rack and pinion

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
hikersteve
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Posts: 55
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2013 9:00 pm
My tercel:: 84 sr5 manual
Location: penn valley ca

Re: rack and pinion

Post by hikersteve »

okay so maybe im a dumbass but im willing to swallow my pride to learn, and would rather make a mistake and admit to it than have something wrong or make something wrong with car!i did the test with chopstick and it was alot closer than i thought. So i thought i remembered Dan telling me, while giving me some free knowledge at junkyard, that you lined up housing protrusion with indentation mark on gear ( actually he said he didnt remember for sure and look up in the book:)) Which i did and that is how i tried to do it first three times with engine on top dead center, then i did the plug 1 test and it showed TDC at 2 inches off but when i put distributor with protrusion aligned to indentaion this way it started and then came the prior post.
in the book it says align the protrusion with the pin on the drill mark side , but lookin at the pic it shows one dot on gear side.
so i say im a dumbass cause i read it as aligning drill mark with protrusion, but also it shows only one dot and technically if your looking at it you would see two dots if pin on gear was aligned with protrusion??? ha ha i am a dumbass zoomed in and there is a slight notch there
can someone please clarify?
you line up protrusion on housing with the pin (raised mark) next to drill mark (indentation) (2dots)
or pin side (1dot)
i think i answered my own question but please verify
hikersteve
Advanced Member
Posts: 55
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2013 9:00 pm
My tercel:: 84 sr5 manual
Location: penn valley ca

Re: rack and pinion

Post by hikersteve »

okay so at top dead center with chopstick test when i pulled out dizzy it was lined up with single dot side,?????
so i reset it per double dot side and no start as i was doing in the first place
reset at single dot side and start and run
so pulley is off
hikersteve
Advanced Member
Posts: 55
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2013 9:00 pm
My tercel:: 84 sr5 manual
Location: penn valley ca

Re: rack and pinion

Post by hikersteve »

actually after putin back together and thinkin about it thats not right, the pulley mark is on with 1st piston but the distributor is opposite what it should be?
sorry dont know who i am confusing more you guys or myself:)
so this may be important info,
every once in a while i am idling in neutral the car will "hick-up" almost die but just for a stroke or two and then run fine. i had thought it might be vacuum leak but checked hoses and everything seemed alright. it has only done this like ten times in the month and 2000 miles i've had it and at random times cold and warm, could this be a sign of something slipping?
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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: rack and pinion

Post by Petros »

if the front key is sheared off (sometimes happens) than both the pulley and the valve timing will be off. did you verify the valve timing is correct with the hole in the valve sprocket and the timing mark on the front of the head? If that is off when at TDC, and the pulley is off the TDC mark on the front cover, than I would pull off the front pulley and get a look at it. A sheared off key on the front pulley would make it run like crap. This happens when someone forgets to torque the front bolt on the pulley, leaving a small amount of play so the engine and pulley can move and whittles away the key.

As far as the distributor goes I never use that alignment method (I always found it confusing). I install the distributor so that the rotor is pointing at the number one spark plug position on the cap with the engine at TDC (make sure you are actually at TDC, and not between strokes with piston at top of stroke, remember the piston comes to the top two times in a full combustion cycle, once at TDC when the spark fires, and once between strokes). Just be mindful of the gear helix when you push the distributor home, so the rotor is actually pointing at the # 1 cap terminal (I use the round logo on the internal coil as a guild, but double check it against the actual #1 terminal on the dist. cap.). that always gets it started, than I adjust the spark timing as necessary.



Good luck.
'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)
hikersteve
Advanced Member
Posts: 55
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2013 9:00 pm
My tercel:: 84 sr5 manual
Location: penn valley ca

Re: rack and pinion

Post by hikersteve »

wow thanks!
your a lot more helpful than the book
and the books not bad
thanks again
steve
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dlb
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Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:03 pm
My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
Location: bc, canada

Re: rack and pinion

Post by dlb »

to get the timing set to TDC, i remove the 1st spark plug and put my thumb over the hole. then i put a ratchet on the crank bolt and turn the crank clockwise. when i feel pressure build up on my thumb, i know 1st cylinder is coming to TDC on the compression stroke. then i just watch to make sure the mark gets to '0' and shine a flashlight in the spark plug hole to make sure the cylinder is at the top of it's stroke. then i REMOVE THE RATCHET SO I DON'T FORGET AND DESTROY THE RADIATOR WHEN I START THE CAR LATER, and install the dizzy making sure the rotor points to 10:30. that way it will point at the 1st spark plug contact in the cap. plug in the dizzy, put the 12 mm bolt in loosely, put the #1 spark plug back in and plug the wire on, and the car should start up. make sure the vacuum advance hoses are disconnected and plugged, set the timing to 5* or 10* BTDC (whatever you prefer, 10* is a little peppier), reconnect the vac hoses and make sure that the timing at idle advances to about 13* when the vac hoses are reconnected, snug up the 12 mm dizzy bolt, and you're done.

the hiccup you mention does sound like a vacuum leak. besides the hoses and their routing, everything else can be a leak too. suck on all the diaphragms and make sure they all hold vacuum, and make sure all the nuts and bolts on the manifolds and carb base are snug. you might try disabling the EGR by finding a big bolt to replace the banjo bolt that connects it to the exhaust manifold. it's a bit of a PITA but might be worth a try if everything else checks out.
hikersteve
Advanced Member
Posts: 55
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2013 9:00 pm
My tercel:: 84 sr5 manual
Location: penn valley ca

Re: rack and pinion

Post by hikersteve »

all great advice and i did do the plug 1 test to find tdc. not so funny thing is i did forget to "REMOVE THE RATCHET SO I DON'T FORGET AND DESTROY THE RADIATOR WHEN I START THE CAR LATER," didnt destroy anything but put a couple minor dents in rad. brought me back to when i was in high school and i did the same thing when i was putting a new engine in my 68 dodge a1o8 split window van, that time i did destroy the radiator. thought those days were behind me, fortunately my son was inside takin a leak, so he didnt see it and i was able to blame him for my brain fart :)! i was just trying to teach him a valuable lesson....:)
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