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Comments
http://theautoshop.com/timing.html
This site has information on timing belts and interference engines.
Bob
Any comments would be appreciated. My e-mail address is nenepop1@aol.com.
Thanks
Lee
Miller51--think about doing your timing belt/water pump/hoses soon. You're reaching the "tempting fate" part of that car's life span. Many Corolla belts and water pumps can go beyond 100K, but at 120K I would seriously consider replacement.
As for engine whine. I keep on hearing people talk about it. But so far no one has shown that its a problem. The dealer told me that the whine at 3000 rpms is an harmonic effect from the engine. There is nothing wrong with it. My 99 corolla LE engine's noise goes from silent to a mild whine at 3000 rpms. So far I have not expereienced any problems or heard of any body having a engine problem related to it. I guess the resonance frequency of the engine is just so happen to coinside with that rpm frequency. That would seems to fit the profile that most people hear it at acceleration from 20-40 mph. No big deal.
Beyond that little noise (you have to turn the radio off to hear it), I have not experienced any actual problems with my 1 year old Corolla. (imagined a few though) But if you are all hearing something over that normal noise, then by all means take it to a mechanic.
Good luck to all my fellow corolla owners.
The whining also occurs at rotations less than 3000 rpms and it's most noticeable when the engine is cold or when it's cold outside.
If it only developed a whine after the you bought the car, then there is something wrong with the car.
Also, the reason why whine is more noticable when cold is because (1) all engines are noiser when cold (2) the idle speed of the corolla is designed higher when cold (about 1600 rpm instead of 600 rpm when warm), making it closer to 3000 rpms, that's why it might appear that the engine is whining at at less than 3000 rpms.
If you are not sure, contact Toyota corp, they should be able to provide an answer since so many people seem to have the same question.
I took it to Mechanics and they can't give explanation but said the noise is normal and there is nothing they can do. I called Toyota custumer assistant dept, they let me to contact another dealership. They said if another dealership also say it's normal, so it's normal and I have to live with it. They also said they didn't get complaint about this noise. But it seems that many people are bothered by it. The noise is so annoying. What can I do to stop it? Any suggestion?
BTW, I've already told them that this noise broke in after I bought the car.
1) I shift from 2nd to 3rd (or 3rd to 4th) 2) the outside temperature was colder than would normally be for the season
After a mile or so, the light would go out. Of course I had the brakes checked right away (and checked all brake lights myself) but there are no problems. It goes off as it should when I release the parking brake and ironically, as I brake the car to a stop.
I've ignored the problem for almost a year and now that it has become more consistent (staying on
longer, coming on occasionally after going off) I'll probably let a dealer have a go at it. Still,
its pattern of lighting upon a certain combination of acceleration and temperature, plus my verified-OK brakes makes me believe it's a faulty sensor that needs to be replaced, and nothing to do with the braking system.
I would like to have more substantial evidence of that before going to the dealer - I'm very unimpressed with Toyota dealer service in Eastern MA and have instead gone to private mechanics with all four Toyotas I've owned. I just don't think my mechanic will be able to easily pinpoint this problem, but if I can suggest a solution, he will certainly try it. Any ideas?
the whining sound is typical of any japanese small engine. see any toyota,honda, mazda, suzuki, daihatsu..etc.
In fact that tiny whining sound(like a tiny electrical motor) is what makes these cars popular around the world as compared to the beating the american cars get around the world. No one touches american cars even with a yardstick. they all sound like a truck with broken bearings.
so be happy with the tiny whining and stop whining about it.
I had my 99 corolla for half year now. Everything is fine, just when I start the car, a kind of very heavy gasline smell will comes out from muffler. I don't know if that's normal. Thanks for any response.
I've driven two corolla's for the last 11 years. Both were automatics and both whined (as some many of you describe). It's normal for the car. First
Corolla lasted 179k despite a flood and a major crash. Started break down after 170k.
Not bad.
No problems since then. Happened 2 days ago.
I have a 99 corolla CE with auto transmission. Starting about 6000 miles, each time when I turn
the steering right ( more than 30 degree), I can hear a unusual noise. Just have the dealer checked, they found that the steering rack was sticking. After is was replaced, noise goes away.
Also, the rear row cup holder broken.
I have a 99 corolla CE with auto transmission. Starting about 6000 miles, each time when I turn
the steering right ( more than 30 degree), I can hear a unusual noise. Just have the dealer checked, they found that the steering rack was sticking. After is was replaced, noise goes away.
Also, the rear row cup holder broken.
I have a 1997 Corolla, Since I bought it, the rear passenger seat belt has locked up 4 times. The same seat belt. I have given Toyota 4 opportunities to fix it, yet it still isn't right. This means that my children's lives have basically been at risk since the day I owned the vehicle. I bought a 5 year unlimited mileage warranty on the vehicle yet had to fight Toyota for the third repair. After it broke a fourth time I asked for them to take the car back under the lemon law, which only requires three repairs. They have refused saying they think they have identified the problem, but they can't guarantee it is, They want the opportunity to try yet again, but I have refused to put my children in further danger. They will not EVER ride in this car again. I am now suing Toyota for a lemon law violation and they could have won a fan by admitting the problem (They actually admitted the problem) and buying back my lemon. Instead they choose to play the odds and hope I will give up and trade the vehicle in. I have started an email campaign and have already received responses from others that have had rear seat belt problems, so be careful. I hope no one here has to go through this nightmare themselves.
Bryan
thanks for the help!
But I tried 89 and 93 grade gas just out of curiousity, to see if it offer more performance. It seems that 93 grade gas makes the car run a little smoother (almost unnoticable), and give a little better acceleration. It could all be in my head, but for my daily commute, I hardly ever use anything other than 87 grade.
Corolla needs a MINIMUM of 87 Octane gas, as in your owners manual. I think occationally, some gas station gets a bad load of gas that's not quite 87. Maybe that's what's causing your knocking problem. First, I would try another brand's 89-93 octane, to see if that knocking goes away. If it goes away, then I will try the 87 octane of that brand. If the knocking does not return, then it probably means the knocking you experience with your current brand is probably due to a bad batch of gas.
Knocking is NOT good for your engine. In the long run, it will result in excess engine wear and damage. So I would not let this continue. When the tank is less than half full, I would fill it with a different brand, high grade gasoline.
If the problem continues, then you need to take it into the dealer check your engine. The modern corolla engine should have a knocking sensor, maybe that would be at fault.
In most states Toyota has a minimum number of repair attempts they are allowed, usually 3 or 4. In cases of safety it doesn't really have to be that many. After 3 or 4 attempts at fixing the same problem, you can request arbitration or go to court. Arbitration is only "binding" to the manufacturer, so if you don't like the solution you can usually still pursue the court action.
Finally, realize they probably don't care. You bought the car already, they have your money and they don't want to fix the problem. I have a seat belt that hasn't worked in the 3 years I have owned it and they don't care. It usually takes a year to go to court. You have the right after the car is deemed a lemon, to get all your payments, downpayments and dmv costs, as well as some affiliated costs.
This is all based on California law and I am not a lawyer, but I am getting a very complete education on the process.
I wish you all the luck in the world and I hope you don't have to go through the problems I did.
Also you may want to ask that Weyun (spelling?) guy, he seems to work for Toyota (He has all the answers and seems to take the manufacturers point of view alot) whathe thinks might work when contacting the manufacturer.
Bryan Jones
1) After only two months of ownership the closing hinge of the middle console door fell off
2) Driver side door is inoperable from the inside. Had lock replaced - still keeps happening about once a month.
3) Trunk is difficult to close.
4) Had both front tie rods replaced at 20,000 miles.
5) Had clutch problem at 22,000 miles. Got pressure plate and throw bearing replaced. car was in shop for 3 days.
Re. problems 1 to 3: Toyota knows about it. Service bulletins were issued to dealers.
Re. problems 4 and 5: I am very disappointed.
I did not expect all this from a Toyota.
I hope I sound a lot clearer this time.
Checked the cap. Sure enough, had to give it a quarter turn to start "hearing the clicks," but light stayed on thoughout the day. Took it into the dealer and asked "what's up with that?"
They said it may be a real problem or the sensor just needed resetting after tightening the cap. They said it would cost me money to check the engine after a 2-hour wait or they would reset it on the spot for nothing and said to bring it in if the light comes on again in the meantime.
Since the car drove and sounded fine, I had them reset it and am now watching to make sure it was just that-- a loose cap.
But... Can't the car self-correct the sensor if that's all it really is? It should go off after tightening it down again, shouldn't it? The manual said I need to drive the car "several times" (how many is that? How does it know?) for the sensor to "turn off."
Is this a real problem or am I being unneccesarily concerned?
I can understand how you might be very concerned about your new car. I was that way too when I first got my 99 Corolla LE. I was scared to death when I heard a clicking noise coming from the engine shortly after I got the car. I am actually the person who started this subject. (Check out my name on the first first post). Anyway, that "clicking noise" turn out just to be engine cooling in the cold winter air. Very normal to every car. But I thought I heard what I thought was a rattle coming from the window/door everytime I go over rough pavement. Well, it turned out, to my embarassment, to be overly loose wrist watch chain shaking. DOH! It's all understandable that we all lean towards the side of caution when we just paid $15K for our new car. Keep an eye out for any signs of problems, but relax a bit as well. The corolla is a good and powerful little car, have fun with it.
If you make a post that you are not happy with, you can click on the post number - it will be highlighted as a link for the poster only. This will give you the ability to "scribble" (i.e., delete) it. Then you can repost it the way you wanted it in the first place.
Tip: You have two chances to copy what you have already written, so that you can paste it into a new post and edit it. When you are on the hide or scribble screen, you can select all the text and copy it, or you can do that after you've chosen scribble and are returned to the topic page. After scribbling and leaving the topic page, you will no longer see your post.
Hope this helps...
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
By the way, there are several topics on tires in this conference. Why not use the Search feature to the left and look for them? You can read through the postings and see if you come up with something that will help you.
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
The trick is to make sure the tire pressure is measured when the tire is COLD (before driving) Gas expand significantly as temperture increases. And tire pressure can different by over 10 psi between hot and cold, so a hot tire with 33 psi might actually be under-inflated. Double check after your car has parked for few hours.