Two Potention Problems - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

RWolfe · 06-29-2010, 04:36 PM

I've had my 2009 Corolla S (first car for me) for about 5 days now, and have noticed two things that I'm a little concerned about. Hopefully someone here can help.

First: I noticed after the drive back from the dealer, the coolant tank isn't full. In fact, it was at the "Low" line. So, obviously they didn't fill it. So I went to Part Source to buy coolant and told the guy working there, and he said it is unusual to have to refill coolant on a car as new as this (45,000km). Is this true? Could there be a small leak somewhere, or is this normal?

Second: I started hearing a creaking noise. I haven't been able to fully diagnose it, but it seems to be when I'm going low speed (parking lots and such), and may be worse when steering, but it's hard to tell. It sounds like a squeaky floor in a house sort of, if you were to bounce on a squeaky floor. At road speeds (60km/h+) I haven't noticed it. It sounds like the suspension is making the noise when the car starts to rock (when it leans back when I accelerated, or side to side when I turn and such), but I have read online that it could be the brakes. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

ej063090 · 06-29-2010, 04:41 PM

I hope you didn't touch your coolant level. If you did, you probably overfilled it. The level will vary. Otherwise its a band new car, take it back for your concerns.

littleboi64 · 06-29-2010, 04:44 PM

ur springs for the squeaky noise maybe?

RWolfe · 06-29-2010, 04:45 PM

I'm going to, but I won't have a chance for a couple weeks as I'm going on vacation. In the mean time I was just checking to see if there was any ideas. And no, I didn't touch the coolant level.

shotgunjimmy · 06-29-2010, 05:52 PM

check the manual for proper coolant levels. There is a range of what is acceptable as far as what is in the bottle, and it varies based on tempuratures. I cant recall more specifics off the top of my head.

TACO_KID · 06-29-2010, 10:03 PM

higher than low mark when cold, and lower than high mark when hot is acceptable. the thing to watch for is changing levels when cold. keep an eye on the cold level at least once a week. if it gets lower over time then you have a coolant leak some place, etc.

RWolfe · 06-30-2010, 06:13 PM

Just an update. I went out for a drive to show the father in law the noises and we figured out it was coming from the right tire, and decided to take it off to see if something was wedged in there or something. We jacked it up in the drive way and when he put the ratchet on one of the nuts, it was loose. Maybe even hand loose. At first I thought it was the dealer I bought it from not putting them on tight, but when we went to put the tire back on it wasn't mounting properly. With all the bolts as tight as possible, there was a 1/4" gap between the rotor and the rim. Which sort of explains the loose nuts, as that leaves room for the wheel to wobble and slowly loosen as I drive, and I didn't start hearing the noise until I drove for about 500km.

So, I took it to a local toyota dealership and they took a look at it. A few mins later the guy came in and explained what was wrong. He said there was spacers left on the front tires, likely used for aftermarket rims at some point. When the OEM rims were put back on they didn't take the spacers off. The it looks all good now but I'm not sure about the noise, I'll have to check later.

Pretty scary that the tires were slowly coming loose because whoever put the OEM rims on didn't take it off.

TACO_KID · 06-30-2010, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWolfe

... there was a 1/4" gap between the rotor and the rim. Which sort of explains the loose nuts, as that leaves room for the wheel to wobble and slowly loosen as I drive, and I didn't start hearing the noise until I drove for about 500km.

So, I took it to a local toyota dealership and they took a look at it. A few mins later the guy came in and explained what was wrong. He said there was spacers left on the front tires, likely used for aftermarket rims at some point. When the OEM rims were put back on they didn't take the spacers off. The it looks all good now but I'm not sure about the noise, I'll have to check later.

huh? a centering ring or spacer would have made the lug studs shorter. did previous owner use spacers and replaced OEM lug studs with longer ones?

shotgunjimmy · 06-30-2010, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TACO_KID

huh? a centering ring or spacer would have made the lug studs shorter. did previous owner use spacers and replaced OEM lug studs with longer ones?

if he had hub centric rings on the car, then the wheel wouldnt sit flush against the hub, causing the gap that he referred to.

TACO_KID · 06-30-2010, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shotgunjimmy

if he had hub centric rings on the car, then the wheel wouldnt sit flush against the hub, causing the gap that he referred to.

.... and would cause the lug studs to be shorter, so no way could you tighten a lug nut all the way down without it clamping the wheel (sandwiching the ring), etc....

maybe lug nuts were tight and then loosened, allowing the wheel to wobble?

***heartdisease*** · 06-30-2010, 10:20 PM

Doesn't matter how long the studs were (as long as they had a full nut) to cause his problem these are inbetween.

RWolfe · 07-01-2010, 09:34 AM

That's exactly what I mean. The wheel wouldn't go on all the way and would slowly loosen itself.

Exit9 · 07-07-2010, 08:05 AM

FYI on coolant- Toyota uses its own formulation of Toyota Long Life Coolant and you don't want to add anything else (such as regular coolant or another brand (formulation). I have got 8 years on the Toyota OEM coolant on my Echo, and it has never weakened, and I never had to add any coolant.

If you want to hear horror stories about GMs long life OEM coolant, Google Dexacool. Dexacool has been used since at least 1995 on GM production cars. Dexacool can turn into a corrosive acid and eat the cheesey plastic intake manifold gasket, aluminum parts, rubber hoses, and cause oxidation of metal such as the internal engine block coolant passages. Most of these things cause expensive engine repairs (i.e. minimum $800 to replace intake gasket and $3500 to $5000 on the total engine. It can also lead to sludge which builds up on the cooling passages and restricts coolant circulation leading to overheating. The GM V6 engines seem to have the most problems but complaints also involve other engines. There was a class action lawsuit and out-of-court settlement of up to $800 a car/person a couple of years ago-and the claims time period has closed.

If you hear about improved quality in GM cars, this story and it's scope of defect damage will convince you to stay away because a lot of people were affected and $800 doesn't begin to reinburse them for their Dexacool problem.

So bottom line, don't mess with the Toyota Long Life coolant and it is projected to last at least 100,000 miles-so don't change it like traditional coolant.

***heartdisease*** · 07-07-2010, 12:53 PM

I have a 1997 gmc with the V6. I have never heard of this problem. I bought it new you would think they would send me a notification. I guess i'll have to do some googling of my own.

Exit9 · 07-07-2010, 06:16 PM

Oh, I think GMs long life coolant is Dexcool, not Dexacool as I first referenced.