Buying 1986 Manual Transmission online

[Tersellmeone]

Hey guys so I just bought a 1986 4WD manual with 240,000 with a "clutch" problem off of craigslist. Got her taken apart and the input shafts to the transmission are totally shot. I need to get a tranny for this thing A.S.A.P. as my mechanic has a lot of jobs lined up and can't have me taking up an engine bay. I was really hoping to pick up my girlfriend with this car on the 17th, but looks like I might be getting a rental...I'm in Portland, Oregon.

As far as OEM tranny dealers go do you guys have any recommendations? Carmonkeys has one with a 5 year warranty for $990 that I would totally spring for after reading consumer reviews, but I wanted to post here and see if anyone else has experience with this company or any other companies they would/wouldn't recommend.

I found a used tranny on the car-part.com website in redding for $550, but it's after hours and I haven't been able to confirm how many miles are on it. The pick and pull near me has an 85 on the lot, but I haven't been able to check on it's since it's currently after hours and I don't know if it's 5 or 6 speed.

Anyway...advice? Recommendations? Anything you have for me would be deeply appreciated. Thanks guys!

[Petros]

welcome the forum!

many of the "mail order" import engine/trans suppliers are not very reputable, even so nearly $1000 is very high (about double the going price). Your best bet is the picknpull, the "85 trans should have the same gear ratio as your '86. If it is a 4wd tercel, there is only one type of trans for it, the six speed. if the tercel is wrecked, the trans is likely good, but if it is not wrecked, there is a reason it ended up in the wrecking yard: either engine or trans is bad. sometimes you get lucky however, pull the drain plugs on the trans to see if there are any metal parts in the bottom, after it is out you can shift it through the gears and rotate the input and out put shaft to feel the bearings and gears. Good chance it is good if it passes those tests, but you will not know for sure until you can drive on it. Miles has nothing to do with the condition of the trans, they can fail in less than 100k if abused and allowed to run low on gear oil. If the trans was cared for with lots of gear oil changes they can last over 400k miles.

Usually if the trans is bundled up you will know it by rotating the input by hand after it is out of the car. It should shift smoothly into each gear and there should be no roughness or "clunk" as you rotate the input shaft, which you should do for each gear, including 5th.

Good luck.

[rocketscience]

Did you check that 85 in the pick and pull? I'm in the same boat but am up in Olympia.

[Defend_Dingo]

Check ebay and see if they have any of the gears for sale on there, I know they have one of the input gears that I'm probably going to pick up for mine which also exploded

[irowiki]

if the tercel is wrecked, the trans is likely good, but if it is not wrecked, there is a reason it ended up in the wrecking yard: either engine or trans is bad.

If you live anywhere with emissions and the car is not wrecked, huge chance it's in a yard because of that!

[Petros]

maybe, in california they will pay you $1500 to get the car off the road, and it gets crushed, not delivered to a wrecking yard. So you will not see them in California wrecking yards because of emissions very often (to qualify for the $1500 buy out it had to be registered the previous year, so it is possible that it could end up in the wrecking yard if that is the case).