Engine Rattle !

[whizz]

Can anyone help with this little prob, When i accelarate, or the engine works hard i get a rattling sound from what i think is the right hand side of the engine?. the corolla is a 1.4vvti (2000)My dealer aint got a clue what it is (thanks uncle arnold!!!!!)

Ps before buying a car from that company whos 50th birthday it is chech out this site ! www.arnoldsucks.com very intresting reading

[JimMc]

Can anyone help with this little prob, When i accelarate, or the engine works hard i get a rattling sound from what i think is the right hand side of the engine?. the corolla is a 1.4vvti (2000)My dealer aint got a clue what it is (thanks uncle arnold!!!!!)

Ps before buying a car from that company whos 50th birthday it is chech out this site !  www.arnoldsucks.com    very intresting reading

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Hi whizz, A lot of 2000 1.4vvti Corollas had a problem with engine 'pinking'. This makes a sound exactly as you describe. Toyota supplied 'remapped' modified ECUs to cure the problem. My 2000 Corolla had one fitted at Arnold Clark, Toyota Centre, Bishopbriggs under warranty and it was completely successful. Ask for Harri Roopra or Colin the foreman. They should know all about it. Hope this helps you.

[whizz]

Can anyone help with this little prob, When i accelarate, or the engine works hard i get a rattling sound from what i think is the right hand side of the engine?. the corolla is a 1.4vvti (2000)My dealer aint got a clue what it is (thanks uncle arnold!!!!!)

Ps before buying a car from that company whos 50th birthday it is chech out this site !  www.arnoldsucks.com    very intresting reading

←

Hi whizz, A lot of 2000 1.4vvti Corollas had a problem with engine 'pinking'. This makes a sound exactly as you describe. Toyota supplied 'remapped' modified ECUs to cure the problem. My 2000 Corolla had one fitted at Arnold Clark, Toyota Centre, Bishopbriggs under warranty and it was completely successful. Ask for Harri Roopra or Colin the foreman. They should know all about it. Hope this helps you.

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[whizz]

Cheers, what was the rough cost of the repair, and is there any chance of long term damage or damage likley to other parts of the engine?(maybe a silly question but i know nothing about engines, but am sure learning fast ! )

[JimMc]

Hi whizz, The 'pinking' problem ( also known as pre-ignition ) causes excessive stress on some engine components such as crankshaft bearings and pistons and could shorten the life of the engine.

Low speed 'pinking' is more of an annoyance but high speed pinking can cause serious engine damage.

It was a design problem caused by incorrect settings in the ECU (electronic control unit ).

If the owner complained to Toyota when the car was new, a modified ECU was fitted under warranty - free of charge. This cured the problem. However, Toyota never made it an official general recall.

A lot of Corolla owners who did not complain never had the problem sorted.

Now that your car is out of warranty it will be more difficult.

you would have to put a lot of pressure on Toyota to admit that this problem is caused by a manufacturing fault from new and that you should still get the modified ECU free of charge even though your car is no longer in warranty.

It will help yor case if it has a full Toyota service record.

If you needed to pay for the ECU it would be expensive. Probably about £500 plus about 2 to 3 hours labour. If I had to pay I would rather sell the car in the near future.

I share your frustration with Arnold's but, if it handy for you, try Harri Roopra, Service Manager at Arnold Clark Toyota Bishopbriggs. They sorted my car out.

Good Luck.

[whizz]

cheers, going to look into that this week

[mytbyte]

GUYS, this sounds exactly like my problem...I had the lower part of my engine (1.6) replaced due to loss of oil (long story dealt with elsewhere on this forum)...when I picked up my car, the red engine fault light went on shortly after I left the garage...I returned immediately and the Toyota guys claimed that something was not right with the VVT-i control and I think that they remapped the ECU to correct it...after that there is the rattling sound as whizz is describing...when accelerating the sound appears at about 2000 rpm...any opinions??? Could this be the reason why the engine never rattled before it was replaced and (probably) ECU remapped???

[JimMc]

The modified ECU was to cure a pinking problem on the 1.4 vvti engine Corolla. This modified ECU would have remapped settings for ignition timing and / or fuel injection settings.

You don't get an engine warning light with the pinking problem.

Toyota claimed that the original ECU was not designed to be remapped.

A completely new ECU was fitted which was supplied direct from Toyota after they had carried out considerable research and development work.

The dealer cannot remap the ECU in situ on the car although they can alter some basic settings.

I do not know if the 1.6vvti engine had similar problems.

Your problem sounds different. I doubt that the dealer remapped your ECU.

From what you say, you had a problem with the variable valve timing mechanism control.

A problem with the vvti control would bring on the engine warning light because it would affect the exhaust emmisions.

The engine rattle you now have could be pinking but it could be something different. A lot of things can cause a rattle.

[Nick-Johnson]

I have also heard of Air Conditioniong pipes been loose and rattling this could also could be what you are talking about!

Nick

[mytbyte]

True, Jim, I didn't really mean remapping but rather changing some parameters for VVT-i...I noticed the rattle ONLY after the engine was swapped and VVT-i problem was resolved...there is no way that the rattle was there before the engine's lower part was swapped so the garage's claim that the intake is generally KNOWN to be noisy and that this could be the reason for rattle is unacceptabe...also the rattle is only heard when accelerating...I'm getting ****** off nad will probably write a letter of complaint to my local Toyota representative...

[JimMc]

Hi mytbyte,

Your intended course of action is exactly what I would do.

Contacting the Toyota Headquarters for the area you are in is the best way to get them to take you seriously - if you are not satisfied that the dealer is sorting out your problem..

In Britain there is a Customer Care Department at Toyota GB.

They take a note of your problem and give you a reference number.

Initially, Toyota will refer you back to the dealer (or another dealer of your choice)

You will find that the dealer will be a lot more interested in the problem than they were before.

Toyota will also arrange for the Toyota area engineer to come to the dealer to examine your car.

If you do not know Toyota's telephone number, the dealer is obliged to tell you.

I think that there will be a similar system in Croatia.

By the way the ECU problem causing pinking was on 2000 model year Corollas.

I have noticed other threads in the Corolla Forum discussing a problem on the new shape (2003 on) Corollas with inlet manifolds causing a rattle. Apparently there is a modified inlet manifold to cure that problem.

I hope this will be of help to you.

[mytbyte]

Thx, jim...

I don't believe in the intake version because for the first 2 years there was NO rattle whatsoever, only when they swapped the whole lower part (crankshaft, cylinders as one unit) leaving the original head alone (valves etc.) the rattle started and I don't think that they needed to change the intake because of the ruined crankshaft bearings (ruined due to the destroyed piston rings that were supposedly eaten-up by too much sulphur in our local gasoline which led to complete oil consumption within 2 months (1500 kms) from the regular oil exchange, can you imagine that???)...by the way the rattle is sometimes faint but at times it rattles like hell, a very nasty sound...I'll push the garage once more and if nothing gets resolved, I shall contact the Toyota rep...

Cheers...

[AGG]

GUYS, this sounds exactly like my problem...I had the lower part of my engine (1.6) replaced due to loss of oil (long story dealt with elsewhere on this forum)...when I picked up my car, the red engine fault light went on shortly after I left the garage...I returned immediately and the Toyota guys claimed that something was not right with the VVT-i control and I think that they remapped the ECU to correct it...after that there is the rattling sound as whizz is describing...when accelerating the sound appears at about 2000 rpm...any opinions??? Could this be the reason why the engine never rattled before it was replaced and (probably) ECU remapped???

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JimC

my 2000 1.6 vvti has just developed this problem or least I fear it has - is it safe to continue driving until it can be booked into the garage?

[Roxtar]

my matrix with the 2zz-ge makes a similar sound (based on your description) when i really get on the throttle. in my case, it is caused by the motor sucking a lot of air causing the breather assembly to rattle a bit.

is your rattle coming from the same side of the engine that the throttle body and air breather are on?