1986 Toyota Tercel - Cylinder Misfires

[Cloneagent]

Hello guys, so there is this 1986 Toyota Tercel parked across the street from where I live that has just been sitting there for quite some time so I put a card on it with my number and the lady finally called me.

She said that a mechanic looked at it some time ago and that it was only running on one cylinder while the other cylinders were mis-firing. She also said that it eats up gas and oil and she doesn't know why.

So based on these things she has told me, what could be the possible problems? And also for say around $200-500 would it be a good idea to buy it from her and try to fix it up. The exterior of the car and in the interior look in great shape, and I didnt see much if any rust on the bottom of the car.

I have experience on working on 22R engines, and from what I've read here the 3-4ac engines are very easy to work on.
Also, from the looks of the car it appears to be a 2WD, but I havent been inside, taken a test drive, or looked at the engine. If I do take a look at the car, what are some things I should look at?

[irowiki]

Sometimes misfires are caused by spark plug wires being incorrectly swapped. Could also be bad plugs, bad plug wires, bad distributor cap/rotor, or maybe something is up with the distributor itself.

Is it a wagon? If so, fuel door on driver's side means it's a FWD, fuel door on passenger side means it is a 4WD.

See the FAQ for what to look for:

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7442

[Petros]

welcome to the forum!

any number of things could cause the misfire, spark plugs, wires, distributor, etc is a good place to start. Could even be paticaly plugged fuel filter.

Burning oil is not a good sign, it may need a major overhaul or new engine. A compression test of the cycliders would tell you more (you can rent a compression tester from most autoparts stores). If you have really low compression in one or more cycinders than it has to come apart to fix it. A head gasket could be the problem, or burnt/damaged exhaust valves; both means the head has to come off. Not too bad of a job, about 4 hours, if you have all the parts to reassemble it (see my thread on replacing the head gaskets over in the Repair guide section).

I have also seen badly damaged pistons and scored cylinder bores cause low compression and high oil consumption, which means replacing the engine.

It it can be fixed by replacing external parts, it would be worth perhaps $200-300 if it is FWD, and perhaps as much as $500 if it is 4x4 and otherwise in good condition. less if it needs major repairs or engine replacement, and needs other parts.

when a car sits a long time there are a few other things that should be done to it: flush old coolant and replace it, and replace the thermostat. Often the brakes go mushy and the rear wheel cylinders and master cylinder will need to be replaced (sometimes the front calipers too). These parts do not cost much and are fairly easy to replace, but they are more work that has to be done to it before it would be a good daily driver.

Running replacment engines cost anywhere from $100 to $400 (price does not seem to translate into a better engine for used engines). A complete rebuild with lots of new interal parts will cost about $700-800 including machine shop services, plus your labor. Getting a good running used engine is a better deal, if you can find one.

Key is if the transmission is in good condition, if so it should last many thousands of miles. If it is worn and sloppy, and it pops out of gear, it means it needs to be rebuilt or replaced. Finding replacement trans is a major problem, and very costly, good used ones are becoming very rare. rebuilding it is a major job (more work and cost than an engine overhaul). Replacment transmission parts are also difficult to find, particularly the syncros. So far most of the trans seals and bearings can still be bought.

Do not fall in love with a car that has too many problems, you will spend way more than it is worth. I would say it is only worth getting if it can be fixed without too much effort, and only if it is the 4wd version. Otherwise it is just another old mid-80's econo-box. They are fun to drive and reliable, but a car that old can be in good condition, but can also have a lot of different problems that need to be fixed. Post pictures of it and we can advise you better.

Good luck.