2005 Toyota Corolla engine failure..

Megafan1

Hello, long time reader, first time poster...

Just wondering if anyone had a similar experience with a petrol 05 toyota corolla. Father in laws car, 272k km on clock, well serviced, easy driving the last few years, running like a clock until last Sunday when it just stopped on motorway.

No warning lights, no faults appearing in diagnostics, everything seems to be in working order and the car turns over but no power. Mechanic reckons the engine is just done in.

Just seems unlikely for a toyota. The mileage while high isn't astronomically so. Drove a lot of miles in it's first five years but not so much since.

Anyone with any thoughts or theories would be a great help. Looking at a scrap value of €100 so a bit of a unexpected and unwelcome expense..

Cheers..

icjzfmq7ewon1t

Was it driven without oil or did it overheat or did the timing belt break. What exactly happened.

jimgoose

What exactly does "turns over but no power" mean?

Megafan1

Hannah Straight Sometimes wrote: »

Was it driven without oil or did it overheat or did the timing belt break. What exactly happened.

By all accounts it just stalled. Timing belt intact, no oil leaks, serviced not too long ago. I got my info second hand from them but originally the rescue service thought dirty petrol which made me think it might be the injectors since it would have been topaz or wherever where they got the petrol so a mystery..

Megafan1

jimgoose wrote: »

What exactly does "turns over but no power" mean?

It will start but it there isn't any power to make it go.

Toyotafanboi

You read it a lot on here of mechanics saying "the engine is gone". Those really are the words of a lazy/ unenthusiastic mechanic.

There are very few situations where an engine is "gone". Particularly if the car was perfect, then just stopped all of a sudden. Most things that lead to catastrophic engine failure give plenty of forewarning.

Sounds like your mechanic needs scrapping, not the corolla. It's hard to say from your post what's wrong but i would certainly get a second opinion.

Bare in mind 270kms is only 160k miles so the car is probably worth 3-4k, so even spending €1k on a reconditioned engine (unlikely, worst case scenario) would still be economically viable.

If the engine starts and runs fine but it wont move off, the clutch could be gone, for example. €3-400 repair.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

Sounds like it needs a new mechanic.

dgt

Petrol? Wonder has it ran bearings/low compression... Far from a great engine them vvti units

Megafan1

dgt wrote: »

Petrol? Wonder has it ran bearings/low compression... Far from a great engine them vvti units

Low compression has been mentioned. It would seem excessive to scrap a perfectly solid corolla leaving aside the fault as it is. I think a second opinion is the way to go.

jimgoose

Megafan1 wrote: »

Low compression has been mentioned. It would seem excessive to scrap a perfectly solid corolla leaving aside the fault as it is. I think a second opinion is the way to go.

Well thus far nothing you've said has ruled out a 50-dollar coilpack, so I should certainly say so!

dgt

Megafan1 wrote: »

Low compression has been mentioned. It would seem excessive to scrap a perfectly solid corolla leaving aside the fault as it is. I think a second opinion is the way to go.

2nd or 3rd opinion. What is it, a 1.4/1.6/1.8? A decent 2nd hand engine starts out at around the €500 mark.

I know of one that was sold with a verified 6200k miles only about 2 weeks ago (1.6 vvti), but went for far more than what I've quoted

Megafan1

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

You read it a lot on here of mechanics saying "the engine is gone". Those really are the words of a lazy/ unenthusiastic mechanic.

There are very few situations where an engine is "gone". Particularly if the car was perfect, then just stopped all of a sudden. Most things that lead to catastrophic engine failure give plenty of forewarning.

Sounds like your mechanic needs scrapping, not the corolla. It's hard to say from your post what's wrong but i would certainly get a second opinion.

Bare in mind 270kms is only 160k miles so the car is probably worth 3-4k, so even spending €1k on a reconditioned engine (unlikely, worst case scenario) would still be economically viable.

If the engine starts and runs fine but it wont move off, the clutch could be gone, for example. €3-400 repair.

Thanks, that is very solid advice. I will pass it on.

To be honest the mechanic that serviced the corolla over the years and all the wider family cars closed recently for unforseen reasons so this is my father in laws first experience with this new mechanic, all be he a recommended one.

It could even be electrical, the fact nothing is showing up for the mechanic on the diagnostic scan could be leading him to think it is more hassle for him to dig any deeper.

Megafan1

dgt wrote: »

2nd or 3rd opinion. What is it, a 1.4/1.6/1.8? A decent 2nd hand engine starts out at around the €500 mark.

I know of one that was sold with a verified 6200k miles only about 2 weeks ago (1.6 vvti), but went for far more than what I've quoted

Cheers for the info. 1.4 to the best of my knowledge.

joujoujou

If engine runs well (while idle) I'd expect it's fine, especially (you mentioned) there's no EML light on, nor any hidden faults upon OBD scan.

Transmission's next to check.

To clarify... It starts, idled perfectly, no warning lights on, but won't move off ?

Megafan1

Augeo wrote: »

To clarify... It starts, idled perfectly, no warning lights on, but won't move off ?

Went and clarified. No warning lights before car stalled, was running fine on motorway. Then stopped or stalled. No faults when mechanic ran diagnostic. The car started on a tow from short tow but was sluggish and no power. Mechanic says a compression issue and engine effectively gone.

I thought it might be an injector problem since we had an issue with our Golf last year.

Just seems very exceptional for corolla.

Second opinion will be what I recommend. Getting 100 scrap just seems insane when there are Corolla and Carina on the road flying 5 to 10 years older. Seems like a fast buck could be made even at worst replacing the engine.

The posters to the thread seem very surprised by it so that is reassuring.

joujoujou

Second opinion is a must.

As well as compression measurement.

It is indeed a surprise, as those engines are very reliable.

dooroy

How was oil level when this happened ?
Have come across 2 cars in the family circle over the past 6 mths which failed due to oil starvation - caused by low oil apparently .
One was an 03 Avensis 1.6 and the other an 03 Corolla 1.4.
The Avensis broke the chain - and it was obvious one of the camshafts had seized due to oil starvation and thus broke the chain ( 143K on the clock).
The Corolla first appeared to have a failed coil - but it was really engine failure , compressions down etc . About 130K on the clock .
These engines (VVTi) seemed to suffer more from oil starvation .
It would appear that as mileage increases they begin to use more oil and the owners need to check them much more regularly . They are often surprised at this and neglect it .
The Avensis engine failed on the motorway - its possible that it would have survived longer on short local runs .
The continuous higher revs on the motorway , coupled with low oil level, resulted in failure .

bear1

Fuel pump?

dooroy

'won't move off '
Is it auto or manual ?
If manual do you mean it stalls as clutch begins to engage ?
Are there any noises as clutch engages - could something have sheared/broken in the drivetrain resulting in loss of drive ?

'those engines are very reliable'
I thought that too until I was searching for a SH engine for the Avensis - and found them to be very scarce due to the number of then who fail and have to be changed .
The 1.4/1.6/1.8 VVTi all have chains as far as I know .

greasepalm

when he said low compression i wondered if it was bad petrol,number of reports stating engine gone because rings welded to pistons and that was from a well known engineer that does head skimming and rebores and many other things.even 1 year old car engine shagged.
toyotas are good and why did it stall if well maintained.