39
votes
Is the driver's door supposed to unlock from inside?
Many car doors are designed to open from the inside when locked so that the occupants can escape the car in an emergency, it's totally normal, although not all cars have that feature. In a car fire ...
- 17.7k
28
votes
I drove on a dirt road rougher than my car was designed for
If you have no symptoms and no codes then chances are good there's nothing wrong with your car. If you had bent or damaged your suspension you'd most likely have a vibration, or your handling would ...
- 17.7k
10
votes
Accepted
How do you open a locked door when the unlocking mechanism is jammed?
Well, here's what ended up working.
From inside the car, roll down the window.
There's a piece of rubber weatherstripping along the outside bottom edge of the window, pry it out gently with a flat ...
- 12.2k
7
votes
Hard to engage 1st gear and reverse gear when parking for manual transmission.
I had a 2011 Toyota Yaris with a manual transmission, and I believe I know what your problem is (see Is it common to fail engaging first gear or a manual transmission car occasionally?). The problem ...
- 15.3k
7
votes
I drove on a dirt road rougher than my car was designed for
You haven't stated which country you are in, but if it has a statutory vehicle safety test, you could assure yourself by putting in for the test to a garage you trust, and ask them to show you any ...
- 2,473
7
votes
I drove on a dirt road rougher than my car was designed for
Unless you're driving a luxury car you would have a bare minimum amount of sensors and most of which relate to combustion or the electrical system. If you happened to knock your O2 sensor loose then ...
- 1,227
6
votes
Corolla - Coolant leaking from timing chain cover
I think you need to reseal the timing cover
I found several images uploaded in a ZIP by an enterprising Corolla owner.
Here's an image showing the O-ring you replaced next to the water pump/pulley ...
- 39.2k
5
votes
Interior Rattling
Rattling has to do with loose parts. The bass frequencies are causing the parts to vibrate against each other.
You will need to isolate the rattle, and tighten the part making the noise. Many times ...
- 9,005
5
votes
Accepted
What's causing no power steering until 5-10 seconds after startup?
Replace the battery and those issues will stop.
Reason? The bad battery is so discharged after starting the engine the alternator takes a few seconds to bring the system voltage high enough for some ...
- 8,000
5
votes
Spongy brakes in a 2004 Toyota corolla
Treat this as a new problem, and forget all the repairs that have been made.
The first step is to eliminate the possibility that there is a brake fluid leak. Carefully and accurately mark the brake ...
- 8,518
4
votes
Accepted
Corolla 1999 - My parking brake light randomly turns on and off
As well as being a parking brake warning light, that is also a service brake warning light - i.e. it warns you of problems with the main footbrake.
Given what you have described, my first thought ...
- 28.9k
4
votes
Accepted
Replacing only one front strut?
This sounds to me more like an alignment problem that you need to get checked. To do more diagnosis, I would jack the front of the car up so that both front wheels are just off the ground then turn ...
- 25.5k
4
votes
Car engine vibrates vigorously with air conditioning on at idle speed
I'll take a swing at this ...
The engine in your car, whether it's the Single Overhead Cam (SOHC) or Double Overhead Cam (DOHC) version, has a vacuum actuated (non-electronic) idle air control valve. ...
- 162k
4
votes
I drove on a dirt road rougher than my car was designed for
Things that could happen if you drive a car off-road
Dirt building up on the inside rim surfaces, causing imbalance. Symptom: vibration at 60-100km/h with the frequency of the wheel rotation. Cure: ...
- 2,385
4
votes
Why won't my car start but is cranking? No ignition puls,e no injector pulse, but the fuel pump is working
Two things come to mind.
1: crankshaft position sensor. Many times when this fails it will not throw a code. With a fresh battery, turn the engine over and watch the tach. If it doesn't jump a little, ...
- 3,440
3
votes
Smog test fail, lack of oil?
Here are some of the translations for your errors by code
P0300 - This random multiple misfires on random cylinders
P0301 - Cylinder 1 misfire. You could have a bad spark plug, a bad spark plug wire,...
- 33k
3
votes
Hard to engage 1st gear and reverse gear when parking for manual transmission.
One of two things is most likely happening:
Your master cylinder is failing.
You may have air between the clutch master and slave cylinders.
First and reverse are the hardest gears to shift into ...
- 162k
3
votes
Very difficult cold starting
The white smoke sounds like antifreeze burning. I would suspect the cylinder head gasket. After cranking five times you have emptied the cylinder(s) of antifreeze and then the engine can operate ...
- 3,972
3
votes
Replacing only one front strut?
Unless the strut has a fault or has been fitted incorrectly.. Then yes, replacing one strut alone will cause the feelings your experiencing in the cars general performance/balance.
Its best to ...
- 5,067
3
votes
Interior Rattling
Usually, these armrests have fixings that go in from underneath - so the screws may be covered by plastic discs, all you may need to do is tighten them.
- 34.7k
3
votes
Is this transmission fluid level too high?
It really depends, but it definitely could be over full.
The reason I say "it depends" is, how did you take the fluid reading? Follow these simple guidelines to see if you've gone wrong:
Ensure the ...
- 162k
3
votes
Is the driver's door supposed to unlock from inside?
My Fiat 500 and Nissan Qashqai both open from the inside with no need to unlock the doors, unless child lock is activated on that door. How old is your Corolla ? I don't remember seeing this on newer ...
- 220
3
votes
Is the driver's door supposed to unlock from inside?
It depends on the manufacturer.
As stated by @GdD this is an explicit safety provision for cases of crashes. Note emphasis.
It is worth to note that modern Volkswagen cars (I can confirm Golf and ...
3
votes
Is rebuilding the clutch any good?
For a modern car like that I'd go for a new one - I'd only look at rebuild clutches for older cars where decent quality new clutches aren't available. As Mike says, the biggest aspect of changing a ...
- 28.9k
3
votes
I drove on a dirt road rougher than my car was designed for
Just because the car was taken over a very rough road doesn't necessarily mean it will have been damaged. Many vehicles live their whole lives on terrible surfaces.
Keeping an eye on the OBD codes, ...
- 3,665
2
votes
Fuel Trim Readings
@Fred Wilson's comment is right on the money, high, positive long term fuel trims at idle that reduce at higher engine speeds indicate the presence of higher-than-normal unmetered air.
The fact that ...
- 39.2k
2
votes
99 1.3 Corolla 4E-FE engine - possible detonation, surging
Did you clean the mass airflow sensor on the air intake? Was the head shaved when the head gasket was done? It is common to shave the head when it is repaired. If so, then the compression ratio could ...
- 51
2
votes
My Corolla is burning through gas like air
This is an enormous increase in fuel consumption, don't know if it is possible for the engine to burn that much more fuel under any circumstances. First place I would look is for fuel to be leaking on ...
- 348
2
votes
My Corolla is burning through gas like air
My first thought is dragging brakes. If that's happening you should notice that one or more of the wheels is quite warm after driving for even a short (1-2 miles) distance.
With a problem that comes ...
- 14.5k
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