1991 Toyota Tercel

1991 Toyota Tercel questions and answers

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Q: abnormal idle in my a 1991 toyota tercel wht do i do?
hi I know sumone who owns a 1991 toyota tercel and whn they start it it revs high then drops thn revs up high again and this keeps happening till the car has warmed up, frm wht i remember it was a easy fix im not quite sure tho. does anyone kno wht I can do?

A: this model was notorious for getting excessive carbon buildup on the valves from an inherent induction issue and the variable venturi carburetor. what you are experiencing is a lean idle surge or hunting. it goes away after the engine warms because the fuel requirement is different after getting warm and atomizing better. unfortunateley there is not a simple solution as it needs a valve grind and possibly rings. big $$. carbon cleaner in a can is ineffective for carbon on top of the valves(needs the combustion heat inside the cylinder).May need a new carb too. not good news but there it is. Good Luck

Q: I have a 1991 Toyota Tercel that has blue smoke coming from the exhaust. What is causing this?
The blue smoke only happens at start up (most of the time) and only for about a minute and then disappears. My car has been burning more oil than usual. I had the engine control module replaced with a used one about two months ago and the blue smoke problem and the extra burning of oil seemed to show up shortly afterwords. Thanks for your help. Bill

A: oil seeping past you valve stem seals when the engine is off causing the oil to burn off on start up. you can have the valve stem seals replaced or you can try some of the many products designed to stop smoking

Q: How do I install the speed chip (enhancer) in my 1991 Toyota Tercel?
Got a speed chip from ebay and it came with no instructions. I don't want to mess it up. Any help would be greatly appreciated and you'll get 10 points. Thank you in advance!

A: easy.. Disconnect the batt. pull the computer but don't unplug it. Rotate the opening to you the (small inspection cover ) now this sound crazy but it works just fine. make sure you are touching some part of you body to the chassis of the car like your leg. just pull up you pains leg and make sure it touches. This works the same as a safety ground lead any time you are working on a( CPU, ECM or BCU.) Your body carries static electricity and if it gets to the chip you will kill it. Now locate the chip it looks just like the new one. R and R and you are done. Reverse what you just read and you done, Now you can charge your friends for the work...

Q: location of the thermostat on a 1991 toyota tercel dx?


A: it is either at the engine side of the top hose or between the bottom hose and water pump

Q: how to remove/replace 80A fusible link on 1991 toyota tercel?
a simple loose connection repair on my alternator went terribly wrong when my boyfriend removed the loose wire and it touched a grounded area of my motor causing some big sparks and blew out an 80A fusible link enclosed in a box with 3 other sizes of fusible links, located just off my positive battery post connection...my problem is that neither of us can figure out how to get the blown 80A out!...It wont just pull out and my boyfriend has already used a small screwdriver along side the 80A to see if there was a catch of some kind locking it in place...so now the area on either side of the 80A is pryed away from the way it was...the box will still close alright but the damage, however slight is still noticable (at least by me)...so my hood is closed for now while I seek knowledgable help, please hurry if anyone can tell me how to take that 80A out so I can get a new one in...before he causes serious damage to my car trying to FIX it!...I'll be soooooooo very grateful! Debbi

A: it should bolt in from the bottom. if i remember right. push the two tabs on the side of the box and lift up. flip box over and remove screws. MAKE SURE YOU DISCONNECT THE BATTERY GROUND CABLE. this should by done by trained personal only. use caution. think safety first.........if the alt. does not work when you are done it is because he fried it by shorting the fuse... best of luck, i hope this is helpful.

Q: What does the linkage do on a manual transmission?
My 1991 Toyota Tercel will not shift into any gears except reverse. The gear shift will not move into any of the forward gears. Could it be the linkage?

A: There are a number of possible issues. I don't know, but I doubt don't know of any toyotas that use linkages. They usually use hydrolic fluid via a master and slave cylinder. Might be low on fluid? It is also possible that the "shift fork" has bent. that is what is inside the transmission that move the gears when you move the shifter. If it were bent it may not push the right gears to the right places. It really isn't likely that the clutch is worn out and causing this. There are also things called syncros which usually dont wear out except under very heavy use, but they keep all the gears allignes so they will mesh when you shift. They could have gone bad, but it's unlikely.

Q: why will my car not start after the down pipe fell off?
I have a 1991 toyota tercel and I just got a new engine in, but this morning while driving the exhaust pipe that connects to the header broke off and now the car won't start. do you know why?

A: Some cars have a positive feed back EGR valve. If there is no exhaust pressure, the valve will remain wide open. Your car will not start if this is the case. Fix the exhaust and try again.

Q: aftermarket stereo doesnt work?
it's a 1991 toyota tercel w/ a soundstorm smp3 100r cd/ mp3 player and a jvc tape deck. all wring was double checked and we installed ourselves (my dad's the a/v guy at his work and he's stumped). We know it's not cd/tape players themselves bc even though the warrenties are expired they've never been used ever. the units don't even power up everything else works like all the lights in and out of the car it's just the radios won't turn on. the stock one that was in there worked just fine just no cd/tape/mp3

A: I'd suggest checking all the vehicle fuses. If you're using a wire harness adapter, make sure there's a ground wire in it; some vehicle radios are designed to ground through the mounting brackets, so there's no ground wire in the plug. If the fuses are all good and you have a good ground, you'll need to get a multimeter and check the voltage on the yellow and red power wires. If you have voltage on both wires and the radio still won't turn on, then the radio must be defective; if one of the wires is missing voltage (with the key on) then you'll need to go back to checking fuses, or find an alternate source of voltage for that wire connection.

Q: I payed $229.00 to have a starter replaced on my car. Did I pay to much?
I had the starter replaced on my 1991 Toyota Tercel. It cost me $229.00 including $80.00 for labour. I think the starter was rebuilt.

A: That's a good price for parts and labor. By the way, almost ALL starters are rebuilt on anything over ten years old.

Q: The heater in my car won't heat up...?
what can be wrong with it. it is an old car (1991 Toyota Tercel) and since I bought it on Jan 3, I've driven it maybe 6 times.

A: Is your temperature gauge showing that the engine is heating up to proper temp? If not then it's the thermostat and it needs to be replaced.

Q: Tire Pressure?
I own a 1991 toyota tercel and i want to know how much psi i should have in my tires. the tire says do not exceed over 40 psi but i cant find the cold pressure for winter or the warm for summer.

A: Your tire pressure should always, always, ALWAYS be measured when the tires are cold!!! Whether it is summer or winter, the best time to check the pressure is early in the morning before driving off. Be careful, especially on warmer days, that the sun is not shining on the tires on one side of the car - no, I'm NOT kidding! The sun's warm rays can actually raise the air temperature in the tires on the brighter side so that the gauge will display a falsely higher pressure in your tires. Don't believe me? Invest in a nice digital gauge, then check your COLD tire pressure at night. Park where the sun's rays will fall on one side in the morning, then check the pressure again, and you will see I am right! The correct pressure is typically displayed on a sticker on either the driver or passenger door jamb, and you should under NO circumstances fill cold pressure more than 2 psi over that. This is because high speed driving raises the temperature and conseuently, the pressure in your tires, and this is why you see tire blow-outs - when the temperature-inflated pressure exceeds the recommended max pressure you were talking about in your question. My guess (and it is ONLY a guess) is that your tire pressure should be 28-30 psi.

Q: My car overheats?
Ok car guys, I need your help. My 1991 Toyota Tercel is overheating. There was a cracked hose connecting the coolant reservoir to the radiator. Replaced it, and the darn thing is still overheating. Any ideas? I started to smell burning antifreeze before the temp gage started to move. After the smell, I kept an eye on the gage. Magley64, How do you check for a cracked head or block? I had my dad check the other stuff and it was all fine. Thanks, but I need some Car Repair for Dummies talk. I have no idea what some of that stuff is.

A: check coolant fans thermostat heater core water pump cracked head cracked block in order of expense...cheapest to most expensive...