Hey everyone, I have a 2009 Toyota Corolla LE automatic with around 134834 miles. I bought the car around May and maybe a month after buying it brought a cylinder 1 misfire code up. I replaced the spark plugs and ignition but no luck. I brought the car to a mechanic and he said the cylinder had low compression compared to other cylinder. I’ve been driving the car for the past couple months and had no issue. However one day, the car started overheating, and found out my radiator and reservoir was dry. So now I’m loosing coolant. I thought maybe it was the rad cap because I saw no visible leaks. So I did a coolant change and replaced it and I still am losing coolant. After every drive I’ll see it’s not to the top of the radiator anymore. Then in the past couple days. Sometimes when I start the car, the rpm will be at around 1200 rpm then bounce around lower and higher. Also the car sound kind of jittery. Sometimes it will settle back down and other times I have to shut the car off and back on. So someone please give me some guidance because I bought this car when I didn’t know much about cars and I’m hoping I didn’t get sold a car that won’t last long. Thank you.
Hopefully, you bought it from a dealer. My reply below mentions Toyota service records, I suggest you dig deeper and see if there's any references to coolant/oil/transmission fluid level issues on the Toyota service records and Carfax. Any one of those could cause powertrain overheating that would lead to a blown head gasket. Many states have disclosure laws regarding used car sales.
I was lucky when I bought a car with a blown head gasket. The Hyundai/Subaru dealership that sold me the car gave me a full refund, but it took a few days of research to force them to make the offer.
Yeah i bought from a dealership but not from a toyota dealership, it was a post on Facebook from this local dealership and I signed a bunch of paperwork and im sure in there it said “sell as is. Not responsible for any damages.” I was naive and was really excited to drive my first car. They totally tricked me though. They had said it was perfectly fine mechanically and nothing was wrong with it but less than a couple weeks later, misfire. I still have their business card and info.
I hate to say this, but it sure sounds like you have a blown head gasket - here's how to test it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA7KVQq9vKA
Bad thing is, that when a car gets overheated due to total loss of coolant,
a) a blown head gasket may be only a tip of the iceberg of problems which already happened to the engine and its internals due to overheating;
b) the head gasket often gets blown not due to the engine heat itself, but due to engine parts attached to its both sides getting warped from heat. So now, for example, quite possibly, the very head of your engine may be warped, and its surface facing the gasket may not be flat any more.
Fazit: I would just get rid of the car asap.
I can’t really sell it as of right now. Do you think for the time being I could use one of those head gasket sealers? Like bars or blue devil? I heard people getting good results out of those.
I remember that in some of his videos Scotty Kilmer recommended certain proven makes of gasket sealants which really worked, and gave detailed instructions on their usage. Depending on the severity of your engine problems, they may or may not help - but are imo certainly worth a try.
P.S. One of his videos covering this topic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL9QjN7AcW8
@devincars I'd try the Bars-Leak stuff - worth a try, even if it only works for a while.
This is why you want to look at the service records when buying used. Carfax is unreliable, for Toyotas, check with a dealership to get a printout of the entire Toyota service history (some dealers do not report to Carfax). Toyotas are bulletproof if they are properly maintained.
First thought when I saw the title of the post... Death Rattle.
Blown head gasket. If it ever overheated (broken serpentine belt, low coolant), the head gasket could be put on the highway to hell.
Toyota hybrids have head gasket issues in higher frequency... Typically starting at 120,000-150,000 miles. Mainly due to the heat/cool cycles with an aluminum block.
Rarer in Toyotas, but neglected engines in all-gas cars tend to have this issue. Oil changes religiously done at 5,000 miles maximum, checking coolant and replacing based on age or miles, keeping things clean, PCV changes, TopTier gas, etc...
Getting a service history may be tough to come by if the car isn't serviced at the dealership or is serviced DIY.
Proving that you didn't cause the damage may be tough to do. The dealership could accuse you of hot-rodding the car.
Some big-brand dealerships, with minimal service history proof, will want to avoid the bad review/legal action. A report of an overheated engine or broken serpentine should be sufficient, I'd think.
If the OP put the VIN, I would even offer to pull up the Toyota records.
Hey SoCal, I’m the OP and I can give you the vin. I got the car from a local dealership that sells Toyota and Honda cars. Honestly should’ve known probably was in accident because I realized that the left headlight looked new compared to right headlight. Anyways Vin is JTDBL40E899023442