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New Corolla Gearbox & Engine Mount Issues


gaz
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I have taken my car to a different dealer concerning a few problems. He has informed me that there is an engine mount issue with the New Corolla and known gearbox issues across the Toyota range which effect this current model. The engine mount issue can cause the car to ***** back and fourth when the accelerator pedal is released as well as causing vibrations through the car. Gearbox issues are causing poor selection and noise problems. I feel I am getting some way now with this dealer.

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Hope you get your problems sorted out Gaz, look forward to hearing the outcome, I wonder if we might be able to get others to post concerns with the new corolla that they know about from Toyota or their dealer's , there always seems to be a posting relating to probs with this vehicle, be it rattles, squeaks, inlet maifolds etc, but it is easy to loose track amongst all the post's, if we could pin them down it would be easier for all of us to approach our dealers

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We have tried on numerous occasions to start threads for information only about differnt models of Toyota and especially the Corolla and Yaris, they seem to start off ok but then just dwindle into the woodwork, if you search thrrough the forum there are a few, if you could find a good one with just information about problems you could add to it, bring it back to the top and hopefully re-kindle the problem posts and get more people to add to them...

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Gaz, I'm really interested in this. Has the dealer told you exactly what the engine mount solution is, e.g softer compound mounts?

I remember a thread on www.2003corolla.org, a few months back, where a Toyota technician was saying that Toyota knew that the actual rubber mount compound was too HARD, and that they were hopeful that after a period of use they'd flex up a bit and become more absorbant of vibration, and noise.

Perhaps they've got to the stage where they now accept that this anticipated softening up isn't happening, and softer replacement mounts may be fitted to noisy vibrating Corollas ???

Also, is the gearbox you mention Auto, or Manual ??

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Hi ganyb,

I spoke to the service manager today about what he may do on the car, I offered him a free pub lunch if he can cure most of my cars problems as he claims. He said the engine mounts would be changed for a new modified type. The rear one was the worse, it causes vibrations and general engine noise to be relayed through the mount and into the cabin. In fact the growling noise and vibrations are localised around the front passenger foot well and service tunnel near this engine mount. The cd radio facia issue can also be cured with a proper modification which involves removing the radio and altering the fixings some how. He explained that the car already had a factory mod which is just two bits of rubber being crudely used to prop up the facia underneath the 2 air vents, this would be removed and the problem solved properly. My Gearbox is manual, is yours auto?, he did say that there are known gearbox issues across the range, does this mean Corolla range or all the Toyota range? I have also noticed on the 1.6 that the engine sometimes knocks at 1500RPM when cold, this was the same on the two previous corolla's I drove, anyone else notice this?

Well this guy is very helpfull and I hope he can cure most of my cars problems. I will be leaving it this saturday for several days hope on my return things are fine. If you guys have any questions about NewCorolla problems, let me have them and I will try to see if I can get some answers. I even got to have a look at the fault reporting system at the dealers, my car has some decent history on repairs already...Lets see if we can spend some more of Toyota's profits...well serves them right for sending out imperfect cars.

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Hi Gaz

Maybe you can find out from the service manager if the modified mounts have been fitted from a certain production date or Vin No, Ive had my Corolla T3 1.6 for 3 weeks now (japanese one not derby) and have had a new inlet manifold fitted already, the car does suffer with a noise that sounds a bit like a front wheel bearing coming from the front drivers side, the service manger said he could not hear it, maybe related to what you have been told about engine mounts.

Your prob with cd radio facia, I have noticed that mine really creaks and groans after being left all day in the sun is your prob similar.

This is my first Toyota, not impressed so far, besides the above had a few problems on delivery with trim not fitted properly and the speedo cluster was not clipped in correctly so they had to fix that as well. I went for Toyota for there reputation for quality, I think other car manufacturers have caught them up from that point of view or maybe Toyota have gone backwards with this new Corolla.

Sounds like you have a good dealer, not always the case from some of the postings I have seen here.

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bryfly,

How did you manage to get a jap one? Except for the 1.6 estate I thought all were made at either Derby in the UK or Turkey especially with the T3 name.

Yes my radio facia is worse in the sun. I must agree with you about general poor quality, I am sure there are more problems to come. As for your wheel bearing noise are you sure it isn't tyre noise which I find bad on all but the best road surfaces. My engine noise is more like a growl/rattle even at stand still when reving the car slowly at idle to 1500RPM. Tell you what the 1.4 engine is a much better unit in all noise and idle departments....Think I might trade in for a T3 1.4 5door, can get one new for £10300 UK car will get £10100 for my Tspirit. This car has only done 4000 miles and I have had lots of issues.

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Recently spoken to a mate of mine who works at the Burnaston plant & he has informed me that gearbox problems are very common on the new Avensis.

Also spoke to my local dealer & asked him what he thought of new Avenisis, he also said "apart from the Gearbox problems it's a good car".

Looks like the Japs are losing their grip on Quality!!

Also heard that Burnaston are struggling to employ enough people to build the things, hence the suspect Quality.

I chose a Toyota due to working at Burnaston ( 6 years ago ), but have my doubts about having another, especially now I can get discounts on Ford's, Land Rover & Volvo. Ford also own Mazda, so may look at a Mazda 6.

What do you new Avensis owners think of the car?

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Hi Gaz,

The Japenese started to build the hatchback Corolla and import them into the UK about Jan 03, think they called it "bridge production" as Burnaston could not build enough, as they had the new Avensis to deal with, The annual volume of Corolla was split between the uk and Japanese plant . Think you will find that Turkey make the Sedan.

Yes I agree that there seems to be far more road noise in the Corolla, my previuos car a Focus had less, I can hear the tyre noise change when I hit different road surfaces, but the rumble noise I hear does not change, guess will have to put up with it till it gets louder, only done 700 miles so far, trouble is these days Im not sure if there is a brand of car that does not have problems,but I did expect different from Toyota, anyway keep us informed of your progress.

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Good Luck with the new mounts Gaz, jeeze if anyone deserves success it'd have to be you, what with all the crap you've had to put up with.

Would there be any chance, (and I fully understand if you can't,) of getting the Toyota part #s for these new mounts????

I asked my dealer in Melbourne yesterday, and they got really cagey, like I shouldn't be knowing about such things..!!

Bryfly, my Corolla has a lot of road noise too, I'm wondering if the new mounts may help there as well, although I reckon a decent sound deadening kit might be in order too.

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ganyb,

I will see what I can do, there should be a part number on them as well. They might be different to yours, as mine is a manual 1.6 engine. Anyway left the car with them today, hope they don't dent it! They have given me a 5 door Yaris to drive and the road tax has expired! I hope they fix the car. I had a look at a new Corolla in the show room at T3 and the radio facia was coming away from the dash, it had also dropped. This fault is now a 1.5 years old and still it exists on a 03 model. What hope do we have? Anyway if they don't fix it I will sell it in December when it is 1 year old. I have already lost £2600 on the car so another £500 won't make much difference..

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Well 3 days have gone by and still no word from the garage on the repairs. Lets hope they have ordered lots of parts and are waiting to fit them..Heres to a better Corolla...

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I had a look at a new Corolla in the show room at T3 and the radio facia was coming away from the dash, it had also dropped. This fault is now a 1.5 years old and still it exists on a 03 model.

I read somewhere (www.2003corolla.org....I think) and asked at my Toyota service that you can order some kind of "noise repair kit" for "radio problem"...........the man phoned somewhere and yes, he told me that you can order this but it is not free of charge....the price is around 100EUR!

I´ll put on part no. as soon as I find it.

Please ask at your dealers about this.

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Thanks for the info. I am picking the car up on saturday. Dealer said they have fixed radio . They say growl/rattle coming from gear change cables and have spoke to factory and ordered new modified type. Rattle/knock from B pillar from seat belt reel anchor point, new torque settings and mod kit applied. Will see for myself how much is fixed.

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Gaz,

It is now 12:10 Sat, guess you must have picked up your vehicle by now........So whats your verdict have they cured all your problems??

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Hi,

Well I got the car back from the dealer. They changed the inlet manifold again (now changed three times by different dealers as logged on the vehicles repair history), and changed the gear select cables. The growl still persists. The workshop controller test drove the car originally with me and witnessed first hand the noise. Now they have changed so many parts I think they will just say everything is normal if I go back. This seems to be the case with every dealer I use.

They have had a go at the radio facia and just realigned it re-packing the rubber strips under the facia to hold it and the radio up. This is funny as I know there are several TSB's for this which includes fitting a mod kit. Well I guess they thought they have already spent enough money. I doubt if they have cured the other rattles as I can find no evidence of panel removal even though they claim to have felt lined the hatch door panel. They have increased the damage on the plastic engine cover around those plastic lugs, they seem to twist them out instead of pulling up!

I will say one thing though, the car does seem a little smoother for having the new manifold and gear cables (less vibration) but I hope that I don't have to have a new manifold every 3 months! By the way someone I know who works at Toyota has a lease Tspirit, looks like he is having a few problems, his radio facia has come right away from the dash car is only one month old.

I will give the dealer another try (fairly friendly) failing this I will get rid in December I am now getting bored with it.

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Gaz, time out for a stiff G&T, my lad, you've deserved it !!!

You're an absolute champ, you've persisted and haven't given up, you've had to do far more than Toyota should ever expect from a customer, and they for their part have not rectified the sub-standard goods they sold you, (and the rest of us).

That mysterious "Chief Engineer" on the Japanese Corolla site should hang his miserable head in shame 'cos it's SHAME that his shoddy sloppy design execution has brought upon Toyota..

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Hi ganyb,

Well I have had a word with the dealer & they are willing to have another look, trouble is it is a 64 mile round trip. They will look then order new parts, then I will have to return leave the car, then pick the car up a few days later. I am beginning to think there won't be a cure until the face lift model. How is your car now?

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Gaz, we did a 120 mile trip on the weekend, and I drove all the way (it's the wifes car).

I can only continue to describe it as very HARSH...

the engine noise, and road roar is incredible, esp when cruising at 100kmh (the aussie limit). I was also getting high frequency vibrations, coming and going between 80 and 100kms, not a wheel imbalance, as it was happening at different speeds each time.

This was weird though.. we started off with about a third of a tank, and as the tank went down the vibration gradually got better, I ran it down to the warning light, filled up, and then the vibration was back as bad as ever...

It seems sensitive to weight in the back, I noticed this some months ago with two passengers in the back, but thought I was imagining things..it's a Jan 02 build, I'm hoping they retorqued the back hubs before delivering it to me as per the TSB for that build??

I'm trying really hard to like this car, and not complain too much but it's an uphill battle, it is very underdeveloped, and I thoroughly resent paying a lot of money just to be Toyotas guinea pig, they should try EXTRA hard to fix things in a new model, not just stonewall me (us) by saying "they're all the same" how weak is that !!.

These Corolla problems are Global, you're in UK, I'm in Oz, cars built out of different factories having the same or similar problems, the Americans are the same with the USA built cars, and judging by their boards they're very unhappy too.

We are in a difficult situation here in Australia, we have very little redress, other than Toyotas warranty, if they dont fix it you're stuck with the problem...I'm very envious of the UK and USA 'lemon laws", wish we had them here..

Sorry for the long ramble, good to get it off my chest tho'..

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I'm very saddened by the experiences of some of you guys. I got the Corolla because I admired Toyota as a company and the new 3-door Corolla as a car. First of all, I can't say that I have driven many cars that are better than the new Corolla, a car that gives me so much pleasure. The pleasure however is spoiled some by interior assembly problems like the rattle of the rear bench and some squeaks in the dashboard in the sun etc. which could be easily remedied in a service shop if the mechanics were truly frank and had admitted the real cause of problems instead of blaming it on the poor Croatian roads and saying that a Mercedes rattles as well (hearsay, can't confirm)...But, the car runs like breeze, holds to the tarmac awsomely, is absolutely safe even with the sometimes naughty rear end (lots of fun actually), no mechanical or wear problems whatsoever, only wind noise at 185 kmh is annoying as well as tyre noise, but that could be due to Dunlop SP Sport tyres...

I would be very sorry if Toyota lost some of its reputation for legendary robustness because they started to cut costs...Mercedes are starting to pay the price for giving up their traditional values in favor of easy money, hope Toyota won't follow...

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In my new 5d Corolla TS (3 weeks old), I have identified the following source of dashbpoard noise:

The plastic board, the frame that supports the vents at the left and right side of the RadioCD and the RadioCD are not in good contact at the center of the RadioCD (just above its display), because of some bowing of the plastic board and the frame that probably results during thermal cycling of the car during the day. Thus, gaps of sub-mm and mm size are created between plastic board/frame and frame/RadioCD and the structure easily starts vibrating! Otherwise, everything is in good contact at the edges of the RadioCD.

The gaps in your Corollas are similar or not to mine?

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Hi,

I too have got the squeaky radio fascia problem in my 02 Corolla 1.4 T3. Temporarily cured it DIY by sticking some foam pads in the (seemingly ever increasing) gaps. However, the last few weeks of hot weather here in the UK and the poor condition of inner city roads and speed bumps have made the squeaking and groaning worse :angry: Is there any point in taking the car to the dealer when it seems as though they will only do what I've already done in an attempt to fix the problem?

Roll on the cooler weather when hopefully the groans and squeaks from the dash will reduce!

A shame, as otherwise I'm very happy with the car.

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