Just picked up my first 1986 tercel wagon 4x4

[Paultercel]

Hey Mark,
Yea, once she gets warmed up, there is no smoke at all after that.
It drives fine right now. On very rare occasions I will get a misfire but it's so inconsistent I haven't taken much notice...
So I just have to take off the valve cover and remove the rocker panel to pop out the springs and replace the seals?
Doesn't sound too daunting...
Hopefully that is the issue...
Any idea what the parts are called for the two hoses coming into the valve cover located directly on top of the cover?
The reason I ask is that I would like to replace them with the correct parts, the previous owner bob-job'd some crude excuse for a hose connector.
I mean it works but it looks like amateur hour every time I pop open the hood, in case anyone is looking.

I might mention that this problem of blue smoking happened after the car had been running for about a week with the choke stuck on... from trying to diagnose with failed attempts it had turned out to be a bad alternator which I got screwed on because it was past its warranty by a couple of days.

[Petros]

if it were me I would not worry about the smoke on start up. Put a can of engine oil adative like STP or "Restore" in the oil and just drive it. You will be fine. The valve stem seals do get brittle and can allow slight seepage down the stems to cause the start up smoke, replacing them is not too bad, but I suggest unless the smoke is bad, to just leave them for now. The seals them selves do not cost much (in fact get a few extras because they are easy to damage when you install them). You have to remove the valve cover, and than the rocker arm shaft (four 10 mm bolts hold it down). Rent a valve spring compressor, and you compress the spring, pop out the keepers (a magnet helps so they do not go flying across the engine compartment), and than lift off the retainer and the valve spring. That is when the valve stem seal is visible and accessible, it must be prided off the end of the guide and the new one pushed all the way on, using a tool. The tool you can make from the right dia. tube, plastic or metal, that just pushes on the shoulder of the seals, and not on the soft rubber part. it should be lubricated with motor oil before you put it on. You now repeat that step 7 more times.

Each cylinder you work on you MUST verify the piston is in the top of its travel. If when you have the spring and retainer off the valve stem, the valve itself could drop down into the cylinder, for which there is no way to retrieve it other than to pull off the head. So there are hazards associated with replacing the valve stem seals if not done carefully.

That is why I would not bother replacing the stem seals unless you have to take your head off for other reasons and do not risk these problems.

keep an eye on that coolant level, and do not fret replacing the head gasket is not that bad of a job, I have done at least a dozen times, and can do it in about 3 hours with just a hand full of tools. I wrote up a procedure on replacing the head gasket over in the repair guilds section that shows you everything you have to do. These small engines are very reliable, but they usually do not tolerate overheating at all, the head gasket almost always go bad if the temp every gets near the red zone on the gauge. I recommend replacing your radiator (if it is indeed bad), hoses, and the thermostat as a preventive measure. Usually a marginal thermostat is what causes unsteady temperatures. A bad radiator will just allow It to run hot on long up hill climbs.

good luck

[Mark]

I find it strange that the smoking stops when the engine is warm. With me, it's always been the other way around. As the oil warms up it gets thinner and slips past seals easier. If the valve guide seals were leaking by I'd expect it to smoke when warm as well. My guess is that the smoke is from somewhere else. Maybe oil rings on the piston?

The fittings on the valve cover are PCV valve grommets. They often come in a set with a valve cover gasket kit. One of those hoses goes to the underside of the air filter housing. Is there any oil inside the housing around this hole? That could indicate a buggered PCV setup and cause smoking.

Re: Valves falling into the cylinder: I use the "shove a length of small-diameter rope in the spark plug hole" method. It's an extra step since you have to remove/re-install the spark plugs to do it.

[dlb]

to me, it makes sense that valve stem seals would cause visible smoke on start up since the oil would have a while to drip down and pool in the cylinder, but you're right that it would continue to burn oil while driving once the oil was warm and thinned out. it might not be visible since it would be burning smaller amounts consistently while driving but i guess it would depend largely on the condition of the seals.

replacing the PCV is another good idea. i don't think carbon'd up oil scraper rings would cause smoke on start up but on a new-to-you car, i think a seafoam oil treatment followed by an oil and filter change is another good idea.

[Paultercel]

Would midway between the start of the red zone and the midway point be considered overheating? I havent let it get past that point.... Petros, do you think you could link me pver to that special you posted on replacing the head gasket?

[Paultercel]

I have recently done an oil change and filter change. I will probably try the seafoam treatment to see if that can solve my problem. I have also ordered the seals from rock auto. Maybe i will get the rings too considering i may as well do the whole shabang.

[dlb]

it's normal in stop and go traffic for the temp gauge to get up to about 5/8 or 3/4 but at that point the rad fan should automatically turn on and cool it back down to 1/2 or just under. if it's running that hot in other conditions, i would look investigate the cooling system sooner than later.

replacing the piston rings requires removing the engine, and your compression #s were fine so i don't there's any need to do that. the oil scraper rings i mentioned just get gummed up with carbon when oil and filter changes are not done often enough. then the scraper rings can't do their job of scraping oil off the cylinder wall, which causes burning of oil. seafoam does a great job of liquefying those carbon deposits and allows the rings to do their job again but you should change the oil and filter shortly after using it to get all that junk out of there.

[Petros]

I concure, that compression is excellent and replacing the rings would be a waste of time and money. try the other fixes first with the oil treatments and see if the start up smoke reduces, and only replace the stem seals if it is necessary. If you are not loosing any coolant, than the head gasket is likely just fine. But keep an eye on it, a compromised head gasket may not consume much coolant, at first, but slowly breaks down and eventually noticeably consumes coolant. And if you keep driving it than the whole head gasket could eventually blow out and leave you stranded. You do not need to ask me how I know that, I have been there and done that, more than a few times!

here is the link to the head gasket instructions: https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6059

I also did a repair guide to up grade those whimpy front brakes using other larger Toyota brakes assemblies, you also might like. If you need brakes anyway, might as well up grade them to better brakes!: https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4998

[Mark]

You aren't parking on a slope are you? I'm just wondering because when the car is level, the valve guide seals are well above any pooling oil and oil only gets splashed on them when the engine is running. If you park on a steep slope the pooling oil might be up to the level of the valve guide seals at one end of the engine, which might cause it to leak into a cylinder.

[Paultercel]

Not Parked on a slope, Mark. Up here in Michigan, everythings pretty much flat for the most part!

[Paultercel]

I have a question about the Air conditioning unit.
What is Econo versus the full A/C?

[irowiki]

Econo runs the compressor half as much as full AC from what I know.

Does your AC work? I'm fixing to fix the AC on one of my wagons.

[Paultercel]

Yea it works, Just needs to be charged I think. The Belt is pretty loose... I can't figure out how to adjust it!
Also before I spray any freezer into it I want to make sure there are no leaks anywhere.

[irowiki]

The belt is adjusted by the idler pulley that is below the alternator.

[Paultercel]

Thanks!
Any good way to find any leaks?