The previous owner did not give me the Owners' manual which is why I was wondering if anyone could tell me what and when to do?
The Dealer recommands minor service every 5000 miles, an intermediate one every 15.000, and a major service every 30.000 miles.
NOW in my case the car is 7 years old but has only 37.000miles.
One month ago the previous owner did a Brake Job (Front pads, rear shoes), replaced the enging oil and air filter... my uncle said that I have to replace differential fluid, the engine coolant, rotate the tires (every 5000 miles) and replace the transmission fluid every 3000 miles.
I read that the newer corollas don't have to replace the transmission fluid (?) and for the older ones it would be fine every 6000 miles? Does anyone have the owners' manual and knows what Toyota recommands?
Thankful for any help. Want to keep up the performance of my car but not waste money on doing things that I do not have to
Thank you for reading this and for your help.
Sunny
Hello and Welcome to the forums.
There is an online maintenance schedule on the Toyota main website. have to look under the "For Owners" link on the main page, then to "scheduled maintenance" link - just enter the appropriate model year and vehicle info and you can view or download the PDFs there.
Dealer scheduled maintenance generally is much more conservative than the factory service schedule. Dealers are also notorious of adding unnecessary and sometimes harmful services - though it really depends on the dealership. Some are very honest and do good work for a fair price - others are all about profit and continued revenue streams.
Typically a low maintenance car - the items and timelines that I prefer on my own 2002 Corolla (~150,000 miles) - bought new. Most of this you can do yourself, as there isn't any specialized equipment needed.
- Synthetic motor oil with filter change every 7,500 miles (if I was using conventional - go with atleast every 5,000 miles) or every 6 months - whichever comes first.
- Air filter inspected at every oil change, replace every 15,000 miles / every 1 year or as needed (I have a K&N - just clean when necessary)
- Transmission fluid drain and refill every 30,000 miles /every 2 years or as necessary (ie. towing or heavy loads change every 15,000 miles)
NOTE: Separate reservoirs for transaxle and differential - you also have two separate drain/fill plugs on the 3-speed
- Transaxle pan drop every 60,000 miles with fluid exchange (replace filter as necessary - can be cleaned and reused, don't forget to clean off the little magnets)
- Coolant drain and refill every 30,000 miles / every 2 years (Toyota Red Coolant - not the "pink" premixed ones and distilled water in a 50/50 mix)
- Waterpump as needed - some like to change this out every 60,000 miles - I'm still running my original pump, still good.
- Powersteering fluid exchange (siphon out the reservoir) every 30,000 miles / every 2 years
- Brake fluid flush every 30,000 miles / every 2 years
- OEM Sparkplugs are good to 120,000 miles - I'd check them every 30,000 miles or atleast at 60,000 miles to check for unusual wear (low mileage accumulation).
- No plug wires, distributor, cap & rotor or dedicated coil - car uses individual "coil-over-plug" igniters, one per plug
- Serpentine belt inspection every year - change as necessary
- No timing belt - car uses a timing chain (should be good for life of car - should check to be on the safe side at 100,000 miles or so for chain stretch)
- A quick look at chassis nuts and bolts, suspension, brakes, and underhood hoses
- Every 30,000 miles / 2 years - I like to clean the throttlebody, replace the PCV valve, and clean the MAF sensor.
Hey Thank you very much.
I checked out the owners manual on the Toyota Homepage which was very helpful. Because what I didn't know and what the Dealer probably would not tell me is that I am advised to inspect most things. And not necessarily replace them at certain points though they might be just fine.
What left me a bit puzzled is the fact that Toyota requires an Engine oil and oil filter change nearly every 2500 miles?
I am not sure how well the previous owner took care of the car. He was an old man and drove only average 6000 miles a year. I doubt that he checked on it every 6 months. But I hope that is no problem.
Thanks for sharing.
There are two separate schedules that Toyota idicates - one is for normal conditions, one is for special driving conditions. I think you are trying to combine the two - that's why the interval is too short. Stick to a 5K mile oil change for most instances and you should be just fine. The quality of conventional motor oil has come so far, that 5000 miles is really no big deal. Just keep an eye on the the oil levels, as you only have about 4 quarts total to work with in the engine. If you want to run a much shorter interval - you can, just spending more money than you should.
hmm.. maybe that is what happened =).
thanks
Where is the PCV valve on a 2001.
PCV valve is on the valve cover itself. Should be on the right side, on the firewall side - has a fairly good size rubber hose coming from it.
PCV valve is on the valve cover itself. Should be on the right side, on the firewall side - has a fairly good size rubber hose coming from it.
