Whoo Hooo! '97 Tercel
 

YAY I have returned with a new (to me) '97 tercel to mod the hell out of!
I'm eagerly awaiting mods to see what I can eke out of this baby!

Congrats on the Tercel. They're great cars. It has the same engine as my Paseo (along with many other parts). With no mods and good driving (P&G) technique I was able to hit 59 mpg. After I started modding my best tank has been 70 mpg.

I've got my car de-teened after a few weeks of cleaning, new brakes, and new rear wheel bearings. I test drove it to work today and also realized the struts are gone, sounds like ball joints too. But what bothers me is the front (diff?) is making a loud hollow noise. Since the kids were so kind as to loose the owners manual I have to wing it on many things.... such as;

where do I check the Diff fluid?

Is there anywhere to get info on inspecting/changing front wheel bearings?

The motor smokes like a hooker after a trick until it warms up! Valve job? Is it worth it?

Congrats on the new ride. One of my friends over here has a tercel and despite the fact that I am about 6 inches too tall to sit up in the back seat, it's a sweet ride.

There is a pipe plug on the front of the transmission. Unscrew it and stick your finger in there. The oil level should be just below the hole. I highly doubt you have a leak though. I've never heard of one leaking.


Its pretty easy, I had to replace one on my Paseo. Take off the wheel, rotor, unscrew the drive shaft nut and disconnect the rest of the stuff from the hub. Then just take it in to have some place press out the bearing and put a new one in with a new seal.


That would be the valve stem seals. They are a pain to replace without taking the head off.

Sounds like I'm about to have a winter project...lol

First it's off to get the anti-eco project done; putting a lift kit and headers on the GMC.

Change of plans for me. It's off to stop the oil burning instead! Going in for the valve seals!
Got the terc on stands and I have torn into the top cover.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ineexposed.jpg

I am now at the point of timing belts, tensioner and removing cams. very lost here. How does one remove the timing belt and Pull the cams? I have the gears clearly marked already, waiting for guidance on this....
(I'm making a log with pics on this for posting as a how to for doing 1.5 valves and guides)

If you want to get away with the minimum amount of work, just pop the cam timing pulley off and remove the caps on the cam journals.

Thanks for the help. I'll try that. I wasn't sure if there was a tensioner that needed loosening.

It shouldn't be on that tight.

Now I've got everything opened and I'm considering just removing the head for further inspection. Does anyone know if there is a fuel rail pressure relief on these? I can't seem to find one up top.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../valvetop2.jpg

fuel
 

whew, down to the head bolts!

There is not pressure relief valve, but you can remove the injectors and just leave them hanging.

Oh yeah, for the head bolts you'll want to buy a TOY-105 head bolt tool.

Yeah I just popped the injectors off, getting O-rings anyways. A lot of little annoying things Toyota leaves off their cars. A Toy-105 tool?!?!?!? I thought they were T-50 head bolts, thanks for saying that before I ripped 'em up! :D

try and try
 

here's where I stand currently.
I have an idea for a two piece spring compressor that I will try to fab at work tonight. I'm hoping to use the journal cap bolts as a press for the springs. here's a template I made up. There will be one of these on each screw....

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../template2.jpg

Voila!
now hopefully they work!

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ompressors.jpg

Looks like a good idea!

aaaargh
 

Well, it was a good idea until I lost air pressure and dropped a valve :mad::mad::mad::mad:

Guess the head is coming off.... :(

Would anyone happen to know what the two clear plastic tubes are for?

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...valveseals.jpg

Looks like a decoration to me! No idea...

...two clear plastic tubes = slide-on "guides" to protect the gaskets as you slide them over the "injector pintle" when pushing each one into position?

...also, if those valve-stem "locks" are steel, use a small magnet to 'catch & hold' them as you compress the spring, otherwise them might snap out and disappear on you.

Ok, that makes sense. I was playing with them and they just fit the inside diameter of the seal. And yes, I always catch the spring clips with a magnet stick and put them back in with a tad of petroleum jelly to hold them for replacement.... I just know that this will be the last time I dig into a Toyota motor, My fingers are too big!

My salvation has arrived today in the form of a head bolt socket, I have already removed the head and am moving right along!
Hopefully to the re-assembly steps by the wee hours!
Is there anything ecomod-wise I can do while the head is removed? I don't know if I should clean and shine valve seats, piston tops and such, or just leave the internals be....

...while the head is removed, lightly clean each combustion chamber, but be VERY careful not to remove any metal, because doing so will lower the compression ratio of that cylinder.

...chemical cleaning is probably safer than mechanical (wire brush or scrapper) cleaning.

I have some acetone I can rub it down with. The cylinder walls actually seem to be in extremely clean shape, Thanks!

It runs! :D
The terc-hell is purring like a Kitty thanks to the help and advice from the fine folks here! I gotta put it on the ground and test drive it tomorrow.
I got a new K&N filter for it in the hopes of gaining a mile or two. I'm debating on a header. Don't know if that helps eco-wise or not. Trust me, it's not for power! lol

Woo, great to hear. :)

I wouldn't bother with a header, you won't see any real good mpg gain out of it. Perhaps if the header was custom made to increase torque at low rpms it would, but no production header does this.

I'd return the K&N to the store without opening it. They're nothing but junk and a good way to let in too much dust. Here's a hint: If you can see between individual strands of the filter material, it's no good.

Here's a good thread on the subject.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ers-11418.html

A good quality paper filter does a much better job, is cheaper, and all that a modern fuel injected engine needs. A carburated gasser might like the K&N, but when there is a computer monitoring the air/fuel ratio several times a second, there's no need for the K&N.

I'd also agree that the K&N is arguably a waste of money. It won't increase mileage. Check out Darin's tests here:


Testing a 'performance' air filter for MPG - Part 1 - MetroMPG.com

Testing a 'performance' air filter for MPG - Part 2 - MetroMPG.com

...a properly sized "long-branch/small-diameter" Tri-Y header will help both HP and FE, especially if you size all the dimensions to coincide with the engines' TORQUE peak rather than its' HORSEPOWER peak.

Hi all! Back again after a little hiatus from the Terc. As soon as I got it running, I ended up loaning it out to my daughters not so fortunate (wrecked his truck) boyfriend. Anyways, it's back now and still burns oil like a b&@#h! (I should have compression checked!) the seals are replaced and car runs great, but unless I can pull the pistons out from the bottom, I'm not opening it up again, just not worth it. My Regal gets 28mpg's and the Terc gets 30. So far oil treatment and heavier oil are the only mods she's gettin'. Maybe an engine swap is in it's future......