98 Corolla question(s) !!

[canadiancelica]

Im looking at buying a 1998 corolla, 5 speed. It has 135,000 KM on it.

What should I look out for ?
Common issues ?

any and all help is much appreciated !!

John

[Dexterous]

Find out if it eats oil, sometimes the cylinder rings can go bad if car was abused/not serviced.
My personal issue was with a stretched accelerator cable, had to tighten the nuts on throttle body (don’t raise idle) to compensate for sluggish performance from slow speeds when I stomped it.
Besides that, the usual checks.

[Turk_Rolla]

i have a 98 corolla le my previous engine had 47K until the engine blew cuz my oil pan was leaking from a hold due to a rock (there was a piston knock) ask to hear the engine, if it knocks while HOLDING a rev at about 3000-4000 rpms then that means the owner let the oil go extremely low to the point where if he/she drove 50 more miles the noise would have gotten worse then POP, engine blown. (I should know) but if you hear a knocking sound its not the end of the world, it is very much drivable, just constantly check the oil if it gets low replace it with more oil for the time being. thats what i am currently doing with the engine i put in there (but i have no more knocking)

[stubborn1]

Originally Posted by Dexterous

Find out if it eats oil, sometimes the cylinder rings can go bad if car was abused/not serviced.
My personal issue was with a stretched accelerator cable, had to tighten the nuts on throttle body (don’t raise idle) to compensate for sluggish performance from slow speeds when I stomped it.
Besides that, the usual checks.

I 2nd the note about oil consumption. I have a 98 (Prism) and it's burning a quart every 800 miles due to the rings. Started around 100,000 miles. Hasn't gotten worse yet (112k miles), but I'm keeping an eye on it.

Ask for maintenance records if the vehicle is a private party sale.

Generally, the cars are fairly reliable, so don't let a few posts scare you off from buying the vehicle. If you don't know much about cars (or even if you do), I would strongly encourage you to hire a mechanic to give it a look over. I consider myself fairly decent with cars, and I missed a few signs that the vehicle had body repair work done.

[dlichterman]

Only problem I have had with my 98 is the power steering hose sprung a pinhole leak, spraying PS fluid on the engine only when i turned, making it look like it was leaking oil and smoking.....was like a 280 dollar fix at the local toyota guy(not dealer they wanted 500)

Edit: The stock headlights kinda suck, you might want to upgrade the bulbs, people will argue forever about which to get but pretty much anything is better than stock. The silverstars reach out farther than stock and helped me avoid scoring a jaywalker in the dark of night

[daniel2002p]

I agree with dlickterman I run silverstars in my rolla and tacoma and they are the best for me

D

[cuzman]

Get a good mech to check it out or if you do it here are some pionters
a. check coolent level and color..make sure theres not brown stains anywere as this will mean his just put the coolent in now as a sale fix up!
b.check oil on dip stick for level and color
c.if the moter has had a power wash...take it for a hard drive to check for fauty gaskets..
d. check the air filter for cleanliness...
e. check the hand brake cable..for holding power and adjustment..if its sweet thats a good sign a mech has worked on it correctly.
f. make sure ther is no fresh gasket goo on any surface or join with out a good explination

my rolla had it around the head gasket,water pump, and a new radiator in it at sale!!!
i was only after the shell as i had a 20v sitting at home......the guy said it was just genneral maintainace (bullsh**)..the car had over heated badly which i knew so i got the car for a very good price...After explaining i did'nt give a crap a bout the motor the guy come clean and heance the price........that motor last one week befor it spead out smoke from stuffed valve seals and then the head gasket blew.....i just got it regoed in time as i did'nt whant the car rechecked for rego with the 20v motor in it..lol

[canadiancelica]

THanx peeps.

I currently own a 1991 celica and I am aware of the oil consumption issue and my headlights suck ass anyways.

Anything I buy gets checked by my mechanic anyways. Im good with cars, but like mentioned above, its easy enough to miss somthing he might not.

John