Best beater/DD for $1000?, Opinions please! Options

[lagos]

We ended up picking up a 92 geo prizm with 220,000 on the clock for 900$. Really nice car for the money and seems to have been serviced regularly.

Only issue I found with it is that it idled a little rough while in drive. I have never really worked on an automatic before, I'm curious if there is an idle adjustment that can be done to smooth out the car. The problem goes away as soon as you put the car in park. I guess I'll mess around with it once we get tags for it and drive it home.

[ricochet1490]

my celica does that if I have the a/c on.... it's not terribly uncommon from my experiences with autos and small engine displacement.... Unless it's pretty bad, I wouldn't worry about it too much. But if you can adjust a screw or soemthing it'd be worth it.

[lagos]

my celica does that if I have the a/c on.... it's not terribly uncommon from my experiences with autos and small engine displacement.... Unless it's pretty bad, I wouldn't worry about it too much. But if you can adjust a screw or soemthing it'd be worth it.

Yeah it seems to me like there is something simple related to the auto trans that would fix it. Either that or the motor mounts are bad.

[Bitter]

92? Mounts are bad.

[lagos]

92? Mounts are bad.

You're probably right. And its an easy fix!

[azian_advanced]

my first car was an 89 Celica GT-S that i bought for only $500 10 yrs ago. they came with a high revving 3SGE with T-VIS so it's a fun car for its age plus maintenance was a cinch. came with four wheel disc brakes, auto climate control, cruise control, A/C, strong heater, power seats that can be adjusted to hug you really well around tight corners, and moonroof. only thing i really hated were the super long shift throws and that it wasn't an alltrac.

[lagos]

So we finally got the car home and got to take it for a real drive.
Its a nice car. Purrs like a kitten and has a lot of get up and go (probably due to short gearing on the trans). Due to this the car has been nick named Zippy Kitty by my girlfriend (chicks!).

Once we got it home I noticed a few small issues.
1. speedo doesn't work
2. radio doesn't turn on.
3. might need new brake pads.
4. alternator belt is starting to wear.
5. headliner is totally gone

Other than that it runs great. Just needs a little TLC. Hopefully I can find some wiring diagrams and a copy of the bgb for this car. It will be a fun summer project to fix up!

[ricochet1490]

total creme puff

[SwissFerdi]

Concerning the rough idle, is the problem in drive occurring when you're at a stop, applying the brakes to hold the car? If so, mine does that as well, and I think that's just a case of the 7A going "f*ck this load."

This post has been edited by SwissFerdi: Mar 12, 2012 - 8:42 AM

[lagos]

Concerning the rough idle, is the problem in drive occurring when you're at a stop, applying the brakes to hold the car? If so, mine does that as well, and I think that's just a case of the 7A going "f*ck this load."

Yeah its only when you are in drive and at a full stop with the brake depressed. The steering wheel will shake and its rather noticeable. I think its because the engine is under load, but the motor mounts are not dampening the vibration enough.

[ricochet1490]

That's even the norm for my 5s auto. That's just how it is. All my mounts are good and it still vibrates that much.

[SwissFerdi]

Yeah its only when you are in drive and at a full stop with the brake depressed. The steering wheel will shake and its rather noticeable. I think its because the engine is under load, but the motor mounts are not dampening the vibration enough.

To echo Ricochet, that's not mount-associated, unless my mounts are shot as well. The problem-solver is to shift into neutral when sitting at idle waiting to move. Less taxing on yer brakes as well...

This post has been edited by SwissFerdi: Mar 12, 2012 - 6:26 PM

[97lestyousay]

the 4a front mount is pretty weak, I had a bad one in my 88 gts rolla, I was going to swap it with my
91 parts car, but it was bad too. I have a high comp 4AGE out of a 91 gts with ecu when you decide to swap.lol

[lagos]

Yeah its only when you are in drive and at a full stop with the brake depressed. The steering wheel will shake and its rather noticeable. I think its because the engine is under load, but the motor mounts are not dampening the vibration enough.

To echo Ricochet, that's not mount-associated, unless my mounts are shot as well. The problem-solver is to shift into neutral when sitting at idle waiting to move. Less taxing on yer brakes as well...

If you never changed them and the millage on your car is up there, than chances are your mounts are shot.
I mean, if you think about it...no new automatic car does this. People would probably not buy them at the dealer, thinking something was really wrong if they did. The problem could also be caused by too low of an idle speed, but since this car has no tach, its hard to tell.

This post has been edited by lagos: Mar 13, 2012 - 7:54 AM

[97lestyousay]

I have 3 A series engine cars, and all 3 front mounts were or are bad including my celica with 110k on it.
A guy told me you can wrap it with a radiator hose the same diameter for a cheap fix but I haven't tried it.
All mine are manual so it doesn't bother me that much.

[SwissFerdi]

If you never changed them and the millage on your car is up there, than chances are your mounts are shot.
I mean, if you think about it...no new automatic car does this. People would probably not buy them at the dealer, thinking something was really wrong if they did. The problem could also be caused by too low of an idle speed, but since this car has no tach, its hard to tell.

True. I base solid mounts on the fact that I get no ill sounds or movement at any other point in driving, and I've only 100k miles. Still, could be shot. I should actually be in that area within a few months, so I'll check them out while I'm down there. For me, there is indeed also an accompanying drop in idle revs.