Hello From Calahoo!

Post about yourself, your Tercel, or your Tercel projects in here, share pictures of your Tercel, or post trip threads!
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Mattel
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Posts: 1788
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2004 12:11 am
My tercel:: 1988 Corolla 4wd Wagon (AKA Corolla All-trac) 5speed, AC, Power Sunroof, Windows, Mirrors, Steering, Locking, Diff Lock, 14" Corolla SX Alloys with Silica Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, 210,000kms
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Mattel »

I've done a bit of work on the sunroofs and there is a bit to them. not sure if the non sunroof models have all the mounting points in the roof for the sunroof to bolt to. I would remove the whole roof and reweld in. Robert Walker has a good youtube about the sunroofs.
Previous: 83 Tercel SR5 4wd, 84 Tercel SR5 4wd
88 Corolla 4wd Wagon 5speed, All power options, Fact Sunroof, Diff Lock, 14" SX Alloys, Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, Tow Bar, 210,000kms
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Rednecklawrence
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Posts: 135
Joined: Sat Dec 26, 2015 1:52 pm
My tercel:: 5.5 Tercels total... Not enough

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Rednecklawrence »

Rednecklawrence wrote: Tue Feb 21, 2023 10:56 am My friends neighbor has a 4wd manual that they pulled out of some bush Was thinking maybe a case of beer and a couple bucks might get it into my possession
So $200 got it in my possession.
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It's a lot crustier than I thought it would be. He also said he had a mechanic look at it a year ago and said it was good, but the rusted through brake line, noisy wheel bearing (speculation), and switch in the cab to turn the rad fan on tell me otherwise. But the rad and tires are new!

But the hell with it, barring catastrophic failure, I think I'm gonna drive it this summer anyways. It drove home so it'll be fine. Maybe practice some body work on it, we'll see 🤷🏻‍♂️
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Rednecklawrence
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Posts: 135
Joined: Sat Dec 26, 2015 1:52 pm
My tercel:: 5.5 Tercels total... Not enough

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Rednecklawrence »

Interesting points on the sunroof, sounds like it'd be easier to cut out the whole section as weld it back into another roof rather than fiddle with cutting, shaping, and mounting it to something never designed for it. I bet all it needs is power, but I've never actually looked at it
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Nordical25
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Posts: 307
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2022 11:49 pm
My tercel:: 2 4wd 1987's. One with 4a, other with 3a
Location: Finland

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Nordical25 »

Nice, some say in Facebook group that 5 Tercels is an optimal amount to own and you are a half Tercel above it. So I hope that you are enjoying your wagons well.

Yes, based on Mattels comments you should cut and paste whole roof section. But first you want to check that this sunroof is not leaking. Otherwise it would be a journey back to basics.
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Mattel
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Posts: 1788
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2004 12:11 am
My tercel:: 1988 Corolla 4wd Wagon (AKA Corolla All-trac) 5speed, AC, Power Sunroof, Windows, Mirrors, Steering, Locking, Diff Lock, 14" Corolla SX Alloys with Silica Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, 210,000kms
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Mattel »

Hi Lawrence, if there is leaking its usually where the drainage tubes go down the A and D pillars of the car. they get blocked by leave and debris that collects in the gutter that goes around the inside of the sunroof and drains into the tubes.
If the motor isn't working you can carefully prize the sunroof switch off and disconnect and ther should be a large bolt you can use a screwdriver on to manually open and close. Also, check the fuse hasn't been pulled or has blown. There might be a reason why its been pulled so just be prepared that if you open it you may not be able to close it without manually doing it.
Previous: 83 Tercel SR5 4wd, 84 Tercel SR5 4wd
88 Corolla 4wd Wagon 5speed, All power options, Fact Sunroof, Diff Lock, 14" SX Alloys, Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, Tow Bar, 210,000kms
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Rednecklawrence
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Posts: 135
Joined: Sat Dec 26, 2015 1:52 pm
My tercel:: 5.5 Tercels total... Not enough

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Rednecklawrence »

Nordical25 wrote: Thu Apr 13, 2023 12:38 pm Nice, some say in Facebook group that 5 Tercels is an optimal amount to own and you are a half Tercel above it. So I hope that you are enjoying your wagons well.
Well I'm always on the lookout for more, but a minimum of 5 is a good number I think, so long as one is drivable. It's been a while since I've had one on the road, but I got the $200 white one registered and insured and after some work I think it's good to go. Not sure what I'll call it yet, it needs a name...
Mattel wrote: Thu Apr 13, 2023 8:51 pm Hi Lawrence, if there is leaking its usually where the drainage tubes go down the A and D pillars of the car. they get blocked by leave and debris that collects in the gutter that goes around the inside of the sunroof and drains into the tubes.
If the motor isn't working you can carefully prize the sunroof switch off and disconnect and ther should be a large bolt you can use a screwdriver on to manually open and close. Also, check the fuse hasn't been pulled or has blown. There might be a reason why its been pulled so just be prepared that if you open it you may not be able to close it without manually doing it.
I think I watched a video on the drainage thing once, pretty common issue with any car that has a sunroof apparently. Last time I used the sunroof in that car it all worked, but it's been sitting quite a while now and I have no immediate plans for it, so it's staying parked. Not sure what you mean by pulled, it's all still in the cut up tercel, which I should probably trailer to my place from my grandpas sometime this summer.
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Rednecklawrence
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Posts: 135
Joined: Sat Dec 26, 2015 1:52 pm
My tercel:: 5.5 Tercels total... Not enough

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Rednecklawrence »

I've done some work to the white wagon, hopefully before I did some damage however.

I thought it was running a little warm on the way home the day I bought it, turns out I was right. It had some, but not much coolant in it, and it was probably about 3/4 of the way up the temperature gauge (but below red) all the way home. After adding coolant it was still heating up, so I changed the thermostat and all seems to be okay. Except if I'm stopped too long, the rad fan doesn't kick in, but the previous owner had a switch running into the cab for that, so the switch in the rad must be bad. I can turn it on manually for the time being, and I don't think I did any damage to the head gasket.

The first drive home also had terrible braking, I blew right past a corner I was going to turn at. I didn't know the brake light on the dash could mean either park brake or low fluid, but in this case it meant low fluid. After topping that off, I tried the brakes with everything off and head a spraying kind of noise from the rear. Turns out the left rear line that goes to the cylinder was rusted through, so that got replaced and brakes are way better now. Still more grabbing in the front though.

I thought it would probably be a good idea to check the trans fluid and just change it while I was at it, but when drained only about a liter came out of it... about a quarter of what it should have. Kinda silvery but no big chunks or anything. I put about 150kms on it with that much fluid, so I'm hoping I didn't do too much damage. Some fluid is better than none... right? Anyways after draining and filling I did a short test drive and the right CV output shaft was puking out gear oil. That CV shaft seemed to have a good amount of play in the outer joint, and that side wheel bearing was making god awful noises this whole time, so I ordered a bearing and seals, CV shaft, and CV output seals from RockAuto and put all those things in it. No more leaks or howling.

I made a bit of a really stupid oopsie too, the power steering was leaking a lot and pretty much empty so I just cut the belt off, but in the process I poked a hole in the (new!) rad with a knife, but I patched it with some 2 part JB putty that seems to be doing the trick. I think I can pretty safely daily it now, today I changed the rear diff fluid and it was actually overfilled previously, only two small chunks of any significance on the drain magnet, fluid wasn't too shiny.

Also cleaned the interior. Took out a mouse nest under the rear seat, took out the entire rear interior and cleaned out mouse stuff and other debris and sprayed with bleach, swapped the front seats for less ripped ones, vacuumed all carpets, etc. Still need to clean headliner, door panels and dash, but everything was in reasonable shape for how the rest of it looks.

Only a few things left I have some concern about:

- When cold, it hesitates quite a bit in lower RPMs. Once warm its okay, but could probably be better.
- Steering seems to do weird things. Not sure if it's because I unhooked the pump, but it seems to want to pull to one side or the other. Nothing too hard, but noticeable. And it's hard to turn, but pretty sure that's expected cause it's PS and unhooked lol.
- I swapped the speedo only cluster for one with a tach, but the tach seems 'sticky'. It goes up and down, but not in real time, and seems to prefer certain spots. Not sure of it's history though, I got it with a bunch of parts I had, will probably try a different one from another car.
- Shift/acceleration/deceleration clunk. I have yet to check the engine/trans/driveshaft mounts, hopefully that's what it is.
- Seeping valve cover. I have a gasket set to put in. Not really a concern so much as a to-do.

If anyone has any suggestions on anything to check or anything I might have wrecked that'd be great. Let the 'shitbox summer' begin!
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dlb
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Posts: 7305
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:03 pm
My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
Location: bc, canada

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by dlb »

Rednecklawrence wrote: Mon Apr 24, 2023 8:14 pm Only a few things left I have some concern about:

- When cold, it hesitates quite a bit in lower RPMs. Once warm its okay, but could probably be better.
- Steering seems to do weird things. Not sure if it's because I unhooked the pump, but it seems to want to pull to one side or the other. Nothing too hard, but noticeable. And it's hard to turn, but pretty sure that's expected cause it's PS and unhooked lol.
- I swapped the speedo only cluster for one with a tach, but the tach seems 'sticky'. It goes up and down, but not in real time, and seems to prefer certain spots. Not sure of it's history though, I got it with a bunch of parts I had, will probably try a different one from another car.
- Shift/acceleration/deceleration clunk. I have yet to check the engine/trans/driveshaft mounts, hopefully that's what it is.
- Seeping valve cover. I have a gasket set to put in. Not really a concern so much as a to-do.

If anyone has any suggestions on anything to check or anything I might have wrecked that'd be great. Let the 'shitbox summer' begin!
Hesitation when cold: check all the emissions stuff, make sure all the hoses are routed correctly, make sure the various vacuum diaphragms hold vacuum, check the timing.

Steering: have you checked your toe in? I use Keith's method from here, works great: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2273

Tach: some tachs are like that, glitchy and/or not very accurate. You'll likely have to live with it or find another sr5 cluster.

Shift etc clunk: I've had plenty of shift etc clunks but engine mounts have never been the cause. In my experiences it has been CV axles with lots of rotational play, and worn out strut mounts. I'm not saying blown mounts won't cause it, they totally will, I've just found that engine mounts don't seem to wear out with the frequency that those other things do. Ball joints are another common cause.
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Petros
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Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Petros »

you need to check the front suspension componets for too much play; the fact that is pulls to either side tells me there is something loose and sloppy. Not having power steering will cause that. Check the tie rod ends, ball joints, all bushings, steering rack and its mounting bushings, and the u-joints on the steering column. if those small u-joints are worn out the steering gets dangerously sloppy, and they can eventually just fail. you can not buy the small u-joints from toyota, but elsewhere on this forum there is a repair guide I wrote long ago about replace the u-joints. they are swaged into place, but can be replace anyway. also on that thread someone found a source of small u-joints (they use them on AFVs for off road use), and they fit perfectly.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
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