01 Corolla Burning Oil - Toyota Corolla, Chevy Prizm (1998-2008)

Hello,

So I've got a 2001 Corolla that I'm working on, my parents bought it for my brother as his first car. It has now been passed down to my youngest sister as her first car. My brother did a number on it to be honest, this is its second motor, first one seized up as he ran it with no oil. Second he blew up I do not know how.

The current motor stopped running on my sister about a week after she got it. She told me that it would burn about 3 quarts a day, she drives about 120 miles a day, as college is about 60 miles one way plus some in town driving.

She also said the car shook violently in park with the foot on the brake at a stop light.

I replaced the variable timing solenoid but my brother ran it with that check engine light on for almost a year (which I'm sure didn't help).

So here is my question... (finally right default_laugh )

I am already into rebuilding the motor, I have the head off and I'm going to replace the pistons and rings, is there anything else I should replace/look into. Should I look into the torque converter, motor mounts?

Any insight, wisdom, or advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

You could drill out your pistons' oil holes, and reuse them... Here's a good DIY:

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/131-8th-generation-1998-2002/402362-diy-oil-consumption-fix.html

So this is motor #3 or #2? Do you happened to know what generation, model year donor car it came from?

Judging from the oil consumption and you working on the OCV (oil control valve, sometimes called the variable timing solenoid) - this sounds like a 2000-2002 model year motor.

I'm assuming you checked the head/block for any warping? Block, you can deck and get it straight, as long as it isn't too far off. Head, unfortunately, if warped will need to be replaced. They don't recommend redecking the head, given that there isn't a lot of meat on there anyways.

Might be further ahead by dumping that engine and trying to pull a clean 2003+ 1ZZ-FE engine. Less prone to oil consumption, they revised the cams, different piston and piston ring design, etc. The short blocks between the 8th gen and 9th gen Corollas are pretty much identical. Just have to move some of the sensors over from the 8th gen engine and you should be good to go.

Trying to rebuild a badly damaged engine or one with unknown damage from abuse is a recipe for problems down the road.

You could drill out your pistons' oil holes, and reuse them... Here's a good DIY:
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/131-8th-generation-1998-2002/402362-diy-oil-consumption-fix.html

I've read this and gotten some info from it.

So this is motor #3 or #2? Do you happened to know what generation, model year donor car it came from?
Judging from the oil consumption and you working on the OCV (oil control valve, sometimes called the variable timing solenoid) - this sounds like a 2000-2002 model year motor.
I'm assuming you checked the head/block for any warping? Block, you can deck and get it straight, as long as it isn't too far off. Head, unfortunately, if warped will need to be replaced. They don't recommend redecking the head, given that there isn't a lot of meat on there anyways.
Might be further ahead by dumping that engine and trying to pull a clean 2003+ 1ZZ-FE engine. Less prone to oil consumption, they revised the cams, different piston and piston ring design, etc. The short blocks between the 8th gen and 9th gen Corollas are pretty much identical. Just have to move some of the sensors over from the 8th gen engine and you should be good to go.
Trying to rebuild a badly damaged engine or one with unknown damage from abuse is a recipe for problems down the road.

Yes this is motor #3 and it is a 2001 car with a 2002 motor. The motor itself only has about 15-20k on it. Yes head and block are fine and I had read somewhere that you cannot deck the head, but thanks that clarifies it for me. Cylinder walls don't look damaged so I'm going to atleast attempt to fix it.

We don't want to buy a new motor just because of how much money has already been dumped into this car, my dad says if I cannot fix it we are just going to scrap the car and buy her a new one, but I would like to get it running as it is cheaper than buying a new car.

Should I use a set of nicer pistons, something forged maybe, or would that be a waste. I'm just thinking forged might yield longevity as it will not be raced (she drives like a grandma' default_laugh )

Though I'm all for putting better parts in an engine during rebuild, this case, not worthwhile using nicer pistons in it, unless you plan on doing something more extreme to the engine (bumping compression, building a N/A or forced induction beast motor, etc). Or you get those pistons for an awesome price.

Might even run into more issues - forged pistons won't help with oil draining quickly from the oil control ring land. In fact, a cast piston tends to lend itself to more stable dimensionally. compared to a forged piston. Where the forged ones will shine are in cases of heavier than stock piston loading. But other than that situation, the bigger clearances you have to run to account for piston thermal expansion will quickly cause you more headaches than anything.

Drilling extra holes / enlarging the ones you already have on the existing pistons is probably the most cost effective way (assuming you don't mess up the pistons in the process. Any left-over money will go to replacing gaskets/O-rings/incidentals.

You just trying to clean up the cylinder bores - or do they look bad enough to be replaced? Shop doing the machining work or you trying to do this all yourself?

Though I'm all for putting better parts in an engine during rebuild, this case, not worthwhile using nicer pistons in it, unless you plan on doing something more extreme to the engine (bumping compression, building a N/A or forced induction beast motor, etc). Or you get those pistons for an awesome price.
Might even run into more issues - forged pistons won't help with oil draining quickly from the oil control ring land. In fact, a cast piston tends to lend itself to more stable dimensionally. compared to a forged piston. Where the forged ones will shine are in cases of heavier than stock piston loading. But other than that situation, the bigger clearances you have to run to account for piston thermal expansion will quickly cause you more headaches than anything.
Drilling extra holes / enlarging the ones you already have on the existing pistons is probably the most cost effective way (assuming you don't mess up the pistons in the process. Any left-over money will go to replacing gaskets/O-rings/incidentals.
You just trying to clean up the cylinder bores - or do they look bad enough to be replaced? Shop doing the machining work or you trying to do this all yourself?

Shop doing the machining, looks like cylinders can just be honed and be ok, but I want to check tolerances before I make that assumption. As far as the pistons I will save the money and just get OEM specs. You mentioned the 03+ engine, could I use pistons and rings from that, you mentioned that they were better designed.

Pulled the head off last night but didn't really inspect it as I had to leave, but here is what I found upon further inspection.

Cylinder walls seem good

Here is where the trouble starts

So at this point the head needs rebuilding, as I have never done this I might take it in to get it done. I don't feel comfortable doing that yet.

Any Advice?

Definitely be easier to get a reman head than trying to mess with it. The VVT-I is known to be pretty picky about oil and can be hard to reset after disassembling and reassembling.

Complete head prices vary considerably. Would have to shop around for one to get a decent price. Specialty shops like MonkeyWrenchRacing cater to 1ZZ-FE/2ZZ-GE family of engines - but they tend to run on the high side for their heads.

I'll try and look at those pics on my home machine - can't bring up the links from work.

Definitely be easier to get a reman head than trying to mess with it. The VVT-I is known to be pretty picky about oil and can be hard to reset after disassembling and reassembling.

Complete head prices vary considerably. Would have to shop around for one to get a decent price. Specialty shops like MonkeyWrenchRacing cater to 1ZZ-FE/2ZZ-GE family of engines - but they tend to run on the high side for their heads.
I'll try and look at those pics on my home machine - can't bring up the links from work.

Yea I checked MWR but they want around 1,200 for a new head, I've been looking around maybe I can get lucky and find one.

I'd like to thank you Fishexpo101 for all your help, here's a small update, bought a reman head it should be here Wednesday also bought Pistons & rings, timing chain kit and assortment of seals and bolts. I know the head bolts are tty so I ordered a set of ARP's for that. Is there anything else I should replace before putting it all back together?

Sounds like you got it all set - good to go!

I believe that some people had issues trying to get bolts out of the head. The OEM are double-hex (12-points) - looks like it would fit in the regular 12-point sockets, but they are slight different in size. Some were able to get them off - no problem, some rounded off the heads - ending up with a bigger headache in the end.

So don't try and force anything - if something doesn't want to come loose, or threaten to round off - then you might need the new socket.

Myself - I'll looking to rebuild a friends engine here in the summer time. Might also work on mine, as a project with my son. If I can think of anything else - I'll be sure to post it on this thread.

I just bought the correct socket before I started so the bolts were no trouble to remove (thankfully). Thank you Expo, if I run across anything else I'll be here asking for help.

So I'm back for some help default_laugh

What is the proper procedure for first start up of this engine. I know that on the LSJs you have to make sure you have oil pressure before starting it, is this something I have to worry about on this engine? I don't want to ruin a fresh build by not starting it properly.

Just lots of engine lube/oil on the top end. I haven't heard of people priming the engine before starting. Since you are changing the head - shouldn't be a major issue.

Thank Expo, I appreciate it. I guess the head is on back order so now I play the wait game

Hey Fish!

Just wanted to check back in and say thank you for all your help, the car is running better than it ever has. It took a while to get the head but once here everything went relativly smooth (except for a few set backs here and there). I appreciate all your input and let's hope it runs for a long time...

Great to hear! Now you can run the nuts off the car default_biggrin Just keep up with fluid and filter changes - the car will run for a good, long time.

Fingers crossed, so far it's running perfectly... Thanks again