I just bought a 2000 Corolla with 135,000 miles on it and I'm in the process of tuning it up and getting aquainted with my new ride. I must say that this forum has already proven immensly useful, even though I haven't even posted yet (search buttons are fun).
I'm coming from the Nissan world and have a '92 Sentra SE-R (the "fast" version). I decided to defect after nissan was bought by renault and the engineering and build quality went to crap.
So far I'm pretty happy with the car. I know my nissans better than my ABC's, not so with this new toyata. Although, oddly enough, the corolla uses the same oil filter as my Sentra SE-R.
Now my question:
I'm a little concerned about the clutch because it feels really mushy and seems to grab VERY low in the throw...Like within the first few inches. My sentra doesn't grab until it's a few inches from the TOP, and is a lot stiffer.
Might this be because the corolla has a hydraulic clutch and the sentra has a mechanical clutch? Or does toyota just make squishy clutches? Or is my clutch bad?
I also read that the wheels spinning while the car is jacked up is normal...but why does this happen? I'm figuring it's from the oil friction between the spinning gears (the gears don't touch, but the oil is whirling inbetween them...kinda like a viscous limited slip differential).
My tune-up is pretty basic:
-Air filter
-PVC valve
-Oil change with mobil 1. It took a good hour to get the oil filter off though, the previous owners took it to one of those quick lube places...OMG, why do those guys have to gorilla tighten everything??
-Spark Plugs, got some denso irridiums. The note on the engine says not to gap new plugs, does that sound right? I searched on the matter and came up with conflicting results.
Any suggestions or comments? Anything I should watch out for with this car?
Linear Mode
