Engine problem

[Ho Siam Yong]

Hi there,
I am experiencing some problem with my AE101 93 Corolla 1.6l.The engine was tuned by the Toyota 2 months ago when checking on the fuel consumption condition. After that I notice when in idling, the car starts to shake.My current fuel consumption is something like 40litre every 300km.

I then run thru' a check by comparing my car to a friend's car of the same model and found that by putting my palm right in front at the exhaust I can feel that the exhaust gas is puffing out of the pipe rhythmically(like a panting dog ) while my friend's car(which is absolutely normal) has gas continuous coming of of the pipe without exerting any pressure on my palm.

I have totally no idea what is the cause since I have just changed the exhaust pipe(from cat to the exhaust end),spark plug,wires,distributor cap,rotor,air filter,fuel filter,engine oil.(all changed within 5 months period).Hope that you can shed my some like over this problem.Thanks a lot.

[Ukrainian102]

Is the car losing power? Could be a dead cylinder. Do a compression check.

Could also be the head gasket. Check to see if there is coolant in your oil or oil in your coolant. That would mean you need to get the head gasket changed.

Good luck.

[Flashmn]

My current fuel consumption is something like 40litre every 300km

Doesnt seem that strange.. mines worse...

You said you changed the exhaust, did you change it to a bigger one? Your friends car is stock?

[TekPhobia]

Why does everyone just assume it's the head gasket? My gosh...."I hear this clicking noise when I turn.." "head gasket!"

Symptoms of a BHG present themselves well, not by erratic exhaust pulses.

One thing that wasn't on the list of things was an O2 sensor. They normally fail in a lean state which would cause the motor to run rich and hence, poor fuel economy.

-Tim

[Ukrainian102]

Originally Posted by TekPhobia

Why does everyone just assume it's the head gasket? My gosh...."I hear this clicking noise when I turn.." "head gasket!"

Symptoms of a BHG present themselves well, not by erratic exhaust pulses.

One thing that wasn't on the list of things was an O2 sensor. They normally fail in a lean state which would cause the motor to run rich and hence, poor fuel economy.

-Tim

While I agree that everyone always shouts head gasket, it is for a good reason. Those things fail most often, and there is also a dead sure way to tell if you need a new one (coolant/oil thing).

Checking O2 sensors is also a good idea, didn't think of that, though replacement is expensive.

[Ho Siam Yong]

My car has no oxygen sensor,it is an 1992 AE101 Corolla SEG 1.6L which is similar to a US 1993 Corolla minus the oxygen sensor.I replaced an exhaust which is equivalent to the stock.Everything else had been look into including the condition of the spark splug(greyish,I supposed it should be normal. Only the engine internal thing and auto transmission had not been look into(no work shop around know how to conduct a compression test ).So far no oil in coolant or coolant in oil so your suggestion of dead cylinder might be right.

[Peter]

hahahahha thats sad i learnedhow to do a compression test like 3 months ago in shop class.....well i think and mechnic shop should be able to do it...i dont know of any home made way to check but it sound like ur losing compresion somewhere

[Ukrainian102]

Originally Posted by Ho Siam Yong

My car has no oxygen sensor,it is an 1992 AE101 Corolla SEG 1.6L which is similar to a US 1993 Corolla minus the oxygen sensor.I replaced an exhaust which is equivalent to the stock.Everything else had been look into including the condition of the spark splug(greyish,I supposed it should be normal. Only the engine internal thing and auto transmission had not been look into(no work shop around know how to conduct a compression test ).So far no oil in coolant or coolant in oil so your suggestion of dead cylinder might be right.

Yea if the exhaust is that bad that you can feel it pulsing it's probably something inside the engine. Good luck.

[fredk]

do a compression test

[Flashmn]

Why does everyone just assume it's the head gasket? My gosh...."I hear this clicking noise when I turn.." "head gasket!"

Exactly!

While I agree that everyone always shouts head gasket, it is for a good reason. Those things fail most often, and there is also a dead sure way to tell if you need a new one (coolant/oil thing).

No those things DONT fail most often, they're the longest lasting gasket on the car in general. Often cases they will last the life of the car (or expected life). Only reason why a head gasket usually fails is due to overheating or detonation.

[Ho Siam Yong]

A very big thanks to all of you for pointing out the problem correctly . I check my engine oil this morning and couldn't find the oil level.So drove it to a mechanic and got all the oil out of the engine,it turned out to have just well above 1 litre left.Checking thru under engine compartment there is no sign of leaking,but when pressed very hard on the pedal, feeble but visible stread of white smoke can be seen(I had stop driving that way since the souring petrol price).With no oil leaked to the coolant, the piston ring should be the culprit.

For time being,I just throw in a new bottle of mineral engine oil plus a can of "Stop smoke" oil additive . If the basic job of compression test had been introduced earlier,I wouldn't had gone thru all these trouble for more than 1.5 years.Also thanks to the local Toyota service center (of which I had visited twice!)who knows nothing about compression test , allow me to search extensively over the web to look for answers and in the process get to learn quite a lot about car engine stuff.

[jcturbo]

if the exhaust his puffing like that, it for sure means you have a miss. that's how we check Fords that come in with check engine lights before we even hook up the scanner.