2001 Toyota Corolla - 35k miles, what to look for?

[sw99]

It has been years since we have owned a Toyota so any help would be appreciated. Next week I'm buying a 2001 Toyota Corolla with approximately 35,000 miles. Owned by an elderly woman that did short trips around town. Supposedly it regular oil changes but you never know. Very first things I'll do is a tranny fluid drain and fill, and a minor Tune up (Oil, Plugs, & Air filter).

Can anyone give me any advise of things to look for with this particular vehicle? Looks like the 1ZZ-FE engine is pretty decent. Not sure what the Automatic Transmission but I'll start looking into it. I think this will be a nice replacement for my 1997 Subaru Legacy. I have been looking for something more fuel efficient since I drive so much.

Thanks folks!

 

[JayhawkRoy]

See what a 30,000 mile service for this car requires and do it. May include a coolant change in addition to what you mentioned. I would also change the timing belt and water pump (if so equipped) unless proof of this maintenance requirement can be presented.

 

[friendly_jacek]

No timing belt and no need to change WP, they are very reliable in this car.
AT is also very reliable in this car, even more so than MT.
Watch for oil consumption issue, as this is the major problem with this engine (just like Saturns). Do oil flush before changing oil and use synthetic oils and conservative OCIs afterwards. Forget the 7,500 mile OCI as spec in the owner's manual. My 1ZZ-FE started oil consumption in mid 60's000 miles even with 5,000 mile OCIs.

What's the asking price?

 

[TrevorS]

Techron or Gumout to clean out the fuel system / combustion chamber.

Consider the Walmart $20 service as well. Before or after the FSC, take your pick. But not at the same time so you can see which one made a difference.

Don't do an oil flush until you have an idea of how dirty things are. The more dirty the engine, the more dangerous an oil flush is.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: TrevorS

Don't do an oil flush until you have an idea of how dirty things are. The more dirty the engine, the more dangerous an oil flush is.


I guess it wouldn't hurt to open valve cover to see how things look before flushing. The gasket is probably shot by now, so new gasket is a good idea. Now, clean top end doesn't mean rings are not coked and I would still do the flush or at least some short OCI with MMO. This engine is very hard on oil and plugs piston oil holes and rings in no time. I simply know that because I own one.

 

[sw99]

Yea JayhawkRoy, no timing belt on this I think they went to a chain around 1998. I'll definately look at the coolant and probably flush that as well.

friendly_jacek - Thanks that info sure helps. I think the price will be around $2300.

TrevorS - Thanks Techron is a great idea!

 

[sw99]

Yea good thought on the valve covers, are they easy to pull on these corolla's?

 

[MrQuackers]

$2300 is a flipping steal for this car wow get this deal done.

 

[hypervish]

For only $2300, I'd drive to Colorado myself and buy it! LOL

 

[stranger706]

I had one of these in college about 10 or 12 years ago. Mine was a 99 or 00. Nice running, basic little cars! The intake runners look like headers...funny I remember tricking my friends into thinking I put headers on my corolla...haha good memories

 

[sw99]

Thanks everyone. I am very happy with the price and the super low miles. I figure this car alone with save me at least $50 a month in fuel savings alone. I like the simplicity and basics theory on a commuter / daily driver vehicle. I'll splurge a bit when I by a new diesel truck here in a year or two.

 

[Rolla07]

As others have said consumption is the main concern. Run PU and do 5k mile intervals.

 

[Donald]

The worst it encountered was fuel dilution from short trips. I might do a UOA of the oil thats in it now just for giggles unless its brand new oil.

Front diff if not attached to transmission.

Brake fluid flush.

Install a Magnefine.

 

[dareo]

drain atf with each oil change, repeat every 3-5k miles till you have exchanged the trans fluid a few times. then you can probably drive it indefinitely.

 

[sw99]

Great points everyone thanks!

As for servicing the tranny, I believe its the 4 speed auto. Here is what I was thinking-

In order:
1. Do a manual flush on the tranny to get all the old fluid out
2. Install the Magnefine inline filter
3. Pan drain and drop so I can replace the tranny filter
4. Add the remaining fluid to fill the pan

 

[dareo]

Pan drop is a good idea. I'd just slowly rotate out the fluid by drain and fills at the same time as oil change. 3 drain and fills and it should be good. Slowly replacing old fluid with new is better than an instant changeover in automatics. sometimes all new fluid can release built up gunk too fast, or so the legend says.

 

[Smokescreen]

Put some fuel conditioner in the fuel tank, do a coolant change.

Yeah, no need to flush ATF with so low of mileage. A simple drain/fill a couple of times, use a good 5w30 with 5000 mile interval, drive it until the world ends.

 

[sw99]

I was going to flush by pulling a line and starting the vehicle to push the old fluid out. I would never have a shop do a flush but I was under the impression that the way I was going to do it was safer??

If there is any possibility of causing damage, I'll definitely only do the pan drop, clean everything and add a new filter and gasket. Then top it off and check for level. I am even strongly considering add a bottle of lubegard red just for the added benefit of keep the tranny temps down.

Does anyone know if the manual flush is safe or not?

 

[sw99]

Originally Posted By: Smokescreen
Put some fuel conditioner in the fuel tank, do a coolant change.

Yeah, no need to flush ATF with so low of mileage. A simple drain/fill a couple of times, use a good 5w30 with 5000 mile interval, drive it until the world ends.


Yea, I'll probably get new hoses next spring and do the coolant change all at the same time.

It did cross my mind to just drain the tranny pan and refill but I worry about how dirty the magnet and settlement in the pan is. I am probably over analyzing this like everything else I do...

 

[FutureDoc]

I am not 100% positive (about 90%) about the Corolla, but my MR2 is mechanically similar to the Corolla (same 1zz-fe engine but mounted at the back). The thing to look for is pre-cat failures. I know the 1zz Celicas and even the Rav4 had this issue so I expect the Corolla to have it as well. Basically, if the pre-cats start to fail, it will send ceramic dust back into the engine and that will eat everything up. Basically, you want to remove the O2 sensor and take a peak inside. If you see any cracking or wear inside, you have a major problem. If you take it into a shop for service, I recommend to tell them to check it out every time.

There is also a control ring issue so if you notice the car consuming oil (1qt in 1000mi is the definite issue but it can be less) get it into the shop asap. I would look to any significant oil consumption as a red-flag to this engines as the major issues both consume oil.