tercel 91 owner says hi + questions

[allan.rojas]

hi there,

just discovered this forum and wanted to say hi... I'm from Costa Rica and have a Tercel 91 reaching 180k miles soon... It's been with me for 2 years and I haven't been able to improve its look because of maintenance issues...

Now I've reached a stable point where the car has like 4 months of working like a charm...

Here's my question: I've read very little about transmissions, but I read this car uses an AL132 transmission that's limited to 3 speeds... I also read there's something called overdrive that allows an automatic transmission to run at higher speeds without forcing the engine... I'm guessing this model doesn't have that feature, cuz at 100km/h the RPMs are crazy high... am I wrong?

Here's another one, i've kinda measured the top speeds where the engine sounds really forced for each gear:

L = 20km/h
2 = 55km/h
D = 110km/h

Is this data ok? Or is there a transmission problem? What's your experience? Any tips?

[tyler88]

hmm i dont know because i have a 91 5speed but my 2nd gear goes to 55 and its whining reallllllly high..if i racing i usually shift to 3rd at about 55ish sorry im not much help

[Tercel GTS]

I can tell you it hits fuel cut at 5800rpm. You prolly don't want to do that often at 180k miles though.

[drehtwnftbl]

well...1st makes it to about 35...40 if you really push it
2nd makes it to about 65 maybe 68 or 69
3rd...never pushed it to the limit, cuz it's winter up here and thats just a plain not good idea
this is MPH btw

[ShowCarTercel]

I have a three speed in my Tercel and these are the speeds I've found.

1st - 68 KM/h
2nd - 121 km/h
3rd - 180+ km/h

These are at which the engine is hitting fuel cut (5800RPM). I have a 5efhe swapped into my Tercel and that motor is made for a 7200RPM redline, so that's why I can rev it to the 3ee (the stock motor's) fuel cut all day and not break anything. Otherwise, don't do this!

[enerjohn]

Doe's the trans feel sluggish? Doe's it 'jerk' from one gear to another?

[ShowCarTercel]

Originally Posted by ShowCarTercel

I have a three speed in my Tercel and these are the speeds I've found.

1st - 68 KM/h
2nd - 121 km/h
3rd - 180+ km/h

These are at which the engine is hitting fuel cut (5800RPM). I have a 5efhe swapped into my Tercel and that motor is made for a 7200RPM redline, so that's why I can rev it to the 3ee (the stock motor's) fuel cut all day and not break anything. Otherwise, don't do this!

Ok, just rechecked those numbers. I got to about 128km/h in second. It goes better with a clean air filter, bad me didn't clean it.

[drehtwnftbl]

Originally Posted by enerjohn

Doe's the trans feel sluggish? Doe's it 'jerk' from one gear to another?

if it jerks a little, that's good. it's when you begin to feel smoothness that you should start to worry