I know I start a lot of threads, but I'm trying to "restore" my old corolla. Pretty much everything is taken care of now, but I was wondering where my power has gone. I know it's an old car with a lot of KM, but I kinda figured that with a standard and the claimed 100hp, it would be a bit better. I mean when I'm on the highway doing 120km/h or so and I hit a hill, my car would slow right down to around 80km/h or so, no matter what the size of the hill. Also, my car only accelerates when you press the peddle in only 25% the most. Anymore after that, the car don't accelerate any faster. So basiacally 75% of the fuel peddle is pointless. Is this normal? Also, I see other corollas pass me going up a hill (around same year) while I'm slowing down, they are flying by. Basically, what are some things that I can check or change to see if I get a bit of power back. So far I have changed my plugs and wires and changed air filter.
So again, sorry for starting soo many posts. This is the last one for a long time
sorry, btw the car is 1995 Corolla 5spd 1.6L with 270,000km. The car is in PERFECT working order. Not once has she never started, and runs smoother than a babys arse. 1.8L is only 5hp more right? So I guess that doesn't make that big of a difference. Exhaust is all new too.
It ought to clear out carbon deposits fairly well..not as well as, say, taking off the throttle body/intake manifold and scrubbing it clean yourself, likewise pulling the injectors and putting them on a cleaning bench, but for a few minutes work and a few dollars worth of supplies, you may see around a 10% boost in power and economy if you're badly gunked up. Do a forum search for seafoam, there are some success stories out there. Besides, it'll help you know whether the performance deterioration is due to dirt or something else. Also consider switching to synthetic oil for a couple oil changes and run a few tankfuls of premium fuel...the extra detergents can help clean things as well.
I picked up the hanes repair manual because I wanted to change the fuel filter but I noticed it don't look so easy on the car itself. It's below a bit of stuff and it's hard to reach your hands down around, espically where everything is rusted too. Im getting extremely good gas milage too, so I think I may be expecting too much from this car has power wise, but I don't understand the whole peddle issue. Is all older corollas like that? Only need to push it 25% to accelerate fully. Pushing it the other 75% does nothing and actually slows the acceleration a bit. Seems like the car wants to bog out if I push it to the floor. Put if I don't push it pass 25%, the the car accelerates smoothly and runs excellent. I don't understand it
I picked up the hanes repair manual because I wanted to change the fuel filter but I noticed it don't look so easy on the car itself. It's below a bit of stuff and it's hard to reach your hands down around, espically where everything is rusted too. Im getting extremely good gas milage too, so I think I may be expecting too much from this car has power wise, but I don't understand the whole peddle issue. Is all older corollas like that? Only need to push it 25% to accelerate fully. Pushing it the other 75% does nothing and actually slows the acceleration a bit. Seems like the car wants to bog out if I push it to the floor. Put if I don't push it pass 25%, the the car accelerates smoothly and runs excellent. I don't understand it
If mileage is good, the filter's probably fine.What the pedal issue sounds like is a badly adjusted throttle cable. With the engine off, get somebody to push on the pedal while you observe how much the cable moves on its pulley. It should have no more than about a quarter-inch of 'play' at rest...IE if you poke it, it shouldn't deflect more than a quarter-inch or so. (Don't play with opening the throttle TOO many times while the engine's off, or you'll flood it.) If you need to adjust the cable, there's a couple of 10 or 11 mm (can't remember offhand) nuts that will let you move it around.
excellent.......I'll try to find where it goes. Do you mean the throttle that you can adjust when the car is running under the hood? (ex: car is idling and you can move the cable under the hood to rev it up.) You want me to see how much that moves with the car off? I'll look into the hanes manual later, they usually have pretty much everything in there
If the problem isn't slack in the throttle cable, it could be a sticking or severely gunked-up throttle plate or something in the linkage between pedal and cable.
The other possibility is that you're losing power somewhere between the engine and the road via slippage...how's the clutch?
Clutch seems perfect to me. Mind you now, I have never driven a brand new standard so don't know how it compares. My new car is an auto. This is the car I used to learn how to drive a standard. No noise from it, never slips and gears go right into place easily when pressed.
Am I expecting too much from this little engine? I know civics are faster, but my buddy has a 96 civic with no mods, basic model 4dr with 5spd, and he can run circles around me like I'm stopped. I could be giving it all I got, and he will still pull away like crazy. Don't get me wrong, not trying to race or "rice" it out, just want to know do I have power issues or is this the way the motor runs. Just using the civic as a comparasion. He has a 1.6L too. As said before, engine is smooth, real quite and runs excellent, just slow when passing and hills. I have to pass going down hills, and chances are, the same car will pass me back going up the next hill
The 4AFE's no powerhouse. I've got the 1.8 and the extra torque helps, but stock (auto), even merging onto the highway was a terrifying exercise in luck and avoidance. Even now, with the intake/exhaust mods, I still get beaten off the line by pretty much every fart-canned Civic. Now when we talk holding speed and a good line into corners, and powering out again, or highway play, the car comes a bit more alive.
If you want to really wring some performance out of yours, shift late and try to keep the revs up. Other than that, there's not a whole lot you can do to that engine save swapping it out for a 4AGE or getting turbocharged. The F-series heads reportedly respond rather well to boost...but as far as bolt-ons, there's not much out there. Headers and exhaust would be a good start. (I actually have a cat-back setup available.)
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