'95 corolla lost its power and shakes now

[bdragonomega]

Heya, I'm sorta new I think, I come here from time to time to see whats up but not a lot. I wanted to make my car faster so I was planning to add stuff but in the end I decided against it, so now I just want to make my car run good.

I'm also a noob to anything dealing with cars... the only thing I really did was probably install a deck and back speakers to my car.

Anyway, my car was leaking fluids onto the ground so I asked my dad and brother. My dad had no idea what it was since he didn't really have time to take a much detailed look so he just decided to check the engine oil level and it was really low. So he added some engine oil to it. I then had to drive it to school (fluids were still leaking but I had to go to school). While I was driving it, I noticed that in general my car was shaking a whole lot more than it used to. And then I was trying to speed up turning from an intersection... but it seemed like I was driving in slow motion... once again it felt really odd as I wasn't used to my car being this slow. So I decided to see how my car acted up when it is being redlined (I know its bad but my car doesn't really have that meter to check and so I end up doing it a lot...) and it sped up... just really slow...

I dunno if its just me or something, but my car doesn't feel right when I drive it. I've gotten used to how the car feels when i'm driving and how it feels like when I speed up and such but right now it justs feel weird.

Any ideas? I'll go check to see what kind of oil my dad stuck into my car... if its not the right kind should I drain the engine oil and stick in new oil? I checked online for tutorials and it doesn't sound too hard... grab a pan, get engine to regular temp, carefully release drain cap, wait for oil to stop flowing, clean up and plug cap back in, install new oil filter, slowly stick in new oil until dipstick says its the right level... although pictures would be nice

last questions... where is a fuel filter, a/c filter (cause my a/c stinks for the first few mintues...), where do I stick in ATF, and whats a fuel filter used for?

Thanks

[Flashmn]

ERM, first find out what the fluid was that was leaking, if it was coolant, you snuffed your engine. Its fixable, but not by a newbie to cars.

For a basic oil change, just put a pan under the car and open the drain valve. No sense warming the car up and burn yourself with the oil and manifold. then unscrew the filter, put some oil on the o-ring of the new one, screw that in. Pour ~4liters (3.8 if I remember correctly) of oil into the engine. Close cap. Lets it sit, check oil level, start it up, let it run for few mins, check oil level and leaks.

but I dont think an oilchange is gonna remedy your problem.

[diver9000]

If the fluid that was leaking wasn't oil, I would ask where did the oil go to? And of course just like Flashmn said find out what was leaking. It sounds like a blown headgasket. All of a sudden loss of fluid and power at the same time. I would do a compression test for sure.
Hey

[diver9000]

If the fluid that was leaking wasn't oil, I would ask where did the oil go to? And of course just like Flashmn said find out what was leaking. It sounds like a blown headgasket. All of a sudden loss of fluid and power at the same time. I would do a compression test for sure.
Hey Flashmn I think you are right about that oil

[bdragonomega]

Oh, the car was running fine until we added the engine oil. Well, just the other day, I was driving to some mall 45 mins away from my house (cause my siblings wanted to go) and when I was coming back my car overheated. My bro checked my radiator and coolant overflow supply and I was completely empty (I never really checked the car to see that it everything filled and stuff because I didn't really know what it was that I needed to check every so often)... so we added some coolant and water, but he also happened to check the engine dipstick which looked kinda low, but since he shrugged it off I thought it was okay (I think he forgot about it when we got home). So yeah... I don't know where all the engine oil went...

A compression test? Okay.... I don't know what it means XD, but I googled it and I know I don't have the tools to do it... hmmm so should I bring it to a mechanic? My dad and eldest brother used to be mechanics but they never have time. Hmm is a blown headgasket a really bad problem?

I still can't tell where's it dripping from (some guard/hard plastic thing is blocking my way, but I collected what was dripping into a cup and it seemed like water for the most part with something else... i'm guessing its that 50/50 coolant/water mix... but I dunno, it seems to be mostly water... what does a snuffed engine mean?

Yeah, I don't know what was causing that shaking, but it only happened after the engine oil was added... then again, maybe I got used to how the car ran with low engine oil... oh yeah, I checked the owners manual and the supply of engine oil my dad had in the garage and the one he put in was SAE 10W-30 but the book recommended SAE 5W-30 oil because it said in colder weather the car would be hard to start... would that make a difference? Oh yeah, how good is Havoline Engine Oil?

How much better does an Energy-Conserving II engine oil save on gas over a regular Engine-Conserving engine oil?

[AVANT]

Sure you're dad didn't overflow it with oil? Haha. Check the oil level again, and check the color.

Using 10w-30 or 5w-30 won't make much difference. Havoline is fine, rather cheap too.

FYI: If you car is leaking fluids, it's not "fine". It pollutes more than it needs to and cost you money.

After an overheat and depending on how bad you heat it up, could very well be your headgasket.

Do a proper oil change and coolant flush please. If anything looks chocolate to you, your engine will most likely need to be taken apart to fix.

[Flashmn]

Flush this flush that, theres something a flush wont help, thats having mayonnaise (coolant oil mix) in the rod bearings.

[diver9000]

Go down to the local autoparts store and buy a haynes manual for your car. They are about $12, maybe more in Cali. A cheap compression tester is about $15-20. Do a compression test on your engine. Look for low compression, and check the color of the oil. If the oil looks milky then most likely its a blown head gasket. A blown gasket wont always leak fluid into the oil pan so thats why I said buy a compression tester and do it yourself. Toyota will do a check on your car and give you an estimate, but they will charge at least $50 to do it. But you will probably know exactly whats wrong then. Dont let them do the work, but sometimes its easier to find out whats wrong by letting them check it for you. Dealerships are too expensive to let them do the work for you. Most of the stuff on that car... you can learn to do yourself or with some help from a friend. Lots of times ppl on here can give you step by step instructions on how to do stuff too, so do yourself a favor and ask.

Good Luck