This is my first car (First Gen 81 Tercel) with a manual transmission. 211,000 miles on the clock.
It shifts well, sometimes grinds into second when it is cold, sometimes won't downshift into second/first unless you slow way down (or dad said he was doing it with double clutching).
Basically, is a bit rough when cold but works better when warmed up, but I could say the same of the engine
Should I attempt to drain and refill the transmission, or should I just let it go? I know on automatics often not touching it is the best policy.
Former Tercel Enthusiast (not a practical family car anymore but they still have a place in my heart)
Site administrator, if something is broken, PM me!
you have a worn second gear syncro, to reduce further wear you should have your dad show you how to double clutch it. once it is a habit you will not even notice it. when it is cold the gear oil is really thick and does not allow the second gear syncro to engage properly, it just means it is worn. Replacing with multi-vis gear oil might help.
You should change the gear oil in the trans, it will lengthen its life, there are no clutches inside the trans like an automatic which is why sometimes older auto trans cars will fail after an oil change (it cleans off the gunk on the clutches that help it grip).
In fact you might be able to improve the second gear syncro by doing a trans flush: warm up the trans by driving it at high speed, drain the gear oil and than fill with 1/2 proper quantity of cheap gear oil and 1/2 proper quantity of cheap ATF and than drive it at hwy speeds for 30 -40 min (go easy on it), than drain it out. Refill with quality gear oil to correct level. This will flush out gunk and old metal particles and could improve the shifting of the trans.
These trans were not designed to use synthetic gear oil and it is too slippery and will likely leak past the seals too. You can use a synthtic blend, or blend your own and use about 25 to 30 percent synthetic and the rest regular quality multi-visocsity gear oil.
You will prolong the life your trans and improve the shifting if you do this oil change.
ditto on what petros said, irowiki. i agree that you should drain and refill the transmission oil. safest bet is to use the traditional dino oil if you want to avoid small leaks but you can definitely use synthetic. it will even improve your fuel economy, which i think is the biggest benefit to it. one member here swears by sticking to stuff that has an 'NS' on it which specifies it has no friction modifiers for limited slip differentials but others have had good results by simply sticking with the most reputable brands like royal purple and redline. i just put all synthetic royal purple in my '91 f350 and have had no complaints so far. a few things to watch for with synthetic are difficulty shifting, whining sounds from the trans, and leaks. the difficulty shifting and whining would indicate you the oil is no good for your trans, and the leaks can occur due to detergents in synthetic that break down old oil deposits which are sometimes the only things keeping the old seals from leaking.
regarding difficulty shifting and gearing down, i think the best thing is to change your driving habits to accommodate and live with it. the synchros in my corolla all trac are pretty badly worn but i've learned to shift gently because i don't want to drop and rebuild a trans. also, i prefer rev-matching to double clutching when gearing down. just give it a fair amount of throttle while applying light to medium pressure to the shifter towards the gear you want to shift to. when the revs are at the correct amount for that gear, it should slip in easily. it's actually really easy, just takes a few tries to get used to it.
Okay, once I get the Tercel back (swapped it for Dad's pickup for a week or two to get the baby's playset going) I'll see if I can figure out what I need to do to drain and refill!
From what I recall in my manual, there's a fill screw, and three drain screws, and I'll need to use a giant turkey baster or some sort to actually fill it back up.
Former Tercel Enthusiast (not a practical family car anymore but they still have a place in my heart)
Site administrator, if something is broken, PM me!
the easiest way to refill gear oil is to use a fill tube you attach to the oil container. I add an extension tube and fill from the engine compartment. I hang the container from the hood and punch a hole on the bottom to let it drain. with the clear hose you know when it is done. You can also buy the plastic hand pumps, but the filler tube with the extension is the best way to go.
Since I was under the car for other reasons I grabbed a picture of the tranny and drive train.
I'm guessing that big honking bolt on the side of the transmission is the fill/check bolt, and I'm going to try cleaning it to see where the other bolts are.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Former Tercel Enthusiast (not a practical family car anymore but they still have a place in my heart)
Site administrator, if something is broken, PM me!
Yes the drain plugs are the big ones at the bottom, far more important is the fill plugs (there is one hiding behind the LF axle).
T4's have 3 drain plugs and 3 FILL plugs, not sure about gen 1 cars though.
***** You need to make sure you can get the fill plugs out BEFORE you drain the oil.
Speaking of your axles, with both CV boots split, wont be long before you need axles.
Boots are cheap, quality axles not so much, around here anyways.
Be worth inspecting them to see if they can be saved before anything bad happens to them.
If they are still serviceable, stay away from 2-piece boots - just another great idea that doesn't work at all.
Oh, they only split like that when it was jacked up, they're seated when the car is sitting on the tires, or is the splitting not normal? There was a lot of grease inside. Excuse my ignorance here, I'm learning on the fly!
I think the fill plug on the gen 1 is the really big bolt on the side there, according to my manual.
Former Tercel Enthusiast (not a practical family car anymore but they still have a place in my heart)
Site administrator, if something is broken, PM me!
ditto jarf's comment about making sure you can get the fill plug out before you open any drain plugs. on the 2nd gens, the plugs are shallow 24 mm so you have to be careful not to strip them. use a breaker bar with a pipe extension over the handle to give you more torque, that will make it easier to undo them. just make sure you hold the socket firmly on the bolt so it doesn't slide off and strip it.
cv boots should never be split. the job of the boots is to keep crap out so as soon as it splits, crap can get in and wear out the joint. your axles may last you a long time yet but they will need to be be replaced at some point. i got stranded once in a 2wd car because one axle completely failed. the way diffs work, this prevented any power getting to the other wheel, so i was high and dry. it sucked.
the boot is already split and junk has already made its way into the joint. unless you know the split just happened yesterday or a few days ago, chances are the damage to the joint has already begun and will continue to worsen. replacing boots is only really an option when you notice the that the old boot is worn and about to split.
it's not too hard but like a lot of similar rebuild jobs, the cost difference is nominal and it's much more labour intensive to do the rebuild. i replaced a few boots long ago and it was so messy and such a PITA i more or less vowed to never bother with it again.
i had a recent experience where i needed to replace a brake master cylinder on my wife's civic. i had planned to rebuild it and found the rebuild kit was $40. out of curiousity, i asked how much a new master cylinder was, and it was $60. for the time it would take me to pull the old one apart and make sure i did the job properly, i decided it was worth the extra $20 to buy the new one. i hate buying new stuff when old stuff can be made to work but sometimes the cost difference just isn't worth it.
boot kits cost about $25 to $30, you have to remove the axle, take apart the joints, clean them all, put in new special cv grease, and intsll the new boots. If they are worn from age or ingesting grit, they will wear that much faster. Or you can buy new axles for $60 each, (only about $30 more each), and just swap them out and save about an hour or more per axle, and get NEW cv joints.
pick your solution and take your chances. Personally I would drive them the way they are until they become clunky and squeaky, and replace the axle assembly with new ones. That way you only do the job once.
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit." T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates." Mark Twain
