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Step 1 - service and suspension

Nate

Entry posted by Nate in Corolla 110

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The owner of the car was a traditional Sri Lankan - cheap, lazy and ignorant. He was kind enough to not empty the fuel tank, so I was able to make my way to a fuel station and top up the car. A few ghosts had to leave the fuel tank as it had not been filled fully since Chandika was president.

The next port of call was the service station. Here we emptied the dark tarry engine oil and put in some fresh (hopefully real) Toyota oil. We next replaced the oil, air, and other filters).

After that it was off to the garage to do the suspension and brakes. I can't remember exactly what was done (have to look at the paperwork) but all 4 struts, front CV joints and a lot of odds and ends were replaced. The brakes were overhauled and front rotors (is that the correct term?) polished. I forgot to get the wheel bearings replaced so there's a continuous hum. Need to do that.

Total, I think it was 150-200k

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iRage

If the oil had not been changed for a long time (was black and thick coming out)....it probably would be prudent to put an engine flush and do another oil change sooner than the 5000km/6month plan. There might be a  bit of sludge deposited here and there. Also, it would be a good test to see how the seals are. If there was any sludge blocking any worn out seals they will get unclogged and you will have to replace them (in SL garages discourage you from using flushes because they don't want to replace oil seals...they would much rather have you drive around with a sludgey engine).

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john cooper

When you have explained the fuel tank story, I can imagine the tough conversation you may have faced for haggling the price. 😂
Hope the owner's wife made the final decision price 😄

I remember once we had to wait for the owner's wife to come back from work so she make the final decision she came home and lifted the price by 10K, reminding the owner of the service they had done millions of years ago 😁

Please check the fuel light, it may have blown by the high usage 😉

Good luck with the car, I would say "restoration" If the car could speak, it would say "Thank you for saving me!" 

Regards,
JC

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matroska
  On 1/28/2025 at 2:02 AM, john cooper said:

Hope the owner's wife made the final decision price 

Expand  

This is very true. Few years back I managed to source an EP71 in a very remote farm. Inspected the car with the owner - his asking price was also low even considering the car needed a paint job- and yet I offered him a lower amount to which the guy agreed. Dude went inside the house to fetch some papers, and returned saying ' Denne na mahattaya, gedara kattiya kamathi na wahane denawata' :D I wanted to respond 'ehenam #$@$@$ da @$@$@ Ad ekak damme' but I had already wasted enough time so I headed back. 

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Hyaenidae
  On 1/27/2025 at 3:04 AM, iRage said:

If the oil had not been changed for a long time (was black and thick coming out)....it probably would be prudent to put an engine flush and do another oil change sooner than the 5000km/6month plan. There might be a  bit of sludge deposited here and there.

Expand  

 

Would a full ATF flush with an exchanger machine be a good idea? Dropping the pan wouldn't drain all the old fluid right?

Then again if the car has a transmission filter it'd be a good idea to drop the pan, clean the magnets and replace the filter but in that case the fluid change wouldn't be as complete as if it's done with an exchanger

hmm.

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iRage
  On 1/28/2025 at 8:46 AM, Hyaenidae said:

 

Would a full ATF flush with an exchanger machine be a good idea? Dropping the pan wouldn't drain all the old fluid right?

Then again if the car has a transmission filter it'd be a good idea to drop the pan, clean the magnets and replace the filter but in that case the fluid change wouldn't be as complete as if it's done with an exchanger

hmm.

Expand  

Yes an ATF swap would also be prudent.  Exchangers work well in pushing out the fluid but not necessarily heavy residue and sludge. So you will have to use some kind of substance to break down the residue. 

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Nate
  On 1/27/2025 at 3:04 AM, iRage said:

If the oil had not been changed for a long time (was black and thick coming out)....it probably would be prudent to put an engine flush and do another oil change sooner than the 5000km/6month plan. There might be a  bit of sludge deposited here and there. Also, it would be a good test to see how the seals are. If there was any sludge blocking any worn out seals they will get unclogged and you will have to replace them (in SL garages discourage you from using flushes because they don't want to replace oil seals...they would much rather have you drive around with a sludgey engine).

  On 1/28/2025 at 2:02 AM, john cooper said:

When you have explained the fuel tank story, I can imagine the tough conversation you may have faced for haggling the price. 😂
Hope the owner's wife made the final decision price 😄

I remember once we had to wait for the owner's wife to come back from work so she make the final decision she came home and lifted the price by 10K, reminding the owner of the service they had done millions of years ago 😁

Please check the fuel light, it may have blown by the high usage 😉

Good luck with the car, I would say "restoration" If the car could speak, it would say "Thank you for saving me!" 

Regards,
JC

Expand  

Thank you JC. Yes, restoration is the word - my heart goes out for the car if that makes sense. Such a fine vehicle and so sad to see it abused. I'm slowly working on it.

Expand  

 

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Nate
  On 1/27/2025 at 3:04 AM, iRage said:

If the oil had not been changed for a long time (was black and thick coming out)....it probably would be prudent to put an engine flush and do another oil change sooner than the 5000km/6month plan. There might be a  bit of sludge deposited here and there. Also, it would be a good test to see how the seals are. If there was any sludge blocking any worn out seals they will get unclogged and you will have to replace them (in SL garages discourage you from using flushes because they don't want to replace oil seals...they would much rather have you drive around with a sludgey engine).

Expand  

Thank you, yes. We swapped the oil again. I don't think they did a flush though. As you suspected, two oil seals had gone, I think one was crankshaft, other was camshaft? Replaced the timing belt which was a gonner despite being allegedly replaced 30k km before the meter reading.

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Nate
  On 1/28/2025 at 8:46 AM, Hyaenidae said:

 

Would a full ATF flush with an exchanger machine be a good idea? Dropping the pan wouldn't drain all the old fluid right?

Then again if the car has a transmission filter it'd be a good idea to drop the pan, clean the magnets and replace the filter but in that case the fluid change wouldn't be as complete as if it's done with an exchanger

hmm.

Expand  

I am not exactly sure what they did. I think they drained the fluid and took the bottom (sump?) off as well as something else. The fluid was dark, felt great to replace it with fresh fluid.

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Hyaenidae
  On 2/3/2025 at 6:22 PM, Nate said:

I am not exactly sure what they did. I think they drained the fluid and took the bottom (sump?) off as well as something else. The fluid was dark, felt great to replace it with fresh fluid.

Expand  

So how's the car running now that it's had some TLC?

Looking forward to reading your next blog post :sport-smiley-004:

 

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Nate
  On 2/3/2025 at 6:36 PM, Hyaenidae said:

So how's the car running now that it's had some TLC?

Looking forward to reading your next blog post :sport-smiley-004:

 

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It seems better! Still has a few issues but I think we are on the right track. I look forward to sharing my adventures 😇

 

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iRage
  On 2/3/2025 at 6:20 PM, Nate said:

Thank you, yes. We swapped the oil again. I don't think they did a flush though. As you suspected, two oil seals had gone, I think one was crankshaft, other was camshaft? Replaced the timing belt which was a gonner despite being allegedly replaced 30k km before the meter reading.

Expand  

If you are going to replace the crank seals you might as well replace both (front and rear). and whilst at it might as well replace the cam seals, valve cover gasket, and things like the other small O-rings for various things like the distributor, etc...

The timing belt..well they either used a crappy cheap timing belt, they didn't change it, or they changed it and rolled back the meter.

Did you check the water pump ? It is easier to change that while changing the timing belt. If not, changing it later is going to be a case of spending 1 day of labor to change a cheap part.

 

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Nate
  On 2/4/2025 at 2:16 AM, iRage said:

If you are going to replace the crank seals you might as well replace both (front and rear). and whilst at it might as well replace the cam seals, valve cover gasket, and things like the other small O-rings for various things like the distributor, etc...

The timing belt..well they either used a crappy cheap timing belt, they didn't change it, or they changed it and rolled back the meter.

Did you check the water pump ? It is easier to change that while changing the timing belt. If not, changing it later is going to be a case of spending 1 day of labor to change a cheap part.

 

Expand  

Thanks so much! Alas, don't think these were done, but next time for sure, I'll remember when we open it up next!

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