1995 corolla--need maintenance tips

Anyone ever own a 95 corolla, MANUAL. How often did you have to have a tuneup and change the oil. Any other tips for this car...oil treatments (STP) or gas treatments that should be added? We're well over 100K miles now.

Reply to
slatt333
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You can go to

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and under the "Owners" link get the factory recommended maintenance schedule for your car.

I do not recommend any oil treatments - it is better to use a motor oil with API grade SL or higher and follow the factory recommended oil change intervals.

I also do not recommend routine use of any gas treatment, especially "dry gas" treatments that are supposed to remove water from your system. The alcohol in dry gas additives can degrade the rubber gaskets and hoses in your fuel system. You should purchase gas from places that sell a large quantity and so are less likely to have water buildup in their tanks. If you car is fuel injected, occasional (no more than once a year) use of Chevron Techron or the Toyota branded stuff that Toyota dealers sell wouldn't hurt.

Reply to
Ray O

"Heet" is a non alcoholic form of dry gas. toyota.com does not give maintenance for a 1995 corolla

Reply to
slatt333

There is no need to use Heet or any fuel additive on a regular basis. Not only is it a waste of money, I've seen the results of some treatments where they have actually caused problems.

For routine maintenance, you can follow the on line recommendations for the

97 Corolla.
Reply to
Ray O

okay, will follow your advice---just hope I never get water in the gas tank

Reply to
slatt333

I once looked at a 2 year old car where the customer was complaining of poor performance, like the fuel filter was clogged. When the dealership removed the fuel filter, the gas that came out was pitch black. It turned out that the customer put a bottle of Heet into the gas tank once a week because he always did it in his other cars and never had water in the tank. The continuous use of the Heet apparently started to eat away at the fuel lines, and the dissolved stuff clogged the fuel filter.

If you get water in the gas tank, have a service facility drain the water.

Reply to
Ray O

Which raises a question...you can add 'gas line antifreeze' to your automobile fuel tank in the winter...this 'handles' the problem of a frozen fuel line. How does that work?, does the substance mix with any water in the line and prevent it from freezing?, or does it cause the water to be consumed somehow?...

Reply to
Gord Beaman

Yes and yes. Water doesn't mix with gas but it does mix with alcohol, which has a lower freezing temp than straight water. The water/alcohol then gets burned in the engine. The alcohol also has a tendency to eat rubber, which tends to gunk things up.

Reply to
Ray O

Ok Ray fine...now another (although slightly OT). I'm selling my house, our laws force me to have a 'tagged oil tank', (inspected, lifed etc). I had to replace it, the rules specify that the new one must be slightly inclined down toward the feed end, the outlet is now on the very bottom of the tank (not the 'end' and there's no filter there (it's on the furnace inside the house). In other words, there's no place for any water to go but into the line where it gets trapped (Of necessity the feed line is outside the house and the lowest (outside) point in the system).

Now then, can one use 'gas line antifreeze' in a home heating furnace oil tank?...I think it'd be ok but I'd like your (and any other) opinion. Thanks.

Reply to
Gord Beaman

I'm no expert on home oil fired heaters although we had one in our last house. I don't know how quickly the fuel oil moves through the line, but I imagine that one of the reasons that the tank has to be inclined toward the feed end is so that any water that has accumulated in the tank will get purged through the line. I've never heard of a home heating oil system having a frozen line, so I suspect that the any moisture buildup is not enough to freeze up. My brother in law lives outside of Portland, Maine, and his tank is outside the house. I've never heard him mention any problems with fuel delivery. I don't think a home heating oil system has any rubber lines or gaskets since everything has a flared or compression fitting, so using "dry gas" should be ok from a rubber standpoint but I don't know how it would perform in the burner.

Reply to
Ray O

'Dry Gas' is alcohol, it will burn off

mike

Reply to
Mike Hunter

The recommended additive for oil furnaces is diesel oil conditioner. This is supposed to absorb water and prevent sludge. I add one gallon when I fill the tank in the spring.

---MIKE---

Reply to
---MIKE---

An outside tank in Maine would likely have kerosene added to the oil to keep it from congealing.

---MIKE---

Reply to
---MIKE---

Ok...thanks for your thoughts...I believe though that there's lots of water available, I think the tank has lots of condensed water collect on the inside during several years. (11 in this case) I know that my old tank was tilted slightly 'away' from the outlet and that the outlet was at the bottom 'end' of the tank. I watched as the guys disconnected then tipped the old tank out of it's cradle. There was a great 'clanking' as the tank turned over and the workers remarked "there musta been 10 gallons of ice inside of it".

Anyway, I'll let the new owner know...and thanks for your thoughts Ray...ps, what's this 'dry gas'?...I'm not familiar with it...likely its 'gas line deicer'?...

Reply to
Gord Beaman

Thanks Mike, I'll make a note of that...

Reply to
Gord Beaman

If the outlet is the low point, then the water *should* get used first since it sinks under the oil. "Dry gas" is basically alcohol that is added to the gas to mix with the water so it can be burned. Stuff like Heet is sometimes called "dry gas."

Reply to
Ray O

An outside tank in Maine would likely have kerosene added to the oil to keep it from congealing.

---MIKE---

Interesting that you mention kerosene. He had switched to a kerosene-fired monitor system for a while, with a console-TV-sized heater on each floor. He didn't like the system because the heat didn't circulate through the house well so some rooms were stifling hot and some were cold, kind of like heating the house with a wood stove. When he remodeled the house, he switched back to an oil furnace. I don't know if he used the same tank that had the kerosene for the heating oil or not. I don't think he adds kerosene to the heating oil unless the oil company does it before delivering. Portland, ME gets cold but nothing like the White Mountains!

Reply to
Ray O

WHAT? I do not have a brother in law lives outside of Portland, Maine, unless you considered Tennessee, Georgia and Florida 'outside.' Beside they have NG heating systems LOL

mike hunter

An outside tank in Maine would likely have kerosene added to the oil to keep it from congealing.

---MIKE---

Reply to
Mike Hunter

Having lived with coal, electric, oil, and natural gas heat, I think I'll stick to natural gas where available!

Reply to
Ray O

If we leave it up to the environuts NG will continue to be is short supply as well. ;)

mike hunt

Reply to
Mike Hunter

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