1999 Seca owner

[stevenaaus]

Well - i finally got around to owning a Toyota :) What an amazing budget car manufacturer.

It's a white 1.6l 1999 AE101R Corolla in great nick with some colourful trim/covers from the previous owner. Just did my first fuel fill, and seems to be around 6.25l/100km. After coming from a 1999 festiva (75,000km, super reliable, dont laugh too long), it's like a limo, with a lovely window tint and real car quality. Brakes, engine power, build, comfort are all great. Festiva's steering was better though i reckon.

The Corolla runs perfect, and comes with the maintenance log fully stamped after 140,000kms, but i cant be 100% the timing belt has been done as it's not itemised, and the book recommendation for the belt is 150,000kms or 90 months. So i might open the cover and inspect this weekend. Not too hard i think.

Anyway, any hints about what to look out for with this car ? Cheers

Steven from rural queensland.

[Hiro]

When a timing belt is changed by a proper mechanic they generall put a sticker somewhere showing when the next belt is due. Toyota would usually put it on the timing belt cover, but other places might put it on the scuttle/firewall/inner guard, or even the driver's door jamb (which is where mine is).

In saying that, even though the book says 150,000km when the AE101/102 originally came out Toyota specified 100,000km change intervals, it seems that towards the end of the 90s they changed their standard to 150,000km (my '97 Conquest specifies 100k but information differs on my '99 Camry)

[stevenaaus]

Thanks for the reply. :)

I found an old sticker crumpled up behind the brake booster where it had fallen off the firewall. Possible this is a timing-belt-notice ?

Anyone know the wiser ? The date is something like 90 months after the car's purchase date. (1999 + 8 years).

(I took the top timingbelt cover off to inspect it , but it is held in place by the rocker cover, and don't fancy removing this unless necessary obviously.)

Anyway, if it was done in 2007 or not, i should probably think about doing it again in the next couple of years i guess.

Why the heck are those fluid lines running out of the power steering and seemingly in a pointless loop around the wiper-fluid-reservoir ?

[Hiro]

Possibly, but timing belt notices would generally only be in kms not a date (unlike fluid changes which are both), although if the car sits for a long period of time anything can deteriorate.. The cam cover is a cinch to take off (4 nuts, the wiring harness cover and the spark plugs) and is a good thing to do to check out the condition of the engine (mainly looking for burnt/caked/sludgy oil etc).

Those fluid lines are the power steering fluid cooler, basically it takes a long enough trip around the engine bay that the fluid cools down before it gets back to the reservoir, no need for a little radiator or anything.

Can't hurt to do a full service on it now, might as well do all belts + plugs + leads, and the water pump at the same time as the timing belt just to be sure (the extra labour is minimal)

[stevenaaus]

> Possibly, but timing belt notices would generally only be in kms not a date

I'm guessing from the low milegae the belt was done after 90 months, not 100,000kms.

> Can't hurt to do a full service on it now, might as well do all belts + plugs + leads

I bought it at 139,500 and the guy reckons it had just had it's 140,000 service.

Drive belts look great too.

Re inremoving the rocker cover, In the manual, it has two notes i wasnt sure about.

1 reapplying sealant (Permatex ultra grey or equiv !?) to "cylinder head contact surface" (basically the four points around the main cam either side where it exits the rocker cover.

2.Note about the spark plud seals, and something about remembering their depth in the rocker cover.

After 140,000 there's a good chance the gasket wont be the best either... so maybe i should order one of these ?

Edited October 11, 2014 by stevenaaus

[Hiro]

The gasket and the spark plug tubes/seals are simple things really, the sealant around the half-moon caps is pretty standard too (you don't need to go nuts all the way around but some mechanics/people do, which makes it a real ***** to get off later.

If you do order a new gasket (it's more of a giant o-ring than a gasket), consider getting new cam cover acorn nuts/washers too - the rubber seals in the washer like to perish and crumble when you prise them off, and can cause oil leaks if you don't replace them, they should be easily available from the dealer for a couple of bucks

[stevenaaus]

I got the belt done. Mechanic charged me 5 hours for doing it, the whole rocker cover gasket kit, and the water pump.

Said the pump o-ring too some time to fit.

Now only worry is a bit of a whistle from my alternator i think. I loosened the alt belt a little from how it came back,

but it's pretty quiet whatever it is.

Interestingly, an old friend of mine turned up with his 1998 AE112R with a funny grill and big fish-eye tail and headlights

Comparing it to my 1999 AE101R, they're damn hard to split apart from the obvious tailight

revamp. I guess there's probably some other differences too. His is the 1.8l (mine is 1.6l).

You can just make out his fish-eye headlights (on the left) and nice alloy (?) wheels. His only has 130K km, and cost < 1500!

but his roof needs paint badly and his bonnet has hail. He's gonna do it himself "sometime" but is worried about the paint matching.

Edited February 13, 2015 by stevenaaus

[Hiro]

Interestingly, an old friend of mine turned up with his 1998 AE112R with a funny grill and big fish-eye tail and headlights

Comparing it to my 1999 AE101R, they're damn hard to split apart from the obvious tailight

revamp. I guess there's probably some other differences too. His is the 1.8l (mine is 1.6l).

Whilst the chassis and driveline are the same and a lot of parts can swap over, the differences in body are _incredibly_ easy to spot.

[stevenaaus]

Hmm I guess you're right, but i can't easily put my finger on the changes. They do seem apparent, but they're quite subtle.

Is there already a thread (here or elsewhere) detailing the E100 to E110 revision ?

[Hiro]

Hmm I guess you're right, but i can't easily put my finger on the changes. They do seem apparent, but they're quite subtle.

Is there already a thread (here or elsewhere) detailing the E100 to E110 revision

Subtle? Engine/driveline/suspension/brakes are the same or swappable, practically everything else is different and obviously so.

It's fairly clear that this:

is not the same model as this:

[stevenaaus]

I said , 'apart from the obvious tail light revamp' - so you show me a picture comparing tailights.

[trentmeyer23]

I said , 'apart from the obvious tail light revamp' - so you show me a picture comparing tailights.

You're kidding right? The hatch and bumper are completely different!

[Hiro]

I said , 'apart from the obvious tail light revamp' - so you show me a picture comparing tailights.

The entire shape of the rear end is different, not to mention 20cm longer...

And the front end is completely different

And the interior is completely different

[stevenaaus]

Yah... headlights have been redone too of course.

I'm pretty sure my friend's 1998 AE112 (which is pictured as the blue one above, which the ugly grill) had exactly the same dash as my 1999 AE101R. Obviously it was one of the first AE112 (dated 1998).

[Hiro]

All the Australian-delivered AE112s (even the very early ones sold alongside the 101/102) I've seen have had that second dash (some with a single-DIN binnacle, some with double), but there were some overseas eaaaaaaaaaarly-model AE11xs that had a similar centre console to the 101/102 (still had the same cluster as the later 112s though)

There are still immediate obvious differences though