For the missing problem the ignition coil may be bad which is inside the distributor. While you're at it test each wire to make sure it has continuity or just go ahead and replace them. I highly recommend Denso, rockauto.com sells the cap/wire set. You should do a general tune up- plugs(Denso or NGK), air filter/fuel filter, replace coolant (Toyota RED or equivalent) brake fluid, transmission fluid.

If your car has ABS look for the light in the instrument cluster on first engine start. Does the pulsating only happen at low speeds? If so then you could have a bad ABS sensor, if you don't have ABS then probably just need to replace some rotors/pads.

I'll let the resident All-Trac experts answer the 4WD button question.

 

I'll let the resident All-Trac experts answer the 4WD button question.

Oh I'm not an All-Trac expert but I know the answer to that. The Auto button should always be on unless you're stuck.

 

Thank you very much, 71corolla. I was planning on doing a tuneup and had not thought about the distributor. My Tacoma does not have one, but before '95.5, they did, so this makes sense. Thanks for bringing that to my attention, it might have taken me a bit to think of that.
Also, the braking funkiness happens only at high speeds (most noticeable at highway speeds). I have a feeling once I take the drum off, I'm going to find a bit of a hot mess. Also get a bit of a clunk with suspension travel on the rear end, suspecting bushings for the control arms.
Forgot to mention that one PO or another decided to cut off the radio ?plug? (the plastic doohickey...connector?) and try to hard wire it to a new radio. When it came to me, all wires have wire nuts on them. I'd love to have a radio, does anyone happen to have a wiring diagram (forget about this if someone has an FSM).
Depending upon how the drive works (the AWD), I really think I'm going to enjoy the heck out of this car. If this happens, I'd love to restore it to original condition (as difficult as some parts may be to find).

Thanks again 71corolla (I appreciate your advice a lot),
Mike

 

Well, shit. You mean it should be on 'Auto', Phil_Bleach. If so, I suppose I've violated this first rule of Fight Club...Do not talk about Fight...shit, I meant don't have 'Auto mode' on...
I'd appreciate a bit more clarification, Phil.

Thank you very much for your reply though,
Mike

 

Sorry for another reply, I also know I'm missing the door panel light (on the inside) for sure on the driver's side (possibly on passenger side, will have to look tomorrow). I've looked through Toyota of Dallas (cheaper stock parts) and I couldn't find it. Anyone know where to find it. Will do more troubleshooting tomorrow (and call the 2 area junk yards within 50 or so miles).

Thanks for the warm welcome so far fellas,
Mike

 

In a nutshell:

Leave it in Auto. The system automatically controls when the center differential locks the torque at a set value (I think 50/50) as needed, and it is a full time system so some torque is always going to front and rear wheels; the button only exists to disable it for towing or driving short distances on mismatched (ie a spare) tire.

Anyway, if all four wheels are on a slick surface you can spin one tire on each axle with a stock differential because it can't send 100% of the torque to the front or rear, there will always be some on one of them.

If you're encountering wheel spin or traction issues I suggest upgrading tires. I've never had issues with all seasons unless I gun it from a standing stop on purpose or hit ice with all four wheels like in my drive way. I suspect with snow tires it would be virtually unstoppable excluding the aforementioned ice or snow that comes up to the under carriage. Then your only limitation is sliding while cornering and that's easily controlled.

 

Thanks for the clarification, Phil. Do you happen to have a link to the thread where that came from? Just trying to learn as much as I can.

Thanks again man,
Mike

 

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/1...om/forum/102-1st-2nd-generation-1983-1986-1987-1991/1044561-toyota-alltrac.html

https://www.google.ca/search?client...#q=camry+all+trac+center+differential+lock+site:www.toyotanation.com&channel=fs

https://www.google.ca/search?client...r&ei=U_JnVeyULoLvpQXX9IBg#channel=fs&q=camry+all+trac+site:www.toyotanation.com

 

Sounds like you need the two Toyota stereo connectors with some wire on them so you can splice them in to the harness, right? The "aircraft" light in the door panel is something you'll have to get at a salvage yard, same with the connectors.

 

You two are a multitude of knowledge. I can't wait to see what the All Trac Experts have to say. Thank you again, very much.

Mike

 

Your rear suspension rattle could be caused by worn out, stretched and soften sway bar bushings. Mine would rattle a lot over bumps, it had so much play. Dropped some new bushings in there and now it's as quiet as brand new.

My car used to have a lot of brake-related vibrations and brake pedal pulsation with the old pads and rotors. Got new parts and it's fine now.

These cars are very solid platforms, nearly indestructible. DIY friendly. Rust is their kryptonite though, so don't let it gain too much ground before you decide to do something about it

 

I own an alltrac but am certainly not an expert. I suspect they will be around tomorrow. In the meantime....
AWD system: Its important to remember that its just the 'transfer case' that is locking. Both the front and rear diffs are open so you're effectively 2WD.
EFI: Yep, OBD1 EFI. Fuel injection & an electronically advanced mechanical distributor.
+1 on the salvage yard for your missing bits, not many differences between your car and a Camry of the same generation or the early Lexus ES250. My radio antenna is out of a Cressida but it went right in...
Definitely suggest a full tune-up. Also if you have oil leaks check your distributor & the oil-pump shaft seals.
Non-interference engine.
And I don't remember where I'm getting this info from so I'd wait for confirmation, but I'm pretty sure none of the alltracs had ABS.
I vary between slow/speedy driving around town and cruising 65-75 on the freeway and get between 18 and 22. I have gotten better when I tried - mostly I just drive as little as possible.
Rust is common on the rear arches & I have some around my rear window.
Front suspension bushings are known to go out.
Rear suspension bushings on the alltrac are expensive ~$50/bushing x4. Otherwise parts are fairly readily available as far as I have seen. My rotors were special order but were cheap.

Toyotanation doesn't allow the handing out of FSMs due to Toyota sponsorship or something. I would encourage you to look elsewhere if you want to find an electronic copy.

 

And I don't remember where I'm getting this info from so I'd wait for confirmation, but I'm pretty sure none of the alltracs had ABS.

I assumed this for a long time (don't know why) but awhile back I came across an All-Trac that had ABS, I was quite amazed. If there is any model that could benefit most from ABS it would be the All-Trac.

 

Phil and TheFlyingDutchman, thank you. I will check these out tomorrow or Sunday. Thanks guys. I can't wait to really take a look at this thing and grease it up/service the drivetrain (I doubt either of these have been done). I do have a bit of rust underneath and a bit of bubbling on the front passenger quarter panel (guess I'll teach myself a little bit of body work). I plan on wire wheeling the bottom side (where there is rust) and priming and painting it. I'd like to prolong the life of this vehicle as I think it's a very unique/cool vehicle.

Thanks again,
Mike

 

Center diff control:
Manual trans: leave it OFF until you need to lock the center diff (amber light above the glove box says 'lock')
Auto trans: leave it ON at all times (green light above the glove box, says 'auto')

Idle/running problems - standard 3s-fe tune-up stuff. Plugs, wires, cap, rotor - go OEM, NGK or Denso only. That should solve most of those issues.

Rear clunking is probably the outer lateral link bushings (actually, stock pillow-ball bearings). Dealer only parts, but still available. They wear out every 100k miles or so... The rear suspension is completely different than a FWD Camry, so be 100% sure you make 100% sure that the parts counter guy knows 100% what you are talking about... Or buy online using PNs you get from www.toyodiy.com

Rear brakes (if that's what causing your issues) are Alltrac specific and are disks. Its probably a front brake issue - but those parts are the same as the FWD Camry. Get decent disks (Brembo blanks) and decent pads and that should solve those problems. ABS was not an option in '89, so no ABS on your car. The unit would sit opposite the battery in the engine bay, taking up most of the room where your cruise control actuator is now.

Almost all interior parts and almost all parts from the firewall forward match the FWD Camry.

Oh, and you'll be disappointed in the mileage. I would get 30-38mpg in my old FWD 4-cyl 5-speed Camry, depending on driving style. Same driving (actually, slower) in my '89 auto Alltrac (before the engine swap) was 24-26mpg. I still get 22-24mpg with a ~280hp 3s-gte engine and a 5-speed, at least...

Let me know if I missed anything.

-Charlie

 

One fun fact about the ABS brakes vs non-ABS for the Gen2 is the diameter of the rotors. ABS has bigger rotors, something that the previous owner of my car didn't seem to know (I have ABS) because he just went with the smaller non-ABS rotors and bigger ABS pads, meaning that almost a full cm of material on the top of the pads had never made contact with the rotors I should've taken a picture, it was disturbing :lol:

 

Wow! I hope you made sure everything was tight, doesn't sound like the kind of person I want working on my car...
The more I hear the more I want to do an ABS swap.. now if only picknpull had prices listed for all the parts..

 

Oh man I'm done playing with the brakes for now. Everything is like new, pedal feel is excellent. Rebuilt Aisin calipers on all four corners, stainless hoses, Sumitomo pads front, Advics rear, new rotors, lines were completely flushed... and the ABS system on those cars is very nice. For lack of a better word, I feel like the ABS on late-90's GMs and Chryslers is more, huh... invasive? Intrusive? Over-assisted maybe? I don't know, but on the Camry it feels very natural and gets the job done in the snow for sure.

 

ABS on the gen2 Camry is one the best of any car I've driven. It can module the calipers very quickly and like Phil says it is not intrusive. I never liked ABS much until I got the wagon. As for doing a swap you'd have to a true maniac to do it, you'll need all 4 hubs/knuckles with sensors and replace at least one body harness. And then there's the brake lines...

 

Thanks to everyone for popping in. I'll keep this thread up to date with problems or issues that I run into. Again, thank you all.

Mike

 

Pretty much everything has been said. For the FSM, you'll want both the books for all the mechanical stuff (may have still been two volumes in 89, I know my 91 was one volume), along with the EWD which has all your electrical stuff. The body manual really isn't needed unless you're a shop with the ability to pull the frame in the event of major repair. The main repair manual will run $60-90, the EWD will run $15-20; I'd try and get both for $75-90.

I also concur with Charlie on MPGs, 24-26 is about the peak you'll see with lots of highway, ideal temps, and good fuel, though I suspect it will improve if you can get ethanol free fuel.

When ordering parts give them your VIN; if you have them look it up by Year>Model>Trim>Engine it will still show 2WD parts, I ran into this ordering my struts. Plan ahead when doing jobs too, as most rear end parts are not readily available at stores or the dealer; other items of note I've had trouble getting include the rear brake rotors, sometimes pads, the A/T pan gasket/filter, and axles (hope you never need those). Engine tuneup stuff including the sensors and gaskets can easily be found in stores though some of the sensors may only be sold at the "hub" store for your region that stocks the other stores. Only use Toyota Type IV in that A/T, dealer will have it.

Otherwise enjoy, they're great in the snow and really nice platforms.

 

Thanks Cipher. Today I got the new plugs in, did the air filter, and got the fuel filter done (I've still got my trusty miss). Need to do valve adjustment. Do you have to remove the timing cover to do that? In addition to that, I got the old girl up on stands and looked at the rear end. I've started cleaning the 26 years of dirt and oil (mixed of course) off the motor and have made some progress there. My son has named the car Dusty, and it's quite fitting. I also got underneath the back end and found out the last 1/4 of the exhaust is screwed for the most part. I'll probably be taking the whole exhaust off to fix a (previous owner's) faulty flex pipe install and try to (hopefully) spot weld up some holes. I'll take some pictures tomorrow (hopefully, I'm pretty darn forgetful) about a few things that I have questions about.

Thanks again to all,
Mike

 

Need to do valve adjustment. Do you have to remove the timing cover to do that?

Nope, just remove the valve cover - four 'nuts' on the top of the spark plug tubes and it should come off.
Intake 0.19-0.29mm or 0.007 to 0.011in
Exhaust 0.28-0.38mm or 0.011 to 0.015in

Note that the clearances are adjusted by shims, requiring you to replace the shim with one of the correct thickness.

 

Forgot about this. I think this was the first fuel filter change in a long time. It was a Toyota OEM filter and it was dirty! The gas coming out of the inlet was very dark and when I poured some on my hand, it had quite a bit of black particulate in it. But the downstream side was clean so it was still doing its job.

 

Now you say that white90dx, timing is not your strong suit haha. I cleaned the front of the engine and trans today with soap and a scuz pad, then pressure washed the not so delicate areas. I think there was a good 15-20 years of oil with dirt in it (a good 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch thick in areas). After getting off the valve cover, I found the areas I had missed. I had to carefully scrape/wipe off the debris next to where the valve cover seals (next to distributor and timing cover). I did not get the clearances measured today, so that will happen first thing tomorrow. I also didn't take the pics I meant to.

On another note, any ideas on what could be causing that miss. I've got an exhaust that leaks like a sieve which I will fix, but I count that as low priority. Other than that, I haven't touched the distributor (don't know much about them as I haven't messed with one thus far), fuel pump could be giving out (but I think this is unlikely with the weird miss I'm getting), the only other thing I can think of is (well a sensor of some sort) that the timing could be a bit off. I dunno, I'll just keep trucking I guess.

Thanks for all responses,
Mike

 

I haven't touched the distributor

You should make this a priority, if there's one thing that fails on a regular basis on these cars it is the distributor coil. It is not a difficult repair at all the hardest part is removing and installing the distributor (and then having to use a timing light). Changing the coil itself takes 5 minutes. Also if it was me I would buy a Denso cap/wires and be done with it money well spent.

 

I believe my Tacoma is close to that interval or the same, although its valve cover is easier to remove than this one.

Thank you for the link. I'll be going through most of the car this summer trying to get it in tip top condition, I have no doubt your suggestions will help (hopefully the miss is because of this ground, that'll make things easier). If that's the case then I can begin the search for a new muffler.

BTW, it sure looked like two mufflers under there. Or do they classify one as a muffler and the other as a silencer or something like that? I think I'll just get a muffler with the right size inlet and outlet off Amazon (Toyota makes a lot of parts well, but a muffler is not worth their premium price).

Mike

 

Yeah they call those the central and rear silencer. I have a Walker exhaust front to back, it wasn't cheap but I wanted a quiet ride and solid parts. I'm not sure but I think they have the All Trac mufflers too.

 

Another quick question, was there an L model All Trac? That's what mine says on the rear bumper and there's no room for it to be 'LE' or 'DLX'. I haven't seen any option for that on any site that I've been looking at for parts.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-Trac

According to Wikipedia there was:

Model series

• 1988–1991 Camry, DX and LE trim, 4 cyl 1998 cc 3S-FE
• 1988–1992 Corolla, std trim, SR5, 4 cyl 1587 cc 4A-FE
• 1990–2000 Previa, DX, LE, LE supercharged trim, 4 cyl 2438 cc 2TZ
• 1988–1993 Celica All-Trac Turbo 1988–1989 for ST165 chassis and 1990-1993 for ST185 chassis with 4cyl turbo 1998 cc 3S-GTE
• 1995-2000 Rav4, XA10 chassis with 4cyl 1998 cc 3S-FE
• 1992-2007 Toyota Caldina