My Free 2001 Corolla Ce

Great catch. Nothing like getting something for free.

Since it is your brother, ask him what maintenance he did on the car. You may not need to replace all of the fluids if he did some recently.

If it were me, I would replace the spark plugs and air filter.; remember to check the gaps; they are not always set correctly.

Sounds like you may need to replace the seat if it got bent in the accident. Out here you can find this easily on Craigslist.

Good luck on your venture.

Well, from the looks of it, I don't see where any oil is leaking, so I am now figuring I have one of the classic oil burners of the 8th generation of Corollas. So, my thought now is about the oil rings and piston. I am thinking that if I add SeaFoam to the oil over a long enough period of time, that it will get rid of the clogs and carbon build up, and hopefully stop the burn. I am thinking of going with the Rotella that I have read on here too, for oil.

As far as the spark plugs go, if you use an iridium tip, the Corolla manual says not to adjust the gap. Is this what you all do when you change your plugs? I looked at the plugs today. Alot of white, caked on stuff on them. Did a LIGHT cleaning on them, will replace them ASAP.

Talked to my bro about what maintenance has been done. Evidentally, not much. Just the regular oil changes, new tires. No flushes of any kind have been done.

Ian

Well, from the looks of it, I don't see where any oil is leaking, so I am now figuring I have one of the classic oil burners of the 8th generation of Corollas. So, my thought now is about the oil rings and piston. I am thinking that if I add SeaFoam to the oil over a long enough period of time, that it will get rid of the clogs and carbon build up, and hopefully stop the burn. I am thinking of going with the Rotella that I have read on here too, for oil.

 

As far as the spark plugs go, if you use an iridium tip, the Corolla manual says not to adjust the gap. Is this what you all do when you change your plugs? I looked at the plugs today. Alot of white, caked on stuff on them. Did a LIGHT cleaning on them, will replace them ASAP.

Talked to my bro about what maintenance has been done. Evidentally, not much. Just the regular oil changes, new tires. No flushes of any kind have been done.

Ian

i wish it were that easy, i have also started using seafoam. so far its my second treatment in 5 weeks. im just waiting on the oil to get darker so i can change it.

but the seafom wont get rid of carbon build up that has been there for a few years, depending what kind of maintenance the car received..

it will provide a smoother idle, better throttle response and if added to the crankcase it will clean out some stuff. unfortunately the oil guzzling our cars love wont be cured with anything that comes out of a can.

its too bad the only fix to these symptoms is either to get a newer engine, another car or rebuild the one u have.

if ur only problem is a leaky gasket the u are lucky. just replace it and ur done.

but if u indeed have an eight gen oil guzzler then all u can do is stay on top of oil changes, topping it off when needed.

switching to synthetic also helps.

unless u want to go with any of the options i mentioned before.

about the plugs iridium is a great choice.

no need to gap. i dont know about the other guys but i always get my plugs from autozone or o'reillys and they come pre-gapped.

I added some SeaFoam yesterday. I am hoping this will help some. Like Cesar, I am waiting on the oil to get darker, will add some more, then do an oil change with Rotella Synthetic (15W40 perhaps). I wish it were a leaky gasket. Sooo much easier to deal with.

I noticed some of the Bosch Platinum Plugs come pregapped. From the guides available, it says they can be used on the Corolla. Anyone try these? Also, was thinking of doing a Piston soak with the SeaFoam. Has this led to improvements for anyone on the oil consumption?

All in all, the car drives decently though. Will definately monitor the oil situation.

Ian

I added some SeaFoam yesterday. I am hoping this will help some. Like Cesar, I am waiting on the oil to get darker, will add some more, then do an oil change with Rotella Synthetic (15W40 perhaps). I wish it were a leaky gasket. Sooo much easier to deal with.

 

I noticed some of the Bosch Platinum Plugs come pregapped. From the guides available, it says they can be used on the Corolla. Anyone try these? Also, was thinking of doing a Piston soak with the SeaFoam. Has this led to improvements for anyone on the oil consumption?

All in all, the car drives decently though. Will definately monitor the oil situation.

Ian

been there, done that.

that 15w-40 u intend to use will only mask ur oil consumption temporarily. but theres a catch...

the thicker the oil u put there the worse ur fuel economy will get!!!

im currently running a heavy diesel oil, "Delo 400 15w-40".

if ur problem is not a leaky gasket u will be surprised what a thicker oil can do. yes, it will temporarily mask the consumption. but it will not fix it. it will probably stay there 2500-3000 miles depending how u run the engine, after that it will begin actin like a regular 5w-30. and the oil level will gradually go down faster and faster..

sounds nice at first if u plan to change ur oil every 3k miles.

but will be disapointed with the mpg ur going to get.

when i said im just waiting on my oil to get darker so i can change it i was referring to that heavy 15w-40.

I DONT LIKE IT!.. and im sure u wont either. i already bought a 5gal jug of Valvoline 5w-30 and all im going to do is constantly check the oil level and add some as needed.

so it basically goes down to which way u want to go.

-u can run a thicker oil, but u WILL spend way more than usual at the pump, not to mention ur making ur engine work harder than it was designed to.

-or u can use the 5w-30 the corolla was designed to run, get the great mpg its supossed to give u and not making ur engine work as hard in the process. all u have to do is get an extra quart to top off when necessary.

so its up to u really, whatever u think its best.

yes, i have used the bosch platinum on the corolla, autoparts guy says theydo not need to be adjusted but my mechanic doesnt like em. he says its better to get the ones the car came with. i think their the "NGK" ones, or "Denso" he says. (hey, he makes a living out of this so i trust him)

about the piston soak other than helping with idle and cleaning some carbon deposits off the combustion chamber, no it wont help that much with oil consumption. at least not enough for u to be able to tell the difference..

I added some SeaFoam yesterday. I am hoping this will help some. Like Cesar, I am waiting on the oil to get darker, will add some more, then do an oil change with Rotella Synthetic (15W40 perhaps). I wish it were a leaky gasket. Sooo much easier to deal with.

 

I noticed some of the Bosch Platinum Plugs come pregapped. From the guides available, it says they can be used on the Corolla. Anyone try these? Also, was thinking of doing a Piston soak with the SeaFoam. Has this led to improvements for anyone on the oil consumption?

All in all, the car drives decently though. Will definately monitor the oil situation.

Ian

this are the plugs that are in my car right now.

[/url]https://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff176/cesar0215/Cars/IMAG0190.jpg

and this is my "Saudi Arabian" supply worth of oil!! lol. Most eight gen corolla owners eventually get used to this..

the blue jugs are the "15w-40" i have been using for a few oil changes now.

the valvoline "5w-30" is the one i bought a few days ago...

http://i241.photobuc...rs/IMAG0192.jpg

Well after some browsing around on the internet i found this article on MOTOR OILS. Its very interesting i think u should take a look.

[url=http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/][/url]http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/

Ian, welcome to Corolland!

You can try to use a "high-mileage oil" of same viscosity, 5W30. It helped me to reduce oil consumption, although did not eliminate it completely. I found it cheaper and more useful than adding Lucas oil additive.

Don't even think of synthetic oil, I tried and my engine developed serious leak, in addition to burning oil.

Ian, welcome to Corolland!

 

You can try to use a "high-mileage oil" of same viscosity, 5W30. It helped me to reduce oil consumption, although did not eliminate it completely. I found it cheaper and more useful than adding Lucas oil additive.

Don't even think of synthetic oil, I tried and my engine developed serious leak, in addition to burning oil.

Thanks for the welcome!

I am going to change my oil on the Corolla today. I had added the SeaFoam about a little over a week ago, and the oil consumption is MUCH LESS than before. On the dipstick, it may have gone down about a quarter to half an inch. So, I am pleasingly surprised by this, and hope with continued additions it will help further.

I bought Mobil 1 10w40 Synthetic to change my oil with. The Corolla uses about 4 qts, correct? Anything special I need to look for when changing the oil? I have a hard time believing that Synthetic oil will cause a leak to form. Never have had that happen on any other vehicles. I will also be adding more SeaFoam. Haven't done the Piston Soak yet, may try that soon still. Can the Lucas be used in conjuction with the SeaFoam? Does the Lucas help with oil burning as well?

Anyhow, any advice you can all give is advice I will very much appreciate. Thanks!

Ian

Lucas is hit or miss - just like any other additive. Some people have good luck with it and for some did nothing at all. If you plan on running it, I'd recommend running one additive at a time, that way you can verify which additive is working the best for you.

 

Corolla uses a hair less than 4 quarts with filter. I switched over to the "tall" filters (same diameter, spec, just a little taller case and more filter media) - so I can run all 4 quarts. On my 2002 - oil level shows up at 1/8 to 3/16 over the full mark.

Nothing special in changing the oil on the Corolla - I'd pick up a spare crush washer on the drain plug, just in case the original one there is buggered up. Might be useful to pick up either a cap type oil filter socket or one of those jaw/cam type to remove the filter, as sometimes they get really stuck.

Good idea. The O'Reilly's store here sells them for about 3 bucks with a new drain plug. Will go get one before I start. I am just using a High Mileage Fram oil filter... not sure exactly what the difference is between them though, except a few more $$$.

Ian

"Fishexpo101"

What can you tell us about using ANY oil other than the 5w-30 grade on the corolla??

Will the car run "ok" with the much heavier oil? Just wondering because i also have an eight gen rolla!..

And WAS thinking of switching to a thicker oil but not anymore since i read "cesar"'s link above about motor oils.

I personally believe that doing two or three consecutive oil changes with a 0w-30 or even 0w-20 with 200-300 mile intervals will flush some stuff out. I just have not found the time to do so.

By the way "txsizzler" dont forget to replace the pcv valve on the corolla also.

Its very posible it might be clogged since your brother didnt keep up with the maintenance.

Thanks, pichi. I will definately do that. Haven't looked at it yet though... looks easy enough to do. I have already removed the V-vti shroud from the engine, just to make things easier to get around.

Ian

"Fishexpo101"

 

What can you tell us about using ANY oil other than the 5w-30 grade on the corolla??

Will the car run "ok" with the much heavier oil? Just wondering because i also have an eight gen rolla!..

And WAS thinking of switching to a thicker oil but not anymore since i read "cesar"'s link above about motor oils.

I personally believe that doing two or three consecutive oil changes with a 0w-30 or even 0w-20 with 200-300 mile intervals will flush some stuff out. I just have not found the time to do so.

I used 10w30 during summer with no problems, I also put 10w40 once - that one caused drop in fuel mileage about 10-15%. Now using 5w30 only (Castrol high mileage) and happy

Yeah, i have found out about that the hard way. Just like "txsizzler" i wanted to help my car not to consume "too much" oil. And started using a 15w-40. But as it started getting colder here in Dallas i noticed it took just a little more time for my car to start in the mornings and i also noticed a drop in fuel economy.

Then i was reading some interesting articles in "BITOG" and learned that instead of helping to slow oil consumption, a thicker oil will in some cases make it worse since oil passages dont get as much "flow" as they should.

So, in the corolla, being the oil holes already too small in the piston, makes it pretty much the main cause of the oil consumption issue.

Since this passages are too small and get clogged very easily if proper maintenaice isnt done, using a 15w-40 or even 10w-30 with already clogged oil passages might just worsen the case, haha. So no more "thick" oil for my corolla, thank you.

I just changed the last 15w-40 i had two weeks ago with a 5w-30. And just like "pichi" said, i will flush that again in two weeks or 200-300 miles. And since it just keeps getting colder and colder i might try the 0w-30 or 0w-20 perhaps.

"Txsizzler" when you replace your pcv valve if you are also going to replace the old pcv groomet be careful prying that thing out, if it is already hard it might just brake in pieces and fall inside the valve cover. If it does no big deal just undo the valve covr and tip it on its side, it will fall right out.

my fuel economy increased switching to castrol high mileage 5w-30. i have always used 5w-30 Toyota oem oil. however since the switch the car starts harder in the cold im not sure why.

If you have always used a 5w-30 grade oil it just means the castrol "high mileage" sits on the "thicker" side of the 30 grade but not enough to be named a 40 grade oil.

Where the toyota oem sits on the "thinner" side of the 30 grade but not enough to be named a 20 grade oil.

Thats why its "harder" for your car to crank up in the cold morning.

If it gets too cold in the morning where you live you can even switch to a "0w-30" grade oil. Dont worry, 0w-30, 5w-30, 10w-30,etc. They ALL are "30" grade oils and have exactly the same thickness at optimum operating temperature, so they will work just the same when your car is fully warmed up

The difference is in the "0w, 5w, 10w etc". This means whe the oil sits overnight and gets cold it gets also thicker thus making it harder for your engine to crank up in the morning. Or after siTting for long periods of time.

***What i dont comprehend is how are you getting beTter mpg with the thicker oil when its supossed to be the. Opposite?.***

If you can, try Switching to a "0w-30" grade and enjoy the same mpg your getting but eliminate the "hard starts".

(Sorry i had to make another post but i cannot edit a post from my phone)

Edit: i think im wrong on a statement. I made above, if you were always using "5w-30" toyota oem then switched to castrol high mileage same grade and improved mpg but got harder starts that means the toy oem "30 grade" sits on the thicker side as opossed to what i stated above.

Then, the castrol higH mileage being on the "thinner" side gives you better mpg since you switched, but it probably or most likely comes with a "heavier dosis" of additives on the "5w" (the heavier dosis of additives make the oil get thicker when it gets coLd than it would with the oem toyota oil).

This proves my point just right, you dont necesarily have to go down a grade. Just use the oil that has the right amount of additives so it dont get as thick when cold but still protects the engine when fully warmed up.

Again, the "0w-30" would do, not as thick when cold but still just likE any other "30" grade when warmed up.

P.s. Please excuse my bad english. Plus, im getting sleepy so im having a hard time typing this. Lol.

Hope this info helps.

I just wanted to add about gasket leaks that AT205 Resealer has worked for a lot of people including me to where switching to another oil was not needed. Using seafoam may contribute to leaking gaskets since it cleans the gunk off of them but the AT205 can counter that so it's worth trying before switching oils.

I prefer the wix 51396 since it is a very sturdy filter that has a better beta ratio(better filtering) than any other filter you can get for $6, and if the $6 price is an issue then you can safely use it for two or three oci's depending on driving conditions. Users on bitog have reported better oil analysis figures on the second and third oci's also.

I run Syn 5W-40 pretty much year round good to near zero degrees on up into the mid 100's Agip / Mobil 1