Toyota Tercel

For driving temperatures: below freezing: 5W30 Freezing-80F: 10W30 80F and greater: 10W40 This is what the original Toyota Tercel owners manual claims. Though it says 10W30 and 10W40 can generally be interchanged on all occasions, but generally use the 10W40 in "warmer" climates. Toyota dealerships now put 5W30 into the car for oil changes. I asked Toyota service about why they use a lighter viscosity for Southern California weather, and they said the lower viscosity was better to protect an older car from engine wear during cold starts and the 30 was just fine for even the warmer months here. Therefore, I think the newer 5W30 oils are fine as a "general" weight. That being said, I have been advised about *never* using full synthetic oil in my older Tercel, since her life has been on organic oils. Sythetics are so good at cleaning that they might allow older cars to develop "new" leaks around aging seals. Semi-synthetics aren't much better than organic oils in sludge avoidance. In an old Tercel, stick with organic oil unless you get *ALL* engine seals replaced.

blown head and loss of comperession in two of the four cylinders

1. Drain antifreeze
2. Remove the radiator, drive belts, and water pump pulley
3. Remove the timing belt cover, thermostat and the housing it bolts to
4. Remove the water pump bolts
5. Remove the pump by sliding it in from the back of the timing belt
6. Remove the old O-ring that is located in back of the water pump mount housing
7. Clean all gasket surfaces and apply a small film of RTV silicone to mating surfaces
8. Reinstall new water pump with new gaskets after swapping old drive pulley to new water pump.

Undo the screws holding the antenna assembly mounted on the roof of the car.

Detach the cable from the back of the radio. This will be accessible from the driver's side footwell and visible from the passenger side footwell. Tie a guide line (strong string or twine) to the plug of the antenna cable.

Withdraw the antenna assembly (pull it out and towards the back of the vehicle. Untie the guideline from the old antenna and tie it to the plug on the new antenna.

Unbolt (15/32" hex head?) the dash panel from beneath the steering column. There are four bolts and a Phillips screw holding this in place. (Two bolts are are hidden with clip on hatches). The dash panel can be left in the footwell for now, you do not need to detach the hood latch release.

Find where the string enters the car framework on the right side and pull the cable down and out of this hole. Having a friend thread and guide the antenna cable into the roof opening may help. Once the antenna assembly is fully seated into the roof, screw it into place and return to the footwell. Use the guideline to thread the cable through the under-dash space. The cable should be threaded over the steering column to avoid having it drop into the pedal space. Remove the guide string and plug the antenna into the back of the radio.

Reattach the dash panel under the steering column and replace the bolt covers.

It is possible to do the replacement without running a guideline but you will find it difficult to get the cable out of the frame into the passenger space.

In order to have a better performace with my engine I make sure that the fuel filter is always clean, and if trouble comes with my carburetor I clean it using gasoline and dried up using air compressor to remove some of the residue coming from the gasoline tank, In adjustment of the carburetor of my 3AU engine, the timing of the engien is important and the spark plugs are clean, and the distributor cup and cables are properly attached and clean, to have a better timing and adjustment of the air and gasoline required by the engine, if trouble comes just remove the air control to remove some dirt. while the engine is still running.

I got mine to work by sticking my hand way up behind the dash and pulling the cable out of the meter. (This involved laying on my back with a flashlight with my butt in the front seat....not the most comfortable position.) I cleaned it up and reinstalled it making sure that it went in all the way. I than went to the other end and took it out of the transmission. It looked like someone previously had tried to make it stay in by wiring it down. It looks like there should be a screw that holds it in. I reinserted this as best I could and now the speedometer works. It looks like whoever worked on it before hadn't put the cable in properly or it had come loose. The woman I bought the car from said it had never worked and that she was quoted somewhere around 200 dollars to have it fixed. This cost me nothing other than time.

how do i change the starter on a 1997 olds 88 royale?

The fuel pump relay is located on the right of the fuse panel. The dashboard has to be removed before the fuel pump relay is seen.

Behind the drivers side kick panel where the fuses are located, using a 10mm socket and a philips head scrwe driver, remove the lower portion of the dash.

When you removed the lower dash portion the fuel pump relay is located to the right of the fuse panel. You have to remove the panel (3 screws) to get to the relay tho.

The fuse is located just below and to the left of the steering wheel, in the fuse panel - its the fuse labeled 'gauges' and is 15AMP (blue). I suspect you have the problem as me though and if this is the case replacing the fuse won't help (but try it, doesn't hurt). The dash lights are powered through the light switch (left switch on steering column). The dimmer switch (left of steering wheel on dash) is on the ground (green wire) side of the dash light circuit. I've been searching around and it seems to me our problem is in the light switch, check out this thread: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Toyota-Repair-832/lost-dashboard-illumination.htm. Seems this switch eventually fails in tercels of our vintage. Good luck.

The most common cause of taillights and â?? lights not working is a bad ground wire. The ground wire may be broken or the connection is corroded.

I'm not sure if this will help you or not, but it's worth a shot. In my 94 the check engine light came on. I knew the problem and fixed it but the light remained. After asking some people I disconnected the battery for a few seconds. Upon reconnecting it and starting the car, the light was off. The computer needed to reset itself, in diong so it runs it's own diagnostic to see if the light needs to be on. Hope this helped. UPs

The recommended tire pressure for your 1997 Toyota Tercel is dependent upon the type of tire that is currently on the vehicle. In general, the tire pressure will be stamped on the side of the tire.

Lubricate each bolt with engine oil. Torque the bolts lubricated with oil to 3 lb/ft of torque and no more. Run them all down finger tight, and then evenly tighten them down. Do it in a X pattern. The key is to go slow and tighten them all evenly. Do not exceed 3 lb/ft and make sure to lube each bolt with oil and nothing else.

3 ft./lbs. is not even worth messing with i would just snug them down. make sure the gasket hasn't moved out of place.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> lilrock@live.com

Toyato never made Tercels. :P But the Toyota Tercel's brake light switch is located ON the brake pedal just above the viewable area.

assuming you already have the tach you would: 1. locate a spot to attach it where you can see it easily without having to look to far or have it impare your view of the road. 2. locate the best place in the firewall to drill a hole for the wires. 3. locate your ignition coil. 4. locate one of your dash light power leads. 5. locate a secure, metal,paint free area to attach your ground wire to. 6. mount your tach in the desired location (may have to drill holes first.) 7. if nescessary, drill the hole in your firewall for the wires. 8. cut the tach wires a few inches longer than the routed distance between your mounting location and their respective destinations (commonly red = coil, black = ground, green = lights.) 9. route and attach wires (coil wire goes to possitive.) 10. set your tach's redline to match your car's redline. 11. learn to rip off redline shifts in sets of 5.

To be assured of a long engine life change timimg belt a least every 120,000 miles.If it where mine it would be changed at 90,000 to 1000,000 miles at minimum. Toyo joe

It's not a real hard job but it takes time. I did it in about 5 hours.

- Remove battery

- remove wheels and wheel assemblies

- remove air filter and intake assemblies

- remove backup light switch connector

- remove and mark shifter assemblies

- remove speedometer cable

- remove 24mm plug from transaxel housing and drain fluid

- remove plastic splash guards from font of body-10mm and 12mm wrenches

- remove 30mm axel nuts from both sides

- remove fron ball joint control arm bolts -14mm wrench

- tap transaxels out

- pull transaxels out from transmission

- remoive starter cables -12mm wrench

- remove 3 bolts on thin flywheel cover under car-10mm and 14 mm wrenches

- remove transaxel bracket - 3 17mm bolts

- remove lower transaxel -to-engine mount - 14 mm wrench

go back up top and remove the 12mm bols holding the hydraulic slave cylinder on the front of the transaxel housing

- losen only!!!! the upper transaxel-to-engine mount

- remove the lower transaxel-to-engine mount - 17mm and 14mm bolts

- position a jack under the engine oil pan to support engine

- position a floor jack with wheels under transaxel housing

- remove all bolt securing the transaxel housing

- separate transaxel housing from engine and lower it

- remove clutch cover - 12mm bolts

- remove clutch

- using a centering tool, install new clutch

- re-install clutch cover - torque to 15 ft/lbs

now, put it all back together. I found that the best way to re-attach the tyransaxel housing to the engine was to ust an engine hoist on wheels as I was doing this operation solo. If I'd had help, a motorcycle jack would have done quite nicely or a floorjack on wheels if I'd had two helpers

Have fun..every real man must do at least one clutch replacement in his life.

I have a 94 yota and the fuel pump is under the back seat. You can get a Haynes Repair manual for the Year and make of just about any car on the market, but I dont know about 2000 models. But I have used this manual to replace my radiator, fuel pump, thermostat, distributor, change spark plugs, change belts, and change my brake pads. It gives you step by step directions, all you have to do is take your time and follow all the directions to the letter. The only thing I will not do is mess around with the actual internal parts of the engine, everything else is fair game. The more you fool around with the small stuff, the better understanding you will have of your engine as a whole and it will save you a ton of money by fixing the small stuff yourself and leaving the more complex items to a professional. This book has saved me well over 2,000 dollars and it has been pretty fun learning how the engine works and I dont have to worry if the job is done right if I do it myself. bigpimpin1972

The fuel filter is under the hood, near the master brake cylinder attached to the fire wall. Uses a 14 mm bajo nut to hold the fuel lines on. always drain the bottom fuel line first, makes less mess when taking it out and hopefully u won't get any on the paint!! after replacing fuel filter, u may have to cycle the key a couple times to build up fuel pressure again for the engine to start, also check for leaks just in case!!

On my 1990 Tercel it turns counter-clockwise. It's in there tight, but mine came out. Spray some penetrating oil on it first and let it soak. You don't want to break it off when it comes out. Especially if it's been in there for awhile.

Remove it and have it tested at an auto parts store

The block heater is on the front of the engine, right of the oil filter when looking at engine. It is slightly hidden behind the exhaust manifold, but fairly easily accessible.

Haynes Manual for Toyota Tercel 1987-1994 states: Transaxle: Automatic (drain and refill) 2.6 quarts