New member from Portland, OR - '86 Tercel Wagon DLX

[marlinh]

You don't have to leave the battery terminal off. There is nothing to reset with these cars.

[GotToyota?]

That's fine, I hooked it back up. Gonna take it for a spin here in a second.

[Petros]

if it were only that simple to "reset" a Tercel4wd.

[dlb]

that sounds about right for the amount of advance supplied by manifold vac. did you suck on the lower port yet to see if it also holds vacuum?

you don't need to reset any computers with these cars so you don't have to disconnect the battery or pull any fuses after messing with the timing.

[GotToyota?]

I just got back from taking it for a quick spin. Feels SO MUCH better. I'm pretty sure now that I was pinging before, because some sounds I've been hearing lately have disappeared. The timing was way off, advanced at like 20+ or somewhere way out there.

Now that I know it was pinging the whole time, I'm wondering if I've done any damage. It always seemed to ping slightly when I was accelerating on a hill or in a higher gear.

[dlb]

it takes a lot of pinging over a long period of time to really do some damage. hopefully the PO wasn't drag racing it with the timing advanced like that. as long as it's running fine right now though, i'd say you're in the clear.

[GotToyota?]

The timing belt was done not long before I bought the car so I'm wondering if they didn't check it afterwards.

[Petros]

changing the timing belt will not affect the ignition timing (unless they installed the new belt a tooth or two off, which sometimes happens, easy check). The only way the timing would have changed is if someone took the distributor out, or loosed the bolt that holds it and change its position. Normally it should not be off unless someone messed with it.

to check if the cam timing is correct, remove the front upper timing belt cover (there are like 5 10mm bolts to remove it), and than move the crank around (use a ratchet wrench on the front pulley bolt and turn it clock wise only) until you see the timing mark on the front pulley. line it up with the "O" mark on the timing indicator, and than look at the upper belt sprocket, there is a hole in one spoke of the sproket and it should line up with a point or mark of the front of the head (you sight through the hole on the sproket and see the mark on the front of the head). there is a diagram in the FSM. If it is off it must be corrected or you will get poor fuel economy, you will also have to reset the ignition timing.

[GotToyota?]

Well...the pinging is gone but carb still needs work.

If it's the accelerator pump is it necessary to take out the entire carb to get to it?

[dlb]

not too bad, you have to remove the top off the carb (you do not have to remove the carb from the engine, but that is easy and only takes a few minutes). the top comes off with a number of philips scews, several vac lines and the fuel supply line has to be pulled off, and several tiny clips have to be removed to disconnect some linkage (careful not to loose them!). the top lifts off and you can swap out the accelerator pump. while the top is off you can inspect the bowl and float chamber, and clean it out if necessary.

[GotToyota?]

Forgot about that previous post. Browsing on my phone makes it difficult. Thanks!

[GotToyota?]

KYB's are arriving tomorrow. Installing all new strut mounts for them and cutting the springs a bit more.

Please don't knock the cut springs, I'm not going to exceed a safe limit and have spent a lot of time researching on the subject. The lowering spring options are slim.

[irowiki]

Please don't know?


Edit: ah. Knock?

I would highly suggest sourcing a junkyard set of springs first just in case.

[GotToyota?]

Meant knock, whoops.

I've got some back up stuff just in case.

[irowiki]

Yeah after I read it I thought about it some. All good, my phone does some fun words too!

So why did you want to lower it? Too bouncy? About to get a 2wd wagon myself, so I'm curious!