bad wires?

[StephanieD]

My old Corolla misses a little bit at low RPMs on rainy, windy days. I assume it needs wires (and/or dist. cap).

It was just below freezing this morning when I started my car.

It made a weird noise, like none of the cylinders were firing, it just kept "whirring" like it wasn't really "trying" to start.

Eventually it started "chug chugging" a little bit and finally took off.

Could that very "lifeless" whirring noise been caused by bad wires / dist cap?


Edit: just thought I should mention, I can tell the motor is turning over, its not just the starter spinning

[fishexpo101]

Which model year Corolla do you have?

1998-1999 have plug wires but no cap and rotor. 2000+ are all coil on plugs (no cap, no rotor, no wires).

Sounds like you have a 7th gen 1993-1997 or older generation of Corolla - since you mentioned cap and rotor. If you haven't already checked the plugs - do so. Hard starting / rough starting can be caused by a number of culprits. From bad gas, to excessively viscous motor oil, bad injectors, bad coil pack, worn cap/rotor, damaged plug wires, worn sparkplugs, or just a sign of needed a general tuneup.

[StephanieD]

Ok, now I'm gonna look stupid. I was just going by what they told me at work - "its probably the wires or distributor!"

My Corolla is a 1999, and as you said, it does seem to have wires but no distributor.

I will probably out a set of plugs in it, I can probably handle that myself. And the wires look simple enough to change, and they will probably go eventually. I'll make these changes one at a time to see if it makes a difference.

I'm pretty cautious regarding gas. I've had gas de-icer in it a few times over the winter and if I understand it correctly that's supposed to help get water out of your tank if you have a tiny amount.

Oil is 5w20 for cold weather, so I don't think that should be a problem. No Lucas oil treatment or anything.

I'm glad to hear that it COULD be wires as my friends suspected. Thanks for all the info!