Transmission!

[hornett22]

if you are in new england i can fix it.you could also ship it to me for repair depending on where you are.if you're not in the US i may have trouble getting the parts for a non US car.

[fixnfish]

I had a problem with my trans too in the mornings. I took of the shifter boots and consol. Then I took of 6 bolts on the shifter housing to be able to pull the shifter out. Inside I found it was full of water and was freezing making it unable to shift. I cleaned out the water and crap with a shop vac then I added about a cup of gear oil and I havent had a problem since. It could also be the shifter bushing has worn out. It is at the very bottom of the shifter shaft. I would just take a look there first befor getting a new trans.

[takza]

Yea...the boot splits that keeps the water out...and it and crud gets in there. Gear oil.

Try to fix the boot too....I used a "skirt" of oiled flannel over the boot...used grease to glue it to the top of the trans. Even at the top of the trans...there is a lot a fast moving air going by the shifter boot...had a hard time getting the flannel to stay put.

I'm working on a replacement trans right now...if you look down where the shifter goes...the end of goes into a hole in a heavy bar that goes back into the trans...even with a trans with 160K miles on it..the whole area under the boot is rusty and cruded up...putting about a 1/4 cup of gear oil down around the shifter is probably preventive maintenance on these cars?

[Mac]

i got a new boot from toyta, it was under $10 and now i'll never have to worry about water getting in there for another 15 years or so.

swap in a ceorolla GTS 5spd and make your tercel RWD and drift it competitivley

[Typrus]

lol.
They had 88's? They put 4AC's in them?

If I ever get the time, I'll be getting a quote for getting gears cut from "x" metal. Chrom-Moly? Titanium? Dunno.

What I'd love most would be a light-weight RWD/4WD/FWD setup. I really need to get in the tranny and check out the transfer cases mechanism...
I think at best a dual-stick would be needed. You know, Engage FWD and Engage RWD. Essentially, keep the current one, then add an additional mechanical or electrical switch to turn off the front wheels. You'd get the economy feel of FWD when you want it, the sporty feel of RWD when you want, and the versatility of 4wd when you ask. Man that'd be cool....

You can throw in a Supra tranny with a 4AGE adapter plate/bell-housing? Would be heavier, but heavy duty as well....

Other option would be to investigate Subaru drivetrains...


But I definitly think it's worth replacing the tranny, so long as you have some sort of 3+year warrenty on it. Some here have bought rebuilt ones and been screwed over. Just be safe about it.

[tercel4wdrules]

If you need a transmission I believe risingsunengines.com has the transmission for this car. I know for sure they have the Z52F (83-84).

WARNING: Someone on this board bought a transmission from them and received a bad one. He ended up driving to Chico, CA from Oregon, but they replaced it.

Your car has the Z54F transmission which was available for the 85-88 cars. So the one from the 86 should work. I find that transmissions at junkyards are overpriced sometimes and that you don't know what you may be getting... just make sure you know what you're buying.

You can also get a brand new transmission from http://toyotadiscountparts.com/ for $1,311.04.

Good luck!

[Typrus]

I personally think it'd be better to buy a new one for $1300~ and, coupled with REGULAR gear oil changes and a high quality synthetic, have it last another 200-300,000 miles.
We had our 87's tranny rebuilt locally at one point. They did an alright job, the synchro's worked, the changes were crisper, overall we were impressed. That rebuild went for 55,000~ miles, then something stripped out in the tranny. It cost us about $800 or so. You can clearly see that in that scenario, you instantly are saving yourself a lot going with a new one.
And assuming your body is in good shape, and your engine is as well, then it'd very much be possible to go another 200,000. Your engine might need an overhaul along the way, but I could see a Terc break 500,000 miles. Heck, I heard about one that, last I knew, had about 750,000 miles on the orig body and engine. Just went through 3 rebuilds, only 1 of them a major overhaul, along the way.