I have a corolla NZE121 (automatic if that matters). It has around 80,000KM. Which oil should I use? I currently have Titan 5W-40. If not mistaken on the manual it says 5W-30 and a friend of mine said 15W-30 is good. Now I'm confused, so your experience would help a lot.
Also, is it normal that the battery gets discharged every 2 years or so? It's my second battery and it's already discharged after 2 years and 1 month. If not mistaken it's 35ohms and an electrician suggested to get a larger battery. As far as I know, the battery fits in a compartment (or sort of a tray). So if getting a battery with more ohms does that mean larger physical size?
People get all wound up about oil so that's a little bit of a loaded question. I run 5W30 synthetic and I'll leave it at that. 5W30 is what is recomended.
I'm not sure what the impedance (ohms) of the battery has to do with it unless it's a sign of a dead cell. CA (cranking Amps) and CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) are the ratings for battery "size". Do you drive the car much? Infrequent use or a hugh stereo system could cause pre mature failure. I bought my '99 with 200K miles and drove it 4 years and 120K miles before selling it to my brother. I never had to replace the battery and it was load tested not long ago and passed no problem.
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'98 Prizm 4spd 272K bought @ 221K for $300 Oil consumption fixed @ 265K for $247
'99 Prizm 3spd 318K sold to brother 1/2012
The Following User Says Thank You to Bennie For This Useful Post:
Not gonna touch the battery question, Bennie pretty much mailed it.
Regarding the oil, 5w30 is what is recommended. If you're not comfortable with possible or probable engine damage, stick with that. That said, I run royal purple, 2qt of 5w30 and 2qt of 5w20 in my 99.
I'm about to have 2 Corollas and when I do, the 99 is going to be my test car. I'm going to start running 2qt of 5w20 with 2qt of 0w50 in the 99 and see how that goes. Would I recommend it at all, even if it goes well for me? No, probably not; I just seem to get lucky a lot.
The Following User Says Thank You to KeMBro2012 For This Useful Post:
I'll get the 5W-30 then. As for the battery, I use it everyday. Last week I took the car to an electrician to fix the electric windows and told me that he noticed the windows going up an down too slow, and this was because the battery is not strong enough. He told me that I can fit in a stronger one, and since I' no car expert, I told him that I'll get back to him soon. Thought I'd ask here before
Last time I changed the battery it was from a tire shop. Now, as you may already know, the battery just sits in its own tray and you can't get a larger one. So I'm not sure what the electrician was talking about, or maybe I just don't know much about battery strength vs the physical size. What is sure is that when I turn on the lights (not dim) the car rattles a little. When I use the electric windows the lights dim a little.
The alternator seem to be making that annoying noise especially when ascending a hill and it changes gears fast (automatic). I just put some WD-40 on the belt and it's somehow better. Not sure if these symptoms have anything to do with the battery or something else.
With WD-40 on the belt, it is most likely slipping smoothly (no noise) where it may have been slipping roughly (squealing) previously, and you have likely simply masked a symptom of a bad alternator, possibly even making it worse as the belt will now be slipping more. Furthermore, the oils in WD-40 will wreak havoc on a rubber belt.
My suggestion regarding that: replace the belt. Remove the old belt, degrease, rinse, and thoroughly dry any pulleys it runs to, then fit a new belt. Make sure it's properly tensioned, replace the tensioner if it is not.
Simply degreasing everything (belt included) is not an option, damage has already been done to that belt. Next time you need to quiet a noisy belt, after checking the tensioner try some belt dressing; it's typically cheaper than WD-40 and doesn't tend to make things worse.
Didn't meant Ohms in my first post, but AMPS. Sorry for the confusion!
No worries, the 2 main things to test are, alternator with a volt meter and battery with a load tester. Most places that sell batteries can also load test them. I'd recomend having the battery load tested.
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'98 Prizm 4spd 272K bought @ 221K for $300 Oil consumption fixed @ 265K for $247
Just want to ask if I shall go for the OEM Toyota oil or for what I'm currently using (Titan 5W-40). What's the best oil?
I can also get Castrol, BP and maybe Mobil1. I think all are available for me to get. Temperatures over here are lowest 5 in winter and higher at 40s in summer.
I've never liked BP oils. I'll second M1HM since I see a lot of people raving about it here, but with a word of caution, when I ran any Mobil 1 products in my Honda, it hated them; then again, we're talking about a Corolla here, not an Accord, so that probably does not apply. If you're going to run a high-mileage blend, Mobil 1 is the way to go.
Personally, I run Penzoil Platinum (not their high-mileage blend) or Royal Purple, when I can find it for the same price as PP, in my 99 Corolla. Any full synthetic should do for ya, tho. Oh, and yes, 5w30 and only 5w30 unless you're willing to risk your engine just to experiment with different oils and report back here on how much they burn off.
I run a blend of half 5w30 and half 5w20 because it seems to slow down the oil burning a bit. 5w20 flows better through the partially clogged oil return holes, but I'm not comfortable running on that straight, though doing so may solve my oil burning issues; it's not worth the risk of trashing the engine if it doesn't like it.
In the 2000 I just picked up last night, I really don't know what I'll be running yet. I have to replace the valve cover gasket and plan to inspect a few other things while I'm in there. I've had a hand in every modification and bit of maintenance done to this 2000 since the previous owner bought it, and as far as I'm aware, it's not burning oil, so most likely 5w30 , either PP or RP, without the 5w20 blend-in I do in the 99.
If things don't work out with your Corolla, I've got a 99 with 192k going on the market very soon that probably runs as good or better.
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