Just broke 170k miles, tips?

[monkeypower102]

Hey all, I recently broke 170k miles this month, which means I've put about 60k since I've had it. So far, I've only had to deal with the radiator and the axles but nothing too bad after that. It had the timing belts done at a little before 100k, I'm hoping they're still good.

This month I put in new brake rotors, and a year ago I replaced the spark plugs, battery and added a open cone air filter (which I need to clean soon).

Just wondering if there are more maintance messures that I need to be aware of.. Mine's an automatic, so I've been keeping tabs on the ATF as well as the Power steering fluid.

So far, the only things that I'm a bit worried about is that it sometimes takes two tries to start the motor up, usually the second time I assist it a bit by pressing the gas pedal down a little. Then there's other times where it starts up like a charm. It's been like that for like a year now.

Also, sometimes I'll see a little white smoke come out of the exhaust during cold starts when I'm warming it up. Doesn't do that when it is warmed up however. Used to only do that when I haven't started it for over a week but I notice it a little more now. Somehow, it still passed smog a few months back and I've had that issue going on for about a year as well.

Other than that, it runs nice and everything, but I'm just hoping that she'll keep going for a while. My goal is to get 200k miles

So yeah, anything that will help is appreciated!

Well here's how it looks like now..





I wanna mod it more but first gotta handle the essentials nahhh mean?

[Kiwi-Corolla]

The slight puff of smoke on start-up will most likely be the valve stem seals starting to go. The same thing happened to my old motor. It'll get gradually worse over time, but it'll take a while. As long as it only smokes during start-up then I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just keep an eye on the oil level. The only alternative would be to rebuild the motor or replace it.

[Yodadex]

what happened to the radiator? do you have pics of your motor cabin?

[BigDAT]

Castrol GTX High-Mileage Oil is in my opinion an important thing to have (or another high-mileage oil, either way)

[zythr]

Is it a little or a lot of white smoke? How cool is it when you start it first thing in the morning?

[94PrizmDD]

Replace fuel fitler, pcv valve.

[cipher93]

Taking a bit of effort to start could be a lot of things... run some fuel injector cleaner and see if it clears up. If not I would lean towards your distributor rotor/cap/wires being worn if you haven't replaced them in awhile. Also try holding the starter a split second longer.

And yeah I have the same issue with the smoke on startup (around 166k on mine) on when it's first run for a little while. I also am leaning towards worn valve guide seals since the compression is still pretty good.

[monkeypower102]

My radiator cracked once like 2 years back, replaced it then I messed up another radiator but I replaced that one too and hasn't been a problem since. And sorry I don't have any pics of the motor, but it's just your run-of-the-mill 1.6L 4AFE.

Originally Posted by zythr

Is it a little or a lot of white smoke? How cool is it when you start it first thing in the morning?

No not really, it's nothing too extreme. It's just noticable on some days and on other days it's nothing at all. I live in Southern Cali so our mornings don't get too cold out here.

Originally Posted by CJRocker

Taking a bit of effort to start could be a lot of things... run some fuel injector cleaner and see if it clears up. If not I would lean towards your distributor rotor/cap/wires being worn if you haven't replaced them in awhile. Also try holding the starter a split second longer.

And yeah I have the same issue with the smoke on startup (around 166k on mine) on when it's first run for a little while. I also am leaning towards worn valve guide seals since the compression is still pretty good.

Sweet man I'll keep that in mind. Glad to not be alone on this

Thanks for all the tips. Let's get this thing to 200k haha

[Piloter]

These cars will also run forever with bad seals/rings, I've put at least 100K on mine since I remember her smoking and consumption has stayed pretty steady at around a quart every 600 miles for that entire time...

215K now, still going strong.

[monkeypower102]

Ah. Well there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Now I can roll in peace

[zythr]

[QUOTE=monkeypower102;3332166]


No not really, it's nothing too extreme. It's just noticable on some days and on other days it's nothing at all. I live in Southern Cali so our mornings don't get too cold out here.



I see.