Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!

Toyota Echo

1…8384868889…115

Comments

  • pulgopulgo Member Posts: 400
    I would ask the fleet manager of my municipality, hospital or even police and ask who they use for transmission rebuilds.
    I had a transmission rebuilt and installed for my 91 Caprice and spent less than $ 800. This was NOT one of the national chains but a local specialist (has a big shop beside his house in a rural area and employs 5 transmission mechanics).
  • sbspencesbspence Member Posts: 16
    I'm considering a slightly used 03 Echo form Enterprise rental fleets , but, haven't talked with anyone that actually owns one...they seem to be rather rare around here...

     What MPG (mainly city) should I expect from an auto sedan w/ ac? What would be a good price for a low mi 03 auto/ac sedan?

    THANKS!
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    I would check the price of the car as optioned right here in Edmunds and compare it to what they are asking. You can also check the Blue book type pages on line. The kind of mileage you get depends a lot on your driving style. If you are prepared to be conservative I think you could average 35-38 mpg. Maybe prices for an ECHO will be going up soon with the gas prices being what they are and interest rates soon to rise!
  • coolguyky7coolguyky7 Member Posts: 932
    Toyota today announced the 2005 ECHO. It's a carryover from 2004. This is its sixth year in the current style. Will 2006 see a redesign or termination?
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    Good news! Haed to understand why Toyota keeps both the Scion and the ECHO but Im not complaining. I dont want a car with options I dont want and the ECHO weighs less so its faster and gets better mileage.
      I did a cost analysis between buying a used ECHO and a new Focus. I was leaning toward the Focus for my wife, but when you look at the comparison, the ECHO wins hands down. Except the Focus comes in a hatchback.
  • squeeziechumsqueeziechum Member Posts: 8
    i know i must be in the minority but i'm hoping someone here can help me. i don't drive my echo very often and find that the battery dies if i don't start it up for about a week. when the battery is charged, all works fine, including the radio as some have had problems with that. when i turn off the car, i leave on the cruise control, radio and air conditioner but these should not drain a battery in a week, especially when the battery is only 6 months old. twice i have taken it to the dealer and they did an elecrical test but cannot find anything wrong. today the toyota dealer mechanic told me that it is not unusual to get a drained battery if it's not driven for a week but i don't believe this. my mazda protege lasted 3 weeks! any help is welcome! hopefully i can get this fixed before it goes off warranty- it is a 2001 with only 17k miles. also, i do not have an alarm, if that is what you think of first.
    thanks. april.
    (cross-posted to the problems & solutions board)
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    Disconnect the negitive terminal of the batttery when you know you wont be driving the car for a week or more. Then reconnect it when you will drive it. If that "fixes" it you electrical drain on the battery somehow. That could be hard to find. You muight try taking the car to a speciality shop. Look in the yellow pages under ALTERNATORS. Good luck and tell us what happens!
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    You arent leaving the trunk ajar or the doors ajar are you? There is a lite in the trunk when it opens and the dome light can be set to be on with a door open.
  • sluglineslugline Member Posts: 391
    A staffer at the AutoZone store around the corner read the code and told us that the computer was reporting a lean condition. He theorized that either the O2 sensor was going bad or the engine was starved for fuel because of a clogged fuel filter or injector. And sure enough, the engine is holding back from accelerating from time to time.

    This ECHO (2000 automatic sedan, 37000 miles) doesn't get out much these except for my girlfriend's commute to and from work, less than four in-town miles each way. I think it may just be crying for more attention. :)

    The last time this car lit up the CEL, the dealership told my girlfriend that I had mis-installed the air filter. (I didn't like that explanation, but it was only the scond time I changed it.) We'll see what happens when we get it checked out. I haven't touched anything under the hood since then.
  • carglowcarglow Member Posts: 91
    Anyone heard of any changes for the 05 ECHO?

    Is the hatchback coming to the U.S.?
  • bpraticobpratico Member Posts: 23
    Apparently not: http://pressroom.toyota.com/photo_library/display_release.html?id- =20040521

    I'm leery of Scion with all the A/C complaints being reported. Time to look elsewhere .... i.e., the Honda Fit (Jazz) coming to the U.S. in 2005.
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    <the dealership told my girlfriend I had mis-installed the sirfilter>

      I dont like that either sounds like pure baloney. I checked my filter a year ago and didnt see a hose come off when I reinstalled it. No check engine light came on.
  • sluglineslugline Member Posts: 391
    Thanks for the moral support, kneis1. It may be a few days before she can get the car in for an appointment. In the interim, I've poured in a bottle of Chevron Techron fuel system cleaner in hopes of dislodging a clog.

    FRAM doesn't even list a fuel filter for the ECHO on their website. Is it attached to the fuel tank or somewhere else that makes it hard on a DIYer?
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    The fuel filter and fuel pump are in the gas tank. They are not difficult to get at but youll have to take up the rear seat. Ill look at my service manual tomorrow and post anything relevent. As I recall replacing the filter is pretty straightforward. (but I might not remember it right!)
  • carglowcarglow Member Posts: 91
    At least the ECHO isn't going away in 05. Others have predicted it's demise due to SCION.

    Being as the prices are remaining unchanged in 05 for ECHO I guess no major changes are coming. That's strange ... the ECHO has remained pratically unchanged, except for cosmetics since it's introduction.
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    <the ECHO has remained practically unchanged since its introduction>

    A sign of an excellent design. My Honda ST1100 motorcycle has remained largely unchanged in its twelve years of production.
  • canccanc Member Posts: 715
    I can see why people would think that the Echo will be cancelled because of the introduction of the Scion brand. Here in Canada, where Scion is nothing but a funky name, the Echo is selling very well (especially the hatch version I heard), but I think Toyota USA is keeping the Echo because it caters to just about everybody, and not just the young hip crowd. Many students love the Echo because it's extremely reliable, is a gas miser, and isn't expensive to maintain. These are also the same reasons why daily commuters like it, or even for the retired crowd. The Scion brand isn't geared towards all of these markets, and simply dedicates itself to the younger crowd in hopes that they will upgrade to Toyotas when they're a bit older.
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    You can inspect the injectors at least partially yourself. Remove the plastic cover over the cylindar head. With the engine running put your finger on each injector one after another. You are looking for an irregular pulse in each injector. Probably three run the same and one is different. I would remove the plastic cover over the valve cover and when the engine runs funny, pull over and check the injectors. You probably have an intermittent problem. With the engine COLD you can also check the reisitance of each injector with an ohm meter (cheap to buy like $15) Remove the plug on each injector in turn. An ohmmeter should read 13.4 - 14.2 ohms at 68 degrees.
      There is also a proceedure to remove the fuel rail with the injectors. You then need a hose which I bet you could make. You remove the injectors from the fuel rail and using the special attachment, hook an injector to the hose that ran to the fuel rail. Hook the injector to the battery so it runs and meassure the volumne of gasoline which should be 47-59 cm3. It looks doable.
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    You can inspect the injectors at least partially yourself. Remove the plastic cover over the cylindar head. With the engine running put your finger on each injector one after another. You are looking for an irregular pulse in each injector. Probably three run the same and one is different. I would remove the plastic cover over the valve cover and when the engine runs funny, pull over and check the injectors. You probably have an intermittent problem. With the engine COLD you can also check the reisitance of each injector with an ohm meter (cheap to buy like $15) Remove the plug on each injector in turn. An ohmmeter should read 13.4 - 14.2 ohms at 68 degrees.
      There is also a proceedure to remove the fuel rail with the injectors. You then need a hose which I bet you could make. You remove the injectors from the fuel rail and using the special attachment, hook an injector to the hose that ran to the fuel rail. Hook the injector to the battery so it runs and meassure the volumne of gasoline which should be 47-59 cm3. It looks doable.
  • sluglineslugline Member Posts: 391
    The good news is that the ECHO is running great again after a trip to the dealership. The bad news is that my girlfriend is roughly $400 poorer. Roughly half of that was labor charge; she was in-and-out in about an hour!

    When itemized by repair, more than half of the bill was parts and labor for replacing the air flow meter. The other services on the invoice were throttle body cleaning and fuel injector service (one was clogging).

    Murphy's law would have predicted that the first major problem would show up the year after the warranty's up, right?
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    %Thats a common thing to go wrong. Hopefully theyve fixed it!
  • carglowcarglow Member Posts: 91
    Looks like the 05 ECHO is truly unchanged! I haven't found anything about changes yet, but perhaps color offerings.
  • echoladyecholady Member Posts: 1
    CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHERE THE AIR FILTER IS LOCATED AND CAN I CHANGE IT MYSELF?
  • sluglineslugline Member Posts: 391
    slugline Feb 11, 2002 2:18am

    Be sure to put everything back where you found it, or the dealership techs may blame you for triggering the check engine light! ;-)
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    Sluglines instructions look very good. I think you will do well if you follow them. I think the toyota filter is better than the purolator because it is made of two difference materials whereas Im assuming the purolator is made of one. I could be wrong as i havnt actually seen a purolator. Good luck and tell us how you make out!
  • carglowcarglow Member Posts: 91
    Can you get the 15" option installed at the dealership?

    Does the speedometer have to be recaliabrated if they install 15" wheels?
  • ed_scott0013ed_scott0013 Member Posts: 64
    When you go to a larger size wheel, the accompanying tire has a lower profile, giving an overall wheel + tire diameter similar (within a few millimeters) to stock. Odometer/Speedometer re-tuning is not necessary.
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    BEFORE you go to bigger rims and tires than stock be SURE and read last months C&D or R&T about doing this. It might change your mind!
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    I changed the anifreeze myself on my ECHO yesterday and it was very easy to do. I bought Toyota long life (five year) antifreeze because I didnt want to mix different types of antifreeze. Also, since I cant get to the block drain because of my neck and back issues, all I could do is drain it from the radiator drain. I was sure there would be a large residual of the origional coolant left in the engine after draining. I looked up the capacity in my service manual and found it to be 4.4 quarts for a manual transmission (4.3 for automatic) The radiator drain is easy to access being a white plastic nut you can unscrew with your fingers on the bottom left of the radiator, on the rear of the radiator. I had the car on ramps which made it easy. Although there is a large piece of plastic under the car near the radiator designed to cut down on road noise, the antifreeze drains neatly through a fitting through the plastic. BEST OF ALL using only the radiator drain 4.4 quarts by my measure of antifreeze came out of the engine! So it wasnt necessary to use the block drain after all. I had been warned by the Toyota dealer that adding coolant was a slow process. I just added coolant until the radiator was full and then capped it and allowed it to idle to warm up. When warm I shut it down for 15 minutes, opened the cap and filled to the top. Subsequent warmups and cooldowns didnt reveal the need for anymore coolant. The Toyota dealer tried to intimidate me from doing this saying the radiator is difficult or impossible to fill but that is most emphatically NOT the case. Also they get like $70 to do this at Toyota and I did it for $12 the cost of the coolant.
  • sgrstansgrstan Member Posts: 9
    I am looking for a first car for my high school age daughter. My initial thought was to buy a beater, but more recent cars do have many more safety features than older ones. She likes the appearance of the ECHO, and I was pleased to see ABS and side air bags as options. However, I was told by several dealerships that as a practical matter they are impossible to find since so few cars are made with them. We have found a mint condition 2001 ECHO with 35K miles, which looks very attractive if what I am told is correct. I would be glad to pay the difference, however, if a 2005 with the safety features will become available. I found some messages on this topic from several years ago, but none recently. Has anyone investigated these options?
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    The ECHO is a very small,light car. If you get in a serious accident with one, I would have to believe all the so called safety features would not do enough to protect you. I know my daughter had three relatively minor accidents in her first year of driving. Driving as we do here in NJ with pretty horrific traffic congestion and impatient chew on the steering wheel drivers, Im not sure I would want her driving an ECHO for her first car. The ECHO is a great little car but maybe not for first time drivers.
  • moparbadmoparbad Member Posts: 3,870
    Last month and year to date - TOYOTA ECHO: 356 WITH YTD 1,694
    Wow! I was surprised that so few are sold.
    There is speculation that Echo will be discontinued due to Scion. My thought is that Toyota will not discontinue Echo as it would leave Toyota w/o an entry level vehicle to compete with the Korean brands and Scion is only offered at 2/3 of Toyota dealers.
    As gas prices increase perhaps sales of Echo will increase also.
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    I notice on the Toyota website you cant configure an ECHO with manual transmission. Here in the philly area a co worker I am encouraging to test drive an ECHO cant find a new one at three dealers. The price of used ones is DEFINATELY on the way up but I dont see them selling, the ads remain in the papers. How avilible are ECHOs in your neck of the woods?
  • pulgopulgo Member Posts: 400
    Kneisl1:

    Many thanks for reporting your experience changing the engine coolant. I've paid my dealership $ 45 twice already for letting them doing it.

    The next time I'll follow your advice and save some $$$.
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    Heck thats cheap they want $69.95 here in NJ. But Id still do it myself for $45. Especially with the long life stuff it should only need it every 5 years.
  • pulgopulgo Member Posts: 400
    Synthetic does several things mineral oils don't.

    It protects your engine much better in extremely hot (like when you are stuck in stop and go traffic) and cold conditions.

    It keeps your engine CLEANER because it is a better detergent than mineral oil (ask any mechanic that rebuilds engines).

    It lasts several times longer than regular oil so you save time doing oil changes and save the planet from more oil going to the dump (I know, you recycle your oil).

    It is especially good for forgetful people who exceed their oil change intervals because it survives longer without breaking down (sludging). There is a good reason for Europeans to specify synthetic oil for most if not all of their cars (besides the high price of oils that makes them think twice before having their car serviced).

    There are a lot of very knowledgeable people on bobistheoilguy (dot com) and it pays to read what they say.
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    You are correct that synthetic oil works better than conventional oil in extremees of temperature. I suggest using it in very cold weather so the engine starts. But those extremees of temperature almost never occur in a modern engine under normal conditions. If used as I suggest there is SOME advantage to snythetic oil here. But not much.
      As for keeping the engine cleaner, it will NOT do that if you dont change it often enough. When is that? No one knows. It lasts longer but HOW MUCH longer? Many manufacturers allow the use of synthetic motor oil AS LONG AS YOU CHANGE IT WHEN THE SCHEDULE SAYS TO. That would be frightfully expensive. Regular motor oil WILL keep the engine clean enough. I know because I have taken dozens of them apart and rebuilt them. There is no advantage to synthetic oil here.
       One thing you do not want to be is lazy when it comes to maintaining your car. Ive worked on other people cars for a long time. Trust me you want to do it according to the manufactuers schedule. Most people treat their cars like dirt. Best thing is to follow faithfully what the book tells you to do. Snythetic oils look good on paper, but they will not make an engine last longer than one run on regular motoroil, if maintained properly. Synthetic oils look good on paper. They are good for people looking to have something they think is better than what other people have, but in practice they are just a waste of money. Just like hybrid cars are a waste of money.
  • carglowcarglow Member Posts: 91
    I went to 2 dealerships in the last week in Louisiana. I've seen hundreds of Scions, thousands of Corollas, but no new ECHOS.

    Perhaps when the 05's arrive they'll be more.
  • pulgopulgo Member Posts: 400
    I just did an oil change on my Echo after 24k miles (over 39k kilometres) using Amsoil 5W-30. I sent in a sample of the used oil and it tested suitable for continued use. I did 2 filter changes in between, at 7.5k and 15k miles, replacing a little bit more than a quart of oil.

    Try doing that with a conventional oil.

    I agree that since most people neglect doing proper maintenance the recommendation of oil changes with conventional oil every 3k will give most car owner satisfactory results. But what a way of lining the pocket of oil companies! Modern engines do not need oil changes that frequent in the majority of cases.

    Only cars driven short distances or in extreme conditions warrant changes that often.

    What a terrible waste of oil and time! I would have changed the oil 8 times in my car and worried about storing and recycling 40 quarts of oil. As it is, I only used 5.5 qts of synthetic and saved a lot of time.

    Granted, this is only possible with careful monitoring of the contamination in the oil and I have been sampling and testing my Echo's oil for the last 3 years.

    Another question kneisl1:

    Any instructions in your manual for changing the belts? Mine have survived for 90k miles and I intend to change them this weekend.
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    I think one problem you might run into with the extended oil changes is voiding the warranty. Many manufacturers insist you change the oil per their schedule. When the car is out of warranty of course it doesnt matter. I find I can change my oil for about $6 a pop including filter. I LIKE changing my oil, its good therapy. The local gas station has an oil burner which heats the garage with used crankcase oil. So its going to a good cause. I have a lot of expeerience using conventional oil in my cars and bikes and the results have been more than satisfactory. Its a known and time tested thing whereas for me synthetic oil i have no experience long term with.
      The owners manual says to inspect your belts at 60k miles and thereafter at 15k mile intervals. You can inspect the belts yourself. Check that they have not become loose. Also, these belts are multiple Vs, they have four or five small Vs across the width of the belt instead of the one large V common a few years ago. These mini Vs tear up and when you see that, its time for a new one. Also its time to replace them if they become loose at all, modern belts seldom need tightening. Its possible your belts will last another 50k miles, modern belts are MUCH better than the older ones. Id love to do an experie\ment on mine and just replace them when they break. The only problem with that is possible severe inconvience, having to change the belt in the rain or cold of winter (its doesnt look easy to do on the ECHO) and mostly if the belt slips and your waterpump isnt turning you could overheat it and fry a head gasket, or even the engine. The water upmp on the ECHO isnt turned by the Vs its turned by the flat of the back of the belt. Im going to replace mine at 75k miles and watch the mini Vs for tearing and loosening. If you want to keep them check the Vs and loosness every six months or so and replace when you see dammage. Good Luck!
  • pulgopulgo Member Posts: 400
    Many thanks for the advice.

    Yes, I believe it is better to change the belts before they fail.

    As to the used oil, IMHO oil that has not been extracted and does not need burning or disposing of is much better.

    I shudder at the thought of contaminated oil being burned in a furnace and the chemicals released into the air. I would prefer to see 100% of used engine oil re-refined and reused.
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    There is very little in the service manual about changing the belts. It says there is a 17mm and a 14 mm bolt to loosen on the alternator then pry same out of the way and remove the belt. I dont see the 17mm on my car. It helps on some cars to see the belt as you put it on to jack up the right side of the car and remove the right front wheel. USually there is a plastic splash guard to remove also then you can really see the pulleys and belts.
  • wrgrahamwrgraham Member Posts: 112
    I am now at 106K miles, and I should change the plugs I suppose. I bought some at Napa today, I was looking for the NGK iridium plugs which is what came with the car, I believe. Napa doesnt carry that anymore, and they said that the OEM plugs now are double platinum of (I forget the brand, a familiar one.) The Echo still runs great, but I notice on a hill at highway speed I used to could push beyond 70 in 4th gear. But now it seems to get stuck at 65 and there is a bit of roughness. So I dont stay on it. Maybe that is due to the load on the electrical, and the new plugs will help? I think I will ask my mechanic friend to install them, I am a bit nervous about the proper torque and any difficulty pulling the old ones out after such long service. I remember pulling plugs once on a used VW beetle and getting a sleeve out with the plug. Seems some prior user had stripped it before. Any thoughts? I do change oil and filter at 6K intervals, I have found that to be just fine. I wonder about changing the manual tranny fluid or the power steering fluid or the brake fluid? I took the car in for a major service at 65K miles, but I would not be surprised if they changed very little altho they charged me $600. I didnt purchase the car at the local dealer cause I saved 1000 going elsewhere. Typical issues I suppose.
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    The plugs might help but probably not. I doubt very much you will have any trouble getting the old ones out because they are very protected from the elements. Cars like the beetle had very exposed plugs and in the beetles case oil dripping on them. I would buy a very nice sparkplug socket which grips the plugs very nicely because thats the only way to get them out of the deep hole theyre in. And you dont want the new ones dropping out of the socket. Bring a plug with you to check the fit. Dont worry about torqueng them. Just screw the new ones in until they stop and then half a turn more. You might want to look down in there with a flashlight to check for crap before removing them. A can of Dust Off will fix that.
      Changing the brake fluid would be an excellent idea. I suck the old stuff out of the master cylindar with a suction pump I got at Pep Boys and refill with clean brake fluid. Check your owners manual for the type to get (Dot 3 or Dot 4) Then i got a pieve of clear aquarium tubing which fits over the bleeder bolts. I remove the rubber caps from the bleeders and put the tubing over it so it fits snuggle. Then open the bleed and drain the old stuff into a screw top jar until it runs clean and tighten the bleeder. You can preloosen the bleeder before you put the tubing on if necessary. Changing the transmission oil would be great. Make sure you get it nice and warm by driving around on a hot day first. I dont know the size of the drain and fill plugs but youll need to measure and buy a socket. If you dont change it MANDITORY that you check the level every year from now on. Also keep an eagle eye on the axle boots every oil change or at least twice a year. If they crack and you dont catch it in time youll need new axle for $1000 whereas Toyota gets $400 for just the boots. I plan to write up a proceedure for the 30k service which is mostly inspection soon.
  • geezergeezer Member Posts: 1
    Some of the participants are well into dealers.etc and I have a nagging question,. What kind of paint does Toyota use??? I know GM and Ford both use water base paints instead of the old enamels or lacquers. They have been doing this for several years and since GM used to own 20% of Toyota and they are very engineering related I suspect that Toyota also uses water base materials, The real strength of the finishes is the final clearcoat.
  • wrgrahamwrgraham Member Posts: 112
    Thanks for your good feedback, kneisl.
  • mcdawggmcdawgg Member Posts: 1,722
    I am sure that GM did NOT ever own 20% of Toyota. Toyota could buy just about any company they want to with all the cash they have. And there is no "engineering relationship", other than GM may try to copy Toyota. Don't know about the paint thing.
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    There are two parts to the 30k maintenance. The first are things you actually replace, and the second are things you inspect. Today Ill go over what you actually have to replace at 30k miles. Ill discuss some other things to do that the manual doesnt call for, and also modify some of the things they tell you to do.
       First of all I believe in using origional Toyota parts in most applications. Their air filters are excellent, much better than anything else availible. I also suggest you use their coolant. An exception would be the oil filter where I recommend you use FRAM because it has a grippy surface on the end that helps you remove and install it. I havnt used an oil filter wrench since I took the origional one off.
       1) Change the air filter 30,000 miles/two years. I recommend you inspect it every year. Certainly you dont need to change it every 2 years unless its really dusty where you drive. I go by the 30k miles.
       There is an excellent proceedure to change the filter complete with pictures here on this forum. But I dont know how to find it. The filter housing is to the right of the battery. There is a fat black hose coming out of the top of it which runs to the front of the car. Youll see a clamp with a philips head screw which holds the hose to the housing. Loosen the clamp and remove the hose. On the housing itself there are two spring clips at the front of the housing which hold it together. The clips are to the immediate right of the negitive terminal on the battery. (the one towards the front of the car) Undo the clips. At the rear of the housing the top and lower halfs of the housing are hooked or hinged together. Seperate the housing halfs and remove the old filter and replace it with the new one. It might be a little tricky to get the housing together where the hook/hinge arrangement is but if you can get the two clips back on its probably right. When the housing is back together, reattach the fat black hose and tighten the clamp. Check all of the other hoses which go into the housing to make sure they didnt come off.
    2) Change the coolant every 30k miles, 2 years. If you use Toyota long life coolant it should last 5 years or 50k miles. I think this spec is meant for the old green stuff. Toyota long life coolant is red so if you have red stuff I would not change it at this time. If you scroll up this forum a ways I explain how I recently changed mine. Its easy.
    3) Replace engine oil and filter. I have explained further up this forum how to do this. I recommend you change the oil three times a year at four month intervals like the manual says regardless of the mileage. If you REALLY drive a lot then change it every 4000 miles. You probably can go 7500 miles but not more than four months between changes. Oil and filters are cheap. It only costs me about $6 to do an oil change. I recommend when you change the oil that you inspect the drive axle boots for wear at that time while the car is up on ramps. ESPECIALLY WHEN THE CAR IS OVER FOUR YEARS OLD AND/OR HAS 60K MILES ON IT. How to do it is explained in the oil change instructions further up the list. Also, at this time check the battery acid level if your battery not a sealed unit.
    3) Change the sparkplugs every 30k miles or 2 years. Forget the two years just change them every 30k miles. You need a very good sparkplug socket (5/8") which will grip the plug as they are down on the bottom of a very deep hole in the cylindar head. Bring a sparkplug to the store and test the socket out on it. You also need a 3/8 in drive ratchet, a six inch expension, and a 10mm socket all in 3/8 inch drive. A spark plug gauge is needed too.
       First remove all the plugs from their packages and check them with the gauge. The gap should be .043 inch.
       Using the ratchet and 10mm socket, remove the four black acorn nuts from the black plastic cover on the top of the engine. It says like VTTI on it and has a hole in it for the oil filler cap. Put the nuts in a tin can and remove the plastic. Now you can see the sparkplug sockets. Each one is held on by a 10 mm bolt you have to remove to pull the wire off the plug. Remove one of the 10mm bolts and pull the socket off the plug. Look down in the hole with a flashlight to check for crap down in there. If you find any blow it out with a can of Dust Off. If your car is older, there might be oil down there from a leaking valve cover gasket. Replace the plug anyway but bring the car in for a new VC gasket. Using the ratchet with a six inch extension on the sparkplug socket, loosen the sparkplug turning counterclockwise. Once the plug is good and loose you can remove the ratchet and turn the extension with your fingers. CAREFULLY draw up the sparkplug. This is where you want a really good socket because you dont want to drop it now and you dont want to go dropping the new plug into the engine. Put the new plug you check the gap in into the socket and extension and lower it down into the engine. Tighten it by hand then when its started use the ratchet. When you feel the plug bottom give it 1/2 turn more with the ratchet. Install the ten mm bolt and move on to the next plugs until you do them all.
    4) Rotate the tires. If you want to.

      There that is it! THAT IS ALL THAT IS DONE AT THE 30K SERVICE. There are some inspections Ill get to another day, but nothing else is changed or adjusted. You dont really need to do the inspections until the car gets like 60k miiles on it when you should perform them once a years. This is the service Toyota gets like $350 here in NJ to do! Lets do the math. The air filter at Toyota is $12 and the sparkplugs should go $1 each at AutoZone or similiar. A Fram oil filter and four quarts of oil on sale should be 6-7 dollars. Lets see 12+4+7 equals $23 for the 30,000 service!
  • rwgreenbergrwgreenberg Member Posts: 154
    Hi. Well it finally happened. My 18 yr. old made her first contact with another vehicle while driving my Echo. Just some scratches on the bumper. Anyone know how to get hold of touch-up paint without having to visit the dealer....always a hassle.

    Or...anyone have any idea if there is a product out there that has the ability to shmush the surrounding paint into the scratched part to cover it up. Seems like on the bumper this might be possible, but probably not.

    Thanks
  • kneisl1kneisl1 Member Posts: 1,694
    When I grazed a pole in a parking lot last year and put black marks in the bumper, I used scotchbrite to get the black off then spraypainted the area with a can of silver paint I got at the hardware store. At least you cant notice it from a distance.
       I was trying out sockets and wrenches on the drain plug for the manual transmission today and I believe a 15/16 inch socket will fit it perfectly. It will need to be a very short socket however as suspension components come within 3 or so inches of the plug. I dont think you could get a wrench on it either. Im thinking the metric equivelent would be 24mm. Its a scurvy plug however in that the head is very thin and undercut. It looks easy to bugger up. Im debating whether or not to change the transmission oil next year at 30k miles. It certainly doesnt NEED to be changed however the oil level needs to be CHECKED once a year or so as the car gets older.
Sign In or Register to comment.

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles