I have found a 2002 corolla for a great price, but don't know much about them in general. The owner thinks that it has (P0)300/302/303 codes, which she was told is a misfire on cyl 3 and 4. Currently, it runs for a few minutes and then shuts off. She has had spark plugs changed, and new tires recently. But her mechanic recommended that she replace the engine, so she bought another car.
This will be a replacement commuter for my '01 accord( bent frame from accident, bad head gasket, oil dist leak, cracked rad, etc ) and I'm doing about 70miles/day. I don't have alot of extra money right now, so I would rather not buy it and not have a decent idea that I could get a year out of it.
I can't check it out until Sat, but what do you guys think? Is this worth checking out, and what should I look for? How do I track down the misfire on this particular car?
Thanks!!
That should have a 1zz motor, with VVT. Dunno about the codes, but it will either be a coil on plug or waste spark and the coils going out could cause some of that. Tough call. If the plugs come out looking good (no oil), the oil light isn't on, and it's not making death rattle noises from having run out of oil at some point, check the compression and it would be fixable, but tracking down the exact problem is going to be a problem. Could be as simple as a broken wire or as bad as a leaking valve.
What kind of mechanic says "new engine" when it is running fine but stops after a few miles?
I dunno, if money is tight, I think I would pick something that is at least mechanically sound. Friend of mine just bought a 96 Rolla for a grand for his kid. Runs fine, needs stuff like motor mounts, headliner, etc.
Ordinarily i would agree with you but this car is being sold for slightly above scrap. Almost what i could fix the major issues on the honda for.
That's more or less the same generation as the prism we had (same car, different sheet metal), and I don't believe they go for much money generally, so I'd opt for a good known running one. I suppose that depends on whether or not the tightness of funds really will squeeze liquid from a stone.
I guess check 'rolla forums for the fix on that particular problem, see if it's easy and cheap.
Ours would still be going today, but the wife's little sister totaled it. My little 97 Saturn wagon was bullet proof until I totaled it.
In reply to OldGray320i:
I'm checking out toyotanation.com now.
Did you prefer the corolla over the Saturn, or vice versa? Saturn's seem to popup cheaper more often here than corollas. I've never really driven either enough to form a opinion.
In reply to mrwillie:
I think the Saturn was a little better, but then our Prism had the 1.6, the Saturn had the 1.9.
I had a 140K on the Saturn before I killed it, literally nothing but gas an oil. Even on the original clutch. I actually miss that little car.
In reply to OldGray320i:
The corolla I'm looking at is the 1.8 VVT-i( whatever that means). Was the saturn "interesting" to drive at all?
And from my digging around last night it looks like the misfires could be coil or wire related. This model shares 1 coil / 2cyl. And the misfires are on the same coil. Also, the wires are supposedly easy to stretch or break inside.
That corolla is a good car. Saturns, I know almost nothing about besides they all burn oil. Then again, the 1zz motor will burn oil too. Auto trans and not a 6 speed, right? VVT-i means Variable Valve Timing with intelligence. The coil packs are 1-4 and 2-3. If it is misfire on one of those pairs, coil pack is the first place I'd look. I had to replace the same coil pack on a couple of my cars over the years. O'Reilley's carries them.
The Saturn S series is basically a cheap (dangerously cheap in some areas, e.g. trailing arm failure) GM knockoff of a Corolla with a plastic skin, I personally don't like them. They rust just like a period cavalier underneath.
On driving, the 98-02 Corolla/Prism with the (I think optional) front and rear swaybars is shockingly neutral for a FWD crapcan, if you overcook a corner the front and rear tires complain. It's no Miata but it's reasonably entertaining on on ramps and whatnot. The 1ZZ is something like 100lbs lighter than the old "A" motor. Mine uses minimal oil (~1qt/8k) but the PO kept up on the oil changes and I only feed it synthetic.
In reply to mrwillie:
No, not terribly interesting to drive, but comfortable and reliable. Not sure about the "burning oil", mine never did, but it was a single cam car - maybe the dohc cars are different, but I thought it was the same block.
Can't speak to the rust issue, I'm in Tucson, and the Air Force stores all its mothballed stuff here because there's no such thing in the Arizona desert.
As for a prism/corolla handling, it was no better and if I recall worse than my Saturn, but ours was an earlier gen, so maybe they upgraded suspension by the 98-02 time frame.
Even just putting non crap tires on it will help immensely. My gf has a 2010 corolla and while I strongly dislike it, new tires made it not suck taking corners. It's no civic, but it's got its merits.
In reply to clutchsmoke:
Careful with that, slow car that sticks down can be boring. I kind of regret the 195/60R14 Altimax HPs I put on mine, the "slow car fast" effect was a bit greater with the worn out stock size Dunlops or whatever it had on when I bought it.
Ok. I just spoke w/ the car's owner.
1) She bought the car in Sept of last year
2) The mechanic did run a compression test. Not sure what numbers or what type of test( wet vs dry ).
3) She said that the car does start, but then starts misfiring. After misfiring for a minute or two, it shuts off.
Assuming that the misfires killed the catalytic convertor, how soon could it cause the motor to shut off? Assuming its the cat, now the car needs a coil, o2 sensor and cat. The cheap car is adding up. Just to get it running...
Compression numbers are: 140/140/95/75. Bad rimgs/ valves?
I'd pass on this one unless it's a otherwise clean car worth putting an engine into.
I passed on the toyota. I'm going to drive the accord for as long as I can. Meanwhile, I've started trying to get my Volvo back on the road. I parked it when we got our odyssey 2yrs ago. When I parked it, it had a RMS leak and was due for a timing belt. The Honda is OK for now. Thanks again....
