New member from Portland, OR - '86 Tercel Wagon DLX

[GotToyota?]

I don't want to sound like one of "those guys" but I like the look of lowered (not slammed) cars and enjoy the handling gains given from that.

And since it's not a 4WD I obviously have no need to stay around stock height or raise it. I'll be putting on the KYB's and using Energy Suspension bump stops. Have an alignment appointment set for Friday.

[dlb]

gottoyota, i think trimming the front springs is probably a good place to start for the front. have you lowered the back end yet? just curious what you did there.

[GotToyota?]

I cut one coil off the front springs so far, and that basically leveled the car out.

When I did that though I found out the factory struts were severely blown so I didn't even bother to touch the rear. Struts are out for delivery now. If they come in early enough I'll be installing them today.

If I do I will take pics of the process and the results.

[GotToyota?]

So an unrelated issue I noticed today. The climate control doesn't work AT ALL.

Checked fuses and didn't see anything wrong, I might be missing something though. It doesn't appear to be blowing any air no matter what speed I set it to. Any ideas?

[rer233]

Probably bad blower motor- check for power to the blower plug- if it's got power and doesn't run, well-there you go!

[GotToyota?]

Is it a difficult item to replace? Are there any guides anywhere?

[ARCHINSTL]

Yes - look in the Repair Guides Forum or do a search for "Blower motor," keeping the quotation marks.
Tom M.

[GotToyota?]

I did some testing and it does appear to be the blower motor! Just what I need with the rainy/cold season coming around the corner. Oh well, it will get fixed soon.

Just got home from the day of working on the upgraded suspension. Will post pictures in a few mins after I get cleaned up.

[Petros]

the blower motor is fairly easy to replace, remove the whole blower box from behind the glove box (remove the glove box and its mounting rail), and replace the motor with the box outside the car. all models of Tercel from '83 through 86, and wagons '83-88 use the same blower, might even be the same for the corolla as well (but I have not checked). they are usually reliable so a wrecking yard is a good bet, I also think Rockauto has them.

[GotToyota?]

Alright so here are pics of the strut install from today.



Insert and empty strut casing


Innards from blown strut


Extremely blown strut vs new insert in casing


Old vs new rear struts


Final height up front


Final height in rear


I am very pleased with how it rides now. A million times better than my way beyond blown struts and destroyed top mounts. Getting an alignment on Friday. More pics tomorrow.

[GotToyota?]

Also, question about the brakes. Are the bleeder screws the same between front and rear? I wonder if the caliper bleeder screw can work on the drums.

[dlb]

not sure about the bleed screws so i just checked rockauto for part #s and it looks like they are not interchangeable.

looking forward to more pics!

[GotToyota?]

Yeah I looked at RockAuto and saw no bleeder screw for drums, only caliper bleeder screws. It says front and rear though? Did the SR5's have rear disc brakes?

[marlinh]

The rears have wheel cylinders. The bleeder screws are smaller than the calipers.

[irowiki]

All second gen tercels had rear drum brakes.

What rear struts did you end up ordering, I'm going to need a set it looks like. I want to keep it stock though, without any lowering!