Mysterious button in 00/01 Corolla?

pateen

hey guys,
its not suspicious i'm only curious as to what the 'button behind the wiper lever' is.
oh and does anybody know why the air con button/light is different to some other corollas from this one

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1697497

http://cars.donedeal.ie/donedeal/classifieds/viewFullPhoto.jsp?cid=4540316&ad=1697497

http://cars.donedeal.ie/donedeal/classifieds/viewFullPhoto.jsp?cid=4540312&ad=1697497

Sorry about the links, wasnt sure should i have done that or posted the pictures, sure while i'm at it, has anybody experience with these cars or what to look out for if buying one and in general what do you think of this one.
Thanks a Mill.
Happy New Year......(whats happy about it):D

MagicMarker

That's the eject button.

In all seriousness, it kind looks like wipers on it, maybe it's for the wiper washer fluid?

Nissan doctor

Its a dimmer switch for the dash lights...

MagicMarker

Oooh! So close.

Jimmy Garlic

Depends on the model, It could either be the smokescreen button, the button for releasing tyre spikes or as another poster said- the eject button.

Absurdum

NOS

andyseadog

yup, dimmer switch for the dash lights, wasnt in all models though and is terribly ineffective in the ones to which its fitted.

also the dash got facelifted mid 00, so there are 2 slightly different center consoles. with slightly different switchgear

but in keeping with the nonsense of this thread, if you push that button just right, it makes it rain in china.

alanhiggyno1

omg why the **** does it matter....looks like rear wiper or dashboard dimmer switch....god the **** nowadays people write about..

andyseadog

alanhiggyno1 wrote: »

omg why the **** does it matter....looks like rear wiper or dashboard dimmer switch....god the **** nowadays people write about..

it matters because the person wanted to know. isint that how the forum works? ask a question, get an answer.

Absurdum

alanhiggyno1 wrote: »

omg why the **** does it matter....looks like rear wiper or dashboard dimmer switch....god the **** nowadays people write about..

if only we were free to not open threads and reply

jaffa20

alanhiggyno1 wrote: »

omg why the **** does it matter....looks like rear wiper or dashboard dimmer switch....god the **** nowadays people write about..

Happy new year, eh?

GTE

Nissan doctor wrote: »

Its a dimmer switch for the dash lights...

Its something useful like that alright!
I remember it from past cars gone by.

The fun stuff mentioned here is hidden so the NCT doesnt find it

alanhiggyno1,
An owner of a car could easily wire something daft into the car and stick it somewhere along there. The OP's question is perfectly valid and to be honest shows the OP to be quite observant.

Those Toyotas are great. We had a Starlet of a similar era and it was just a great little car. That version of the Corolla does look pretty respectable. Some of the others are really horrid looking.

andyseadog

as reagrds these cars, the pre 2000 ones using the 4efe engine are far superior to the newer 1.4 vvti engines. they are notorious for burning large amounts of oil if they arent kept well serviced, this can lead to massive repair costs. for cars only selling for around the 2000 euro ballpark, a good repair to an oil burner engine could be creeping up on 1500 euro, making it a borderline write off.

other than that, i cant think of much, but if it were me, i'd definitely take a step back and get the pre 2000 versions.

alanhiggyno1

true i know someone who owned 1 model like that and the same happened to him so be very carefull and i dont think ive seen those diff buttons on that model b4

pateen

jeesh, thanks for the quick response lads,is that where that adjuster is, i thought it was down beside the handbrake or is that different again in a 01 liftback? and isnt the oil burnin thing grand once its topped up? dont mean to sound 'in ur face' btw any other info would be greatly appreciated, once again thanks a million and hope ye all have a happy New Year!!!

andyseadog

the switch beside the handbrake is for adjusting the level of the headlights up and down, depending on the load in the car.

a little oil burning is ok, but those engines took it to the extreme.

last one i seen was burning half a liter to 100 miles. really extreme stuff.

a) thats an impractical amount of oil to burn as you will have to top it up every time you get petrol

b) the timing is related to oil pressure in those engines, so with the car running low on oil, you timing will be out, resulting in ****e fuel economy and rough running.

c) it will fail its n.c.t. on emissions

d) it will be way down on power.

theres probably more reasons i cant remember

edit : i'd like to add, i've owned both the facelift and the pre facelift, and the only differences are the headlights, the pattern on the seats and a 'trip computer' which is rendered all but useless if you have an aftermarket stereo fitted. i cant recommend the pre facelift highly enough

pateen

sorry just remembered about the headlight switch just after writin.
god i never thought the oil level had so much to do with the fuel and timing and stuff, the only problem is, is the person who's looking to buy one of them doesnt like the pre-facelift model because of the round lights, is there any other car in the 1.3/1.4 'sector' that you'd recomend yourself like a 1.4 almera or astra(head gasket problem ) one reason he's fond of the corolla is because its makin somethin like 90 odd hp where as a focus or a golf/bora is barely makin 75hp and thats just too kinda.....sluggish?

andyseadog

well, realistically, when your dealing 1.3 - 1.4 category, noting is going to be greatly fast.

if you want a fast 1.4, id get a rover 25/ MG ZR, these are 105bhp. but even they aren't amazing.

the corolla is still the best of a bad bunch i reckon. look for a low mileage one with a service history and you could be ok. there was a toyota recall on some of those cars for that issue if i remember correctly, so one with proof of that would be ideal.

pateen

okay 1 final question if it was you would you let the oil level, pressure, fuel, power loss and emmisions put you off, like would you fix the problem or just keep it topped up, btw if you keep it topped up will the fuel consumption, timing or emmisions be effected?
thanks for all the info, you've the patience of a saint!!

andyseadog

try and pick one up with under say 90-100,000 miles on it, and make sure it has a service history.

i wouldnt touch a high miler, or one with no service records.

if you keep it topped up, naturally it will be fine for the time being, but it will get progressively worse and eventually it will die.

it will fail its n.c.t. through the higher emissions, which will then either force you to spend the money doing the repairs, sell it for pennys or scrap it.

best way to check is find a nice slope where you can do some coasting in second gear for a few hundred meters, then put your foot down, you will literally see a blue cloud behind you if its using oil badly.

also leave the car switched on when your looking around it, then after a minute or two give it a good rev, and again check for blue smoke. and sign of blue smoke is bad, walk away.

CJhaughey

Toyota replaced a lot of the short blocks in the 1.4VVti (4ZZFE) due to the oil burning problem.
The reason given was that some of the blocks had porous castings and it contributed to excessive oil consumption.
We have a 00 Estate and it has never missed a beat, very reliable engine in my opinion but I am fussy on maintenance and oil changes.The oil consumption has never been a problem either.
I would agree that the 4EFE was a better and simpler engine having had both but the 4ZZFE engine is probably a little more economical and punchier.
edit: You need to check that the car actually has A/C! The light is installed in the dash but not the rest of the gubbins. If it doesn't have a compressor on the engine it isn't A/C!
Our Corolla has that light but it isn't A/C equipped.
Unlikely that a Terra spec has it.

dnme

Folks

I am aware that the y2k model was British built and problematic with the oil burn issue (source: honestjohn). Is it the same for the 2001 and 2001 models?

I just like the car so much now, love its simplicity, maintainability etc that I am tempted to upgrade my current 98 4EFE to a new version. I have me eye on a couple of 00's with new NCT's, One has 90k. Am I mad?

Is there any better way to test for oil burn apart from trying to spot blue smoke?

bazz26

dnme wrote: »

Folks

I am aware that the y2k model was British built and problematic with the oil burn issue (source: honestjohn). Is it the same for the 2001 and 2001 models?

I just like the car so much now, love its simplicity, maintainability etc that I am tempted to upgrade my current 98 4EFE to a new version. I have me eye on a couple of 00's with new NCT's, One has 90k. Am I mad?

Is there any better way to test for oil burn apart from trying to spot blue smoke?

Corolla saloons and estates of that generation were built in Japan, 3dr hatchback and 5dr liftback were British built. Easiest way to spot the difference is that the hatchback and liftback models had a digital odometer and the radio ariel was on the roof. Saloons and estates had an old analog odometer and the aeriel was located on the driver's side front A piller.

All these cars are 10 or 11 years old at this stage so I would expect any excessive oil burning units to have had their blocks replaced at this stage. My old man had one for 5 years and it consumed normal amounts of oil.

CJhaughey

dnme wrote: »

Folks

I am aware that the y2k model was British built and problematic with the oil burn issue (source: honestjohn). Is it the same for the 2001 and 2001 models?

I just like the car so much now, love its simplicity, maintainability etc that I am tempted to upgrade my current 98 4EFE to a new version. I have me eye on a couple of 00's with new NCT's, One has 90k. Am I mad?

Is there any better way to test for oil burn apart from trying to spot blue smoke?

Not really as far as I am aware the garage test was to seal the dipstick and see in 1000miles what the oil consumption was.
Ask the seller and see what they say, not all cars burnt oil. Ours didn't and still doesnt.
If the service history shows regular services then chances are good that it has been looked after.
I think they are a great car for the money, and very reliable despite the knockers.:D

andyseadog

i think the problem with the blocks ran from 00 to 02, but toyota didnt really admit there was a problem or start a recall until a good amount of them were out of warranty, so the earlier models are much more likely to be the oil burners.

another very simple way is to see are there splashes/ stains around the rocker cover from where the oil is topped up regularly.

theres a few other ways, but not none too handy.

if its not burning oil though, they are a great car, find a good one and it will go forever.

andyseadog

was the warranty test not to change the oil and filter and fill to the correct level, drive for 1000km's, drain the oil and empty the filter to see how much was used.

edit : it had to have used more than a liter in that 1000kms to qualify.

dnme

bazz26 wrote: »

Corolla saloons and estates of that generation were built in Japan, 3dr hatchback and 5dr liftback were British built. Easiest way to spot the difference is that the hatchback and liftback models had a digital odometer and the radio ariel was on the roof. Saloons and estates had an old analog odometer and the aeriel was located on the driver's side front A piller.

All these cars are 10 or 11 years old at this stage so I would expect any excessive oil burning units to have had their blocks replaced at this stage. My old man had one for 5 years and it consumed normal amounts of oil.

bazz, would you say the jap cars were better than the brits? I love the liftback 5 door models because they are so handy and practical. The dam saloon has no split read seat so the boot is very limited.

bazz26

There really wasn't much between Jap and British made models to be honest. Build quality was pretty good on both but the Jap made ones would probably shade it. At this stage though I would go on current condition of the car that you are looking at rather than going by reputation or where it was constructed.

The one thing I remember about my old man's Corolla (saloon) was the crappy intigrated stereo, the buttons were very feeble and didn't even take a heavy hand to damage it. Just something to watch out for when buying one.

pateen

do ya know the way ye're saying that some of the blocks were replaced, does this mean that the problem was fixed in some and not in others and that some will and wont be burning oil today?
i thought it was some ring that was wore out around the piston that was making them consume more oil and that these rings went every 40,000 miles or something like that?
does the new 02-06 model corolla burn oil or did the 1.6 vvti avensis engine ever burn oil?

andyseadog

do ya know the way ye're saying that some of the blocks were replaced, does this mean that the problem was fixed in some and not in others and that some will and wont be burning oil today?

yes, because not all the effected cars were still under warranty at the time of the recall.

i thought it was some ring that was wore out around the piston that was making them consume more oil and that these rings went every 40,000 miles or something like that?

apparently there was a some sort of flaw to do with the rings in these engines too, the oil ring used to get clogged and seize in place causing excessive wear, i dont know if this is related to the block recall or not though. there could be no definite timescale put on when they would or wouldnt go though. maybe someone else could clear that up a little bit.

does the new 02-06 model corolla burn oil or did the 1.6 vvti avensis engine ever burn oil?

any vvt-i engines built after 2002 should be fine, the effected engines were 1.4, 1.6 and 1.8 vvt-i's built between 00 and 02, im not sure how to fine tune it more than that though because they werent all duds.

CJhaughey

The recall for the affected engines lasted a long time, I think up to 7 years IIRC, I know I could have had it done on our Corolla a few years back and that was a 00 reg. I couldn't be arsed with the hassle and it wasn't and still doesn't burn oil. So I didn't see the point.
Some engines burnt oil some didn't, if you have one with a drinking habit you may as well get used to it.
the 02-06 were OK AFAIK.
It was only some the earlier VVti engines that had this problem and lots were done. I know a Main dealers in Cork that had a big pile of blocks from doing this recall.

The integrated stereo is a pain but I managed to get a head unit/changer from another Toyota, there is a plug behind the tape unit that just plugged in to the new head unit, I did lose the RDS display from the dash but the fuel meter still works.
The Estate is another great load lugger and very flexible compared with the sedan, 60/40 split rear seats and they fold flat to give a massive luggage space if you need one.

andyseadog

i cant see toyota not taking back all the old blocks


leaving themselves wide open there... are u sure?

bazz26

The blocks were only replaced on cars that experienced heavy oil consumption. If the car didn't consume large amounts of oil then the block wasn't replaced.

I heard stories before that blocks were replaced on cars on the qt as a damage limitation exercise, while their owners had them in for servicing. Never seen anything solid to back this story up though.

andyseadog

I heard stories before that blocks were replaced on cars on the qt as a damage limitation exercise, while their owners had them in for servicing. Never seen anything solid to back this story up though.

i'd heard similar things about replacing the blocks on the hush hush. but i dont think you could cover it up in the timescale a service provides...

CJhaughey

I am sure that Toyota took back the old blocks but this was at a time where they were doing lots of the replacements.
Rather than courier back ones and twos I guess they just sent back a skipload and let toyota deal with them.
I think the way they dealt with the issue was to see if the car burnt oil or the owner complained about the excessive oil consumption and then change it.
Obviously servicing would show that some engines were burning plenty and those customers would be offered a replacement block.
It was only a 2 day job to do, They probably got faster as they did more.

andyseadog

ah that makes much more sense. couldnt see toyota just leaving all the old blocks behind.

i also like the whole, ''only' a 2 day job' quote lol. but i suppose needs must. it must have cost toyota a small fortune.