A few things have caught my attention on my 1990 Geo Prizm base model (just a rebadged Corolla), it's a A4-FE engine has about 145,000 miles on it. Automatic transmission
Bear with me since I'm pretty new with understanding cars, so most of my questions might seem newbie-ish. If anyone could give me some feedback about any of these issues, I'd appreciate it:
1. I'm noticing a dull "thudding" sound when in motion, syncs up with the wheel moving, only on the front driver side. I'm certain my brake pads are due for a change, would this be a potential cause of the sound? I checked my CV boot and it was fine, caliper was on tight (in fact, I couldn't get it off so the brakes are getting changed this week at a garage).
2. My transmission fluid was a bit low, when adding a bit I noticed a leak going from the dipstick tube to what I assume is the transmission, I could see it pretty well from under the hood. What's a cheap effective way to patch it up, seems to be the little hose that connects.
3. I noticed my spark plugs were gapped at .41 instead of the recommended .31 for some reason. I guess the Autozone's database was wrong or something -- is this a big difference that affects performance? What spark plugs that are gapped at .31 are recommended?
4. Ever since its been cold, it sounds like the belt is squeaks when the car is started. It only lasts for 1 second, any cause for concern? I looked at the belt tension and it seemed to be okay.
5. I'm noticing a hollow and loud noise whenever I accelerate from under the hood. It sounds a lot like a hole in exhaust but its coming from the front of the car, any ideas? I'm noticing it a bit harder to accelerate since this happened.
6. My coolant is turning brown very easily in the recovery tank. I had an entirely new radiator put in ~50,000 miles ago and I did a flush ~7,000 but still brown, where should I look to try and remedy this?
Sorry again for all the question and how stupid some of them might be. Thanks!
1. could be wheel bearings
2. you may have put too much, if not does the dipstick still have the rubber boot on it?
3. just gap them at the recommended gap and see what happens, chances are when those were put on new, they didn't get gapped at all.
4. it's probably just the cold weather
5. could be a leak, if the car feels slower it could be a plugged cat.
6. don't worry about the stuff in the tank, nothing ever really comes out of there, it just goes there when there's an overflow, wait till the car is cold and open your rad cap, if the coolant there is brown then start worrying.
1. could be wheel bearings
2. you may have put too much, if not does the dipstick still have the rubber boot on it?
3. just gap them at the recommended gap and see what happens, chances are when those were put on new, they didn't get gapped at all.
4. it's probably just the cold weather
5. could be a leak, if the car feels slower it could be a plugged cat.
6. don't worry about the stuff in the tank, nothing ever really comes out of there, it just goes there when there's an overflow, wait till the car is cold and open your rad cap, if the coolant there is brown then start worrying.
Thanks for the quick response. I definitely didn't pour too much because I was being conservative filling it up and I notice what I was pouring almost all just came out at the bottom. I didn't have much time to look since it's been freezing out and I don't have a good space to really work on the car right now. I'll look at everything else -- I'm most concerned about the wheel bearings and the cat.
If your antifreeze is brown in color you might have a leaky head gasket condition going on. The motor oil may be getting into the antifreeze. You also should have the fluid level in the differential checked when you take it in for service. It is often a neglected item that turns into a major problem if the level runs low.
the antifreeze could also be rusty? My corolla never got rusty but my celi is still showing signs, its slowing after a flush and several coolant changes, but its still present. I'm sure its rust after looking at the inside of the hoses and seeing the oragnish deposits, but when I first drained the old radiator when I went to pick it up there was enough rust to make it a brown color.
that and theres a potential for a blown head gasket.
The exhaust sound turned out to be just a whole in the underneath pipe leading the muffler. I could have sworn it was coming from the front, but I patched it up and all is well. The coolant is only brown in the recovery tank, looks like the usual neon green when I drain the radiator -- so that's good. I checked symptoms of oil in the coolant and besides the brown color, it wasn't frothy or smelling like oil. I don't have the symptoms of a blown head gasket going on either, so that's a relief.
Going to regap the plugs tomorrow, hopefully that'll boost some power back. Brakes get looked at tomorrow at the mechanic, so I'll tell him to look at the wheel bearing.
as for question numbber one, does your speedo kinda bounce around a little? if so then you have ground down teeth on you speedo head and the speedo cable is slipping. I thought i had a bearing going out on my drivers side as well. but then when i got up to around sixty i killed the car and listened for the sound in the quietness. As i got closer and closer to my dash board the sound got louder and louder. So i disconnected the speedo cable and the sound went away.
Well back from the mechanic and he said it was a tire issue. I don't know though. He checked the wheel bearing and rims for anything bent, cracked, or rubbing up and there was nothing. My calipers were frozen but that didn't change anything when he fixed that.
The speedo doesn't bounce, I can drive over 60 no problem without too much of an issue too.
Damn, so the gear shift cover broke off -- I tried super gluing it but it's not sticking to the shifter. Any ideas on a cheap quick fix? I didn't want to make a new thread.
It's for the automatic, so it looks like this but without the overlapping ridges just a single strip of plastic.
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