2002 Corolla - bad motor mounts at 23K?

So let them replace the 4 mounts - though doubt they are bad. I'd say NO to trans flush and throttle body cleaning at 23k.(tell thenm you'll wait til

60k service - which is what I believe the owners manual states) Not sure how they determined a wheel alignment was needed --- are the tires wearing oddly - if so or it pulls to one side then it would be valid. Rear brakes are self adjusting and only need it done when the shoes are initially installed/replaced - so don't bother with that. They're just trying to pad your bill (Christmas bonuses to pay for!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'd get a second opinion elsewhere....the service manager sounds like he's not only greedy, but has a screw loose. Motor mounts in a one year old car? c'mon !

In news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com, Rachel Smith being of bellicose mind posted:

Take your vehicle to a different dealer ... even if this work is done under warranty. VERY VERY hard to imagine all four mounts being defective in such at such low mileage.

Yeah, real crooked, doing all this stuff for free under warranty! Man, I'd take it to an independent shop and pay them to do it right!

I'm sure it its got a bad one, its only one, but what is the best way to fix it? Repalce all, especially if its under warranty.

It is possible the mounts are bad.. Although I doubt it -- but its a warranty item so let them do it if they want to... Just make sure they save the old parts for you so you can inspect them for cracks and tearing... :-)

Bad motor mount diagnosis: I typically do 2 things. 1. pry on them and see if they separate. 2. Power brake (with wheels chocked or, even better, off the ground) and see if things shift/separate..

Rear Brake Adjustment: Hmm, thought they were self-adjusting drums -- otherwise 5 minutes with brake spoon? Were you having braking problems?

ATF: Fluid should be red/pink.. Don't change it.. If its in need of changing at 1 yr old, the fluid needs to be sent out to a lab for analysis to make sure that the transmission isn't wearing prematurely.

Throttle Body Cleaning: It's possible if its sticking that it needs to be cleaned. Spray Brake-Kleen On a Cloth and wipe plate + body.. Might even be a warranty item. But -- is it really sticking?

Alignment: Only necessary if pulling to one side or wheels aren't wearing properly.

Get the dealer/service managers name and let Toyota know.. They love hearing about this stuff..

Try another dealer.

__________________ Note: To reply, replace the word 'spam' embedded in return address with 'mail'. N38.6 W121.4

I think it is possible that some shops are very slow this time of year. I got a postcard advertising $12 oil/filter changes between now and Dec 31 from my dealer.

Miller

country.

How in the world do you screw up a motor mount in a one year old Corolla... that likely has an automatic?

In news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, Barry S. being of bellicose mind posted:

In my 2003 Corolla, the fluid color has turned decidedly brown and heading for black at 10k mile intervals... so I change it accordingly. I've got 33k on the car now and the trans works fine. But I do -drive- the car in mountainous areas where the trans is shifting frequently.

I posted two ATF (new vs. used) samples on white paper on the Toyota_only group on Yahoo. (Philip® folder).

Toyota = Maytag. Ford = Krispy Kreme drive up. LOL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ No dealer is that altruistic...and Toyota will pay the dealer for the warranty repair, so what has the dealer got to lose? The customer gets new motor mounts, the dealer gets his money, and Toyota gets........the shaft.

I may be way off, but what if it's ping? Hot weather + A/C can really heat things up -- a perfect environment for ping. Does it sound like marbles rattling around in a can? I've got an MP3/WAV of my car doing it if you wanna listen. I'm sure .2L won't make a difference =)

-Tim

LOL - the service manager should be looking for a different career. What you are hearing is pinking (pinging as you call it in the states) which is the sound of abnormal combustion inside the engine due to low fuel octane, incorrect ignition timing, weak fuel mixture, overheated engine and a number of other causes. It manifests most at high throttle openings and low to medium rpm i.e. when accelerating or hill climbing. Nothing to do with engine mounts. try a higher octane fuel as a first step but if it still does it there may be some error in the engine management system which needs adjusting.

The guy is trying to earn some money off Toyota for unecessary warranty work by the sound of things. Maybe time to try another dealer, especially if you want your actual problem fixed.

Dave Baker - Puma Race Engines

I'm not at all sure why women like men. We're argumentative, childish, unsociable and extremely unappealing naked. I'm quite grateful they do though.

Rachel,

On my 2002 Camry LE V6, I replaced the transmission fluid (drain and fill) at 32,000 KM (20,000 miles). I also just recently got the throttle body cleaned and the brakes adjusted and cleaned, and 4 wheel alignment at 45,000 KM (28,000 miles). I put a bottle of Redline injector cleaner every 3,000 miles so that is why the throttle cleaning was done later. What the dealer suggests sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

I would get the motor mounts replaced since they are costly to do if they are out of warranty.

Can you say obsessive, compulsive! Ya must have had a Chrysler before and miss all the maintenance bills. IMHO You could easily go 2-3x that mileage before those things NEED being done on a modern car. All gas now has detergent additives. Trans drain and refill is cheap enough --- but such low mileage wouldn't call for a complete costly flush. I can see alignment when you put on new expensive tires, change struts, bend a rim in a pot hole or have a specific problem.

CarGuy.... you Canadians must really have some foul gasoline up there in Kanucksterland. The current Corolla has never exhibited any need for injector cleaner in the past 15 months & 33k miles. The last car I had (first fuel injected) never exhibited any need for injector cleaner in 285k miles. There is nothing ahead of the throttle body that will spew crud onto/into the throttle body UNLESS.... you have a malfunctioning PCV valve (in which case the crankcase air inlet becomes a pressurized vent).

I'm still incredulous that even one motor mount is faulty in Rachel's Corolla ... irrespective of how the work is financed. Have you even looked at how well these things are constructed?

My previous vehicle was a 1999 Ford Taurus and from a quality perspective, it was absolute shit!

As for the services I did, I monitor the color of the transmission fluid when new and after every 6 months. When I note that the color changes from bright pink to a darker shade, I perform the transmission fluid flush. Toyota Canada says you can go as much as 96,000 KM (60,000 miles) before the fluid needs changing but I figured a fluid flush is cheaper then a new transmission.

As for the alignment, yes I do have expensive tires (Nokian Hakka 1's on OEM Toyota steel rims and steel covers). I paid good money for them and want to get the most out of them. I noted that after a proper wheel balancing and laser type wheel alignment, the vehicle is as smooth as silk and I do not have any vibrations at speeds in excess of 110 MPH! I do not drive fast, I did this as a one time thing to test the difference. My average rate of travel on the highways is 70 mph or about 114 Km/h.

Am I a particular person who is nit picky? ABSOLUTELY! This is way I am a Quality Assurance Engineer. I get paid to do this type of thing for a living. :^)

Hi, Rachel. I've read all the above replies. And I strongly "ditto" the ones who suggested having another Toyota dealership diagnose your problem, preferably w/o telling them you just had it done elsewhere--never mind they may see in their computer where you had taken it elsewhere earlier. I was surprised to see in my daughter's Corolla owner's manual where it recommended to change the trans. fluid at 36000 miles (IIRC. Could've been

40K; anyway, it surprised me.) And that be the case, depending on your type of driving, it possibly would need it. But, with it looking pretty and red, it sounds premature. As far as 4 engine mounts: it is possible (I did NOT say 'probable') that 1 mount could've been defective from the factory; and failure on one, gone un-replaced, feasibly could cause another to 'wear' prematurely by exerting an undesigned strain from the defective one.....dominos! As far as rear brakes needing adjustment: often, the self-adjustment feature does not quite keep the rears adjusted to their optimum, depending on driving habits/patterns. For ex., if you rarely use reverse they could need it. If brake pedal is not excessively "low"; and if you can set the emergency brakes w/out pulling the lever close its extreme travel-limit, they should be ok. Service advisors are taught to "sell", altho' unneeded sales are, in my opinion, immoral: enough said right there! Ideally, a dealership is really several businesses: car sales, parts sales, and service sales--each one needing to be profitable. I know. I used to own one. HTH & good luck. sdlomi

Philip,

I agree the likelyhood of the motor mounts being defective is minimal, but these things (and others) are mass produced, so it is conceivable that things can be bad. Since the time and effort to replace 1 of the mounts might be an issue, they suggested to replace all 4.

To give you an example of production issues, my 2002 Camry LE V6 had a malfunctioning shift solonoid and required a transmission service at about

8,000 KM or 5,000 miles. Yes this is a very rare occurrence, if not a fluke, but mistakes do happen regardless of who the manufacture is.