Toyota Problems

The oil leaks are fairly common on all engines, so they’re really not an issue and Toyota has fixed them anyway. To get to the bottom of the smoke and power loss issues you need to have a mechanic check the engine over to determine its inner health. It’s done 160,000 km, so you would expect some wear and that’s possibly the cause of your problems.

We haven’t had any other reports of cam chain/gear wear on the Corolla, so it’s hard to say it’s a widespread problem, but the company stepped in and covered half the cost so there’s not a lot to be unhappy about.

It depends on how long you plan to keep the car and its condition. If it is in good condition and you plan to keep it for four to five years minimum then it could be a worthwhile thing to do, but if it's not in great shape and you don't plan to keep it then it certainly wouldn't be worth it. The problem is that it is an old car and you can't predict what problems you might have in the near future. I wouldn't do it.

It comes down to your peace of mind. As she only does a relatively few kilometers a year the car would only have around 30,000 km at the end of the new car warranty, and 60,000 km at the end of the additional three years, or 80,000 km at the end of the five-year extension. Not a lot really. On that basis I probably wouldn’t take the option, but you must keep up the service even though she’s not doing a lot of kays. Regular maintenance is the key to a long life of trouble free motoring.

I would expect the new clutch to take up within a short distance from the floor and once it has there is no “feel” as such. It sounds normal to me.

Before you do anything air your concerns with the dealer. There is no need to find a specialist 4x4 mechanic.

The explosion is a result of the air/LPG mixture in the intake manifold igniting, most likely set off by a stray spark. Change the plugs and plug leads again, they are usually the cause of this problem.

The brakes are never applied by the cruise; brake applications are one of the ways the systems disconnect. They use engine braking to control over-speeding, but there is a limit to what it’s able to do. When you reach a steep downhill section of road it’s best to disengage the system and take control yourself, changing down gears as needed to maintain safe control.

No one I know of has done a comparison of the various brands of systems, but it sounds like a good idea. You could use either a vapour injection system or a liquid one, both would work well, but the problem is finding one that has been developed for your car. It will be much easier to find a vapour injection system because those systems have been around longer. Liquid injection is newer and system developers have had less time to produce systems.

The recommended tyre pressures are set by Toyota with Australian conditions in mind, and they should generally be followed. It is possible, if you want, to increase the inflation pressure by a couple of psi, but inflating them as high as your service guy has been doing is going a little too far. It would still be safe, and it would probably improve the handling quite a bit, but it would also compromise the ride.