2009 Corolla Maintenance

[devilzangel]

Hey every1,

I am in need of some serious knowledgeable opinions. My Corolla has 64k miles and approx 32.2 mpg avg. I use full synthetic 5w-20 and change oil every approx 6k miles. There are no warning lights on.

This has been a great commuter car, but it has been causing problems with driving experience lately. I drive approx 120 miles daily.

A. I started noticing a soft thudding noise when driving above 30 about 2 months ago and it kept getting louder (thudding is pronounce around 50-65mph and at 70+ the thudding is there but too fast for it to be annoying. The thudding is related to the spin of the tires). So I finally went to NTB to check out what's going on (haven't used them for over 10 years, the only reason I went is because they were open on Sundays). I asked the guy to check what the problem was and asked him to check the ball joints and wheel bearings (The reason I asked this was bc my Nissan Sentra had a similar thudding sound that was due to cracked wheel bearings).

This is what was done. The guy said it isn't the ball joints or wheel bearings bc there was no wobble and everything was tight.

1. Tires rotated. Front tires were very worn out so the guy rotated them to put the much better tires in the front to see if the noise would go away.

2. Wheel Alignment. The alignment was off on front tires (especially driver front). The driver rear was slightly off too but the guy said they cant fix the rear misalignment since the rear wheels have no way to adjust for this. So okay, front alignment fixed. $107+T

I paid and did a test drive on the highway, but the thudding was still there so I went back.

3. Replace worn tires. Okay so the old worn tires which were in the front, but were now in the back got replaced with brand new all season tires. I was thinking the tires might have some sort of worn tread sound notification (meaning the tires make a small sound such as a soft thud when the tires rotate letting driver know tires need to be changed. They may have a tread pattern that when exposed accomplishes this.) $59 per tire+$19 install per tire + T

End result ... Still thudding. :-( .. As you might guess I am wondering by this time whether these guys are certified mechanics.

The guy did say the brake pads are worn out and needed to be replaced. okay .. but would this cause thudding when I am not even braking? (possible caliper issue causing pads to touch the metal contact surface?)

I am noticing a fairly serious pull on the car's acceleration from stop, meaning it feels like something is not allowing full power to be transferred to the road.

The guy said the brake pads are ceramic and that this is standard for the car. This really confused me considering the car is not a high speed performance car. I recently started noticing a grinding sound when braking (max 7 days)

What do you guys think?

[SuperchargedMR2]

That sure sounds like a tire issue. Did you replace all 4 tires? If not it could be the 2 older tires that are causing the problem.

[msncorolla422]

to TN! And Fellow Houstonian I would always suggest that you change all 4 tires at once and I feel like the car handles better that way and sometimes have less problems....brake wear on that many miles seems about right and I honestly have no idea what the thud is. it is a higher pitch or like metal actually bumping into each other kind of thud?

[SuperchargedMR2]

I was so consumed about your issue that I didn't notice that was your first post.

So to TN!

[flamedrgn]

Welcome to TN, the thud sound does sound like its a rotation problem. check to see if anything in the wheel well looks loose. it seems like youre getting it at higher speeds so it might be something just flapping around w/ wind. if i were you, id ask for a full car inspection with my next oil change. usually its complimentary since we want to find something wrong so we can make more money off you. Goodluck with your problem, hope it gets fixed asap.

[thestone11]

Our car doesn't have ceramic pads...what a crazy opinion from that guy.

[thewalrus2010]

They are semi-metallic.

[HarleyCVO]

It sounds as if either your brakes are dragging or you have a warped rotor. This would be the first place to check. I would assume your mechanic looked there already? If not find another mechanic.

If you already have grinding in your brakes as you mentioned dont waste your money getting these rotors "turned" they are low grade. Get some aftermarket rotors and pads installed. My preference is wagner thermoquiet pads.Low to zero dust, quiet and long lasting.

[devilzangel]

Thanks for the welcome and replies.

I will get the following done:

1. Brakes. Will get new pads and shoes. If rotor needs resurfacing, will do that too.

2. Tires. Will get tires balanced after no. 1 is done.

3. Alignment. Will finally get another alignment since it is free for 1 year anyways.

If that doesn't fix the issue, I will let you guys know.

Thank you.




On a side note. Admins please check into this: http://safeweb.norton.com/report/sho...yotanation.com

I received multiple warnings from my Norton Int. Sec. 2010. Seems to be related to google ads.

[ej063090]

You don't need new shoes. I wouldn't waste the money.

[devilzangel]

trying to find real mechanics is a pain.

Went to Firestone .. I need to replace pads. Shoes are fine.

Unfortunately (after waiting for an hour), they said rotors are below spec size minimum for use; they say min is 0.9xx inches (Reading is 0.860 inches driver and 0.862 inches passenger). I said to leave rotors alone and to put pads in. They said they can't install new ceramic pads without proper rotor thickness. . I inspected the rotors myself, and I didn't notice a big step in the wear of the rotors to the nonwear part of the rotor. It didn't seem like the rotors were worn at all. I could feel maybe a 0.5mm step.

Usually when I need to slow down the car, I shift to a 3 drive in the automatic from the 4 speed setting. This means my brake and rotor wear will be less since i use the brakes only when trying to come to a stop.

I called up the toyota dealership service on my cell phone to get brand new rotor size and their minimum usable rotor size for a 2009 corolla. New is 22mm (0.86614 inches) and minimum is 19mm (0.74803 inches)!!! So it seems firestone has wrong data regarding rotor thickness for atleast the 2009 toyota corolla!

I wasted $50 on cleaning and lubricating rear brakes and balancing front tires without even getting done what i need to get done!!!

I still have the thudding sound.

Grrr .. every time i go to these franchise car care places, I end up doing all the critical thinking. I cant stand this incompetence.

I am going to go to a real toyota dealership sometime next week. Hopefully I will find real mechanics there?

PS . What bothers me most is that when one coworker at firestone said they will do a test drive with me, 5 minutes later, another coworker comes to me and says they will do a front tires balance and rotate the tires (meaning the older tires will be in the back again (Aren't the new tires supposed to be in the back?)). Then he tells me, that I know my car the best and therefore I can tell him whether that solved the thudding problem!!!! I was going to say to him, "but you are the mechanic aren't you?"; i refrained from saying that. My goodness, what has this world come to.

Sorry for the rant, but this is ridiculous.

[msncorolla422]

Originally Posted by devilzangel

trying to find real mechanics is a pain.

Went to Firestone .. I need to replace pads. Shoes are fine.

Unfortunately (after waiting for an hour), they said rotors are below spec size minimum for use; they say min is 0.9xx inches (Reading is 0.860 inches driver and 0.862 inches passenger). I said to leave rotors alone and to put pads in. They said they can't install new ceramic pads without proper rotor thickness. . I inspected the rotors myself, and I didn't notice a big step in the wear of the rotors to the nonwear part of the rotor. It didn't seem like the rotors were worn at all. I could feel maybe a 0.5mm step.

Usually when I need to slow down the car, I shift to a 3 drive in the automatic from the 4 speed setting. This means my brake and rotor wear will be less since i use the brakes only when trying to come to a stop.

I called up the toyota dealership service on my cell phone to get brand new rotor size and their minimum usable rotor size for a 2009 corolla. New is 22mm (0.86614 inches) and minimum is 19mm (0.74803 inches)!!! So it seems firestone has wrong data regarding rotor thickness for atleast the 2009 toyota corolla!

I wasted $50 on cleaning and lubricating rear brakes and balancing front tires without even getting done what i need to get done!!!

I still have the thudding sound.

Grrr .. every time i go to these franchise car care places, I end up doing all the critical thinking. I cant stand this incompetence.

I am going to go to a real toyota dealership sometime next week. Hopefully I will find real mechanics there?

PS . What bothers me most is that when one coworker at firestone said they will do a test drive with me, 5 minutes later, another coworker comes to me and says they will do a front tires balance and rotate the tires (meaning the older tires will be in the back again (Aren't the new tires supposed to be in the back?)). Then he tells me, that I know my car the best and therefore I can tell him whether that solved the thudding problem!!!! I was going to say to him, "but you are the mechanic aren't you?"; i refrained from saying that. My goodness, what has this world come to.

Sorry for the rant, but this is ridiculous.

I would never trust these franchises nor the dealer they just want your money It just shows you that they are idiots IMO and I dont think its good to shift from D to 3 all the time is all that good for the engine if its an automatic because from my experience it shakes the car because the compression in the engine or something increases a lot. Im not to good at explaining, I was just told it was bad to do all the time in an AUTO. Maybe thats the thud? Just a thought. And the newest tires should always be on the front! controlling the car is more important so therefor the best tires should be on the front

[SuperchargedMR2]

Originally Posted by msncorolla422

I would never trust these franchises nor the dealer they just want your money It just shows you that they are idiots IMO and I dont think its good to shift from D to 3 all the time is all that good for the engine if its an automatic because from my experience it shakes the car because the compression in the engine or something increases a lot. Im not to good at explaining, I was just told it was bad to do all the time in an AUTO. Maybe thats the thud? Just a thought. And the newest tires should always be on the front! controlling the car is more important so therefor the best tires should be on the front

I've always shifted from OD to 3rd with my auto trans with never any issue.

[flamedrgn]

excluding the 2-3 master mechanics at toyota and the one master mechanic at firestone, everyone else either is still in school, gotten one or two ase certificates or havent gotten ases yet.

best thing at firestone = lifetime alignments
best thing at toyota = nothing yet...(maybe cheap oil filters? 3.88+tax at my local dealership)

[devilzangel]

the thudding is not trans or engine related. no warning signs and the engine is very quiet. Plus the soft thud is happening in relationship to the tire rotation, regardless of tach rev or the gear i am in. when revving engine in park or N, it is without issue.

New tires should always be in the back (when buying only 2 tires).
Please watch video at very bottom of page - http://www.michelinman.com/tire-care...#install-tires

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=52


The Toyota dealer is running a special for brakes and rotor resurfacing. So no harm in trying this.