Corolla E11 Engine Interrmitant Cut Out

[Dcode]

Hi,

I picked up a pretty mint E11 3 door hatchback back in August this year. I bought it from a Toyota dealer with 26000 miles on the clock. The car is W registered (2000) with a 1.4 VVTi engine.

The car suffers from light pinking, so i returned the car to the dealer and was advised it would require an ECU upgrade costing about £800 that is not covered by warranty.

On my way home i was cruising about 70mph on the motorway and for a split second the engine cut out and then came back to life again at the same revs and speed as it was before. The music on my mp3 player did not interrupt either. This all occurred within a second.

The car has ran for about 400 miles without a hiccup since today when cruising at 60mph the car pulled the same trick again but it was less severe. The clocks hardly moved but i could feel the sudden absence of power from the engine. The car has driven another 50 miles without a problem.

The first time the engine pulled this stunt was roughly around 150 miles on the trip clock. Today which was the second time it occurred it was roughly 150 miles on the trip clock after my last refill.

The car drives fine and has pretty decent performance for a 1.4 but there are a few things that concern me. In 5th gear between 2500 and 3000 revs the car makes a strange whining noise - coming from near the engine. Also when the rev counter hits 3000 revs spot on an electrical buzzing noise comes from behind the clocks. This mainly occurs in 5th gear but has also happened when accelerating up steep hills in 3rd. I have absolutely no idea what this could be.

I would rather not return the car to the dealer unless its absolutely necessary. Apart from being 40 miles away from where i live i have had a few run ins with their pathetic service team. Getting to speak to a technician is hard work and they never return any of my phone calls.

Any advice is welcome and appreciated.