2005 1.4 petrol corolla running faults ????

[Patonski]

Driving my Corolla the other day the car began misfiring with a loss of power, nearly to the point I thought it was going to stall completely and stop , so I pulled in and tried to give it some refs and eventually it cleared a bit whilst at times misfiring but it was driveable after another 3-4 miles it completely cleared and ran as normal ?????

And today I just moved the car out my garage I noticed the speedo was fluctuating up and down when the car was reversing slowly and also stationary ????

The car has not been run much in the past six months , and I only drove it about 30 miles to mot station and it was fine going but the fault came with about 7 miles from home on the way back , I initially thought perhaps its old fuel , or do the spark plugs need renewed with the car lying only getting started stationary occasionaly , the car has done 78000 miles and its the 1.4vvti petrol.

Any help or advise would be much appreciated  

[Patonski]

Did the same thing today while moving it , really cant figure this out ?

[Patonski]

Is there a possibility this could be the crankshaft sensor ???

[oldcodger]

Hi,

Do you get the Engine Check light coming on the dash when you have the problem ?  If so , reading out the error code should give you and indication of where the problem may be.

Some other things that come to mind  - when you say it misfires , almost stalling, is that happening within the first few minutes from setting off and when at tick over/stationary.

If so, it could be in 'learning mode',  which is caused by the ecu being cut off from the Battery, if removed or the voltage fell too low.

If you carry on running , the ECU 'learns' and after about 10 miles /15 mins things at tickover to get back to normal.

Never experienced old/ bad fuel, suppose it could be that, how much have you got in the tank ?

You could try a bottle of Redex to help clear the lines and injectors.

Do the plugs need changing ?  - how long since they were last changed ?    - though would have thought if they were failing it would be a more constant problem.

 

Speedo going haywire ??  - again could be a low voltage, have you measured the Battery voltage / alternator output, older batteries , partic when not used regularly, can cause all sorts of problems.

 

[Gerg]

As well as the above, I think I would try to remake every earth (body) connection you can find in the engine bay.  

Weird, intermittent electrical problems?  Check the easy stuff first!

Do they use much salt on the roads in Shetland?

[Patonski]

58 minutes ago, oldcodger said:

Hi,

Do you get the Engine Check light coming on the dash when you have the problem ?  If so , reading out the error code should give you and indication of where the problem may be.

Some other things that come to mind  - when you say it misfires , almost stalling, is that happening within the first few minutes from setting off and when at tick over/stationary.

If so, it could be in 'learning mode',  which is caused by the ecu being cut off from the battery, if removed or the voltage fell too low.

If you carry on running , the ECU 'learns' and after about 10 miles /15 mins things at tickover to get back to normal.

Never experienced old/ bad fuel, suppose it could be that, how much have you got in the tank ?

You could try a bottle of Redex to help clear the lines and injectors.

Do the plugs need changing ?  - how long since they were last changed ?    - though would have thought if they were failing it would be a more constant problem.

 

Speedo going haywire ??  - again could be a low voltage, have you measured the battery voltage / alternator output, older batteries , partic when not used regularly, can cause all sorts of problems.

 

Hi

I never noticed the check engine light coming on and it did it after about a 20 mile drive , all in that day id probably done about 50 miles when it started

I checked the Battery while running yesterday and the altenator is putting about 13.6v in to the Battery,

The fuel tank has under a quarter of a tank left, I am not sure when the plugs were changed last.

I decided to order a crankshaft sensor anyway got one at a decent price and I can always sell it on again

Cheers for the feedback

Stuart

[Patonski]

2 minutes ago, Gerg said:

As well as the above, I think I would try to remake every earth (body) connection you can find in the engine bay.  

Weird, intermittent electrical problems?  Check the easy stuff first!

Do they use much salt on the roads in Shetland?

Hi Gerg

Yes they use loads of salt on the roads far too much really :)

How many earth points would there be ?

Thanks

Stuart

[Patonski]

I have actually got the car up on jacks now , with the middle exhaust section removed which was rusted so bad its beyond repair and was one of the mot fails.

So ill have to wait till I get that fitted , a front wheel bearing done and the front brake calipers checked cause apparently the brakes were binding even with new disks and pads fitted.

All those things don't really worry me but this fault does and is a bit of a nightmare for selling the car on and also for getting back to the mot station and passing the emissions test.

[Gerg]

I don't know the car, but I would have guessed a minimum of 2 - 3.  Usually with multiple attachments to them.  There is often a couple near the backs of the headlamps, one near the Battery (?).  On the previous Corolla, the ECU was in the dash, otherwise I'd have made certain to check any near that.  They are often sitting horizontally, so able to sit in pools of damp.  

Regards.

[Patonski]

8 minutes ago, Gerg said:

I don't know the car, but I would have guessed a minimum of 2 - 3.  Usually with multiple attachments to them.  There is often a couple near the backs of the headlamps, one near the battery (?).  On the previous Corolla, the ECU was in the dash, otherwise I'd have made certain to check any near that.  They are often sitting horizontally, so able to sit in pools of damp.  

Regards.

Ok cool ,

So just unbolt them and give a bit of a rub with sand paper is that the normal method ?

Thanks

Stuart

[Gerg]

Yes, definitely,  get a bit of grease in there as well if you can, to stop it ever being a problem in the future.

Whilst it may make no difference, how annoying it would be to find out later that it was the fault!

[oldcodger]

13.6 v from the alternator sounds a bit low, should really be more towards 14.2v at 2000rpm.

What voltage does the Battery measure after car has been switched off for at least 30 mins .

https://www.wikihow.com/Check-a-Car-Battery

 

Checked the air filter ?

[Patonski]

24 minutes ago, oldcodger said:

13.6 v from the alternator sounds a bit low, should really be more towards 14.2v at 2000rpm.

What voltage does the battery measure after car has been switched off for at least 30 mins .

https://www.wikihow.com/Check-a-Car-Battery

 

Checked the air filter ?

Hi , ill check later the exact voltages.

Just checked the service book , at 74k the car had an Air Filter and spark plugs replaced as well as the Oil changed and filter, its only done 4k since then.

The 100 pound bargain buy has turned into a bit of a nightmare to be honest , I think ill probably end up losing money on this one, I think ill just stick to maintaining my own cars from now on, spend so far is at a guess about 650-700 including the car and rising, ill probably be lucky to get a grand for it with a years mot.

On a lighter note hopefully ill get 20 quid for the old catalyst so I can treat myself to a take away curry and a six pack tonite ;)

[Patonski]

Well I just went to my workshop and checked the Battery, which read 11.99 Volts, it was last used Wednesday for the drive to mot and has been started and moved a few times since.

Then I tried it with the car running and the altenator is fluctuating anything from 13.3v right down to 12.6v and then up a bit again, so I am figuring more than likely the altenator is goosed ???

So was it perhaps a case of me driving with lights, heater, wipers going etc on and this made the voltage dip too low which affected the ECU and cut power to car systems.

 

[oldcodger]

Sounds like you have plenty of other cars around you , so the first thing I would do is swap the Battery for a known good newish one with a good/full charge and then see what the alternator pushes out at 2000 - 2500 rpm, should be a more 14.2v.  Would always suspect the Battery before the alternator.

Also worth checking the main lead to the alternator/ Battery terminals are clean , not corroded etc or loose.   However, disconnect the battery first as those cables carry dangerous current.

[Patonski]

5 minutes ago, oldcodger said:

Sounds like you have plenty of other cars around you , so the first thing I would do is swap the battery for a known good newish one with a good/full charge and then see what the alternator pushes out at 2000 - 2500 rpm, should be a more 14.2v.  Would always suspect the battery before the alternator.

Also worth checking the main lead to the alternator/ battery terminals are clean , not corroded etc or loose.   However, disconnect the battery first as those cables carry dangerous current.

Ok ill try that , so the alternator fluctuates according to the rpm of the car ?

I always thought it was a set voltage they produced.

Would it be ok to try the Battery from my diesel yaris as the only other car I have is an A2 audi with a huge Battery that wouldn't fit

Thanks

[Patonski]

I went out last night and cleaned up a few earth points one's between Battery and engine , one's between engine chassis , connection on starter and also gave the Battery terminals a wire brush.

Started the car and tested voltage and it read 14.5v , I didn't run it long because I had to go but it seems to have cured the voltage fluctuation but ill test it again tomorrow to be sure.

Also found that my worn wheel bearing turned out to be the center nut loose on the CV joint so yesterday was a good day , see what tomorrow brings when I get into these front brake calipers :) lol

Thanks for the tips guys your help and knowledge has been invaluable