Startup Noise on 2001 Corolla

[The Critic]

So I saw my uncle at a family dinner last Sunday, and he told me that his Corolla had excessive noise upon startup after a visit to the local quick lube joint for an oil/filter change. He usually goes to a Toyota Express Lube, but I guess he was in a hurry and went to a quick lube instead. At first, I thought that the excessive startup noise was caused by an oil that was too thick, perhaps the grease monkey had installed a monograde 30wt or a 10W-30. When I got home and thought about it some more, I was going like, what in the world was I thinking? The other reason that I could come up with was that a very thin oil might have been used. There shouldn't be much viscosity difference between a 5W-30 and 10W-30 dino, so that couldn't be it. (BTW, I think his daily commute is about 2 miles) The only conclusion that I have come to at this point is possibly, a defective oil filter. What do you folks think? Michael [ March 22, 2005, 04:59 PM: Message edited by: Michael Wan ]

 

[deepsquat]

I am thinking faulty bypass valve in the oil filter ...needs to get that filter changed

 

[Curious Kid]

Good point on the filter - I remember doing an oil and filter change on an ol's cutlass, and the filter (fram) that was recommended for it happen to be smaller than what was coming off the car, and noticed that at warm idle, the oil pressure light would come on. The car was taken to the shop where a new filter was installed and the systems checked. I believe the issue was the filter after all, but it's been some time on a car that wasn't mine. FWIW - my brother-in-law's brother came back from a quick lube one time, to find that his oil filler cap was missing. As for whether it wasn't installed correctly or at all, we don't know. If you must go to a quick lube, check things out after to make sure things were done correctly - oil level, dipstick and cap properly installed, and a new filter without kinks or scratches is on and not leaking. I'm not trying to make anyone dread such conviences, but you just never know.

 

[kreigle]

If it is only on initial startup and goes aqway, I would agree on the filter.

quote:

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Originally posted by Curious Kid: FWIW - my brother-in-law's brother came back from a quick lube one time, to find that his oil filler cap was missing. As for whether it wasn't installed correctly or at all, we don't know. If you must go to a quick lube, check things out after to make sure things were done correctly - oil level, dipstick and cap properly installed, and a new filter without kinks or scratches is on and not leaking.

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I don't trust dealers anymore either. The local Honda dealer did this to my wife's car in January. Left filer cap laying up somewhere in the engine compartment. She drove the car for almost a week before we found out. Needless to say, they got an earfull from her!

 

[slalom44]

This is a common problem discussed at Corolland.com and has been found to be related to the timing chain. I'm not saying that I'm certain that this is it, but you might want to do a search on that forum for more info on the subject. I recall that many owners just accept the noise, and no problems have occurred. The earlier models ('97 and earlier) have timing belts, and are not known to have this problem.

 

[Alan]

Did you guys check the oil level?