Hey Scotty!
I am writing from St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada.
I have a 2009 Toyota Corolla, auto transmission with 208,000 kilometers. My first question is regarding a noisy cam gear at cold start up. It makes a grinding/ rattling noisy for a second or two on cold start. It’s been doing this since a little over 100000 Kim’s. I’ve spoken with a Toyota service manager about repairing. He said they’ve never seen one totally fail and if it did, it would not cause any extra damage. It would be the same repair, as if I did it now. This repair would cost between $700 and $800. He recommended, put up with the noise and save my money. I was wondering if you feel the same way?
Secondly, this car has never had the transmission fluid changed and I was thinking on changing it. The transmission shifts fine, but I know this service is overdue. I’ve heard, and have read some stories of people changing transmission fluid on vehicles that are overdue and shortly after, start having problems or total transmission failures. What is your opinion on this??
Love your YouTube channel!!! Keep up the great informative and very entertaining work!!!
Thank you!!
Newfie.
I have an 09 Matrix - same engine. There's a Technical Service Bulletin on the VVT-I hardware, which is what makes the noise when cold, got mine fixed on a used car warranty, so don't know about longevity if not addressed.
I did a drain/refiill of ATF at 120K miles, and it sure seem s like the transmission is happier for it - I've seen Scotty recommend it for even more frequent changes.
You can get a lot of good feedback/info at https://www.toyotanation.com/ It has thousands of owners of all types of Toyotas.
