Question about an '02 Corolla with the 1.8L

[RD_3]

Hey Guys,

I might be getting my grandparents '02 Corolla that they do not need anymore. It has 80k miles on the clock and for the past year it has been driven maybe 50 miles. The oil was changed a month ago and on the dipstick there was this yellow/orange "gooey" substance that wiped off. Is this something to be worried about? Could it be varnish?

Car runs great and does not burn oil. Changed with conv 5w30 which it has used its whole life. I am going to drive the car for about 1000 miles and then change the oil and pull a sample for analysis. Just wanted to see before if this is a red flag for bad things to come.

 

[Herz]

Could be condensation. 50 miles a year is horrid for a engine I think. I had the 1.8 and never had any goey substace. I drove the car alot though.

 

[Smokescreen]

Sounds like a good plan t, if its an automatic trans, drain and refill that too, its due.

 

[RD_3]

The trans was just flushed by the dealer a month ago which is nice. I just found out about getting the car yesterday so my brain is spinning with everything I need to check out. Hah. I come from a VW background so these Toyotas are a bit different to me. What I did like to see was the fact that it had an actual throttle cable, gotta love drive by cable. This engine should easily hit 200k+ with the proper maintanence. I would use it for a DD and have my '08 Jetta Wolfsburg as well. All the maintanence items are so straight forward, nice.