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Corolla Altis 1.8 1 ZZFE Automatic Engine Knocking

by DocRaza, June 15, 2018 in Performance, Engines, Engine Swaps, Cornering



Hello Everyone and Good Morning,

I am Raza from Karachi, Pakistan and need your help , I have a Toyota corolla 2010 altis automatic that came with 1zzfe engine, i bought it used and driven for 65000 km as per the odo, god knows how true was that, soon after buying i changed the engine oil to 5w40 as per the recommendations of the owners, the cars drive improved a lot but developed a complain of occasional low oil pressure error and spontaneous turning off at lower RPMs with no problem whatsoever while driving, however 1 year down the lane the car developed complain of engine knocking, vibration or rattling sound while accelerating and a grunt when the gas pedal is floored, no sound is heard at idle rpm it also has experienced loss of power and acceleration, it easily touches 150+ kph but struggles while reaching, there is no smoke , it also decreases coolant, of which reading online have found to be due to faulty water pump because it has a rattling noise on startup that disappears through out the day.. now my mechanic has said that the problem is of the connecting rods or crankshaft and the whole engine needs to be opened and overhauled, erstwhile majority of people have recommended engine swap, i am a non technical person as far as automotive knowledge is concerned but the problem here in Pakistan is that majority of mechanics and automotive technicians have no formal technical knowledge, they just go by trial and error , which i am not fond of.. this engine has multitude of components that can go wrong.. i need your advise. .

  • 320 posts

5W40 doesn't sound right. The 2010 Corolla with 2ZR-FE takes 5W20 or 0W20 oil. If I got back to the 2007s to find one with a 1ZZ engine, it shows 5W30. Do you have an owner's manual or does it have a sticker under the hood specifying oil weight? I can't believe it takes 5W40... maybe it does...

  • 110 posts

We have 2 9th-gen Corollas (2003 CE and 2006 S), both have 1.8 liter 1ZZ-FE engine. The engine compartment has labels on which oil to use (mine are on the oil cap) and it says 5W30. It would be good to look under the hood and take a picture of this. We can then confirm.

For the 10th-gen corollas, they do not have 1ZZ-FE engine. Perhaps in Asia, where the Corolla is branded as Altis. Perhaps the year can be confirmed by using cell phone to photograph the date of manufacture? If you do have a 1ZZ-FE engine, it could have issue with main-bearing oiling. There are some YouTube videos about this, but it would have a knocking sound that increases with engine speed. If you can find a proper Toyota dealership in Pakistan, that would be great. I change my own oil and you should try it also. Be sure to change the oil filter!

  • 110 posts

Here is link to 2011 Toyota Corolla owners manual. It notes the type of oil to use.

https://www.toyota.com/owners/resources/owners-manuals/corolla/2011?garagePrefVehicle=0&garageModelName=Corolla&garageYearValue=2011&addToVehicleList=false&remRecentVehicle=false&csrfToken=15290705916528065337473160937624

The above link is for USDM (US Domestic Market). If you go to Toyota web site, it will detect your locality and should see you are in Pakistan, unless you use VPN, and then you can get user manual for Corollas meant for Pakistan. Now if your car was originally sold to different market (Japan, Malaysia, etc.), then imported to Pakistan, the info may not be helpful. Please be sure to check country of manufacture and destination country.

Initially I also poured in 5W30 Total Quartz 9000 fully synthetic but after it developed low oil pressure error and hiccupy behavior I changed to 5w40..plus weather here is either very hot or acceptable hot with average temperature around 36 degrees Celsius.. I am unable to define the behavior .. Its not knocking per se. Its vibration or rattling when I floor the pedal.. And do you experience engine having a grunt in your 1zzfe when you floor the pedal..

  • 110 posts

I would look under the hood, while in Park and have a friend press the gas pedal gradually so you can observe the behavior and find out where the sound is coming from. Perhaps it is a loose heat shield near firewall. Did you confirm the year of corolla and engine model? If yes, can you attach photos to forum?

  • Like 1

Thank you Guys..We have Eid ul Fitr here today.. I will make a video and upload it soon and than maybe we will be able to narrow down the causes

  • 110 posts

Happy Eid



Topic List: Go to Performance, Engines, Engine Swaps, Cornering