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Their names are Sundance and Echo.
The first thing we are going to check is the coolant level and cooling system in general. With the engine stone cold, remove the cap to the radiator. Its right there at the front of the engine compartment in the middle. There should be coolant right up to the cap. If there is, look behind the radiator to the left (left is left side of the car) and find the expansion tank. There is a line on it indicating where the level should be when full. If it is there is nothing further to do. If its not and/or the coolant level in the radiator wasnt up to the cap, there is more work to do. Get some antifreeze (I prefer to get it from Toyota) and some distilled water in a gallon container from the drugstore. In a separate CLEAN gallon container (like a milk jug with a screw top) pour two quarts of the antifreeze and two quarts of the distilled water and shake it. Into the half full gallon of antifreeze pour the half gallon of distilled water. Now you have two gallons of antifreeze, enough to add some for now and later and enough to change the antifreeze at a later date. LABEL THE MILK JUG FULL OF ANITFREEZE BEFORE YOU STORE IT.Get a funnel and fill the expansion tank up to the line on the tank and/or also fill the radiator up to the cap level. Put the cap on and start the engine. Drive the around to warm the engine up. Stop the car, put the transmission in PARK and put the handbrake on. In a manual transmission car, leave the transmission in neutral and apply the parking brake. With the engine running, lay on the ground so you can observe whats going on under the engine. You are looking for leaks. The place to look is under the engine on the right side of the car (which is where the water pump is) and across the front of the car where the radiator is. Look for at least five minutes as it may only drip once or twice in that time. If you see dripping coolant youre going to need to take the car in to have it fixed. No leaks? Well, maybe all is OK and maybe not. For the next week or so, whenever you drive the car, look under it for leaks. If you park it in the same place every night, you can put a large piece of cardboard under it and inspect it in the morning for drips. A week after checking the coolant level, check it again. If its OK check it again in another week. Is the level in the radiator and expansion tank full? If so then all is well. If not you have to add coolant and check it again next week. If you are adding coolant on a regular basis you better have a shop look at it. Any or all of the following may need attention. The water pump could be shot (on Toyotas they usually go over 100k miles before going) the coolant hoses may be worn out and leaking, or the radiator itself may be leaking. Have a shop check it out and fix it.
Note: I have an Echo and love it...however was considering getting another vehicle like the XB since it had loads of space for folks in the back and has similar mechanicals as the ECHO.
Has it been confirmed that this is the last production year for the ECHO??
Thanks,
Mike
"I think most consumers equate Toyota with high quality, which is why we were both surprised to see some flaws in our test car. There were noticeable gaps at the top of the A-pillars and wavy rubber gaskets around the rear windows. We were also a bit dismayed by what was under the hood. Our Scion came equipped with a twin-cam 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 108 horsepower and is linked to a five-speed manual transmission. The engine is noisy, especially at highway speeds, and it's short on power, particularly when you're trying to overtake or merge into heavy freeway traffic. We both thought the suspension felt stiff and harsh, and the front bucket seats, while stylish looking, need more lateral support. Basically, you get out of the xA shaking your head and wondering how the xA and the xB, from the same brand, could deliver such different impressions."
I think the Echo is definetly a contender in value, reliability etc..
Whatever you decide good luck.
Well, that is misleading also. What kind of time frame are you referring to? What scores are you referring to?
Great car.
I have an '00 Echo that I bought brand new. It has 29900 miles on it. For the last few months i've been having a problem with the acceleration after the car hasn't been started for a period of around 13-15 hours or more. What happens is every morning as i exit the driveway, no matter how hard i press on the accelerator i get only idleing speed for about 3-4 seconds. From then on for the rest of the day I never have a problem. It started happening a couple months ago, but it didn't happen consistently every morning, so i thought if i took it to the dealership they wouldn't be able to reproduce it. But now it is happening consistently, any time the car has been left for a period of at least 13-15 hours without starting. It happens in all kinds of whether, very hot and very cold. It happens whether or not i turn the radio on at the start. What the heck could the problem be? Fortunately i have an extended warranty (5 year) so it will hopefully be covered. But i just wanted opinions as to what the problem might be just because i am curious. Thanks for any responses.
I took it to the dealer today and left it for them to try out in the morning. Should be interesting to see if they can find the problem or not. They'll call me and let me know what's going on, and i'll post here whatever i find out. I'll bet your right that it's a sensor somewhere... or something just takes awhile to charge... it's weird because it happens in all weather conditions. Anyways thanks for the reply and i'll keep posting updates.
I recently had the same problem. Unfortunately my ECHO has 113000 miles on it and it wasn't covered under warranty and cost me $95 to find out it was just a dirty MAF sensor. The dealer cleaned it and my ECHO has been great ever since!:)
http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/h34.pdf
MAF stands for Mass Air Flow sensor. As far as where it is on the Echo, i'm not sure since the dealer has my echo now, but it is probably right around the air filter somewhere. It makes since that a Dirty Maf could be my problem because i just changed the air filter to a K&N. I did some research and i guess the K&N is known to have oil come off it that will get on the MAF, and then dirt gets stuck to the oily MAF which causes bogus readings. The dealer thinks it's the transmision slipping, so they want to change the trans. fluid and check it out tommorow. If there is still a problem tommorow i'm just going to tell them to clean off the MAF for me since that is probably what it is. Based on my research a dirty MAF probably won't cause an error code either.