location: bc, canada

Re: need transmission for 85 4x4 in salt lake city

Post by dlb »

taytercel85 wrote:My first gear has bit the big one and I have been forced to use EL and pop in and out of four wheel every time I come to a stop.
why not just start in second gear? i do it all the time. you'll still need to find a new trans but it will be easier to drive in the meantime.
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83Whit3Hatch
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Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2012 6:09 pm
My tercel:: 1983 3 Door Stripper Model. Grey seats with red inserts. 5spd swap.100W 9003 bulb upgrade.
Location: Denver, CO

Re: need transmission for 85 4x4 in salt lake city

Post by 83Whit3Hatch »

Find a local shop that specializes in manual or Toyota transmissions, an independent shop that rebuilds in house. They usually have a stock pile of parts (used, NOS, aftermarket, etc.). I use A1 transmissions here in Denver. They were able to get me a full rebuild kit for my 2wd 5spd for less than half of what I could find online.
TURTCEL
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Posts: 662
Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2012 11:42 am
My tercel:: 1985 4WD SR5 Wagon, Brown (TURTCEL)
Location: Everett, WA

Re: need transmission for 85 4x4 in salt lake city

Post by TURTCEL »

Unfortunatley, the parts for the 4wd Terc transmissions are hard to come by. A lot more 4 and 5 speeds trannys out there. Shops are having a harder and harder time finding parts to fix these trannys now. It seems that is is almost necessary to have a back up trans or a parts trans of your own if you don't want to have to convert your 4wd to a 2wd if the tranny goes.

I agree with DLB...start out in second if you can. It is really hard on the transfercase to pop it in and out like that. You might have to rev the engine a little more to start out in 2nd and you might lose an insignificant amount of fuel economy by less hard on the tranny this way. I is better to have 4 speed 4wd (w/o 1st gear) than no 4wd at all...my opinion.

Peace
1985 Tercel 4wd SR5 Wagon, WEBER Carb, Brown (TURTCEL)
1988 Corolla DLX All-Trac Wagon, 4 speed AT, Silver (Wife's new car)
1993 Ford Escort Wagon LX, 5 Speed, Smurf Blue (Smurfette)...selling
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Petros
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Posts: 11930
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: need transmission for 85 4x4 in salt lake city

Post by Petros »

the first gear in the 5 speed 2wd trans should be the same parts as the 4wd trans, they share many parts including the gear cluster. the 4wd has a longer main shaft to engage the transfer case at the rear. The trans can be rebuilt, it is very similar in design to all of the older rwd toyota trans, including the truck trans, it is just smaller. so anyone who has experience rebuilding toyota truck trans can rebuild the Tercel 4wd trans. Kits are still available, the kit and labor should cost about $1000 in most private shop that are not in big cities, even less for a small shop that just does transmission overhauls (it saves you a lot to remove the trans and take it in to him, no reason to pay a shop just to remove the trans). I would not go to a big city repair shop, they are all crooks, the small town shop has a local reputation to maintain or he is out of business.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
TURTCEL
Highest Ranking Member
Posts: 662
Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2012 11:42 am
My tercel:: 1985 4WD SR5 Wagon, Brown (TURTCEL)
Location: Everett, WA

Re: need transmission for 85 4x4 in salt lake city

Post by TURTCEL »

Good to know on the tranny parts just in case anyone ever needs to fix one of the 4wd transmissions.

There is a guy about 30 miles away in the town of Gooding, Idaho that apparently has 5 Tercs just sitting in his front yard. I plan on taking a road trip out there when the roads are better and try to find his place. It would be nice to find a fellow Terc collector close by. Maybe he doesn't know about this website, I will tell him about it if I end up meeting him. It would also be cool if he was willing to sell parts if needed.

Peace
1985 Tercel 4wd SR5 Wagon, WEBER Carb, Brown (TURTCEL)
1988 Corolla DLX All-Trac Wagon, 4 speed AT, Silver (Wife's new car)
1993 Ford Escort Wagon LX, 5 Speed, Smurf Blue (Smurfette)...selling
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