88 T4wd Adventures in Mesa Arizona!

[marlinh]

Sounds like you two are in good hands. Restores ones faith in the kindness of strangers...

[Petros]

to me this is one of the real fun parts about taking risky road trips in 25 year old cars, a true adventure where you never really know what awaits you.

I have always found if you really get stuck there are always interesting people around that are willing to help out, you just need to find them. sounds like you have found the best of all situations. I think pulling the engine is a bit more trouble than I would want to do while on the road, but you are facing more winter driving conditions ahead, so it might be for the best and it is much easier to access the bottom end with the engine out of the car. If you find the connecting rod journal scored, it is an easy fix by hand. You use strips of 400 to 600 grit wet and dry sand paper wrapped around the journal (with some solvent or light machine oil), and wrap a thick cord around the sandpaper and journal several times. You pull the cord ends back and fourth like you are using a pull-saw. It will polish the bearings evenly to a micro-polished finish. No tools required.

You might also see about installing an engine heater while you have it apart, no doubt the reason for the seal failure was not just the frozen seal, but also the extra cold oil put more pressure on it. I have seen oil filters and seals blow out in very cold conditions. They make electric plug in block heaters that use a magnet on the oil pan or side of the block, I have also seen oil dip-stick heaters that you plug in. ONe of the best I have seen is a simple unit that goes in-line with the heater hose, you cut the hose to install it. It has a small pump and a heating element so it circulates the coolant and keeps it warm, one of those and a magmatic oil pan heater would be the best of both, keep both the coolant and the oil warm. It is not unusual in those climates to have to heat the engine up before you start it just for the reason you experienced. Some people have even started fires under the car/engine to warm them up (very risky for obvious reasons). With the electric heaters you just need to make sure you find a place to plug it in overnight. If you intend to camp out in those kind of winter conditions, than your only option is to put your camp stove under the oil pan and take your chances.

good luck.

[larry mcgrath]

Charcol brickets in a cut down coffee can ----and let burn down till white- with a old blanket thrown over the hood, to trap in the heat ,works real well. Quick and verry portable. Just be carful about oil leaks Larry P/S OIL dipstick heaters are a total waste.

[joemcdonough89]

We're back on the road! We finished the repairs late last week and went down to Anchorage, Denali, and up to Fairbanks. The crank was thrashed beyond our immediate repair, and I had seen Petros' posting just a bit late. So the connecting rod of cylinder 3/4 got chewed up and left us with a bad knock. It is disappointing but I am glad that we were able to use our skills and get back on the road, with a total cost of $140 no less! The way things look now, we may just drive it straight back to phoenix where we could find the time to do a full rebuild. Let's hope she makes it!

Side note, it was giving us some hesitation issues as we were going through the mountains. It would jolt and have an overall lack of power. We pulled off just as the engine died. We looked at the carb first and the throat had actually frozen and was covered in snow! I've never seen anything like it. We blew on it to melt the ice, the we were back on our way. Just thought it was interesting

Thanks for everything guys!

[marlinh]

Carb ice. If you are missing the small flex tube from the exhaust manifold to the air cleaner, that would prevent it from happening again. Glad to hear you are back on the road. Hadn't heard from you in a while and was wondering how things were progressing.

Are you driving with a bad knock? I hope it hangs in there. What about that spare car? Was that engine no good? Safe travels.

[dlb]

$140 is a great cost for on-the-road repairs. bummer that you've got a knock now but hopefully you make it back problem free. you might consider seeing if a member here could help you out en route back home. it would be a bit of a drag to make another pit stop for maintenance but it would be better than having another full-on breakdown in god knows where.

[MR2Di4]

Sounds like you two are in good hands. Restores ones faith in the kindness of strangers...

Wow, just been reading this thread and it sounds like you're having a great trip. Alaskans (or people that move there) are often rugged, friendly folk and tend to be generous to those in need. I'm sure you've made some new friends during your journey and I hope you and your car are able to return safely. I'll be watching this thread for news of your progress.

How are you coming back down? Highway or ferry?

MR2Di4

[Petros]

they can fill in the details but they drove down from AK, about 2000 miles to my place here in Washington state. they were at my place late sunday night and stayed in our basement guest room over night. I looked over the engine with them on Monday morning, adjusted valves and set the timing. They have low oil pressure and more bearing clearance than would be best, but they seemed confident it will get them back to AZ. They spend the night in the Portland area on Tuesday.

[joemcdonough89]

Hey guys, time for another update! We're down in Portland for our second day and we're really enjoying the hipster town and trying to gather some gear for our upcoming cycling trip. The car is doing surprisingly well given the circumstance and Petros put slot of my worries at ease with his vast knowledge. It was a wonderful visit in Arlington and he had recommended a few local thrift stores and I found a nice mesh kit that I'm excited about. We're heading down to Eugene to visit a friend then will continue down the coast on the 101 down to San Deigo then head east to AZ. I've been taking some pictures and I'll try and post them all on an external website so I don't clog up this thread. It's all been possible because of the wonderful folks on this forum and whom we've met along the way. Short visits make for long friendships.

My phone had failed back in Tok so I'm relying on an iPod and McDonalds Internet, but I'll try and keep you guys posted! Thanks MR2Di4 for your encouragement, the Tercel is running solely on optimism now and could use all the fuel she can get!

[dlb]

the 101 is a fantastic drive. lots of great places to stop but one place i'll recommend camping at is eel creek campground, just south of reedsport, OR. it's right in the middle of the oregon dunes territory but is a quiet campsite, probably even quieter this time of year. you can even camp at the base of the dunes at some of the sites. it's about an hour hike across the dunes to the ocean, and i recommend it. really beautiful.

[marlinh]

Great news that you've made it this far. I'm sure it will be an adventure that will be talked about for years.

[tercelebr8]

Wow! Gnarly story. . Sounds like fun nonetheless!!:). In utah if u swing back thru.. Fun stuff here of course

[tercelebr8]

the 101 is a fantastic drive. lots of great places to stop but one place i'll recommend camping at is eel creek campground, just south of reedsport, OR. it's right in the middle of the oregon dunes territory but is a quiet campsite, probably even quieter this time of year. you can even camp at the base of the dunes at some of the sites. it's about an hour hike across the dunes to the ocean, and i recommend it. really beautiful.

Yea these dunes are awesome! Fresh water pools at the base of some of them if i remember correctly.. Believe i was in the same spot a couple years back. Next level bocce courses!

[joemcdonough89]

Hey guys!

I was reminded by Petros this morning that its about time that I update the progress on the trip. After leaving his place, we stayed at our friends place in Eugene and had a wonderful visit. Then we headed down south on the 5 to the 101 and stayed in the redwoods that night. In the morning we saw a friend in San Fran, then we took hwy 1 down the coast and quickly decided to head back to the 5 and head down to Santa Cruz. The scenery was gorgeous but it became really frustrating to be constantly stuck behind drivers trying to take in the view. We stayed the night in Santa Cruz and then headed back to Phoenix the next morning and arrived late that night. The trusty Tercel sounds like hell, but she made it all the way home of which I'm eternally grateful for. We've since been home for about a week preparing for our next trip. On Monday we'll be taking my brother's car out to the coast of VA to start cycling the Trans-Am bicycle route to the coast of OR. When I'm done with our travels I'll do a full rebuild on the motor and get her back to 100%, and take it from there. I can't thank you guys enough for all of your help, this forum has been an indispensable resource. Thanks for all the tips and I hope that my experiences can help and encourage others to do the same. It's not letting me upload pictures on here for some reason but I'll do my best to put everything on flickr asap.

Joe McD