Motor Rattle

[xirdneh]

its hard to tell if bearings are bad while drive line is attached
if driveline was not secure (like the large nut was loose) the hub with the lugs on it could move as it is pressed into the inner race with nothing to keep it in place except the nut on the axle
when all is right the outer race is touching the inner race (they meet in the middle of the bearing)

[rocketscience]

I finally got the transmission out and the input shaft just spun no matter what gear I put it in. I pulled out the input shaft and it was chipped and had a couple teeth missing. The gear it was connected to, however, was totally shredded where the shaft met it. That whirring sound I heard was the shaft trying to get purchase on what was left of the larger gear.

Looks like I need a new transaxle, does anybody have a spare 4.1 laying around?

I haven't checked to see whether the diff in there right now is in fact a 4.1, the transmission is labeled like a junkyard one and who knows if it was the right one. I'm kind of suprised that I didn't find more metal in the gear oil, maybe it just wasn't hot enough to really flow? I looked at the oil I drained again in the sunlight the next day and, while there wasn't that much of it, it looked fine, I think the shimmer I was seeing was just from my headlight. I'm hoping the rest of the transmission I have is okay, the other car with the good transmission is an 83 and I really don't want to render it unusable by stealing it and the rear diff.

[xirdneh]

you describe the transmission as being busted but say you need a transaxle
to me the transaxle is the bell housing/differential housing
the tranny is the tranny and it is bolted to the bell housing/differential housing
is your differential bad?
or is the transmission bad?
or both
i am guessing you just need a transmission
the most likely reason for the input shaft and the gear it drove (main idler) being blown up is one of the front large bearings went bad and its broken pieces took out the gears
was the tranny noisy before it went?

[Gottolovem]

Rocket

Where are you located?
I have a pile of transmissions all that have some small issue but are not junk yet.
Do you think you have the skill to disassemble a reassemble a gearbox?

[rocketscience]

Ohhh gotcha. Yeah, it sounds like I need a transmission, or at least an input shaft and a main idler and whatever bearings are bad. For some reason I was interpreting the bellhousing to mean those first couple of gears too. So low oil=bearings crap out=binded gears it all makes so much sense.

Gottalovem, I'd love the chance to fix this one, I've never tried to reassemble a gearbox but I love taking stuff apart and putting it back together. I'm in Olympia, WA.

Xirdneh, I bought this car not working, the PO said it was making a clicking noise at first which progressed to popping out of gear and grinding.

Looks like an 88 just showed up in the Arlington Picknpull today too.

[Gottolovem]

Well your in the same state as the best tercel transmission guy on earth.
If you can get to Reno for all the stuff your after it's yours.

[xirdneh]

if you can get that tranny off the 88 i would recomend that
most yards let you bring it back if it turns out to be bad
inspecting magnetic oil plugs and inpt shaft view point should give you a clue
if you can show it is bad you may be able to get it for 100 or less and maybee get parts from it
there is the chance your broken tranny would need too many parts
especially 4th gear (i have no spare 4th gears) and yours is most likely ruined as it is connected to the big idler gear that is bad

[rocketscience]

Okay, thanks a lot guys. I need to give my girlfriend a ride to Seatac on Tuesday so maybe I'll drive up there then.

[Petros]

Make sure the '88 Tercel is a 4wd wagon with the manual trans before you make the trip. No other trans from any other model Tercel will work in your car.

[rocketscience]

Right! I'll call and make sure before I do.

[irowiki]

"Technically" a FWD manual trans will work in a pinch!

[rocketscience]

Yeah but I have another car and some time to get this one together and I want that 4wd! Xirdneh did point out that the gears in the 2wds are interchangeable though. I'll be making a big loop through Oregon Idaho and Montana at the end of the month and if I can't figure it out before that I'm sure I'll have a good chance then, I'm already checking the Boise Jalopy Jungles (pickapart yards) and they might have one there.

Thank you all so much for the help!!! This forum rocks.

[rocketscience]

I contacted the Arlington PnPull and the lady told me that they 'didn't know anything about it.' I think I might try again tomorrow and in hopes of talking to somebody else, when I called one in Portland they were much more helpful.

[Petros]

she can pull up their inventory and give you the J number, what they get is everyone calling all day and asking if the engine or the trans or the whatever if available on it. They do not inventory individual parts so they are used to saying the do not know anything about it, but they can tell you what model and even what color it is based on their inventory data which is available right on their work station terminals. If they are busy they will tend to push you off, but usually they will tell you a little more than nothing. I think they may even have the same photos as on Row52, but for some reason that one does not show up at all on the Row52 inventory. It may in a few days.

[rocketscience]

I figured they probably get a lot of questions like that that they really can't answer, but I did call back today and at least found out that its a wagon. Can you tell transmission type from the VIN?