Engine Is my engine f#(*%ed?

Is my engine f#(*%ed?

Ok, a few months ago Firestone did an oil change on my 2001 Corolla LE AT but never actually put in any oil. That's taken care of now, I went to a local Toyota Dealership and had my 60k tuneup and oil change done by their techs. However, my oil light just started coming on during hard cornering or deceleration and it's only been 2k miles since the tune up... ?? I checked my oil, it's full, there's no leaks anywhere (plus they checked my car for leaks during the tune up). So that's the first problem. Now I've got a bunch of symtoms in my engine that are confusing me...

1. During hard acceleration, my engine will start 'surging' (think like a sound wave chart) at higher rpm's, after about 4500 which really isn't that high.
2. My engine sort of knocks during any gear, more so if i'm at a stop AND in a gear, i've never head engine knock before, so not sure if this is that feared situation.
3. My engine will actually rattle at the top of each gear, just before it shifts AND during half throttle.
4. The rpms will 'stick' when downshifting to decelerate... sometimes it will even sound like a small diesel WTF??

I'm going to take it into the dealership again but just wanted to get an idea of what to expect before going in. I suspect that I have a valve that's sticking but then I have no experience with Toyota engines.

Any and all help/suggestions are welcome.

My engine is only at 64,000 miles and my car is a 2001. Not sure how this could be happening so early on the 'bulletproof Toyota - the Corolla'

Thanks,
ROKnight

mine died early........with 2 rods knocking................good excuse to get an mwr engine

when you say "never put any oil in" do you mean that they drained your car and never put any oil? cause that would screw up your engine.

have the dealership take a look at it, maybe your timing belt/chain wore out early or have some other problems... but have the dealership check the engine out, also highly unlikely but your transmission might be developing problems... the soundwave sounds familiar, my tranny recently started doing that, but aside from the noise everyso often i don't see any changes in the way it shifts...

its a bent rod. mine did the samething, oil light, knocking. eventually it will go unless taken care of.

im on my third motor. jiffy lube didnt tighten my drain plug tight, lost oil, blew a week later.
hydrolock - cheap gas station with watered down gas.

by 'never put any in' i mean, Firestone drained my engine and forgot to fill it back up but charged me for it. The oil light came on a while later. What I posted above was after I just took it to the Toyota Dealership! They performed the last oil change. Now 2k miles later I've got all the symptoms of a dry engine... but I checked my oil and I'm just shy of full!!

I'm stumped...

ROKnight

man I really hope it's not a bend rod... I had a sneaky feeling that that might be a possibility. Soooo...
sounds like time for a swap!

Here's a noob question, an suggestion on a replacement engine and a reliable source for complete engines?

Unfortunately, this is my daily driver for me and my wife, so we'll have to switch to the Accord for a while.

Thanks,
ROKnight

I bet u spun a rod bearing and you can go get a mwr engine.Just buy a long bock and u can have it done in a weekand

You should take your car back to firestone and demand they pay for your repairs, if not take them to court and contact the Better Business Bureau in your area, also try writing a letter to Firestones corporate offices.

yeah, that's the problem. I didn't get an oil light for about 2 months... weird.

MWR? You mean monkey wrench racing? Man, their engines are serious $$.... Almost the value of my car =P

Maybe just a 3sgte swap from Dr Tweak?.. dunno yet...

Thanks,
ROKnight

i second that, take the dicks to small claims court, you can do the paperwork yourself just bring evidence, and get as much as you can from them...

yea demand $$ from them. they should know better than to not put oil in. was your oil light on? i cant believe the motor lasted so long with no oil. simply amazing. i have a friend who drove an ae102 with virtually no oil in it for about 10k

well, even if I did go with a MWR engine, it's still a 1zzfe... granted it's 'built' but how much power would I be looking at? There's no numbers on their site. With the 3sgte I'd at least be looking around 225 I believe... then I could build from there...

ROKnight

1. During hard acceleration, my engine will start 'surging' (think like a sound wave chart) at higher rpm's, after about 4500 which really isn't that high.
2. My engine sort of knocks during any gear, more so if i'm at a stop AND in a gear, i've never head engine knock before, so not sure if this is that feared situation.
3. My engine will actually rattle at the top of each gear, just before it shifts AND during half throttle.
4. The rpms will 'stick' when downshifting to decelerate... sometimes it will even sound like a small diesel WTF??

I'm going to take it into the dealership again but just wanted to get an idea of what to expect before going in. I suspect that I have a valve that's sticking but then I have no experience with Toyota engines.

Any and all help/suggestions are welcome.

My engine is only at 64,000 miles and my car is a 2001. Not sure how this could be happening so early on the 'bulletproof Toyota - the Corolla'

Thanks,
ROKnight[/QUOTE]
also a 2001 owner, exact same problems buddy, seems like our engines though very very innovative and great have very obvious aquiles heels and not in areas that can be over looked either, i posted an answer to the oil thing, its that we burn oil and my guess is it gets by the rings the top of my pistons had layers of this black deposits on it but the rest of the chamber and valves and head and exhaust port were clean minus light carbon deposits on exhaust port but thats normal.

now the bigger and urgent problem that you need to get on from right now... that sound you hear at half throttle and at the end of each gear on upshifts, its not knocking and its probably not serious yet because you seem to hear it the same way i did and not ALWAYS. this is the weakes point of our engine, the rod and main bearings are WEAK when i pulledmy engine apart you should have seen my bearrings they are still at the shop i will take pics later, they were fried the surface was all rough and scratched the hell up. thank god the oil pressure was always good and i stayed on top of my oil burning prob so that saved me from crank damage and if you let it go on like that i guarantee your engine will seize and then your next mod might as well be an engine swap!!!

Good news is Monkey wrench and this may seem like a plug offer s stronger bearrings and i had to laugh cuz after i noticed the damage i read their add and they actually mention how Shitty the stock bearrings are, if i had not seen the condition of my old bearrings before looking for new ones i woulda said yeah right just trying to sell parts but i am ordering those this afternoon!! its a good idea to have em and they are not expensive for how much better they will protect us.

i dont know how you drive and what you had on your car but i am sure what sped up my damage was i was spraying 60hp and even when not spraying i have a very heavy right foot. but this a good step toward strength of the engine for everyone.