Longdan

Hey, nice ride. I'm sure I've seen you cruising down the motorway before. I've had a lot of Corollas but never came across that panel with mode A, B & C, auto/ manual. Is that a climate control thing? I think its pretty cool that you have hunted down the rare accessories, but do all those air purifiers really make a difference? Nice pics. Where is that street art wall?

Cable

The weather here in NZ is very cold at the moment. Typically 1-3 degrees overnight. In the morning, my car is just undriveable until it has warmed up. When I first bought it ( at 50,000 km) it wasn't too bad when cold. But now (120,000 km), it won't do anything more than idle until the temperature gauge has risen to about 1/8 past cold, even though the heater can be pumping out warm air. This can make it interesting when pulling out into traffic on a barely warmed up engine. It's like " C'mon Gertie, you can do it', as the car idles across the line of oncoming traffic, and then all of a sudden, after the danger has passed, the engine leaps into life, as the computer senses that some tempersture threshold has been passed. But it seems as though its been gradually getting worse. Could this be a thermostat issue?

I don't see any reason why you can't just get in and drive it. Whats the difference between doing 4000 kms in 40 hours or 40 days? If anything, the 40 hour trip would cause less wear because there would be no cold starts. I read somewhere that a 2zzge is rated to do 4000 rpm continuously. I'd rather put those miles on my car at 100-120 km/h than at 0-40 km/h in rush hour traffic.

I can vouch for the Thule racks. They will carry whatever you want. You just got to get the right foot mounting kit to suit your car. There is an online list telling you which one you need.

Should I be careful to not let the positive battery lead touch earth while its disconnected? The way I see it, this would instantaneously discharge the circuits and there would be no need to wait half an hour for them to discharge by themselves.

Problem solved! All it took was to reset the ECU. Then took it for a blat down the motorway hitting lift a few times. The take off is as it should be. Its funny how so many issues can be solved by disconnecting the battery lead.

Yep thats how I would describe it. I'll pull the battery lead tomorrow and see if that makes any difference. Whats involved in a TB service? Take it out and clean it?

I checked the coils, and the plugs. No cracks in the coil housings or signs of arcing. Its a momentary lag when I put my foot on the accelerator from stopped. Then it picks up again and off I go. Maybe I should get my mechanic to have a look.

Its not the auto slipping. Its more like the engine bogs a bit before the revs pick up when stating from stopped. I asked about tuning the trans because it seems to be getting a bit jerky on the gear changes, possibly with age. I don't think the 2 problems are related, but they possibly could be.

I've got an Allex with a 2ZZ-GE and a tiptronic auto box. Lately, I've been noticing it 'misssing' when I go to take off from stopped. It's like the ignition cuts out for a split second whenever I accelerate from stopped. Then it gets going and all is fine. If I put my foot to the floor as soon as the light goes green then I don't notice it, but if I try and take off normally, the car gives a bit of a lurch then off it goes. This is something that is recent. The car has just gone over 100,000 kms. Maybe the trans needs a tune up. Is that possible with these transmissions? Someone suggested that maybe my throttle position sensor was dirty and needed cleaning. Any ideas anyone?

Where?

I've just fitted 17" rims and 215/45 tyres to my ZZE123. It previously had 195/60/15 on it. The interesting thing is that the speedo used to read about 5 km/h too fast at 100 ks. Now, with the new wheels and tyres, it reads bang on. I've checked this with 2 different GPS units and here in NZ, we have these signs that display your speed as you pass them which are handy for checking your speedo.

That looks great. Can it be fitted without taking the springs out?

I recall on a visit to WA many years ago that some cars I drove in produced a rotten egg smell from the exhaust when you stepped on the gas going up a hill. When I asked about it, everyone said it was something they put in the fuel. Not all fuel did it, and not all cars either. Maybe some were better sealed than others, or had the vents set to recirculate. But everyone just lived with it, and i got used to it as well.