My Depressed Rant

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Wed May 04, 2005 10:36 pm

Well.
The car is just too far beyond me. I'm not sure why its doing this to me.
It did its little lurching-death thing again. Got stranded in town, thankfully near a friends house. After working for 30 minutes on my sisters 82 Corolla Tercel 2-door's brakes, just to find out the part I need is at my house, 12 miles away. I hop in the car, start it up, get literally 30 feet and it dies. It refused to re-start. Lovely. So now I spend 90 minutes wrestling to put the dead brakes back on Sis's for the time being. After much screaming, cursing, and getting dribbled on by old brake fluid, I got them back on. Now I wait another 60 minutes with nothing to do but examine why my friend's new Talon won't shift. As I suspected, it had a shot tranny. What does $250 get you? <_<
So I try again, and baby fires up. But its running REALLY rough. Coughing, poor revs, little power. I let it idle for a few, then got home on a prayer and a thought. It almost died a few times on the way home. Well, no problems in the dist cap. All the spark wires registering on the timing light. Then it died idling. Yay. So I'm now done. This is too much hastle for me. I can barely think right now.
So I go to church to hopefully relieve my stress. Great, now half the media-booth (where I volunteer) is fried and we can't figure it out. At least I got some free brownies and Sprite.
On the way home, I calculate (riding in my dad's truck) how long it'll take to save for a new carb after gas and insurance if I get a job paying $6/hour. To my dismay, It turned out I'd not even break even working 25 hours a week. UGH. Hopefully I can push a cart somewhere and get $7-8 an hour. Even then, It'd take a long time. Making $150/month after tax, thats still 3 months.

Well, at least when I got home I realized I was being stupid for a few months, found a blown fuse in the Geo Metro, and got it running. One small victory.

I know I'm just whining. I needed to complain to someone/something, and I'm afraid my baby will get even more indignant if she hears me down-speaking her. WHY CAN'T SHE JUST WORK AND GET GOOD MILEAGE?

Ahhhhhh life....

takza · Post by **takza** » Thu May 05, 2005 4:48 am

1) trying to fix too many things? Endlessly "fixing" things can get to be a real bummer....."they"* don't make it easy.

* the imps who make things not work

2) sprite & brownies are very high on the gycemic index...big sugar rush...quick drop.

3) as far as your wagon...try shining a flashlight on the bottom of the fuel filter and see if you have some sediment in there. I know old Corollas would simply quit running like that when the filter clogged.

Look at it this way...you could buy the new Weber and end up right where you are now...if the problem isn't in the carb.

Might have to go thru a few $3 filters before it runs OK? Blow out the fuel lines again?

You are trying too hard......back off....read the manual over sans stress...then pick up a nice new quart of synth oil...put a big smile on your face, and in your white mechanics suit, approach your wagon with confidence...asking "how are we today?' Once it realizes you are a professional...you'll get some respect & cooperation. :blink:

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Thu May 05, 2005 7:57 am

Lol. I'll have to find a white mechanics suit.
I've run thru one half-good filter then popped in a brand new one. Dunno if its fried. If I can get a friend to drive me by the NAPA I'll buy as many as I can afford. Which might be... None? Lol. I'll get it figured out.
I have run out of patience with it for now. I'm going to have a pro look at things. I'm not expecting things to be cheap. But at least if the pros can tell me what is wrong, maybe I can fix the issues myself? Maybe I can't. We'll see how it all works?

GTSSportCoupe · Post by **GTSSportCoupe** » Thu May 05, 2005 9:31 am

Man, that sucks. I hear you. Old cars can be such a b!tch sometimes. Hope you get everything sorted out ok.

2wagons · Post by **2wagons** » Thu May 05, 2005 9:49 am

Hey Typrus, at least you're stuck in beautiful Colorado, When I blew a rod in Loveland in the old-old Tercel, at least I could see the mountainsÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦sniff I miss the mountains, sniff. Anyway , have you considered that you may have an ignition problem? I know that the igniters were recalled on several models. I seem to recall that you have an 83? I think I have a spare distributor for an 83 somewhere, might have a good igniter in it if you need one. BTW do you know about Blakes salvage yard in Superior? A great place for Tercel parts!

3A-C Power · Post by **3A-C Power** » Thu May 05, 2005 12:57 pm

Sounds like fuel shortage. If you have crap in the tank, you can go through filters faster than the parts store replenishes stock after you buy them.

I remember being 16 and jobless and broke with the Tercel, but at least the car was good to me. I shared insurance with my parents to make it affordable and they used it as their 2nd car mostly when I was at school and didn't need it. Otherwise it would have just sat there uninsured. I paid for gas and oil and parts out of whatever money I could make fixing things before I got a job.

What kind of shape is the 82 Tercel in? I love those cars.

2wagons · Post by **2wagons** » Thu May 05, 2005 2:54 pm

From re-reading your post and 3AC's, perhaps the fuel pump is not working under load-There are several tests in the FSM. . Once you get it running it should perform well. BTW see if Blakes has another carb for you. You might get by with another 3AC carb and get the Weber later. I too had similar problems with my Tercel when I was in graduate school with kids and no money. I eventually got the car running and put another 250K on it!

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Thu May 05, 2005 7:16 pm

Body= 1984.
Engine and all attached componants (minus alt and starter) = 1986

I tried ignition. It helped.

Shortage? The float bowl is 7/8 full on the sight glass!!

I bought a new fuel filter for kicks today. The new one is a little dirty, but about 90% clean.

Fuel pump has 300 miles on it.

All fuel lines have been re-blown clear.

Man. This is insane. I want to do carb-work if thats what it comes to, but I don't have the time, money, or ability to right now. I got kicked off the bus today for standing up for my adopted sister. WTF gives people the right to say that racial sh#t to her... erg...

Just how dangerous is it going to be to go for another..... 20 days or so? It should run ok if I baby it like a premature baby. When summer starts either I can cruise in the Geo or.. something.
If I have to rebuild or what have you, I'd rather just Weber it up. but I couldn't sell the car for $450.

tercel4wdrules · Post by **tercel4wdrules** » Thu May 05, 2005 8:33 pm

7/8th full? According to the FSM this is how the level should look like:

Maybe this is what might be causing poor fuel mileage. I would try adjusting the float.

This is what it says in the FSM:

"Check that the float level is even with the correct level in the sight glass. If not, check the carburetor needle valve and float level, and adjust or repair, as necessary."

I personally don't now how to adjust it, but I'm sure someone here does.

Boy, you're having bad luck, the car, and now you even get kicked out of the bus! There is no right for those crazy people to start talking bull spit.

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Thu May 05, 2005 9:39 pm

I know its 3/8 too full. Just what can I do short of rebuilding the carb? I really am looking at driving the Geo till I get a job....

hornett22 · Post by **hornett22** » Mon May 09, 2005 9:47 pm

if you buy a rebuild kit of quality and a float and ship it to me,i'll rebuild it for you free of charge and ship it back to you. steve

takza · Post by **takza** » Tue May 10, 2005 4:39 am

My fuel level runs at the lower edge of acceptable....runs OK...good mileage.