CTS03

Thanks for the reply. You obviously suggest using the TRD thermostat for warm climates. Is it OK to stay on the car also in mild winter (rarely below 0C)? Concerning the coolant bypass, is their any chance that in some cases the throttle body would need a cooling effect from the coolant? (if its temperature gets higher than the coolant's temperature)

I might have a naive question. Why the cooling system has been designed so that coollant from the engine goes into the throttle body and warms it? Is there any experience in Australia with using the TRD thermostat which keeps its temperature at 71C? http://trdparts.jp/english/parts_thermostat.html

Finally the noise problem I reported was coming from the alternator's belt tensioner. It was replaced and my engine sounds so nice again in all rpm!!! That old car-like noises at crossings and start have gone!

Where is the heat shield, at the exhaust?

I use 100 octane but I checked that there is no difference with 95+.

I think I had a similar noise in two sequential beginnings of movement with low gas in traffic jam and a/c on. Something like metal cables being trapped in the rotating wheels and scratching around? I considered this noise as an extreme case of my usual engine noises at low rpm: http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/inde...8&st=0&p=55088&

You may download a belt-TSB from a "new-celica" site in USA: http://www.newcelica.org/forums/showthread.php?t=4338

I should add the following info for my experience in the last 1-2months: Toyota checked the spark plugs and found them clean. I voluntarily changed the air filter but the problem remained. Toyota mechanics said that misfiring at low rpm is normal because it is a high reving engine!!! But it cannot be normal since it did not happen one year ago. Practically, my car makes this noise each time I start moving without too much gas and there is sufficient load on the engine (slopy road, high friction road, turning). I have recognized similar noises when old cars start moving at city crossings! Following Toyota's failure I did a lot of search in forums and it seems that squealing/rattling noises at low rpm are usual in 2zzge engines and related to alternator's belt tensioner and the belt. It has been a TSB for early years' Celicas in USA but there also problems in more recent generation 7 celicas in UK. Thus I cannot exclude the belt/tensioner for causing this problem. You might have a look on these topics in a very interesting UK celica club: http://www.celica-club.co.uk/cgibin/phpbb2...34ea734e92f68de http://www.celica-club.co.uk/cgibin/phpbb2...34ea734e92f68de http://www.celica-club.co.uk/cgibin/phpbb2...34ea734e92f68de http://www.celica-club.co.uk/cgibin/phpbb2...bc24e094a52f0aa

Your old setting was not necessarily bad. The new one (long travel) would make much easier to slightly burn the clutch in routine maneuvers but obvioulsy is convenient for changing gears and starting smoothy the car. If you do not make many starts uphill will be OK. I guess the optimum trade-off is difficult to realize in this gearbox. My experience here is also that garages avoid work on fine adjustments by claiming that the clutch is self-adjustable.

Apparently brake pedal variations, noticeable to some of us, cannot be avoided. Just be alert that after the engine lift the brake pedal may soften dangerously. This becomes important e.g. to stop in-time infront of a red traffic light.

The brakes' efficiency was measured: 66% front and 61% rear, both above the 50% threshold. Conclusion: OK. Who cares about pedal's free travel variation? It is considered normal.

After further observation, I definitely have non-negligible variations in brake pedal resistance. Yesterday night the pedal was extremely hard from its top position for a distance of ~10km. It could not move down beyond few mm-1cm! I could only correlate this with the high idle (1400-1500rpm) after a cold engine start at 15C. My brakes operate eventually but I may loose important seconds due to my memorized force on the pedal. I will have the car checked by Toyota in the next days, but I practically do not expect much: any pedal response may be considered "normal". I guess a reset of electronics should be the starting point.

Thanks both for your comments. Indeed the response to a/c should be standard; I have also noticed this in a BMW car. Today, I did some tests and determined a braking behaviour although I cannot be sure that this would be exactly true and reproducible: The brakes appear to be pumped at high rpm of the engine when moving with 2nd gear, particularly noticeable above 4000rpm. After passing above the lift, changing to 3rd etc. (driving below lift) the pedal has much softer travel for long way to the floor. If this is not supposed to be so (e.g. to avoid easy wheel blocking at high speeds), it may indicate loss of assistance due to the lift activation? I have been feeling these pedal pressure inconsistencies long time ago. I was sensitized to the problem again when my brake liquid was changed and I had to push the pedal to the floor. After 10 busy days I intended to go back but it changed to my "normal"! It could be trapped air that went through but inconsistencies were always here. In any case, I am also wandering if it is usual in Corollas to feel significant pedal pressure differences after a brake liguid change or my mechanics did bad work?

Hi All Has anybody noticed any variation in the pressure you need to apply on the brake pedal to stop? I have seen variations in my Corolla T Sport (31K km) from almost free pedal travel to the floor (not only after a brake liquid replacement) to very resistive pedal at its top position. It seems like variations in brake assistance. Changes may be noticed after weeks or minutes! In general, driving previously at high rpm usually seems to pump the brakes. If a/c is on at a stand (foot light on pedal), whenever the compressor is activated the pedal moves down 1-2cm.

This car was obviously designed with a "mixed everything" character. It has contradictory characteristics. It is civilized as far it concerns suspension and electronic stability equipment but not for engine operation and cabin noises-rattles. You are supposed to "play" a lot with the gears with the low-torque high-rpm engine but the gear shifting is frequently a nightmare. I consider the low-torque engine and suspension well balanced only for mountain bad quality and very curvy roads with max possible speed 90-100km/h where you have to use mosty the 3rd gear. Even there you loose accelaration between two curves but it is safer to drive with less torque. In any case, I do not understand why an engine with high torque in a wide rpm range is less sporty? Golf GTi is less sporty because of its engine? However, I enjoy the non-civilized character of our engine which can occasionally make you feel that you are doing something extreme: few strong accelarations operate as a release valve from routine. It is like a rediscovery of our hiden "wildness". Overall, I would not call CTS/Sportivo as a civilized car as usually do the car journalists.

I realized these noises after I felt gas smell while accelarting with 5th gear at ~6000rpm, which was probaly coming from the car and not outside. I have also felt occassionally some weak knocking sounds form the exhaust, which can be heard only with open windows at low rpm (~2000).

When my Corolla TS approached ~25,000 km I realized that a “misfiring”-like noise of the engine started happening when the car is moving, with 1st or 2nd gear engaged and I press the gas pedal while the engine operates between 800-1000rpm. This practically occurs in two situations: (1) the car starts with 1st gear form a stop and occurs until the engine exceeds 1,000-1050 rpm, and (2) I am moving with 2nd gear, I release the gas pedal, the engine drops to 800-1000rpm and then I push the gas pedal to accelerate (even slightly). The engine noise scales from slightly arrhythmic bass engine noise near 1000rpm to very arrhythmic tremble noise near 800rpm. It can be heard clearly if you have not closed the windows. And it depends on the load to the engine, e.g. it lasts more time and it is intense going uphill. I feel that the engine lacks of torque at these moments, so it should be misfiring. Please let me know if you have experienced this problem or if you know what is the problem and the possible solution.

Thanks. 30mm lowering is enough for street use (including "climbing" bumpy mountain roads) and coilovers would be a waste of money since I would never use functions such as height adjustment, etc. I understand that the back Konis are practically fixed. Is the midway back adjustment a good balance with the softest front? I would not like to increase oversteer much.

Hello Lucio_libre I have similar thoughts about coilovers and thus I am also thinking to combine Koni shocks with the already installed TTE 30mm lowering springs on my 2003 Corolla TSport. Would it be worthy? Are these Koni shocks suitable for the 30-40mm lowering springs or they would need some work? If you installed adjustable Konis, could cou please say about your settings?

Motul recommends for our cars the following: MOTUL 8100 E-TECH 0W40 MOTUL 8100 X-CESS 5W40

No! And the manual also gives the expected minimum negative temperatures in Celsius scale: below -29 degrees C for 5w30 and -18 degrees C for 10w30.

Could you guess any reason why the Corolla's manual recommends for the 1.8lt 2zzGE engine (Sportivo) 5w30 for temperature up to 10 degrees C 10w30 for temperatures above 38 degrees C

I agree on this, but then why Toyota in the Corolla user's manual recomends 5W30 only up to 10 degrees Celsius for the 2zzGE engine? Evenmore, they added an oil table in the manual specifically for the 2zzGE engine, with the maximum temperature (10C) for 5w30 being the only difference compared to the other engines' table (max T>38C) !!! I guess some Toyota engineers had serious technical reasons for this!

In the last month I have tried unsuccesfully twice to get this information from Toyota Europe and Toyota Hellas. I asked them the following questions: (1) Why oil SAE 5w30 is recommended (according to Corolla's manual) for ambient temperature only up to 10C for the 2ZZ-GE engine, while it can be used above 38C with the other Corolla engines? (2) Does this apply regardless of the oil type: Fully synthetic, semi-synthetic or mineral? (3) I have seen in the internet that the viscosity specs, at 40C and 100C, of oils SAE 5w30 and 10w30 are rather similar. Then why 10w30 is OK for temperatures above 38C for the 2ZZ-GE engine, according to our manual? (4) Given that SAE 5w30 is not good above 10C, what will be the recommended range of temperature for 2ZZ-GE engine for fully synthetic 5w40 oil? (5) Finally, what SAE of fully synthetic oil should be used with the 2zz-GE engine for Greek ambient temperature range of -10C to 40C? I guess it will be helpful to all if somebody else could get replies from an official Toyota site. Do you know how we could email directly to Japan?

Toyota mechanics are not aware of this! And even national Toyota experts may not be aware of this! I doubt that somebody reads carefully all the service manuals to spot such details. They practically ignore all the little differences in the maintenace of Corolla Sportivos/Tsports compared to 1.4 and 1.6lt engine Corollas. So, we should be alert to chek ourselves that they do the correct work. 5w30 and 10w30 should have different viscosity only when we start the engine (oil is not hot). Perhaps the thin 5w30 oil is not protecting the 2zzGE engine in this initial period when the outside temperature is above 10C? Or it has some effect to consumption, emission specs, etc? I really do not know and I am very curious to have official information from Toyota.