QuestionQUESTION: I have a 2001 Toyota Corolla with 178,000 miles on it. Given to me from family. Stock motor and tranny. Uses oil about a quart every 2 - 2-1/2 weeks. Might be the main problem. Check engine light has been on forever and now losing power on acceleration. When "tromp" on the gas actually goes slower. When put in reverse and hit gas right away sounds like it is going to stall but if let "settle" a few seconds works better. Let sit for three days and started it up this morning vibrated and sounded like muffler fell off. But when shifted to reverse smoothed out dramatically and backed down decline fine. When shifted to drive same noise and clunked into gear. Changed spark plugs around 18 months ago and used the Bosch Iridium (recommended) spark plugs and changed oil are the only maintenance that have been done that I know of in the last several years. Might have changed air filter but not for some time. Also added Marvelous Mystery Oil to full tank of last gas fill up 6 days ago. Thanks for your help!
ANSWER: First have the check engine light trouble code retrieved you can do so at any autozone, advance auto, O'reilly etc they will usually either loan you their scanner or do it for you at no charge, then let me know the code number and i can start there, it may give me some idea where to look. The oil consumption amount depends on the mileage driven, if it's more than a quart in about 500 miles then there is a serious problem.
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QUESTION: Ok I will get the code. Should have done that a while ago. Is there a gasket or anywhere on the front of the engine, pulleys are, that the oil could be leaking from. Looks really dark and oily there. I believe that it is close to or less than 500 miles that i have to add oil. Not burning it as far as I can tell no smell or blue smoke. And do not see any oil spots under the car where it is parked for long periods of time. Thanks again will get code soon.
ANSWER: There is an oil seal behind the crankshaft pulley, oil can also be leaking from the valve cover gasket.
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QUESTION: Ok thanks I'll have look more closely this weekend. I got the code from Autozone and it is PO171. Also the one employee sat in the car and listened to it. Said not to worry to much about the oxygen sensor (part of code) to start with what is causing the code. This model of Toyotas have coil packs I believe and with the cost of them have never been changed. Please send me in the right direction that would be awesome. Also said that their is slippage in the reverse gear. Thanks again!
AnswerThe P0171 is a lean air/fuel mixture which is normally caused by a dirty mass air flow sensor (MAF)it's in the intake tube that connects the air cleaner to the throttle body, it has two phillips screws and an electrical connector, remove this sensor and clean it on the inside using spray electronic cleaner, make sure the wires inside the opening are cleaned, the sensor that looks like a small bulb with two wires is not the sensor that needs to be cleaned, the thin wires in the opening need to be cleaned. This can also cause the driveability issues.
