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I live in a small town and the mechanic wants to see me again!
Toyota would have wanted twice as much.
Living in a small town youre more likely to get a fair price.
Just wondering what brand 5W-30 motor oil you all use. I have a 2001 Echo with 88K and I'm considering switching to synthetic motor oil.
I'm just looking for some suggestions. What brand has worked well for you? What are you currently using, etc....
Thanks everybody! I hope all is well with all the Echos out there (and their owners).....
OCI's were 10k to 15k miles.
I became a preferred customer ($ 20 a year) just to obtain dealer prices. IMHO it is money well spend.
I suggest reading about different synthetic and mineral oils on www.bobistheoilguy.com and reach your own conclusion.
Right on with your post about tire pressure. My right front tire had zero air in it??!! Good grief. Don't know how THAT happened. I put air in all 4 tires last month before traveling from Tacoma, WA back to Eugene, OR. Maybe I ran over something?
Anyway, I am now comparison shopping for 4 tires. Previous posts mentioned Toyo Spectrum or Michelin Harmony. Costco online sells Michelin Symmetry or Michelin MX4. Still gotta check Walmart and the Toyota Dealer. The dealer has a $60 off coupon and a $50 gas card. Is there anyplace I should stay away from?
Glad I was able to help!
Well you can check there maybe ...
Thanks for everybody's help.
P.S the tires from costco from what I've been told are high end not car manufacture crap.does the odometer ratio change going to a differant tire size?
I've owned my Echo since Sept 2005 and no problems have arised . I have driven it for over 3K miles and replaced the factory air filter with a K&N lifetime filter and now I am "testing " the Pulstar plugs . I do suggest that the cabin Air Filter that the holder is with every Echo be replaced every year . The air Quality even in Monterey, California still has pollen in the air and for the small price (around $15.00) make me breathed alot better. I do the oil changes at 3,000 mile intervals with the oil filter and that little VVTI 4 banger works great !! :shades:
As for the Pulstar plugs they are in the same class as magnetic fuel conditioners for increased fuel mileage. Pure smake oil! I realize you love your ECHO and want to improve it. Please understand you are being taken advantage of! None of these things are any good and the most likely outcome is a worse off situation.
If you have really driven your ECHO only 3000 miles in two years may I suggest changing the oil at least twice a year. Changing it once in two years isnt enough.
Good luck with your ECHO I wish you many happy miles together! They are wonderfull cars!
If you want a wider than standard tire you have several options, all of which require a different wheel size and or diameter. See:
www.discounttire.com
www.tirerack.com
and others. All these websites will give a list of plus 1, plus 2, etc, tire sizes.
You can do a comparison on
http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp
Most car manufacturers recommend not increasing or decreasing the tire diameter more than 3% in order not to mess up the car computer, which is not able to compensate enough.
All kinds of problems could be created like brake and fuel consumption problems.
I think next time I buy tires for mine, I will go to the 185s as well, I might even go for 195/60s (which would have virtually the same diameter as the stock 175/65s) if they will fit on the rim and not rub on the inner fenders.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I'm wondering if I can get some feedback from you all. My 2001 Echo rides like a dream up until I hit 68-70 MPH, then I get a bounce/vibration in the steering wheel. I'm curious if anybody else has experienced this problem and can suggest what the problem might be.
My tires have 23,000 miles on them and are 2 1/2 years old. As far as I know they are balanced.
Thank you all for your input, its much appreciated.
You should probably have it inspected on the off chance it is a bad tire or a problem in the steering (or a bad ball joint), as either of those issues could prove dangerous at high speeds.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Theres brakes and a lot more!
1.Fwd O2 sensor 2.fuel control unit 3.tune up. I have replaced the O2 and tune up, could it be that i have to purchase a electornic fuel control unit?
I don't know what the codes are any more because they were discarded.
I did spray the mass air flow sencor and the car does have a better top end response.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
have 95,000 mi.on my manual 01 and no problems at all.
previously i had an 87 civic si before my echo and got 150,000 miles on that before replacing the clutch.i can only attribute it to my driving habits.j
have an 01 echo manual trans.95,000 mi and have done not much of anything except change the oil every 3000-4000 miles.
i am wondering if i need to do something as far as maintenance goes am almost waiting for something to go.am not used to this kind of reliability.
i did have scheduled maintenance at around 36,000.that was it.(got car w/22,000 on it already)
i am skeptical of the owners manual,and generally do not trust the dealerships as far as their recomendations.they told me to change transmission fluid,on a manual.never heard of that before.
i was thinking it is time to replace plugs and fan belt.
also was thinking that mabe i should replace timing belt.
mabe flush radiator for the winter.i personally do not believe timing belts on japanese cars need changing before 100,000.
any suggestion?
also i live in north jersey and was looking for an independant mechanic that specializes in japanese cars.
can't seem to locate any.
i did have a problem w/front door switches going.i do not believe that they are burned out,only stuck,as recently the passenger side started to work temporarially.
these are the switches that turn on interior light when door is opened,and make that buzzing noise if you leave ur lights on/keys in ignition.only down side is that i have left lights on w/out knowing locked keys in car,i always keep a spare key w/me at all times.
i am not someone that works on cars.
i have read some of the posts on here and someone mentioned cleaning the injectors.isn't that a huge no-no?i thought that anything more aggressive than pouring the occasional injector cleaner in the gas tank was about all someone should do.
sorry this is such a long post.
anh suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I have a 2001 Echo with 89,000 miles. I have noticed during cold temperatures the engine ticks more than normal. It's not severe, but there is a slight ticking noise in gear and while idling. When it is warm out, this noise is not there. I'm just wondering if this is common and if there is any way to have this ticking eliminated. A few people have told me that this is common with Toyotas and 4 cylinders in particular. Just curious if anybody has any input on the matter. Thanks all!
Mine uses the long-life plugs, and you can easily tell the difference as there is a sticker right on top of the engine that tells you to use only the platinums on models so spec'd (at least on the '02s there is). I changed the platinums at 60K and plan to do it again at 120K miles as I like to run a clean machine and old plugs have so much to do with your car producing excessive smog-forming emissions.
You should change the manual transmission oil at least once every 100K miles - I am just coming up on doing that myself. It's really something you probably ought to do every 60K miles also, but I have found that on Toyotas you can get away with 100K intervals.
I tend to change out coolant and brake fluid every two years (about 30-40K miles for me) to avoid rust and water build-up respectively. You could let that slide some, but not too much. Toyota says every 30K for a new air filter, and no, there's no timing belt in the Echo. Thank goodness it's a chain!
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Removing and reinstalling spark plugs unnecessarily may cause dirt to enter the engine and that is not good.
Anti-seize is the way to go!