New member from CO - '83 4WD wagon

[Erichimedes]

check all the vacuum hoses and confirm they are going to the right places. also confirm that all the vacuum diaphragms are intact by putting a clean hose on each one and sucking. if you can suck air through, it's ruptured and no good. plug the hoses that go to any ruptured diaphragms until you can replace them. then check and adjust the idle, fast idle, and TP settings as per the FSM. most find the idle needs to be set a little higher than the FSM states, 900 or 950 rpm is usually good.

That sounds like a really great starting point, for me learning more about this engine and getting a feel for what's going on under the hood. Thanks for this!

[dlb]

i'm not sure. i've always filled from the front driver side hole, just behind the CV axle. it's the easiest access. i think i was following takza's advice, can't remember now, but that's been my method on all my tercs and i've had no problems.

[Erichimedes]

Tested the diaphragms, and found some leaky ones! I started a thread about it:
https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10810

[Erichimedes]

Well, changed the transaxle oil and figured out why it doesn't sound great. Only about a quart and a half of oil came out. Tranny's probably not to happy at this point. Filled it up and drove around. Doesn't sound as bad. The right hand CV joint seal is a bit leaky. Who knows how long it was driven like that.

Oh well. Drive it till it doesn't drive anymore

[irowiki]

You might want to get it nice and hot (20-30 miles, in 5th etc, maybe go up to DMR and back, go up the hill in 2nd at 35 mph or so!) drain it again, put 50/50 ATF/Gear lube in, then get it nice and hot again but be easy on it, gentle highway speeds etc. (hmm maybe durango to just past hermosa and back a time or two), drain that out and put gear lube back in it.

[Petros]

I always fill from the front filler plug on the diff housing next to the cv axle location. It is easier to locate and to fill with a hose extension, I put the oil container with the screw on type filler tube up next to the distributor from under the hood, much easier than laying on your back. i also jack up the car so that end (front end) and that side of the trans is the high point, so I can get a few more oz of gear oil in it.

looks like this, but I add a longer tube on it. makes it much easier to fill from the engine compartment rather than from under the car (most auto parts stores sell them, and Wal-Mart auto dept, cheap):


get that T-stat changed ASAP, overheating it even a little will damage the head gasket. buy a good t-stat (made in Japan or USA), costs about $15 to $19. Do not waste time with the discount brands made by communists in china ($7 to $9 price), they are junk right out of the box and not worth the trouble to install them. If any of your hoses, radiator or heater hoses, look old or questionable, replace them too, not worth the risk of blowing one and damaging the head gasket. I also toss those wire hose clamps (factory) and put on adjustable stainless steel band clamps. Those wire clamps BTW, are a pretty good indication if it has the original factory hoses on them, I have seen many cars with the original 30 plus years old hoses on them!

[Erichimedes]

Cool, thanks for that info Petros. I have an OEM Toyota thermostat on order right now. Luckily, it's been consistent that it refuses to heat up rather than overheat. I drive very little, so I keep an eye on things when I do drive.

As it turns out, an old friend of mine owned this car for like 5 years. So I got some info on things that have happened, and apparently a spark plug blew out and wasn't replaced very well, so I want to look into that and perhaps put a sav-a-thread into it. After that I'd really like to check compression. I think a seafoam oil treatment is coming soon too.

After all that is done, I may dive into the valve stem seals, as it smokes too much on startup, and I've heard this may be why. Maybe do a valve adjustment while I'm in there.

[canoeontheriver]

Welcome to the forum! In reguard to the road noise...you might try jacking the rear of the terc pull the wheels off and rotate the hub while listening for noise either in the rear end or the rear axel bearings. It might also be brake shoes dragging.