Hi ya’ll, i’ve had this 2001 toyota corolla for about 2 years now and its been sputtering ever since i got it. it usually happen when i start the car first thing in the morning, idle is usually fine but as soon as i put it in drive and give it a little gas it sputters, sometimes almost shuts downs. it has given my beautiful wife quite a few scares when pulling out on a busy street, by pretty much stopping in mid pull-out! so later on in the day it isnt as bad, usually just when we gas it to take off or pass someone. but it ALWAYS does it when we go up the mountains here in PA, sometimes i cant go more than 35mph. Its been 2 years, im tired of this, i just had the second mechanic look at it without success. both times they said i had bad plugs. so i changed em. ive looked in forums and through that i learned that i can clean the MAF, i did, and i think its a little better, but not enough to see too much difference. does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing?
Have the fuel pressure checked. Then change the plug WIRES and check the coil voltage output. Then, have the exhaust system checked for excessive back-pressure…Burning all that oil, perhaps your catalytic converter is plugged up, which will severely limit engine performance… Have the EGR operation checked. You can disconnect it temporarily and see if that improves things…Run a can of BG-44K through it…Good Luck…
I Guess You Wouldn't Ordinarily Rush Into Anything, But Driving A Dangerous Vehicle For Two Years Could Be A Different Story ! Besides, An Additional Case Of Oil Every 6,000 Miles Could Get Old.
I'll throw out some WAGs (wild guesses).
Is a "Check Engine" light on ? Have any DTCs (diagnostic trouble codes) ever been retrieved from the car's on-board diagnostic system (P1349) ? Some 00-02 Corollas have had problems with VVTi (variable valve timing) actuators. Sometimes a bent baffle (under the valve cover) causes this. Care must be taken when putting oil in so that nothing (like a shop's oil fill gun) goes in too far and bends the baffle down. This should be looked at.
Have you had the PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) system inspected and cleaned and the PCV valve (if its got one) replaced ? This is usually relatively easy and cheap to do. A problem here could cause excessive oil consumption and excessive oil consumption can cause the PCV system problem - a viscious circle of events.
Some of these Toyotas from the 99-03 era had problems with oil sludge when owners failed to keep the oil clean and changed at regualr intervals. This engine could have been sludged before you bought it.
When you screw in new spark plugs, does it run better right away and get then get progressively worse or doesn't it help much ?
CSA
My outboard does too. Will do the same thing. Thanks guys.
"My outboard does too. Will do the same thing."
Your outboard sputters when you go up the mountains and when you floor it to pass somebody and uses a quart of oil when you drive it 500 miles per week ? On second thought, you must be referring to the scares your beautiful wife gets when she drives the boat out onto a busy street and it sputters.
CSA