2001 Corolla does not accelerate when going on HWY

[corollaBOB]

Hi Everyone,

I've had my 2001 Corolla for about 2 years.

When i tried to get onto the HWY 5 days ago the car would not accelerate. I pushed the gas down and the engine would simply struggled to get up to speed. I had to ease up and then press evenly just to get up to HWY speeds. That was a nightmare!

I'm out of ideas....my mechanic said it could be bad gas...but went through about 5 tanks so far and replaced the catalytic converter. The only difference is that i now have more power when driving locally.

The problem has not gone away.

Recently replaced:
1) Spark plugs
2) Catalytic Converter
3) Front Rotors + Brake Pads

Any ideas?..i'm stuck.

[REN69]

Check airfilter yet? maybe fuel filter too.

[corollaBOB]

Thanks I'm going to get the fuel filter checked. The air filter is pretty new so that looks ok.

[Crowbar911]

Is your AC on when you do this?

in my 01 rolla, the AC seems to cut the power by 1/3. more if the recirculate option is going.

[whatproblems]

chack your airflow sensor... mine was slightly messed up and would make the car almost stall out after every shift

[Revhead Kev]

Might also be a leak in your throttle gasket or intake manifold gasket causing the MAF to register less airflow than your engine is getting.

[corollaBOB]

It's a long weekend here, so i'm going to have to wait until Tuesday to get this checked.

Nope. My AC and fan are both off.

So far, I'm going to check the following.
1) fuel filter
2) throttle gasket or intake manifold gasket for a leak

What about doing a fuel system flush? Can that even be solution to such a problem?

Thanks for the replys...can't wait to get back to normal performance.

[Crowbar911]

I have taking my corolla to the toyota dealership before so they could clean the fuel injectors. They told me that 3/4 were totally clogged. (which I find kinda hard to believe that My 4 cylinder engine was working on only 1 cylinder.

It cost me 500 bucks, but it worked great.

Mind you this was at 35,000 miles.

[tech8]

The fuel filter on the 2001 Corolla is in the fuel tank, and normally does not require service, unless something drastic happened.

You haven't mentioned anything about checking your Mass Air Flow sensor yet. Clean that, and see if it improves your drivability. A dirty MAF will cause hesitation, etc. Just get CRC Mass Air Flow cleaner or Quick Drying Electrical Cleaner. Two phillips screws hold it in the air intake tube, near the air filter. You may have to loosen a 10 mm bolt holding a bracket, which partially blocks the removal of the MAF sensor. Clean the thermistor wires, etc. in the MAF, let it air dry and reinstall. ($5 worth of cleaner, and simple labor.)

BTW: You may want to disconnect the MAF electrical connector first.

[corollaBOB]

Well i just had the fuel injectors cleaned and performance has increased. There is less hesitation and more overall power. However, still not safe for hwy driving.

Work Done:
1) Spark plugs
2) Catalytic Converter
3) Front Rotors + Brake Pads
4) Fuel injectors cleaned

You're right. I was told the fuel filter is in the gas tank for the 2001. I'm going to have to read up some tutorials on cleaing the Mass Air Flow sensor. Need some diagrams

Things to do:
1) Check Mass Air Flow sensor
2) Check throttle gasket or intake manifold gasket for a leak

[toyomoho]

Have you checked to see the injectors are getting enough fuel, that the fuel pressure is high enough.

[corollaBOB]

Well i cleaned the mass air flow sensor about 60 minues ago and did a test drive, but no change in performance. I still get no where above 70-80 after pressing down on the gas.

Work Done:
1) Spark plugs
2) Catalytic Converter
3) Front Rotors + Brake Pads
4) Fuel injectors cleaned
5) Mass air flow sensor cleaned.

Things to do:
1) Check throttle gasket or intake manifold gasket for a leak
2) Check if injectors are getting enough fuel & fuel pressure is high enough

Frustration is setting in..err...going to take it in to the repair shop tomorrow.

[triniguy]

I think it could be that your spark plug wires may need changing. Ask an electrician to see if the wires have any cracks that may be causing electicity leaks.

Ask the electrician to check for any other electronic faults eg distributor etc.

[dgoodhue]

Originally Posted by triniguy

I think it could be that your spark plug wires may need changing. Ask an electrician to see if the wires have any cracks that may be causing electicity leaks.

Ask the electrician to check for any other electronic faults eg distributor etc.

2001 doesn't have spark plug wires, it has direct coil packs

I haven't done much with these engines computer tuning wise, but in my race truck a bad temp sensor and o2 sensor can really affect performance. A really Dirty air filter as well would kill top end performance. Their might be a way to test the coil packs, but that doesn't seem like they are problematic. I personally don't see the air meter gasket all of sudden going bad if hasn't been touched. How many miles on your engine?

[bzride]

I'm not sure why one of the first things you did was change the catalytic convertor.. pretty pricey repair to do if you were just guessing, did your mechanic suggest that?

If the Check engine light is not coming on.. you can rule pretty much anything to do with the fuel system, ignition, and sensors, or emission

You need to do a compression check on your cylinders

Also.. is this an Auto trans? perhaps it's a transmission problem