2011 Corolla with 30,000 miles stalls on mountain summit... - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

96ToyoCam164K · 08-09-2011, 11:44 PM

I was doing a 500+ mile trip from Utah to Colorado today. In case you don't know, I am renting a Corolla for the moment.

Anyhow, about 400 miles into the trip I am going in overdrive off (having the automatic shift toward the driver's side while in drive...which is overdrive off right?) over a 10,000 foot mountain pass at about 45 mph. As I'm continuing up the incline all of a sudden the car looses power, starts to vibrate and then I have no gas (as in, pressing the gas does not move the car forward and I began to slide backward). I had over half of tank of gas.

I was baffled. I opened the trunk to see all belts in tact. oil and transmission fluid looks normal, but on the steep incline it seemed as if the tranny fluid was on up to the high line of 'cool'. Car didn't overheat on the temp gauge.

I attempt to start it back up, and the engine runs except that the car won't move! Pressing on the gas makes the car stall more and shuts off.

At this point I'm thinking a faulty waterpump, but the engine is at normal idle RPM so that can't be it. Then I'm thinking motor mounts as there's a lot of vibration going on. (just throwing out issues I've had with my Camry that caused me to stall suddenly)

I have no signal on my phone and feel like perhaps I may be stranded...in a RENTAL! But after 10 minutes I start the car back up and suddenly everything is working fine. I drove around for the next 100 mountain miles, even overtaking Loveland pass...elevation 11,000+ feet perfectly.

What the hell happened!? Did the tranny overheat? I had a 96 Camry with over 200,000 miles and I have never had it stall like that even during 500-700 mile trips through the mountains. I was thinking of adding some tranny fluid but I thought that if it was low it would be slipping. So I just decided to leave it alone for now.

96ToyoCam164K · 08-09-2011, 11:53 PM

BTW, I'm not trying to talk smack about the Corolla or discourage anyone from buying it.

This little Japanese bitch is powerful! She makes cars look like ants in just a few seconds. I mean look at her from the top of the grill and tell me she doesn't look like a little Pokemon chick LOL. It's nice to drive a new car for a change!

***SuperchargedMR2*** · 08-10-2011, 12:51 AM

I've never heard of that happening to other Corolla owners, very weird for sure. Not sure what that could have been but it sounds like all is well now.

96ToyoCam164K · 08-10-2011, 01:08 AM

I don't know, but it definitely did happen. I was broken down on the side of the road in a brand new car. I could not believe what was happening.

However, the 'maintenance reqd." light has been on now since I rented the car. But at 30,000 miles what maintenance can it possibly need? Tranny was bloody and the oil was piss colored. I just can't see why it would do that.

I was scared though...I've never broken down in the middle of nowhere before LOL.

***SuperchargedMR2*** · 08-10-2011, 01:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 96ToyoCam164K

I don't know, but it definitely did happen. I was broken down on the side of the road in a brand new car. I could not believe what was happening.

However, the 'maintenance reqd." light has been on now since I rented the car. But at 30,000 miles what maintenance can it possibly need? Tranny was bloody and the oil was piss colored. I just can't see why it would do that.

I was scared though...I've never broken down in the middle of nowhere before LOL.

The maintenance light is for an oil change every 5k miles. I'm sure it just wasn't reset at the last oil change.

Jeff Lange · 08-10-2011, 02:43 AM

That's an unusual experience.

Jeff

krycek1984 · 08-10-2011, 09:01 PM

What a scary situation. Actually a very seriuos situation. Glad everything is OK.

jake111 · 08-10-2011, 10:50 PM

You might see if the computer recorded any fault codes. I haven't looked to see if these are OBD-II, but if so then many auto supply stores (like Autozone) will read the codes for you. Or see a dealer.

While these machines may not be self-aware (yet), they do try to protect themselves from harm. It's hard to know what was wrong . . . maybe overheated transmission as you suggest/suspect . . . but this may be the way it protects itself.

I know in GM diesel trucks that the engine and transmission (and other) computers talk to each other. The transmission computer can tell the engine computer to go into "limp" mode, which drastically reduces power. The idea is that you might be able to limp home.

Since you were climbing in the mountains, it seems like it detected a problem and shut down. An information display would have been nice! Maybe after 10 minutes "it" (whatever it was) cooled down and reset. That's probably a lesson for the rest of us . . . following a mysterious shutdown, wait awhile and try again instead of completely giving up.

96ToyoCam164K · 08-11-2011, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krycek1984

What a scary situation. Actually a very seriuos situation. Glad everything is OK.

LOL thanks...but honestly that situation would have been a walk in the park; more like a walk in the White River National Forest until I found some signal)

A month ago I was stranded 1,300 miles from home and my car was TOTALLED.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jake111

Since you were climbing in the mountains, it seems like it detected a problem and shut down. An information display would have been nice! Maybe after 10 minutes "it" (whatever it was) cooled down and reset. That's probably a lesson for the rest of us . . . following a mysterious shutdown, wait awhile and try again instead of completely giving up.

I generally didn't think it would just start up again...but since it was a new car I figured I'd give it a try.