Rusty old Tercel...

"NoneOfYourBiz" (goawaynowkthxbye) 04/06/2015 at 16:20 • Filed to: None

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8

+5HP for plastic bag.

Hrm. Old Toyotas seem to be theme for me lately.

I get a weird feeling when I see a car still on the road (albeit in the shape of the one above) a decade after I got rid of mine, a still newer variant of the same model, one that I poured money into to keep running.

I had a 1992 Tercel which used the same engine, the 3E, inline four with 12 valves, 3 per cylinder:

Interesting entry on the engine here:
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

The '3E' and '3E-E' engines are considered slightly less reliable than other Toyota engines, although they are also among the easiest engines to service. The most common problems affecting these engines are premature valve stem seal (nitrile) failure, carbon buildup on the intake valves, and collapse of the oil control ring on the piston. Any of these conditions can lead to rough idling, stalling, and fouled spark plugs, and therefore need to be differentially diagnosed. The valve stem seals, at least, can be replaced with silicone or viton-based seals which last much longer.

Mine died around the 160,000km (100,000mi) mark and I had it rebuilt for less than it would have cost me to replace or buy a new car. Thing lasted another 160,000km before the whole car disintegrated and I sold it as a beater in 2007.

Apparently, I'd lost a business card under the seat before selling it and, a few months later, the police came calling because the car had been used for a heist!

Fortunately for me, I had a copy of the bill of sale with the new owner's signature on it so they ruled me out as having anything to do with that.

Fond memories of my Tercel. I hope to never own one again though.

CalzoneGolem > NoneOfYourBiz 04/06/2015 at 16:25

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Weird, the front looks pretty nice.

505Turbeaux > NoneOfYourBiz 04/06/2015 at 16:27

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I bet it runs like a top though!

Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig > NoneOfYourBiz 04/06/2015 at 16:28

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I had one just like that. 4-speed manual. It was incredibly, painfully slow. I the interior out to clean out the cigarette smell and never fully got it back together before I sold it. I think I still have hardware lying around somewhere.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > NoneOfYourBiz 04/06/2015 at 16:28

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NoneOfYourBiz > CalzoneGolem 04/06/2015 at 16:32

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I noticed that and thought it was odd. An ex of mine had one of these (fifteen years ago) and the sheet metal around the windshield was starting to disintegrate from rust.

Still, I'm actually glad to see this thing still on the road. Made me wonder what the owner had to do to keep it going.

traderQAMobileTestAutomationMobileBoostOn > NoneOfYourBiz 04/06/2015 at 17:22

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"I had a 1992 Tercel which used the same engine, the 3E, inline four with 12-cylinders:"

NoneOfYourBiz > traderQAMobileTestAutomationMobileBoostOn 04/06/2015 at 20:07

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Oh gawd, thanks for catching that. "12 valves, 3 per cylinder." EDITED! :P

CalzoneGolem > NoneOfYourBiz 04/07/2015 at 07:46

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The plastic bag stuffed through the rust hole and the state of those steelies makes me think that they have done very little to this car.