1985 Tercel wagon

"Firefly" wrote in news:1174746255.678958.289850 @e1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com:

A bulb is blown, or a socket is corroded to the point where the resistance causes the flasher to htink a bulb is blown.

Not if the carburetor is not the cause of whatever problem you have. Does the car stumble or buck?

I had 2 1983 4WD Tercel wagons. They were slow as molasses new from the factory. And if the carburators got dirty they would not start in the cold winter. And people say cars used to be better. I don't think so. Brakes were pathetic too.

It's just slow...there's only so much you can do with a 1.5L Carb'd engine! And the OP didn't mention if it was AWD or not...

No. What happens is, when I put the peddle to the floor it goes slower than if I lift up my foot a little bit. Once the car is in 3rd it does pretty well. It's the kind of acceleration from stop that makes cars behind you want to go around you.

Also, the starter quits occasionally, and I knock it with my knuckles and it will work for quite a while afterwards. Sometimes I have to leave the key over to the start position for 5 seconds before the starter does anything. Is this just a simple replacement starter need?

---voice

There is a site here dedicated to the 4WD Tercel Wagons

Does the car have a manual transmission or an automatic? If it has an automatic transmission, the transmission throttle cable may need adjsutment so the transmission downshifts properly.

IMO, the automatic was pretty slow, the manul was pretty peppy.

The starter sounds like it needs the solenoid contacts replaced. You can purchase the contacts and replace them yourself.

In addition to some of the others recommendations concerning your acceleration problem, you may want to check the timing and change the air filter , as far as your starter, what you are describing is a classic starter commutator failure. It's the part that the brushes come in contact with. All the starter armature windings are connected to it. Sometimes you can get away with a fix by cleaning it up and installing new brushes, but that's a maybe. Most of the time you must replace the starter motor.

Did any of the suggestions work for you? I had one that was acting sluggish (AWD, 6-speed, 210,000 miles) and I did a tune up. Solved the problem. Just watch the vacuum hose under the air cleaner.