03 Corolla, not well

Myrddin

03 Corolla, 1.4vvti, 95k:

Audible whine when driving, very audible when engine is hot & upshifting (when clutching in to upshift).
Oil Pressure light coming on yesterday, going off when engine revved.
Oil level fine, oil is clean
Can sound rough when starting (maybe the vvti gear?, could be chain rattle, or oil pump, not sure).

Any ideas?

CiniO

Myrddin wrote: »

03 Corolla, 1.4vvti, 95k:

Audible whine when driving, very audible when engine is hot & upshifting (when clutching in to upshift).
Oil Pressure light coming on yesterday, going off when engine revved.
Oil level fine, oil is clean
Can sound rough when starting (maybe the vvti gear?, could be chain rattle, or oil pump, not sure).

Any ideas?

Considering that, I would start with checking oil pump.

joujoujou

Read the codes first.

It could be stretched chain alright, what's the mileage?

These engines are famous for their oil burning issues, but apart from that they're very reliable.

Oil light could be oil pump or crankshaft bearings related.

Myrddin

95k on it. I'm not sure reading the codes on it will yield much insight, seems more of a mechanical issue?

In this condition, what might it be worth, if anything at all?

joujoujou

Even if no EML light is shown, there's always a chance some error codes are pending. Badly stretched chain for example would show camshaft sensor fault.

Although 95k miles (kilometres?) is not really a reason to suspect chain to be stretched, it could easily go twice that distance.

Is there a need to top up the oil between services?

PADRAIC.M

First off sump needs to be removed and oil strainer cleaned and refitted and see if noise is gone, lately I'm doing a couple a month with this problem

Myrddin

joujoujou wrote: »

Even if no EML light is shown, there's always a chance some error codes are pending. Badly stretched chain for example would show camshaft sensor fault.

Interesting, I thought anything like that would trigger an EML

Although 95k miles (kilometres?) is not really a reason to suspect chain to be stretched, it could easily go twice that distance.

Is there a need to top up the oil between services?

95k miles on it yeah. It doesn't burn oil between services, is driven prob about 5k miles per year for the last five years, & is generally looked after. The whine started about 2 weeks ago, the oil pressure light only happened yesterday...they're likely unrelated I gather?

orm0nd

PADRAIC.M wrote: »

First off sump needs to be removed and oil strainer cleaned and refitted and see if noise is gone, lately I'm doing a couple a month with this problem

+1

joujoujou

Myrddin wrote: »

Interesting, I thought anything like that would trigger an EML

Minor faults would trigger an EML if they appear twice in a row (so if there's a fault = no EML, you switch an engine off and on again, if fault is still there, EML lights up). Example - faulty speed sensor, cat converter's efficiency out of threshold.

"Normal" faults would immediately turn an EML on, and critical faults would make EML blinking (example - misfire).

Myrddin wrote: »

95k miles on it yeah. It doesn't burn oil between services, is driven prob about 5k miles per year for the last five years, & is generally looked after. The whine started about 2 weeks ago, the oil pressure light only happened yesterday...they're likely unrelated I gather?

Likely unrelated indeed. Whine does not really speaks for itself, it'd be better to hear it - faulty alternator would whine and worn gearbox bearings would whine as well, but they're not alike, if you know what I mean.

Pipetool

+1 Took my sump off 2 weeks ago & cleaned the strainer on the oil pick up pipe. Mine has 92'000 on it & I had some chain rattle every now & then. All good since cleaning the strainer. You'll just need a 10mm socket & a tube of gasket maker. Had mine done in a hour

cletus

Pipetool wrote: »

+1 Took my sump off 2 weeks ago & cleaned the strainer on the oil pick up pipe. Mine has 92'000 on it & I had some chain rattle every now & then. All good since cleaning the strainer. You'll just need a 10mm socket & a tube of gasket maker. Had mine done in a hour

Out of curiosity, are you talking about the whine while driving noise being sorted, or the rough sounding startup.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Does the engine rev freely without loss of power?

My aunt has an 05 that had similar symptoms and it turned out to be the oil pump. New pump fitted and been going like a clock ever since (happened 2 years ago)

Pipetool

No it was the rattle on start up. Basically the timing chain tensioner is oil fed so if it's starved the chain will rattle. I took the sump off before I started getting the oil light on. The whine could be anything running on a bearing. Mine also has a muffled sound from the engine which is one of the baffles in the intake loose - it's been like this since I got the car & it doesn't cause any performance or starting problems (these Corrolla's are known for this as the intake is plastic, if you google it people suggest screwing a self tapper into the intake to stop the baffle rattling but as I said it doesn't bother me)

Google : rattling-noise-in-toyota-corolla-intake-manifold-solved/

Hope this of help

Myrddin

Pipetool wrote: »

+1 Took my sump off 2 weeks ago & cleaned the strainer on the oil pick up pipe. Mine has 92'000 on it & I had some chain rattle every now & then. All good since cleaning the strainer. You'll just need a 10mm socket & a tube of gasket maker. Had mine done in a hour

Grand, I'll make some calls tomorrow & try get prices on the job. Cheers

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

Does the engine rev freely without loss of power?

My aunt has an 05 that had similar symptoms and it turned out to be the oil pump. New pump fitted and been going like a clock ever since (happened 2 years ago)

Yep revs fine, no loss of power. Hopefully it's not the oil pump. Was that an expensive job?

porsche boy

cletus wrote:

Out of curiosity, are you talking about the whine while driving noise being sorted, or the rough sounding startup.

The whine when driving is from the oil pump straining to do its job. Kinda sounds like a hydrolic whine. The pick up for the oil pump is most likely blocked. This will also lead to a rough noise on start up as the tensioner for the timing chain is controlled by oil pressure and obviously yours is taking some time to build up. This would also explain the oil light flickering on.

Myrddin

Will the oil pump or big ends have been damaged by this at all?

Pipetool

If you keep driving it with the oil light on it will do damage. Better sorting it sooner rather then later. Strainers are known to clog on these Corollas. Good luck with it ðŸ‘

kermitpwee

PADRAIC.M wrote: »

First off sump needs to be removed and oil strainer cleaned and refitted and see if noise is gone, lately I'm doing a couple a month with this problem

This man talks sense, it fixed my sisters one.

porsche boy

Myrddin wrote:

Will the oil pump or big ends have been damaged by this at all?

More likely damage to the cam shaft if oil isn't getting up there.

weekaizer

Pipetool wrote: »

+1 Took my sump off 2 weeks ago & cleaned the strainer on the oil pick up pipe. Mine has 92'000 on it & I had some chain rattle every now & then. All good since cleaning the strainer. You'll just need a 10mm socket & a tube of gasket maker. Had mine done in a hour

What did you use to clean it. Would petrol be OK to use?

Pipetool

Yes petrol & an old toothbrush (or brake cleaner). Touch wood haven't had any chain rattle since. I've had the corolla 7 years & change the oil & filter between 6 to 9000 miles, I was very surprised that half the strainer on the oil pick up was blocked.

Myrddin

Just an update, I took the car to Julian Chambers in Sandyford (Sandyford Motorworks), & had the sump removed, oil pickup cleaned out etc, & so far so good. The oil light hasn't come back on since, & the whine noise has gone too (so that must have been the oil pump). I'd seen Julian's name mentioned on Boards a few times, & his good reputation is well earned...very reasonable price, turned it around quickly, & a very nice chap to boot. I'll be going back to him in future

Pipetool

Great that your sorted