2007 Corolla LE

Did you initially change the transmission filter?

Didn't you already have 12 quarts of fresh fluid in the transmission? Seems a huge waste to toss that all out.

To be honest it's probably the first time in this car's life the filter has been changed. I think the two other times the transmission fluid was changed the shops just did a drain and fill, which leaves at least 4 quarts still in the system.

Probably won't do a full flush again for a while, but not sure what to do. It's still giving me a "kick" here and there, which it didn't before on the T-IV that already had 60k miles on it.

I'm wondering if the 3 quarts of valvoline maxlife is the problem. It's rated for both T-IV AND WS, which doesn't make any sense to me.

Alright, here is the deal. No matter how many times you flush your fluid, your transmission is going to slip now. Your transmission has worn clutch discs and the old fluid had the worn friction material in it (from said clutch disc), allowing the fluid to make up for the worn friction material (worn clutches) in your transmission. Now you've dumped the old fluid out and you've got new fluid in but this new fluid has none of that old friction material. This is allowing your trans to slip. The only fix is to get a new trans or rebuild it.

No fluid will fix it. Some of the trans "stop slip" additives might help for now but may ultimately cause you more problems down the road if you decide to rebuild the trans.

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so.. the trans has been worn down to the point of slipping? something inevitable with the mileage, or was it neglected in the past etc?

The clutch discs are wear items however they can outlast the vehicle. It probably has to due with a combonation of overheating due to abuse and lack of maintainence.

By abuse I am talking about shifting from reverse to drive before stopping, doing burnouts (or trying to), and thinking a corolla is a drag car. These all cause heat and heat destroys wet clutches along with the trans fluid.

You'd be surprised how often this exact issue occurs.

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gotcha. parents had the car for the first 160k or so, so I'm in the dark as to exactly what went on. I'm sure no burnouts though lol.

Probably just wear and tear, I believe they changed the fluids at 60k and 120k, and I just did the 180k. Oh well. She'll keep ticking along, it's a good car

Shifting from reverse to drive is always a killer. My father has a bad habit of doing that himself and I tend to get mad at him even when he does it in his company vehicle, haha. I'm not going to teach a 60 year old dog any new tricks though.

Now that it is slipping, it will most likely get worse. Slipping clutches wear the clutches. Drive it as lightly as you can to prevent slippage. I'd drive it until the thing poops the clutches onto the ground (not literally) and then rebuild it or replace it.

P.s. transmission fluid should really be changed every 15k or 30k if using a high quality fluid like AMSOIL Signature Series. Manufacturers reccomend 60k and 120k but that is because they want your transmission to last about 110-120k miles and then do exactly what it is doing now. Job security is a hell of a b****.

Independent AMSOIL Dealer, Contact me to get the world's best oil for prices lower than brands like Mobil1 and Royal Purple!

GoldMedalSyntheticOils.com

yeah that's probably what it was then. just weird, it shifted perfectly before the flush.

15k is my interval with my other transmissions which get fairly abused. i'll probably do this guy again with 100% amsoil in 30k miles, and then just leave that in there until this car dies, and scrap it

That is a fairly common complaint. Personally, if I buy a car I make sure the fluid is clean and the trans doesnt slip. I'll drive it for 15k+ city miles or 25-30k mixed miles with whatever fluid was in it. At that point, if the fluid has changed color significantly, smells burned (slipping clutches cause heat and burn the fluid), and/or has any particles in it I do NOT change the fluid. At that point the trans is on it's way out and your best bet for maximum life is to run the trashed fluid.

If I drive it for that period and it looks okay then I'll go to my standard 30k mi interval (drain and fill) using AMSOIL Signature Series.

Sadly this exact issue happens a lot to all fluid manufacturers and people blame the fluid or the mechanic who did it. I've worked in an auto parts store and I've had a million people yell at me because I sold them brand A but said customer's brother runs brand B and has no issues. Of course it's my fault for selling the "wrong" fluid.

Independent AMSOIL Dealer, Contact me to get the world's best oil for prices lower than brands like Mobil1 and Royal Purple!

GoldMedalSyntheticOils.com

at least the oil turned out okay...

i guess the only thing to note is the silicon, but the air filter is a relatively new mann filter that still looks clean.. shrug. im impressed with how it held up, a lot of the driving is cold short drives. interesting to note that it is on the relatively thicker side of things. 10 is about what the viscosity should be for a 10w30 oil, but this was (mostly) a 0w20, with some 5w30 thrown in.

How much did that cost?

about $20

As I've mentioned before about Blackstone, no very important TBN test results, which is what is needed to determine if an oil is safely capable for continued use or not. Without the TBN test, it's flying blind.

I can get anyone here an oil analysis done for only $17.95 by Polaris Labs and it includes the very important TBN test -

http://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-product/other-products/oil-analysis-services/oil-analyzers-test-kit-non-postage-paid/?zo=349698code=KIT06-EA


What is the TBN test, (Total Base Number), for oils and why is it important? -

http://hwww.pqiamerica.com/TBN.htm


Here is a guide to oil analysis testing. This will describe what oil analysis testing is and the many benefits it provides you. Just click on the picture below to open the .pdf article.

blackstone offers tbn, but the price is quite hefty. i'll probably switch oil testers once i use up my prepaid package of blackstone uoas

It's my understanding those packages are, "free", and you pay for the oil analysis when you mail it in?

you can prepay in bulk at a small discount. it's still $30/analysis if you want a TBN reading /fail

that said, IMO if you're running the same oil/filter, and relatively the same intervals/driving, i would be comfortable doing a TBN once, and if it's decent just not worry about it after. I guess that could be said for UOAs in general though

There many things that affect the TBN of an oil and that can vary a lot.

had something odd happen yesterday:

car is driven regularly, and after a 20 minute drive i parked and put my blinkers on for about 30 minutes. when i got back, the car would click at a rapid pace but not be anywhere close to turning over. nothing where i could give it a little gas and it would try to turn, nothing like that, just clicking. about 40 degrees outside, nothing terribly cold.

battery seemed fine and i didn't think it would have died that fast. I assumed the starter had gone bad. however, when i had someone help to jump the car, it turned over immediately - indicating the battery, not the starter. seemed kind of strange since the car had juts been driven. i didnt think the blinkers would kill a car that fast, i have a car with a small battery kit that can leave the blinkers on that long. then i thought maybe the battery isn't getting charged very well while it's being driven

so, is it the alternator? battery? starter? all three? something else?

If it's the factory battery, it's probably on its way out. The OEM battery in my 2008 Matrix was dead after 5 1/2 years.

Get it load tested to be sure. Autozone and O'Reillys will do it for free.

If it was the alternator, the charge light in the instrument cluster would illuminate.

gotcha. i've got no reason to believe it's not the factory battery, so 7 years and 180k miles. i guess i can leave the alternator alone, perhaps i should get a new starter just for good measure?

Starter worked when the car got jumped, so I say no.

When batteries die out, what happens is the plates sulfate. When this happens, the amperage capacity of the battery starts to fall. Starting the car requires the most amperage. If the battery is getting ready to die out (and at 7 years that is most likely the issue), then the battery doesn't have enough amps to start the car, but it will have enough juice to run headlights, the stereo, etc.

You don't change starters unless they are making grinding noises or freewheeling without turning the engine over, stuff like that. Most starters usually last over a decade before they die out.

thanks for the info.

the battery hasn't died or shown any signs of weakness since - including leaving it with flashers on, for a slightly shorter time than when it has died. i may hold off on it for now, idk

spoke too soon:

car parked, took a solid 2 seconds, one-one thousand, two-one thousand, to get ANY response from the car after turning the key to start the ignition, thereupon which it started up fairly easily. will be getting that new battery now, lol

Keep us posted. Don't forget to get it load tested first just to make sure.

FYI car has been running great. new battery in and handling the weather perfectly, and at least in my area today is probably the last cold day there is. Trans doesn't slip anymore, everything is running perfectly.

Been a while - car will get a UOA for it's annual oil change soon, after which I will do a 1yr UOA for Redline 0w20. Giving Redline a try due to it's higher moly count, which I think may be better for a daily driven car.

Nice Rolla! I just picked up an 07 Gold LE as well with 135k miles! I love it so far. She will be my new daily/commuter car so i switched it to Rotella T6 Synthetic. I also agree with you about the dim headlamps. So i have ordered a set of 6000k HID's, with new black housing headlamps to upgrade the front end with style and functionality. Already disabled the auto lights, thanks to the helpful youtube video. Also installed window visors, so i can crack the windows during rain. Next mod, will probably be audio since it will be my daily. Possibly looking into Component system kit, with head unit.

sounds good! keep me posted on it. So you ordered totally new headlamps? The only headlamps with HIDs I could find were all the ebay ones with the halo rings, which I wasn't too crazy about.

Interesting choice on the oil - isn't it a 5w40? I've been running 0w20 with good success based on the UOAs I've had. I also recently got a Joying headunit for my Evo that I'm very happy with. I'd consider it for the Corolla but I'm too crazy to get it.

Also, got into a minor accident with the car last Saturday (10/24) - was minding my own business in my lane, going straight not speeding. I was in the left lane of a two lane road, with a parking lane by it - a parked car jumped out, crossed the right lane, and into my lane and hit the car. the wheel was destroyed, tire was destroyed, and the alignment is now totally off, and suspension very possibly bent. hoping to get it all fixed soon. the appraiser will come tomorrow.

Will try looking for some oem wheels on the forum if anyone has any for sale.

Yea i dont usually like projectors unless theyre retrofitted. But yea i got a set of OEM style with black housing headlamps for $90 shipped. The HID kit ran me about $140. Also have a few goodies coming in from Crutchfield as far as car audio goes

Yup. I currently switched my project car (Subaru Legacy) to the Rotella T6 5w40, and the car runs great! Doesnt burn a drop of oil, so i figured id run the Rotella T6 0w40 in the Corolla. Its also a thicker oil, so it will help with cold start days. Rolla has been running great so far, and really looking forward to driving this commuter til she dies!

Sorry to hear about your accident! Hopefully youre in good health!

thanks bud!

FWIW, I wouldn't use Rotella in the Corolla - The Legacy, yes - the boosted Subies love Rotella. I've got an Evo that I run a nice thick 10w30 in, but for the Corolla I stick with 0w20. Most engine wear for a normal car occurs on start up when the engine is "cold" (not at operating temp), and is when the engine needs oil the most. Thicker oil obviously doesn't flow as well at colder temps, so it actually hurts for colder days - not helps. That, coupled with everything working harder to pump thicker oil, higher internal friction, etc., I am a firm believer that 0w20 is the way to go for our cars.

Again though, I know a number of buddies with STIs that all run the Rotella and it is a great oil - just too thick for the Corolla.

Hmm...I will probably switch to 0w20 on the next change then. Thanks for the input!

How many miles you have on the Rolla now? Any issues?

NP - FWIW, def keep running that oil in your Subie. With the winter cold coming though, I'd honestly consider pulling that oil from the Corolla and putting a lightweight oil in, depending on your location. It's $$ though so it's understandable if you don't.

I'm around ~195,000 miles on the Corolla. Nothing but standard maint, wear and tear. I've really come to love how bulletproof reliable this car is. I've got a 2010 Fit that I run also - crashy suspension, rattly tin-can like interior, and overly sensitive all-or-nothing gas and brake pedals - this car is worlds above that Fit in quality. I'll drive this car until the day it dies! which it may never. lol

Does anyone know if the '07s had direct or indirect TPMS? I'm thinking indirect..

Just wanted to post an update on my latest UOA - The oil (Amsoil SSO 0w20) did NOT do well. Comments are in the link below - I'm not entirely sure what happened with this oil run, but I'm going to start by swapping the air filter. I also cleaned the air filter housing in hopes that that will help. The air filter I previously used was a Mann Filter (1026?). I swapped to the OEM filter, as they tend to work well. Will monitor the silicon following, hopefully get a decrease in the read. Not sure why the oil viscosity jumped. I'm assuming the fuel dilution also had something to do with the increase in wear as well, and impacted the flash point too.

I'm switching to Redline 0w20, and using a Fram Ultra filter this time around - Fram Ultras are very well regarded on BITOG (nothing like their cheaper counterparts) and Redline is a very, very good Group V ester oil. Looking forward to doing a change next winter and seeing the result!

http://r56hs.com/2015/10/20/corolla-uoa-2/

Anyone know what the correct size for the 15" wheel center cap is? It's not the 62mm/2.5" size.. has to be smaller than that