Jump to content

bringing my tc back to life


Recommended Posts

my tc has sat unfortunately for about a year. i had a towed to a garage. the passenger side rear wheel did not turn. i took the wheel off and the caliper was rusted onto the rotor. i did try to wire brush everything i could get to but it would still not turn

the radiator fan would not come on and the temperature rose to almost overheating before i turned it off. i did change the starter and fan relays on the fender wall.

i still have a parasitic drain on the battery. when idling is shows a negative charge. last year i had it at automotive electronics garage and after 400 dollars labor they couldnt find it. i think they said it was a 1/4 amp leak?

I have appreciated all of the help this forum has offered to me and cant wait to get my car back on the road.

thx roger

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest My TC Toy

Roger, ain't this old car repair a blast? First, a cold chisel or large flat blade screwdriver positioned between the brake pad and the rotor and a good clout should free up the rotor. Remember to free up the piston by turning the brake adjuster counterclockwise all the way first. The adjuster is located behind a plug in the caliper. You will need a hex wrench to adjust. A second or third clout may be needed. The caliper piston was probably sticking and has now seized or at the very least the brake pad has stuck to the disc. When freed, if the piston pushes back freely, it was probably just stuck on the rotor. Check carefully.

Secondly, the fan is controlled by the engine computer, and that could be your problem. If you changed the fan relay, that should be ok. With the car running, turn on the A/C, this should engage the fan, if it does the contriller should be ok. Maybe someone else can offer a little more information. The other thing to do is chech the temp sending unit, it could be giving a false signal. Turn the ignition on and ground the temp sensor wire, the temp guage should go to hot. This indicates the sensor is working. When you said that the enging got hot, did you look at the guage or was the top of the radiator hot.

As for the third item, good luck. It is going to take some time and patience. Start by removing one fuse at a time and see if one of them sparkes when re-inserting. If it does try to trace out that circuit.

There is a whole pile of other things your problems could be, but this is my suggestion to get started, at least with the info you provided.

Best of luck.

Bob

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My favorite way to find a draw is to take a small 12V bulb (a test light will work but I like to 'make' a tool for the job) like a dash light bulb and solder two short pieces of wire, one to each side of the bulb. Then remove the NEGATIVE side battery cable. Now bridge the gap between cable end and negative battery post with the bulb/wire 'tool' you just made. The light will go on with the draw (load) placed on it. Then just pull the fuses one at a time till the bulb goes out. You can see the bulb from the fuse box when you are pulling them so it's a one man friendly job. Personally, electrical is my least favorite job on the cars. I just used new (rebuilt) calipers/rotors/pads on the white TC, the rebuilt calipers were like $11. on Ebay. Too cheap to mess with your old rusty stuff:)

Alan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...