Unidentified Problem.

[BaileySims]

Ok. So, for some reason or another, yesterday, i decided to take my tranny mount off and weld some tabs on it because it is horribly bad. I did this trying to see if it would eliminate some clanking noises i was hearing from under the car. couldn't tell anything because solid mounts make it unbelievably more noisy.

While putting in the mount, i had to push it a tad to line up with the mounting holes on the body, and I didn't even test drive it until it was time for me to go to work the next morning.It drove fine 20+ miles to my first destination, and another 15 to my second. While leaving from work to go to the bank, i was traveling down hill, punched it in 3rd and it kind of bogged down and jerked a little bit as if the car was trying to shut off or something.

Skipped going to the bank and immediately drove it home to park it. Got home while ago and took the mount back out to cut off the tabs and put it back how it was. Now the dilemma starts here. 1st and 2nd gear accelerate fine up to 4k rpms, 3rd will climb to 3k and then start to slow down, same with 4th. 5th works fine throughout the rpm range.

Did making the solid mount mess up the trans internally? I am really scared. Around here, tercels are 1 in a million and even if there was one to pop up, i don't think i would be able to afford another transmission in the first place. If the trans is on its way out, I'm afraid I might have to sell the car.

Thank you for reading. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.

[helipilot77]

I would highly doubt the it has anything to do with the transmission. More likely I would suspect that the extreme vibrations cause an electrical or vacuum connection to come loose. Start looking around the engine bay for something out of place.

[BaileySims]

I've only got 2 going to the dizzy, both of which are still connected and pretty pliable as well with no holes or tears. Unless the problem could be the vacuum advance? But I don't think it would just kill 3rd and 4th gear. Alternator also puts out good voltage I'm 3rd and 4th as well. The only thing I haven't replaced in awhile would be the cap and rotor. I'm stumped.

[xirdneh]

i cannot imagine the solid mount causing transmission problems
its interesting you only have this problem in 3rd and 4th gear
they share the same shift fork, 4th on forward side and 3rd on aft side of shift fork
i know the inside of those trannys pretty well, i cannot think of anything that would cause that problem
if it does turn out to be the tranny i sure would like to know what happened

[BaileySims]

I figure I'd post back here when it happened again, and again it did, but a little different. I was driving home just now on the freeway. 1st through 4th at around 4k, shifted into 5th and began to bog down. Down shifted into 4th and the same thing occurred.

So, knowing that the problem is not the trans, it could be either one of 2 things, or so I think. I may be having some kind of fuel issue or the cat is getting clogged up from all the oil. While driving and the car acting like that, the temperature kept going up while on the freeway and started to cool better while off of the throttle.

It did backfire quite softly a few times as well. Any idea on where to start looking first? Plan on finally doing my valve stem seals and transmission mount this weekend.

Also, is it still safe to drive? I'd much rather take my car to work than my wife's. Don't like wasting a ton of gas. Thanks.

[CathodeRayTube]

Maybe the vibrating is F*King with the carb float...my car would hesitate and stall for no reason whatsoever only at one specific intersection on a specific road...everywhere else largely fine..i think it had something to do with the road geometry of gentle S turns right before a stop making the float stick...or something...

[BaileySims]

I think that is the most logical explanation. I ended up replacing the trans mount and I haven't had a problem since, except for all the oil burning out. All my parts have came in and I was able to obtain another head. I am going to fully rebuild this motor starting friday.

[Petros]

replace your fuel filter as a precaution (they are cheap). when they get partially plugged, they act fine at low speeds and low loads, but when there is a large fuel demand, like in a fast acceleration or going up a big hill, they starve the carb of fuel and it bucks and stutters.

might also be a marginal component in the ignition system, usually they work fine when cold, or on low loads, but when they warm up or are under heavy demand it causes missing and misfires. if you have a spare distributor swap it out and see if it fixes it.

not likely caused by the trans mount, problems with the trans are there all the time, not just on some driving conditions.

Always diagnose the problem before you try and fix it.

good luck.