Toyota 1.8L is apparently a 300K mile engine

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My '99 Corolla had a valve go bad at 295K, and now my '04 Corolla seems to have a bad connecting rod bearing at 314K miles. I described what it's doing to my mechanic and that was his prognosis. I'm not complaining as I think 300K from these small engines is decent. Both of these cars required very few repairs on their way to 300K, so I certainly have gotten my money's worth out of them. I will replace this Corolla with another '04 thru '08 (or possibly newer model). They are plentiful and can be had for roughly $4500-$5500 with usually between 100-150K miles...
 
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Supertech oil, Wix filters, change interval every 6K miles...mileage was about 90 to 95% highway miles...
 
Gampi, only if you had used syn, the finest german castrol juice
grin.gif


My boss back in KC has an early 80 corolla, he had a bad valve around 200k also
 
Why not have a used engine installed from a scrapyard? You could probably purchase the engine and have it installed for around $1500 total.
 
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Originally Posted By: TheOilWizard
Why not have a used engine installed from a scrapyard? You could probably purchase the engine and have it installed for around $1500.


I think a better option is as he mentioned... finding one with 100k miles. Sure you could replace the engine, but the rest of that car has 300k miles on it.
 
Originally Posted By: HemiHawk
Originally Posted By: TheOilWizard
Why not have a used engine installed from a scrapyard? You could probably purchase the engine and have it installed for around $1500.


I think a better option is as he mentioned... finding one with 100k miles. Sure you could replace the engine, but the rest of that car has 300k miles on it.


Where should we draw the line? An even better option is to purchase a new Corolla. Completely subjective.
 
Best bang for your buck vehicles. I've owned 3 with this engine and they would take a beating w minimal maintenance. If the rest of the car is in good condition, I would consider replace the engine w a used one also
 
Originally Posted By: barkingspider
Best bang for your buck vehicles. I've owned 3 with this engine and they would take a beating w minimal maintenance. If the rest of the car is in good condition, I would consider replace the engine w a used one also


Murphy's law applies here. If I replace the engine, then the tranny goes...no thanks, I'll just buy another Corolla with ~ 100K miles and be good for another 5 or 6 years...
 
Originally Posted By: stockrex
Gampi, only if you had used syn, the finest german castrol juice
grin.gif


My boss back in KC has an early 80 corolla, he had a bad valve around 200k also


I don't think syn would've extended engine life, only the change intervals...
 
I wouldn't consider a bad valve terminal-although, by the time you rebuilt the head & replaced the timing chain kit, it would probably be cheaper to find another engine.
 
My 84 Civic wagon went about 440K before the oil control rings failed and because of visible of smoke it would not pass California smog. The compression was within new car spec's. I rebuilt the whole engine because I found an NOS Honda factory rebuild all shrink wrapped and ready to go. The bearings, crankshaft, camshaft, and rods were all good. The valves were in such good shape I did not replace any of them, just touched them up along with the seats. If not for the failure of the oil control rings I would have never opened the engine, just kept driving it. I purchased it new and have no plans to ever sell it. I don't drive as much now as I did then so the miles are slow to accumulate, now.

I've got 164K on my 03 4Runner 4.7 V8 and I consider it just broken in. It does not burn enough oil on 10K oil changes to bother with. I hope to never have to touch anything major, ever. I'll be dead before this 2UZ-FE engine wears out.

I use good oil and never abuse either vehicle. This high mileage 75K use a special oil stuff is a joke.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
My 84 Civic wagon went about 440K before the oil control rings failed and because of visible of smoke it would not pass California smog. The compression was within new car spec's. I rebuilt the whole engine because I found an NOS Honda factory rebuild all shrink wrapped and ready to go. The bearings, crankshaft, camshaft, and rods were all good. The valves were in such good shape I did not replace any of them, just touched them up along with the seats. If not for the failure of the oil control rings I would have never opened the engine, just kept driving it. I purchased it new and have no plans to ever sell it. I don't drive as much now as I did then so the miles are slow to accumulate, now.

I've got 164K on my 03 4Runner 4.7 V8 and I consider it just broken in. It does not burn enough oil on 10K oil changes to bother with. I hope to never have to touch anything major, ever. I'll be dead before this 2UZ-FE engine wears out.

I use good oil and never abuse either vehicle. This high mileage 75K use a special oil stuff is a joke.


If I had another vehicle to use while doing so, I would consider rebuilding this engine myself, however, this is my daily driver and I can't be without a car for more than a weekend at a time, and even then it's not good. I agree about the high mileage oil, just a gimmick if you ask me...I use the regular 5W-30 the whole time...these Toyota 1.8s always seem to start using about 1 qt between changes at somewhere around the 150 to 200K mile mark, but the consumption never seems to get any worse, so it's never a big deal...
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
My 84 Civic wagon went about 440K before the oil control rings failed and because of visible of smoke it would not pass California smog. The compression was within new car spec's. I rebuilt the whole engine because I found an NOS Honda factory rebuild all shrink wrapped and ready to go. The bearings, crankshaft, camshaft, and rods were all good. The valves were in such good shape I did not replace any of them, just touched them up along with the seats. If not for the failure of the oil control rings I would have never opened the engine, just kept driving it. I purchased it new and have no plans to ever sell it. I don't drive as much now as I did then so the miles are slow to accumulate, now.


That might work where you are but here that 84 would be rust dust 15 years ago.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
My 84 Civic wagon went about 440K before the oil control rings failed and because of visible of smoke it would not pass California smog. The compression was within new car spec's. I rebuilt the whole engine because I found an NOS Honda factory rebuild all shrink wrapped and ready to go. The bearings, crankshaft, camshaft, and rods were all good. The valves were in such good shape I did not replace any of them, just touched them up along with the seats. If not for the failure of the oil control rings I would have never opened the engine, just kept driving it. I purchased it new and have no plans to ever sell it. I don't drive as much now as I did then so the miles are slow to accumulate, now.


That might work where you are but here that 84 would be rust dust 15 years ago.


My Corolla is just starting to rust, but I think Toyota uses some pretty good rust treatment when the build their vehicles as they seem to hold up pretty well even here in the rust belt. My wife had a Mazda MPV that rusted horribly. In fact, it was so bad, that was the main reason we got rid of it...mechanically it was still in good shape....too bad Mazda didn't do a better job of applying rust treatment to their vehicles, otherwise we may still have the MPV...
 
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
I wouldn't consider a bad valve terminal-although, by the time you rebuilt the head & replaced the timing chain kit, it would probably be cheaper to find another engine.


Been there done that on the Ford Transit. Warranted engine with 30k was $300. Needed a tranny too as the rebuilder said looked like no one did a fluid change:( Was well worth the change out and the engine and tranny run great and still cheaper by a long shot than a used mini van with lot of miles. Original engine had 180k on it and a valve went bad and cost of the rebuild was more than a engine replacement and was not much more $$ taking it out with the tranny.
 
I been happy with my 07, and wouldnt hesitate to get another if I didnt need more space. Easy to work on and minimal repairs. Mine is starting to rust, first noticed it this Spring. Next vehicle, I will invest in rust proofing.

I wouldnt hesitate to do what you plan to do! These cars are a great reliable value despite the high-ish resale price.

I dont drive much since I work from home, so i wont likely ever get to 300k miles on it before the rust wins the battle! I will keep it as a 2nd vehicle for as long as possible.
 
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Originally Posted By: Rolla07
I been happy with my 07, and wouldnt hesitate to get another if I didnt need more space. Easy to work on and minimal repairs. Mine is starting to rust, first noticed it this Spring. Next vehicle, I will invest in rust proofing.

I wouldnt hesitate to do what you plan to do! These cars are a great reliable value despite the high-ish resale price.

I dont drive much since I work from home, so i wont likely ever get to 300k miles on it before the rust wins the battle! I will keep it as a 2nd vehicle for as long as possible.


I don't think the Corolla has a high resale value at all...that would be the Civic...same year and mileage is usually priced about a grand higher than the Corolla and I've never been able to figure out why...personally, I think the Corolla is built a bit better and is more reliable, but that's just my opinion...
 
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