1989 Carb. Toyota Corolla More Newbie Questions. - Pre-1997 Toyota Corolla and Geo Prizm

Guest my911cab

Thanks to all the listers who have helped me try to solve my "pinging" problem.

Here are a few more New To Corolla's questions:

Is the water pump on my 1989 1.6L Carb Corolla driven by the Timing Belt?

Was my car originally delivered with red raditor fluid back in 1989? It now has the green stuff and I was wondering how important it is to switch over to the red stuff?

The whole exhaust system on my car is pretty well shot. The car has only 42,0000 orignial miles (little old lady car for real) and it sat and just ran to the church and back. Should I buy a factory Toyota exhaust? I found a receipt in the glovebox from Midas for a full exhaust system she had installed when the car was 13 yrs old with 14,000 miles on it. The rotted muffler system is (I believe) a Midas system.

THANKS!

Andrew Conti

Braintree, MA

I'm not 100% sure - but I believe it is turned by the accessory belt and not the timing belt. It is hidden behind the timing belt though - so might be easier to get them both done at the same time. You'll end up doing the same amount of work to get there.

I've used Speedy Muffler, Midas, and another that escapes me at the moment for my previous domestics and imports - none have lasted more than 5 years tops - some have rotted out as soon as a year (salt on the road killed them for sure).

But on all, going with factory replacement parts lasted quite a bit longer than any shop could put it. Example - OEM replacements from Toyota were actually better than the one that came from the car as new. For some reason, the OEM (new) was mild steel that was aluminized for corrosion protection from the cat back (cat had SS shell, exhaust manifold was iron) - the OEM replacement part was all stainless steel, plus lifetime guarantee. Expensive though - was like $400 from the cat back. That was some years ago - not sure if they still do that now. Replaced the one about 10 years ago and still looks good today (just some slight surface discoloration, brackets are rusting, muffler and pipe are solid) - sees salt every winter.

Max

Always a good idea to use Toyota Red coolant in your Toyota. Be sure to flush before you fill if you do replace it.

On my 89, the alternator and water pump are on one belt. The power steering and A/C are on another. The timing belt is completely under the timing belt guard and could not power anything but the cams in the head.

The nice thing about OEM exhaust parts is that they are a bolt-on fit (if the rest of the exhaust is OEM). Aftermarket parts must be welded and bent. If this is to be a do-it-yourself job, you will have to be a welder and a exhaust tube bender to get the inexpensive aftermarket parts to fit. A good shop will hang the exhaust by the rubber hangers that OEM exhaust hangs from. This means they will have to weld the hanger rods on to the aftermarket exhaust. After a trip to a not-so-good shop you will find your exhaust held in place by metal straps and they might do some welding to the underbody of your car. Are the rubber hangers there on this Midas job?

now_driving_VW

Toyota didn't start using the red stuff until around 1993-1994. It originally came with green (ethylene glycol)....Since you're using green now... stick to it.. and flush it with a chemical treatment to remove any residue...and refill with green. The following year... water flush is adequate

Max

My 1987 Celica came (new) with Toyota Red. Was Corolla just late to the party?

now_driving_VW

My old 89 Camry came with green

Guest my911cab

I checked with my mechanic and he told me my 1989 Corolla would have been delivered with green from the factory. Anybody else?

Max

cab- sounds like you should stick with green.