wear and tear

ghettomobile · Post by **ghettomobile** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 10:59 pm

is it just me, or are most of the tercel 4wd cars at the end of their lifespan(250,000 or more miles) or nearing the end of their lifespan (at or around 200,000 miles) with almost no parts in the junkyard that are not worn out as well, with the same mileage on them. I have noticed this trend with the 1980's toyota 4wd truck (particularly the 1985 and before with the solid front axle).

clbolt · Post by **clbolt** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 11:03 pm

It depends where you live (is the car rusty?), and how creative you are. Yes, Tercel wagons are getting harder to find in the junkyard, but not all the cars are quite ready for the scrapyard just yet. My 86 2WD wagon just rolled over 266k miles this afternoon, and I have big plans for it. I have a fresh GM rebuilt 4AC ready to install, along with a clutch kit and new steering rack I picked up on ebay. I also installed a Holled rebuilt carb. I'm going to get a Japanese take-out transmission to go in at the same time. Once I have the drivetrain installed and sorted, I'll rebuild the A/C system, and see how many more miles the old girl has left in her.

My Tercel is a solid southern car, which is why I'm going to the trouble. There's a certain amount of satisfaction in keeping the Tercel on the road.

ghettomobile · Post by **ghettomobile** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 11:16 pm

over here in california, we dont really have a rust problem, but since these cars were used to commute a lot, most of the ones that are around are worn out in the sense that they have a lot of miles on them and the syncros in the transmission dont work , and the front half of the transmission in good condition has become quite scarce (especially for the 1983-84 model year (i have a 1984). aside from that, the interior and the body has held up quite nicely. it has 220000 on it and it doesnt rattle or anything like that. it is just that it has problems with the front of the transmission (front differential), and finding a part that isnt as worn out as the on in it is quite difficult.

jpkeels · Post by **jpkeels** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 9:57 pm

Well, it does seem that some cars may have worn out parts on them. I can say that for mine though it is still in pretty good shape. I am concerned about some parts but so far haven't had any problems finding what has been needed for minor repairs etc. In fact, I gotta find a mirror for the driver side pretty soon.

tercel4wdrules · Post by **tercel4wdrules** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 3:39 pm

If you are lucky you might find some in the junkyards that my not be so worn out, but here in California most Tercel 4WDs you will encounter will probably be over 220k unless you find on like the one that I did. It had 110k and was only driven 2-3 miles a day by an old lady in a canyon when the man had it when the lady, sadly passed away. I think the guy told me that it only had like 30k when it was handed over to him.

There are some exceptional cases here in California where I've seen a Tercel badly rusted on the rear side. Even though most of Southern California doesn't see snow or ice I might be inclined to believe that high humity rates might have something to do with these exceptional cases or if you live along the coast line.

It is true since these cars are often used a lot for commuting they see quite an amount of mileage on them. For example, the '84 that I have now is not in an "excellent" mechanical state and that is after the previous owner spent a lot of money on it. Now I'm thinking he sold it because he didn't want to spend more money on it after those costly engine, suspension, and brake jobs it got. It also seems like the tires didn't last long it either. For most cars it would be safe to say they need work to get them to an "excellent" mechanical condition, but people do it because they know it's a good, reliable workhorse. That's my view at least...

ghettomobile · Post by **ghettomobile** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 5:45 pm

It is very true that most of these cars in california have more than 220,000 miles on them. The 1984 that I have had 220,800 miles on it when I bought it. When I bought the car, i had figured that 220,000 miles wasnt too bad considering the fact that most commuter cars (such as corollas, sentras,civics, and accords) can have more than that and still work just fine. I also thought that the 4wd system and and transmission were more durable than it really was (i thought that since it was a toyota, that it would have a scaled down version of the 4wd trucks transmission and drivetrain) .
It happens to be that the transmission has a synchro problem and grinds in 2nd and 3rd gears (despite the transmission being replaced by the previous owner), and the front differential has issues as well, because it clunks horribly whenever i do any left or right turns. I can tell that all the miles were commuter freeway miles, mostly due to the fact that its interior is in really good condition (despite some fading in some areas). Another good thing about this car is that the cars doors close as if it were new, and it doesnt rattle at all while going down the road. I dont know why so many people think these things are not aerodynamic, because it has no problems at freeway speeds due to wind resistance. Aside from the crappy motor that gets worse mileage than my toyota pickup with a 22re (which gets around 20 mpg, while the tercel gets 16 mpg), and the shoddy transmission and front drivetrain, this car is really a cool and practical car. The only way it would work out for me would be if I could find an engine and transmission that has around 100,000 miles or less on it.

BTW: Im in Northern California, between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe.

clbolt · Post by **clbolt** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 6:02 pm

Buying an engine and transmission with fewer than 100k miles on them isn't difficult at all. You can find them with much lower mileage easily through one of the Japanese importers.

Or do like I did and pick up a rebuilt 4AC. I'm going to install that, along with a new clutch and rack & pinion, and a low mileage transmission sometime this summer.

ghettomobile · Post by **ghettomobile** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 7:15 pm

Thanks clbolt, that is a very good idea. I will have to look into that. We did that with a 1988 Toyota celica all-trac we have. It needed a new engine, so we went down to one of those JDM importers in Sacramento, and traded the old engine (3s-gte) in as a core and got a newer engine (3s-gte) that had only 30,000 on it. I wonder how much a 3ac or 4ac and a 4wd transdmission would be. I am only wondering this because replacing the engine and transmission usually exceeds the value of the car, but i guess it make sense to do on mine since the rest of the car is in pretty good shape (the interior is excellent, the paint is ok, but has some pitting, but the rear axle, the wheel bearings, the steering, the brakes, and the tires (which are in almost new condition) are all good. With a JDM engine, is the carburetor and the other parts included, or is it just the block and the cylinder head with the internal parts?

clbolt · Post by **clbolt** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 8:56 pm

What you get with the JDM engine depends on the importer. Some strip the external parts off and sell you just a long block, while some sell them complete with manifolds and an alternator.

I don't know what 3ACs are going for, but I paid $315 for my rebuilt 4AC. You should be able to get a transmission for $300- $400, depending on the importer.

In the case of my 86 2WD wagon, I decided to go with replacing the major mechanical parts just because the old Tercels are more reliable than anything they're selling today, more economical (when properly tuned) than most, and more utility-minded than any new SUV. With the rebuilt engine, low-mileage transmission, new clutch, and stering rack, I'll have invested about $800 plus my labor. I need to replace the struts (the rears have a lifetime warranty), and it could probably stand a brake job with a new set of rotors. Once I have that taken care of, I'll buy a rebuilt compressor and convert the a/c to r134.

One of these days I might get tired of the old Tercel, but not when gas is over 2 bucks a gallon. She's been a good car for 266k miles, and she still has lots of life left.

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 11:58 pm

Man. I love these things to death, but its getting to be a pain to keep my baby rolling.

I don't have what is to me a killer issue, just a dying carb and maybe some other quirks, but to a 16 year old in the abyssmal pit of no money and no job, a fuel filter is the gold nugget at the bottom of the acid pit.

3A-C Power · Post by **3A-C Power** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 7:30 am

Most parts that wear can still be bought pretty cheap from aftermarket sources. Carbs and engines can be rebuilt and you can still get parts for the transmission. If your differential is screwed, which it probably isn't, you wouldn't want to use a ring and pinion from the junkyard anyways, it's a lot of work for something that might be just as bad as the old one.

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 2:57 pm

You can find it all floating around, if not here, then in Europe.