I have a 1999 V-Reg Toyota Corolla 1.3 which I have owned for 3 years and has now done 92k. It has been perfectly reliable and I'm very happy with it, but in the last couple of months, it has lost power in the higher gears. It doesn't seem to be continuously deteriorating, rather a noticable change.
Previously for example, I would approach a big roundaboat slowing to 30mph in 4th gear. Then I would accelerate gently if there is a gap. Now, when I try to accelarate in the same situation, the car seems to loose power and lurch foward several times. I can either change down into third, or after a few seconds of lurching, the car gets a grip and gains speed. This has upset a few drivers when I've pulled out safely and then dawdled in front of them. I get the same problem trying to pull away from 20mph in 3rd gear which previously was fine.
So it seems the car is now less forgiving and has a smaller range of speeds in which it is comfortable in each gear. I have changed my driving style and drop down gears much more frequently when I need acceleration but I am wondering if this problem needs fixing (urgently or at some point) and what are the likely possible explanations (and how much each of these would cost to investigate and fix). I would really appreciate your advice.
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did garage note anything at last service?
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The last service was last October, but the garage didn't point out anything that I should look out for.
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Thats nearly a year ago ,so probably wise on a 10 year old car to put the service forward a month and get garage to service and inspect for binding brakes etc.
Probably save you money in the bigger picture too
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Thank you. I certainly will bring the service forward. It hadn't occurred to me that it could be caused by sticky breaks. It feels like the engine is loosing power then kicking in then loosing power again causing the jerking motion rather than the brakes coming on and off. However, I will think about it again when I next drive and ask the garage about.
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I would suggest the one of the coil packs is on the way out. There are 2 on this 4E-FE engine, one for cylinders 1 & 4, the other for 2 & 3. It's a common fault on these otherwise reliable engines. Either that or the HT leads need replacing.
There may be a stored fault code which you could check with a paperclip and bridge terminals E1 and TE1 on the diagnostic port by the air filter housing and count the flashes - 14 is the one that suggests coilpack (One longish flash followed by 4 quicker flashes). Ask the garage to check this if you're not confident.
Edited by Sprice on 12/08/2009 at 13:53
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I don't know how much you know about cars, but sometime peoples descriptions of a problem can be deceiving. I am wondering if it's simply your clutch that has worn.
Take it for a drive and at 20 mph raise the revs when it's in neutral and stick it in top gear (5th gear) then floor the accelerator....if the revs rise, but the car does not accelerate, or travel at an appropriate speed for the revs, go get a new clutch.
If you already know about cars and have discounted the clutch as the problem....my apologies.
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Corolla update: In the end we decided to book an early service, and also replaced the HT leads. The garage checked out the coil packs, which seemed ok still, and the car is now running beautifully again, so I think we can put the power problem down to the HT leads. The clutch certainly is quite worn, but I'm hoping it will keep going for a bit longer.
Thank you everybody very much for your advice!
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