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I recently bought a 95 toyota Corolla. Of course the previous owner thought it was a hot rod or something –
Fart can exhaust, bright blue “performance” ignition wires, and of course a K&N RU-5111 air filter.
I tell ya, that 1.8 does 0 to 60 in mere minutes!Anyways – if you are going to replace the air filter, make sure and get something compatible that will go inside the air filter box. Some air intake systems have anywhere from one to three sensors situated somewhere between the air box and the upper intake. One of the sensors on my engine is just dangling. I think it probably hooked into the air box. He felt the need to toss that. I do plan on fixing this blunder.
With the filter itself, It is kind of hard to imagine the extra performance gained would offset the ridiculous cost of a K&N filter.
Just like with any hobby, there are always going to be the scams that supposedly improve things. Try not to waste your money.This is a constant debate about changing fluid or not.
Here is another thought –
If the fluid is kind of dark like dark reedish but not horrid looking, it can probably be safely changed.
If the fluid is black and nasty – leave it alone. At this point the trans is probably doomed to failing soon and trying to put in fresh fluid will likely just accelerate the failing process, as said cause the detergents will wash the friction material off the already burnt-to-a-crisp clutch packs.
Here is a photo of burnt VS new clutches in a auto trans –
http://transmissionrepairguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/burnt-clutch-plates.jpgWhat you could do also to get a real good idea of fluid condition – put a think rubber hose down the trans dipstick tube and suck out some fluid, maybe 2 ounces (1/4 of a cup) and put the fluid in a white cup and just look at it. Dark red – not bad. Black – barbecued.
I worked in a transmission shop years ago and we often heard, “We took it to a shop to have the fluid changed and afterwards it started slipping real bad”.
Whether you change it or not – either way is taking a chance at this point.
Radiator hoses are a PITA to remove even when you WANT them to come off. Maybe the tech had removed it and forgot to tighten it.
Firestone does kind of suck. I went there years ago for some deal on a coolant flush on a taurus i just bought. Figured the coolant could use service at whatever good price they offered ($40 maybe?). They came back and said I needed a new water pump, flush and fill, serpentine belt, and alternator. $400 for everything. The alternator was “just because” basically. No, “Just because” is a reason to give you other half the gift of fine jewelry when it is not a holiday.
I declined. The water pump and alternator lasted at least until we sold the car 30,000 miles later.Moral of the story – avoid Firestone.
It slipped a couple more times the other day. Not a good feeling.
Anyways I investigated a bit and there was pretty much NO freeplay in the clutch pedal. I adjusted that by loosening a nut under the dash (had to take the lower dash apart to get to the nut) and backing off some sensor for the cruise switch.
It doesn’t seem to have problems now.It is weird though cause with the clutch, it seems to grab well (yeah it might slip if I tried hard enough, not sure that 1.8 engine could handle 4,500 RPM) but yes the clutch does grab high and grab quick.
I had some service records from the old owner (which I called the shop to verify a few things) and the clutch was replaced 13,000 miles ago. I am thinking that there is no way a clutch could go bad in that short a time unless someone really abused it.
I do not ride the clutch. I do not sit there holding it down with the trans in first while waiting for a green light.
Honestly that sounds like something a shop would have to evaluate. Wheel alignment isn’t something a home mechanic can accurately do at home. Maybe go through mechanical adjustments but getting it precise is pretty tricky.
When you say slanted outward, do you mean like if you look at the back of the car, the tires slant outward at the bottom? Do the front tires seem to slant inward? That is pretty normal.
If there is abnormal tire wear and the previous owner was regularly rotating the tires, who is to say the alignment issue isn’t in the front end?For it correcting itself when you raised and lowered the back end, that is cause when the wheels were off the ground, there was no resistence but then during lowering, they caught the pavement and held them into place until the car moved down the road.
A few minutes of warming up a car on a cold day is never a bad idea. Even if it is “harmful”, it is probably worse to go barreling away on a cold engine. Most machines benefit from being eased in when completely cold. Let the engine blow out condensation, oil and fluids circulate, belt(s) become more pliable, thermostat open a bit RPMs stabilize, metals expand properly…
Engines are designed to run best at a certain temperature.All this is why it needs at least a minimal warm-up first thing in the day. When it is below freezing, I try to give mine 3 to 5 minutes. maybe 2 or 3 on a warm day.
It really is pretty simple.
Maybe one last thing to do is ask the seller to see an ID so you know he or she is the actual owner.Usually when you buy a car from a dealer, there is a lot of extra unnecessary paperwork. Private party though – verify VIN, he fills out seller section, you fill out buyer section, then do the fun stuff at the DMV, all done.
Probably NOT scammed.
If the driveshaft had to be shortened by 3.5 inches, it will be working at a greater angle than before shortening. The old U-joints may not have been good for this under daily use. U-joints and inboard CV joints (on half shafts) are good for only so much of an angle before causing binding, which I guess is what he meant by “crunchy”.I could be wrong about all this but one thing is for sure – when doing any kind of serious mod to a vehicle, several other things surrounding it also need to be modded to accommodate.
I think if you have enough knowledge to do major engine work, you will probably understand when he explains why the old ones were bad.
Did they swap the engine with an identical one? If not…
This might not help but just to let you know what you are dealing with –Often times when people do engine swaps, they tend to forget that the entire car is engineered for all systems to work together in a certain way. The two biggest systems working together are the engine and transmission. Even in 1993, there was a PCM controlling many things.
Long story short – if they didn’t put a matching or properly modded transmission in as well, it may be struggling.
Keep in mind also that some people think 4 cylinder Hondas are race cars. God knows how hard you car was beat before.
is possible that gas could be mixing with the oil. Probably not in huge amounts but if the engine is running rich, some of the fuel is probably not getting completely burned. Since oil and gas both work inside the combustion chambers and the rings are probably not perfectly sealing on this old Jeep, there could be a bit of mix. Gasoline has a very strong smell that doesn’t dissipate very well so even tiny amounts will leave a scent.
The main thing is to find out WHY it is burning rich. That seems to be the root of your problems.
Unless it gets worse, just do what you can and maybe live with losing a quart between oil changes.
I know that sounds like a smart ass answer but it is not. Here is the thing –
Honda engines are kind of bad about leaking and/or burning oil. Especially after 220,000 miles. ANY car is going to have some oil loss problems after that long.
If you are worried about trying to repair it if it could get into a huge mess (like you said in so many words), it might be best to leave well enough alone.And as you already know, just keep an eye on the level by checking it (and the other fluids) about once a week.
Wow, I didn’t know it had that many problems. Yeah it might be time to start looking for something new. It wants to lay to rest.
You have the patience of a saint having kept it this long.In the meantime, there is a song that your car might relate to – Da Yoopers “Rusty Chevrolet”.
On the video at the beginning, there is a guy with a metal detector looking for his sex machine buried in the snow. When he plows out of the snow, I do not know what that thing is he is driving, but holy crap…It has a few problems –
hard to start, brakes, muffler, piston rings, tires, rust, door missing, frame bent, it smokes, parts rigged up by chicken wire, no heat, no dash lights, suspension, front left tire…On the good side – the very junkiest cars we own make for future laughs. Oh it sucks when things are falling apart but later we look back and it is hilarious.
The pliers thing might work unless the metal is too thick. As we can see from the diagram, the “staked” parts of the lock washer need to be recessed into the indents of the tie rod. What you could try is to get a couple really small bolts or maybe roller bearings, line them up where the indentations of the tie rods are, put a LARGE pair of slip joint pliers on, and squeeze enough to create the “staked” effect.
It might be awkward trying to situate the pliers and the tiny bolts/bearings/whatever but yeah, it would be worth a go. Lay the small bolts along the sides. They will be ruined either way but for 10 cents each, who cars? Get bolts with smaller diameter than the width of the indents on the tie rod.
the end result is the lock washer is indented into those grooves. Keep in mind the really small bolts are JUST for creating the indent and are not gonna be permanent…
Also if the tabs of the lock washer (for the “rack end”) bend out of place, take a small screwdriver that you do not mind using as a chisel and tap them back into place into their own indents.
The reason they say to use a roll pin punch and hammer is it would be way easier but if everything is already together then it would be MORE work to remove stuff just to stake with a hammer and roll pin punch. Well that and we notice snap-on product placement. $20 for ONE. Hmmm….
Good to know. I suppose anything on a car CAN fail suddenly but it is nice when there is plenty of warning.
Unlike my old 97 Acura with an automatic – One day i go out on a nice day, put it in gear, and it took like 4 seconds to engage. Things just got worse after that. You know that feeling like your insides are melting? Like when you cannot find your wallet? That was what happened during those 4 seconds.As far as MY driving style – I am not one to burn out the tires, race or abuse my car. I am too old fro that nonsense.
Just give that tie rod connection an extra snugging where it should be staked. Not like stripping it but just make real sure it is plenty tight because tie rods do tend to twist a little during turns (hince the ball joint on the tie rod end).
Maybe after a couple days of driving check it again to make sure it is still tight. If by some act of God it DOES get loose, park it until you can stake.If I had to guess, I would say it will be fine for some time but no one can really guarantee that.
Staking is kind of like putting a cotter pin into a crown nut – just a little extra assurance. That extra “10%” as they say.
I personally have a hard time imagining the fate of a fastener rests on a forcefully distorted piece of metal.EDIT – not that you are using one for the tie rods but the above does not apply to snap rings Those things are a MUST where they are used like the installation of some upper or lower ball joints.
