My new old toy

[justabeater]

Just picked up a 1990 corolla DX coupe for $450 it has the 4afe with about 140k miles. there are some problems tho so i'm looking for any pointers or recommendations that you all have to offer. for now, i just want to get this car into a dependable state then maybe i'll tweek on it a little more later. its going to be my daily driver as i work on my truck project. the engine runs strong, but its leaking oil a little. cleaned up the old stuff and it looks to be coming from the oil pan. also i had to tighten down the valve cover cuz it was really loose. next, the CV boots are worthless. IMO they should have been changed a long time ago. on top of that, the car rattles like crazy when stopped but in drive. could it be my catalytic converter? the sound goes away when i accelerate. anything else i might wanna check? where's a good place to get parts. probably should change all the gaskets. sorry for the huge report. thanks in advance for your time.

[broke]

The way you would know you had a problem with you cat is if you lose power under acceleration. Ie when you try to speed up you can't get the car going anywhere. That is a problem with the Cat I know from experiance.

[darcsyde]

sounds like the mounts might be going

[retiredat44]

at about 175, 000 miles ours had everything falling aprats and worn out, wel everything but the trans and engine themselft, but everything that bolts to the car, and engine, and trans was worn out... I couldn't even decide where to begin... but everything..

I suggest you get all your parts from a store that offers lifetime warranty on parts... that will come in handy when this happens again, On the next go round..

if you take any shortcuts, that will come back to bite you in the near future..

[DoubleEdgedWomb]

Rattling at idle in gear sounds like motor mounts to me, or else the exhaust might be coming loose. In either situation, don't replace the cat unless the car fails smog.

[justabeater]

motor mounts! i'll check em. and thanks for that tip on the cat.

[freakinbox]

Originally Posted by DoubleEdgedWomb

Rattling at idle in gear sounds like motor mounts to me, or else the exhaust might be coming loose. In either situation, don't replace the cat unless the car fails smog.

Replace it when it gets clogged... Why pay the extra money on gas having a clogged cat just because you don't have to do the e test this year...

[REN69]

Wait a sec.. DX Coupe? you sure it's not an SR5 Coupe?? I thought DX were the sedans.

[Frozentide]

Originally Posted by REN69

Wait a sec.. DX Coupe? you sure it's not an SR5 Coupe?? I thought DX were the sedans.

I was thinking the same thing! Pics?

[ghost_ryder35]

rockauto.com , majorautoparts.com, horsepowerfreaks.com for auto parts
P.S. dont replace the motor mounts, fill them with silicone you can pick up at wal-mart for $2.90

[ghost_ryder35]

oh yea, good time to replace the 02 sensor, as its probally on its way out. pretty much just give it a full tuneup

[justabeater]

i thought it was a SR5 as well, but the book in the glove box said its a DX coupe. whats the difference between and SR5 and a DX?

[justabeater]

here's a pic.