1987 Tercel 4wd project

[Mark]

When I replaced my heater core it took 2 days and made me a worse person.

[Nordical25]

Thank you for the tip dlb. And I understand your pain Mark. My dashboard is currently removed. I will swap SR5 gauge cluster at the same time. My garage is cold so that is why this fix is taking way longer as expected during winter time.

I have actually swapped a new heater core, because I swapped the entire heater core box. However, I did find no leaks on neither of those. I can take pictures of my already removed heater core if that will help tracking leaks. But where should I look leaks? The entire heater core assembly box was dry on both original and on my already swapped spare heater core assembly box. I double checked them both before mounting a new heater core assembly.

[Nordical25]

I continued heat project by mounting an intact cooling reservoir and by mounting blower motor assembly.

Then I pulled all heater core hoses and checked condition of them. They were quite good but I still bought two new inlet hoses and used my best heater core outlet hose. I also swapped original hose clamps into more basic ones. Then I replaced a bit leaky water pump gasket.

Now I was ready to test my heater system. I did test my system without dashboard to minimize future work if my new assembled system would not work. However, first test after filling new coolant was a success. This means that I will start to assemble my dashboard during next year.

I tested manually hose temperatures when car was idling on full heat. Both heater core rubber inlet and rubber outlet hoses were now warm similarly to radiator hose, which meant that water flows freely now. Heater core change was a big job but worth it. Now I have also all fan speeds on this Tercel for the first time during my ownership.

[dlb]

Holy cow, that does look like a big job. The picture of your dash taken apart gives me vicarious stress. Good for you for tackling it though, that's commitment.

[Mark]

When I replaced my heater core, the longest-lasting problem was trying to get all the cable linkages/levers/flaps/ducting back together properly. I must have messed it up since now most of the air blows down on my feet no matter what setting the levers are on. I couldn't bring myself to try and fix it since it would require taking the dash apart again. If some kind of international gang of violent extortionists put a gun to my head and ordered me to replace the heater core again, I'd think about cutting a hole in the firewall to pull it out that way and then making up a plate to cover the hole.

[NWMO]

david,

The dash does not have to come off/apart for a new heater core OR the vent work. I’ll admit it’s not a fun job, but it is doable without removing the dash as shown.

Chris

[Nordical25]

dlb: It was quite a big job and there is still some work left. This car is actually quite nice to fix with nothing more than basic tools needed as you know. That is why I have my motivation to fix these things. It can get also cold here and working heater is therefore highly appreciated.

Mark: a hole in the firewall would be an interesting idea. Has anyone made such? The vent controls are on the left side next to steering wheel. You could maybe fix these without removing the dash as NWMO suggests. I can take a picture to you of these flap controls so you could find easier them.

NWMO: I received the tip too late that heater core swap could be done without dash removal so it was too late for me. My question for you is: how much there is room for heater core assembly removal with dash on? The issue with heater cores is that they are brittle brass material and they can snap when you remove or install one if you have little room. I managed to snap already one when I disassembled my spare part donor Tercel.

[NWMO]

Nordical,

It’s tight and working on your back is no fun, but I took the whole housing out and cleaned/sealed vent lines at the same time.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12472&p=96389#p96389

Chris

[dlb]

If some kind of international gang of violent extortionists put a gun to my head and ordered me to replace the heater core again, I'd think about cutting a hole in the firewall to pull it out that way and then making up a plate to cover the hole.

I like this idea. If I ever have to do this job, I would look into this too.

[Nordical25]

That would have been also a great idea NWMO to clean the whole system. Unfortunately I missed also this opportunity. Well, maybe next time.

However weathermen warned us of cold weather forecast and snow storm, which increased highly my motivation to get this done before that. So I spent my free time to get dash back to one piece. That went well and now I have again complete dashboard. I swapped a " SR5" Euro instrument cluster with tacho. I did put exactly right mileage to odometer in order to have actual mileage of car. I did some part swapping and hopefully post will bring me soon an actual SR5 gauge. Then I could decide between Euro and SR5 speedo. We'll see what happens. I noticed that I still need to swap some lamps so I need to remove instrument cluster at least once again. I will do that after weather gets a bit warmer again.

I took also a picture of lever that guides flaps for Mark. It is next to gas pedal and I think that you don't need to remove dash to get there. Maybe just radio is enough.

[Mark]

A belated thanks for the linkages photo. I can't remember how I set mine up, but when I have the time and motivation, I might try disconnecting the linkages one by one and moving the levers manually and feeling the airflow to see where the max airflow for each setting is and then making sure that the cables are matched up in the right position, if that all makes sense. Most of my air seems to be blowing out where the ducting is split apart in your photo, but that was just my guess by feeling with my hand. I haven't looked down there properly with a flashlight yet.

[Nordical25]

You are welcome Mark. It is exactly that kind of job that you want to do with good motivation.

I received a SR5 instrument cluster straight from U.S.A. I was interested to see how these two clusters differ. I decided to update my cluster look more into U.S. style since I will keep my other car more as a stock one with small upgrades. It turns out that Euro Tercels have different instrument cluster wiring compared to U.S. clusters. However, tacho, speedo etc. are interchangeable between clusters, which means that U.S. look is doable with my already existing Euro cluster without rewiring dash.

I swapped speedo but I kept odometers in km since my cars service intervals are also stated in kilometers. My Euro cluster needed a bit soldering but now every single lamp works. I took a picture of all lamps glowing simultaneously. It differs a bit from American Tercels. We don't have for example seat belt warning light or heater light.

I tried also dlbs trick to apply choke and to reset choke. However I noticed no difference. It feels to me that I start my car without choke now. I will definitely continue later by hunting back my choke. That idle cam was a very good trip so I will start with that one. The warm idle is luckily really good.

[dlb]

Nice work. Interesting about the difference between the NA and Euro clusters. I've never seen that hazard light (the red triangle), yellow fog light, or yellow 'economy' light before.

[Nordical25]

Thank you dlb. I received with cluster also a bezel for NA cluster. I noticed the difference and decided to share my findings.

Economy light is either green or yellow depending of gas pedal position. They had these lights in many 80s and 90s Toyotas at least here.

Today I started to hunt my lost choke. I got it temporarily back by closing choke valve at the top of carburetor manually. It turns out that worn out valve system does not return choke valve to original position, which causes car to start without any choke. However I have spare carbs, where spring is returning valve to original position. I think that I will clean one of my spare carbs and try to swap it out since I noticed also a minor fuel leak from my current carburetor. So my newly swapped carb needs anyway a swap before next driving season.

I did take a picture of two spare carburetors for a choke valve comparision. One valve is open (faulty one) and one is closed (working one).

[Mark]

What's the "Economy" light for? (edit: I just realized you already answered this). It seems like a strange system since it would require an extra switch and wiring just to let you know how far you were pushing the gas pedal.