Quote:
Originally Posted by Rat396Man
Hi again Mike:
I listed the some of the details of the car and transaction in the "introduce yourself" forum. Got a good deal. Under 5k. And thx again for the part numbers. The car sat for over a year and I'm changing all the wear items and fluids.
Is the Gates tensioner redesigned to reflect the TSB?
Any other issues with 03 Corolla's that I can do preventive maintenance on? Weak points?
Joe
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I am not sure if the Gates tensioner is redesigned after the new toyota part number, I have had it for years along with others on the board, some even change the oil in the tensioner. I don't think the Gates was ever faulty to begin with. You will know when it goes bad based on sound, even if you dont see it leaking. The 03 was the first year of the 9th gen corolla, so they tend to have more bugs than cars later in the life cycle.
Here is what my OEM tensioner sounded like like on a cold day:
The biggest weak point besides the tensioner is the window glass bolts on power windows, not sure if your CE has power windows but a recall was issued for your year. Probably want to change the PCV valve, located under the plastic engine cover on the top back side of the valve cover. Give your VIN to the dealer when ordering this part, it should only cost around 6 dollars. Coolant should be changed, not because of mileage but because of time. I would change all fluids like you mentioned above.
The third biggest issue is a bad intake manifold gasket that shrinks in the winter cold causing a lean condition that makes the engine stumble. It is a very popular topic come winter time on this board. It was replaced with better gasket, this also happened to me. Given your location, this is a very real possiblity.
Tsb:
http://toyota.justanswer.com/uploads...rolla_0171.pdf
A very 4th and 5th distant issue is the magnetic clutch relay (AC relay) may go bad, usually after all the pressures are checked it is determined by a mechanic that the expansion valve is bad, as it produces symptoms of a bad valve, but the relay is know to go bad. Many people overlook the relay. Also the bottom storage door on the center area under the radio tends to have flimsy springs that hold the door shut and break.
I would pull the plugs just to inspect and read them, but they are good for 100K miles. They are iridium. Likely if a little old lady drove it around, it is probably caked with carbon and the engine never saw over 5K RPM, might think about a piston soak or seafoam treament if you think the carbon is bad enough on top of the piston when you pull the plugs. Might want to clean the throttle body and IACV too to get rid of carbon before an oil change. MAF is probably clean, but that is really easy to check and clean if needed.
Fuel filter is located in the tank and it is called a lifetime filter by Toyota. Your engine has a mechanical throttle body unlike mine in the video. Toyota had a really hard time with their ECUs on the drive by wire throttle bodies, but yours should be ok.
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