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2002 Toyota Corolla S

by rajmaraj863, November 2, 2010

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Hello everyone, i'm new to the forums and i could really use some help.

I have a 2002 Toyota Corolla S and for 50 - 60 miles it takes about half a tank. (i have 123,000 miles on it)

I've changed the brake pads/rotors, spark plugs, oil/filter, shocks/struts, tires, and recently, connector bearings (I'm not sure if that's the correct name)

The mechanic said that the check engine light wouldn't be any problem (hes a great mechanic), but it has come on for 5 or 6 times now.

Recently, the fuel gauge has been weird, it sometimes shows half a tank, or a quarter of a tank, or in between when i drive.

If anyone can help me out, that would be appreciated, thanks.

Dan_H

When you refill the tank, can you tell if you're putting in as much fuel? i.e. Are you really getting <10 MPG, or is the tank reading just way off?

Well, before the gauge went whack, i'd put 10 gallons worth, mid grade, and it would stay at full. that's what would basically happen, until i drove long distances, about 15 miles, then the gauge would sometimes stay the same, or drop drastically, maybe close to 1/4 of a tank for that drive.

What was the check engine light code? Was it the same each time or was it different code? When the gauge drops while driving, does it return to normal when you come to a stop or when you shutoff and restart the car? Or does the gauge continue to read low for some time.

Sounds like you have an electrical issue here - could be from a number of different sources. Once we find out what those codes are, that will help point us in the right direction. At this point, just with the information you've posted - sounds like you have a bad tank sending unit. Sending the wrong signal to the ECM, causing your fuel level gauge to read incorrectly.

The check engine light code was: P0420 (The same code for 5 different times)

And the gauge, i don't really know what's the correct amount in the tank, but it goes back to the same level, or lower, than when i first start the car up.

P0420 is fairly common on this generation of Corolla. P0420 - Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold.

Usually related to a dying rear O2 sensor, faulty ECT sensor, possible exhaust leaks, misfires, electrical noise (bad ECM), or even a bad catalytic converter. In this case, I'd say 90% of the time, the catalytic converter is perfectly fine, something else is usually the culprit.

Possible that the CEL and the fuel indication problem are related. For the time being, I'd go by your odometer and not the fuel gauge. Chances are, the tank will still have plenty of gas even though the gauge will say otherwise. As Dan_H mentioned, are you getting the fuel economy that you expect. Example - fill up the tank completely, drive 100 miles, gauge indicates that the tank is empty (E). When you refill the tank, does 10 gallons go in or just just a few gallons. We need to know if the fuel mileage is way off, as that could point to another problem, and not just a wacky fuel gauge.

Ok, so the next time i refuel should i measure it on trip a, and the time after should i check the gallons being put in (miles / gallons)?

Ok, so the next time i refuel should i measure it on trip a, and the time after should i check the gallons being put in (miles / gallons)?
Exactly, find out what the mileage is. If it really is consuming as much fuel as the gauge is indicating, you might have a more complex problem on your hands. If the mileage is what you expect, then you've narrowed it down to a faulty fuel sending unit, bad gauge, and/or electrical issue somewhere.

 

 

I have 2 more effects i forgot to mention:

  • Heavy vibration during stop light/sign
  • Smell of burning oil or gas from time to time

I've refueled today on an empty tank, bp super (amoco) gas.

I've sort of figured out the fuel guage, It goes up when i turn it off for a bit, then when i drive, it goes down (usually close to 1/4 a tank)

Thanks alot for your help, by the way.

Im not sure if i am allowes to double post or not, but heres an update on the situation:

I get about 30mpg (mostly highway driving) w/ bp 93 gas

Im not sure if im not supposed to use super..

I do get a burn oil smell from time to time.

Sometimes my car shakes abnormally over 60mph.

And the fuel guage goes up as i begin to drive, then drops down a bit when i leave it off for some time.

Again, sorry if i double posted..

It won't hurt the car to run higher octanes, just spend more money then you need to. The amount of cleaners and additives that are required for good operation are the same, regardless of the grade of gasoline. The car itself was designed to run 87 octane fuel just fine.

In some extreme cases, running higher octanes than necessary can cause coking inside the combustion chambers - depends on the driving conditions and the car itself. I would recommend running 87 octane and see what the car does.

Oil burning smell can come from under the hood as well as from the exhaust - does the car consume oil? How often are you checking the oil level?

When you say "shakes" over 60MPH - what shakes? The whole car, vibration in the cabin, vibration in the seat, vibration in the steering wheel, etc.? Have you had the wheels balanced? Alignment recently? Checked tire pressures, condition of the tires?

The oil levels are fine, i check it every week. However, the weatherstrips on the front two doors are torn a bit, enough to hear excess wind when driving with the windows up, and smelling things from the outside (things on the road).

They are $55 each at a Toyota dealer, if there is any way that i can get them cheaper, ill get them, but i cant find them anywhere else..

But the shaking, the steering wheel shakes tremendously, it vibrates all the way to my shoulders, and can easily swerve if im not careful. I replaced the tires 2 weeks ago, as well as having an alignment.

Thanks again for taking an interest in this by the way.

To get that much shaking in the steering wheel, you must have a seriously out-of balance wheel/tire, bade tire, bent wheel. If those are fine, then it falls to the driveline - transaxle, drive shafts, loose or worn suspension, bad hub, bad wheel bearings, bad lower ball joint, worn bushings, etc.

First thing that I would suspect and check out is a potentially bad tire/bent wheel. Easiest way to do this is to move the rear tires to the front, drive around and see if the vibration changes. If you want, you can throw the spare tire into the mix, in case you have a bad tire/bent wheel on both set of axles.

You mentioned you replaced the tires recently - was this before or after you noticed the vibration. What was the reason the tires were replaced? Where they just worn out, road hazard / puncture, unusual wear?

The tires and rims are fine, i've always had that kind of ahakiness since i had the car, ive changed the rims from the corolla with a 2009 yaris (15s) but the rims are in good shape, then a few weeks ago i got the tires, pirelli P4s. But the shake only happens sometimes. Ive refueled with 87 today, so ill see what happens.

Am i supposed to be getting 30 mpgs on mostly highway driving?

Which transaxle do you have - the 4-speed automatic or 5-speed manual?

Getting 30MPG on highway is ballpark for this generation with a 4-speed automatic. 5-speed manuals can get 10-15% more pretty easily. Also depends on how you drive, what kind of tire and tire pressures are you running, car's suspension (lowered or not), fluid choices (synthetic fluids or conventional fluids), any hypermiling techniques, additional loads (A/C), etc. I typically get between 32-36 MPG in mostly highway driving, with a low of 30MPG to a high of 42MPG for this year. Lowest I've ever gotten with the car with almost 100% city driving (under 35 MPH) and 30-50% idling w/ A/C on - was 23MPG. Highest mileage was on an extended road trip - high about 47MPG with A/C on and fully loaded car.

I have a 4 speed automatic, i do run a/c half the time (florida).

Tire pressures and suspension are default,

And the oil is synthetic.

Te shaking sometimes makes my arm tingle a bit, so i have to switch to the other for a while

Vibration that intense and for that length of time is unlikely to be a suspension or tire issue. Sounds like it could be vibration transmitted from the engine. Could be anything from a badly worn engine mount (torque mounts) - which is likely for this mileage and age, conditions in Florida can hasten the mounts deterioration. If the engine is badly out of tune, that could also transfer a lot of vibration into the steering wheel cabin. I take it if you raise the engine speed, the vibrations will change intensity (generally less vibration as engine speeds above idle).

Well, i do hear a knock sound sometimes after i start up my car, and a tumbling sound when i drive. What could those mean?

Hard to say for sure without being right there. Knocking could be from a loose heat shield of thump from the serpentine belt tensioner. Tumbling sound when in motion is more troubling, could be anything from sticking brakes, to bad wheel bearings, to worn CV joints, to a transaxle issue.

For wheel bearings, i went for an alignment a few weeks ago, and they said that if the bearings were bad they wouldnt be able to do the wheel alignment. So they went through with the alignment. Would that mean that it wouldnt be the bearings?

We've changed the brake pads and rotors about a month ago. Would that still have anything to do with it?

It only makes that tumbling sound when i drive, or accelerate.

Not necessarily, sometimes they will still align the car and not worry about the bearings or if they missed bad bearings - depends on they shop's experience and equipment they use.

As for the brakes being part of it - possible they could be. Again hard to say without looking right at them. Generally, braking issues crop up while braking or accelerating after a braking.

Tumbling sound when you accelerate or cruise - that could be a misfire. You mentioned that you have already changed the spark plugs - which plugs did you end up using, same as the originals or something else? Possible that there is still a fuel or fuel delivery issue - clogged injector(s), possible stuck injector causing the misfires. When you have a check engine light come on, does the light ever blink?

As a matter of fact it did blink once, but never again after that.

Its like something in the engine, sort of like how you have a vaccum with the carpet cleaner, the tumbling of the roll, if it had excess hairs or something on it spinning.

Should i go to aamco and let them check it out?

Couldn't hurt to let them check it out. You don't have to agree to any of their work, but they should be able to run enough tests to atleast pinpoint the problem area. Tumbling sound could be something simple or something very expensive. Would be best to catch whatever is making that noise early.

I'll go ahead and take it in tommorrow, is there any parts i should tell them to check specifically? or will they do a complete check depending on the problem?

Is it true that you should change your transmission fluid and filter every 70,000 miles?

Just tell the service writes all the symptoms that you've seen/heard - they'll take it from there.

Transmission drain and refills and filter changes depend on driving conditions. On this generation of Corolla, they recommend 60K miles between drains and refills - I personally do a drain and refill every 30K miles and a filter change at 60K miles. Even for my relatively low stress driving (mostly highway), there is an amazing amount of junk that can build up in there.

If the transaxle on the car has never been serviced, then I'd recommend against flushing the transaxle, unless they use the one that requires the transaxle pan to be dropped and the machine hooked to the inlet pump on bottom. Drains and refills are less likely to "shock" the transaxle, like a flush will, over the course of several drains and refills - the majority of the "dirty" ATF out of the transaxle. Not as fast or efficient as a flush, but will still get the job done.



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