Someone From Atlanta, Ga?

Hi there,

I'm a student from Germany, working on my thesis at a company in Atlanta, GA.

I recently bought am used Corolla and a few days ago the check engine light came on, with a misfire code. The guy at the shop suspected the plugs or something in the electronics, but just reset the code as it didn't tell which cylinder it was.

My question now is if there's someone around from Atlanta area, who could help me out with tools and a place to actually work on the car.

As my luggage was already overweight, I didn't bring my tools over here. ;-)

Cheers!

Hi there,

I'm a student from Germany, working on my thesis at a company in Atlanta, GA.

I recently bought am used Corolla and a few days ago the check engine light came on, with a misfire code. The guy at the shop suspected the plugs or something in the electronics, but just reset the code as it didn't tell which cylinder it was.

My question now is if there's someone around from Atlanta area, who could help me out with tools and a place to actually work on the car.

As my luggage was already overweight, I didn't bring my tools over here. ;-)

Cheers!

I used to live in Marietta. There is an AutoZone there (off of 120) that is open 24 hours and lets you borrow tools. I think the official policy is no work in the lot, but people do it all the time. That's on the north/north-west side of atlanta. Another trick I've used is to find a car wash where you wash your own car via a high-pressure wand, and use the bay to help protect from rain/wind while doing work on the car. A 5/8" deep well socket and ratchet aren't expensive, and if you buy from a place with a good return policy, you might be able to get your money back when you finish. That isn't my preferred way of doing things though.

There's a really good mechanic/garage directly off of 120... I think it was called Arnold's. I don't have an address handy though. They were really good and honest when I lived there.

Unfortunately, I no longer know anyone in that area that could help you out.

What year corolla do you have? What was the specific code? On my 1998, when I had a misfire it told me which cylinder was doing it.

Good luck,

jim

It's a 2000 with 1ZZ-FE and I don't know the exact code, but the guy from the shop especially told me it it didn't show which cylinder it was. He didn't know why it wasn't showing the information.

Thanks for the provided information, I might try those options.

Hi there,

I'm a student from Germany, working on my thesis at a company in Atlanta, GA.

I recently bought am used Corolla and a few days ago the check engine light came on, with a misfire code. The guy at the shop suspected the plugs or something in the electronics, but just reset the code as it didn't tell which cylinder it was.

My question now is if there's someone around from Atlanta area, who could help me out with tools and a place to actually work on the car.

As my luggage was already overweight, I didn't bring my tools over here. ;-)

Cheers!

I used to live in Marietta. There is an AutoZone there (off of 120) that is open 24 hours and lets you borrow tools. I think the official policy is no work in the lot, but people do it all the time. That's on the north/north-west side of atlanta. Another trick I've used is to find a car wash where you wash your own car via a high-pressure wand, and use the bay to help protect from rain/wind while doing work on the car. A 5/8" deep well socket and ratchet aren't expensive, and if you buy from a place with a good return policy, you might be able to get your money back when you finish. That isn't my preferred way of doing things though.

There's a really good mechanic/garage directly off of 120... I think it was called Arnold's. I don't have an address handy though. They were really good and honest when I lived there.

Unfortunately, I no longer know anyone in that area that could help you out.

What year corolla do you have? What was the specific code? On my 1998, when I had a misfire it told me which cylinder was doing it.

Good luck,

jim

It's a 2000 with 1ZZ-FE and I don't know the exact code, but the guy from the shop especially told me it it didn't show which cylinder it was. He didn't know why it wasn't showing the information.Thanks for the provided information, I might try those options.

If the code is saying it is a misfire, it is likely to be one of these codes:

• P0300 Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected
   
  
• P0301 Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected
   
  
• P0302 Cylinder 2 Misfire Detected
   
  
• P0303 Cylinder 3 Misfire Detected
   
  
• P0304 Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected
   
  

Now, when it happened to me it was P0304, a misfire on cylinder 4. However, your mechanic didn't know which cylinder, so that leaves P0300, Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected.

I would definitely suspect the plugs, wires (assuming the 2000 has them and not just a coil pack on the top of the plugs), and the coils. Plugs are the cheapest to replace. Wires next cheapest I think, then coils being most expensive.

If your Check Engine Light is back on, you might want to find an Advance or AutoZone and ask them if they'll read your codes for you. Often they will do so for free.

Anyone that reads your codes *should* tell you exactly what code(s) were set. If they can't/won't, I'd find someone else to check things out and probably not go back. But that's just my opinion.

In any case, stay away from Duralast wires. I have about 6000 miles on mine and they have started arcing a bit. I plan to get toyota wires next week. Should've done that from the beginning. But then, I hadn't done the research at the time that I've done since.

Link to OBD 2 trouble codes

Good luck!

jim

Oh thanks a lot for that detailed and long answer. If it comes on again I'll follow you're suggestions.

He actually said Multiple Cylinder Misfire, so I'm pretty sure it was a P0300.

Cheers, Tim.