2006 Engine - Toyota Corolla, Chevy Prizm (1998-2008) - Corolland: the Toyota Corolla Forums

Guest neumannu47

I bought my daughter a 2006 Corolla with a manual transmission last week. She's three hours away, so I haven't see the car. What kind of engine does it have? The big question is whether it is an interference engine that is damaged by a broken timing belt or chain. (Which does it have?) Also, some cars are damaged by running out of gas. Is the 2006 Corolla in that category? (I don't remember what damage running out of gas does except to let crud from the gas tank get into the engine. That's not what I'm asking.)

Assuming this is a 2006 Corolla CE/LE/S trim (5-speed), it will have a 1.8L 1ZZ-FE engine. If it a 2006 Corolla XRS (6-speed), it will have a 1.8L 2ZZ-GE engine. The 1ZZ-FE runs fine on regualr gas, the 2ZZ-GE should be run on premium fuel only.

Both are interference types and run a timing chain that should last the life of the car. Both use a returnless fuel system - so all the major components are inside the gas tank (pump, filter, pickup, regulator). Hit of miss if it will damage the fuel system, the pickup "sock" will take care of most of the larger pieces of debris. The more critical problem is with cooling the system. Fuel acts as both a lubricate and a means to cool the pump assembly. Even running the tank low will increase the likelyhood of overheating the pump. I would suggest she starts looking for a gas station up as soon as the low fuel light comes on (typically leaves 2-3 gallons left in the tank - plenty of reserve for those emergency cases) and not to top off the tank (can damage the EVAP system).