My repair story of my 1991 Toyota Corolla & 2002 Toyota Prius

Recently, I bought two cars: A Toyota Corolla 1991 and a Toyota Prius 2002. My intent on purchasing these two cars is to resell them for a small profit. Thought both cars were priced relatively low, they had hidden problems that made me doubt if I made the right business decision.

The first one I bought was the Toyota Prius 02. It used to belong to a guy who lives ¼ mile away from my house. For years, I would drive by his house everyday on my way to work and I would see him sleeping inside his Prius. Yes, you read that right, he lives in his Prius.

For years, people around the neighborhood wondered why this bearded man in his 50’s lives in his car that is parked on the driveway of his house. He had clothes and other personal items piled up on the backseat of his car. During the cold early mornings of the winter season, I would see the car running with its heaters on and the man inside seemed to be sleeping. One day around the beginning of 2008, I noticed that the man was no longer living inside the car. I figured that he decided to live inside the house.

Ever since 2008, the car sat on the same spot with nobody using it. Then one late afternoon while I was driving my daughter home from her tennis class, I saw an old woman standing next to the Toyota Prius talking to a tow truck driver. I pulled over and asked the old lady if she owns the Prius. She said that it belonged to her son who used to live in the car. I did not want to come across as being nosey and so I did not ask the old lady why her son lived in the car. The lady told me that her son died of a heart attack back in December 2007 and left her the Prius. I asked her if she plans to sell the car and she said yes. After a brief haggling, I was able to bring down the price to what I think was a fair amount. The following day, I had the car towed to my house.

The second car, which is a 1991 Toyota Corolla, had to be towed from the second house of the lady located 45 miles away. Fortunately, the lady is a member of the Auto Club of California and she had the Corolla towed at no expense on my part.

I am normally careful when it comes to purchasing cars. But during this purchase, I forgot to follow some important rules that I have created to protect myself from investment losses. One rule that I broke is to check for DMV record if there are registration penalties. The second one is to check for vital areas in the vehicle for malfunction. Both areas can cause additional expense that would eat up my profit margin. Both I neglected to check and this mistake cost me quite a bit.

The title in the Toyota Prius had been lost after the owner died and so the mother had to fill out a bill of sale. The Toyota Corolla had a title which made it easy to transfer. The big expense was in the registration penalties because both cars had not been registered for a few years.

The first one I worked on is the Prius. Since the previous owner lived in it, I had the gruesome task of cleaning the interior. The whole dashboard, especially the driver area, was just horrid with dried up sweat, dead skin and other dried fluids/particles that I have no desire of identifying. The cushion of the driver seats is practically gone because I can feel the metal frame whenever I sit on it. Since it is a hybrid car, I was a bit worried because I am not familiar with its design.

I discovered that the Prius has two batteries: An auxiliary battery and a main battery. The auxiliary is a normal car sized battery that I easily recharged using my own charger. After I installed it, I tried starting the car but the dashboard computer screen had a message saying that the main battery has a problem.

I called a Toyota dealership and asked them if I can start the Prius even if the main battery is dead. They told me that when the main battery dies, the Prius will not start. I felt a bit dismayed because the designers of the Prius should have designed a way for the gas engine to start even though the main battery is dead. This will enable the engine to recharge the main battery. I believe this limitation in the Prius was not highlighted because it will surely turn away a lot of prospective buyers.

One thing I learned about the main battery of the Prius is that ordinary battery shops do not have the capability of recharging them. Even Toyota dealerships have to borrow from Toyota company the charging mechanism that is used to charge the main battery of Prius. Toyota dealers sells brand new Prius main batteries for $2700 and this does not include installation which could possible cost a few hundred dollars more.

I checked on the internet and found two companies that restore Prius main batteries. When I called these companies, the first one said that they charge $1995 plus tax. The second one is located in South Carolina and they charge $1700 plus shipping for a replacement part that they claim had been redesign and is an improvement of the previous main battery. They also want me to ship to them my main battery as an exchange. The shipping cost on both ways would probably cost about $200, which will put me up close to the cost of the first company.

Wanting to find a lower cost replacement, I checked on Craigslist and found a guy who sells reconditioned main batteries. He sells them for $400 plus $180 installation charge. This seems to be a better option for me but I will hold off on everything and start with the 1991 Toyota Corolla.

1991 Toyota Corolla repair story

The first thing I did was to charge the existing battery with my own charger. After deep charging it for 12 hours, the battery still did not have enough power to turn the engine to create ignition. I went to Costco and bought a battery for $80 and installed it in the car. When I started the car, it sounded as if the valves in the cylinder heads were not moving. I checked the timing belt and discovered that the timing belt is broken. Most of the teeth in the old belt were torn off.

The broken timing belt alarmed me quite a bit because normally when the timing belt breaks, the valves would stop moving and they would be hit by the pistons breaking or bending them.

At this point, I was able to learn two designs of cylinder heads: Interference and Non interference. Basically, the interference type is the one where if the timing belt breaks, the pistons would hit the valves above it like a hammer hitting a nail. The non interference type is the one where the pistons does not hit the valves even though the timing belt breaks.

Fortunately for me, the Toyota Corolla 1991 has a Non Interference cylinder head. I found this out by calling two Toyota dealerships and spoke to their technicians. I have not replaced a timing belt in my life and so I was a little nervous doing it. I had a manual nearby and I would always check it to make sure that I have all the settings and alignment properly done. I had to lift the engine to get the belt through. During the days I was working on my car, my neighbor, who used to own a shop years ago, would come by to check on me just to give me pointers.

When I finally got the timing belt installed, I tried to start it but the engine would not start. My neighbor sprayed a carburetor cleaner though the air intake of the fuel injectors while I was starting the car and the engine briefly started. This means that there is no fuel going to the engine.

To solve this problem, I listed a few possible problems: A busted fuse, clogged fuel filter, wire break, damage fuel pump relay, malfunctioning fuel pump. I am sure there are other possible things that could be wrong but I focused on these areas. On the diagnostic inlet, I jumped two inlets that, according to the manual, should start the fuel pump. After jumping those two outlets, the fuel pump did not start. I went to a pull-a-part junk yard and pulled a relay switch purchasing it for $6. After installing it, the fuel pump still did not work. I removed the back seat and unplugged the wire that is connected to the fuel pump. Using an electronic tester, I checked if there is a 12 volt current that runs through the wire when I start the engine. According to the repair manual, the fuel pump should start pumping when the ignition key is turned to “On”. But when I turned the key to “On”, I noticed that there was no current that ran through the wire. I only detected current when I turn the key to “Start”. I connected two wires (positive & negative) from the battery and ran it to the back seat hoping to connect it to the wire that is connected to the fuel pump to really see if the pump will work. When I tried touching the positive wire connected to the battery with the positive or the negative part of the inlet going to the fuel pump, there was a spark. This tells me the pump has probably short circuited inside.

I lifted the rear of the car and placed it on jack stands. After I brought down the gas tank, I pulled out the internal fuel pump. Examining the fuel pump, I immediately noticed that the rubber on the bottom of the pump had melted, which meant that the pump has jammed inside and whenever the ignition key is turned to start the car, the pump would heat up because it is jammed.

I called the dealer and they quoted me $500 for the pump. The parts store sells after market brands between $160-$190. I decided to go to the pull-a-part yard and pulled a pump and paid $21 for it. I installed the pump and when I started the car, the engine immediately started.

At this point, I felt jubilant because I finally got a car to start after it had been sitting on the previous owner’s driveway for years.

I drove it around for a few minutes and when I got home, I noticed that the radiator fan was not working. The possible problems that I could think of are: Fan motor broken, relay/fuse busted, coolant temperature sensor not working. I connected the fan motor directly to the battery using two wires and the fan worked. I pulled the coolant sensor and relay switch from the pull-a-part yard and paid $14. After I installed both of them, the fan started working again.

While I was test driving the car, I noticed some palpitation when stepping on the brake. This means the front brake rotors are uneven. I pulled both rotors and brought them to the parts store to have them resurface. They charge $14 per rotor but when they measured my rotors, they said that it was below the required thickness and they can no longer resurface them. They offered to sell me new rotors for $22 each. I figured it is worth buying new ones for $8 more. After installing them, the palpitation stopped.

To test if the engine does not overheat, I drove the car during the hottest time of the afternoon with the Air-conditioner running. I noticed that during the first 15 miles of the drive, the engine temperature gauge is reading slightly over the mid-range. After 15 miles, it settled down to mid-range. I decided that I need to replace the thermostat. I am thinking of replacing the radiator but the cost for after-market radiators is $89 plus tax.

During early morning when I start the Corolla, I noticed that it struggles to start as one or two cylinders are not receiving adequate fuel. I am thinking that the injectors might need to be cleaned. One thing I need to replace is the fuel pressure sensor. It might improve the flow of the fuel to the injectors.

Before taking the Corolla to the smog check station, I changed the spark plugs just to play it safe. I prayed to God to allow the car to pass because I find it very hard sometimes to repair a car that failed a smog check. With the grace of God, the car passed! I went to the Department of Motor Vehicle and got my registration renewal tags. Passing the smog brings more value to the car.

After test driving the car for about 100 miles, I concluded that the thermostat needs to be replaced. After-market thermostat brands costs between $9-$13 while a Toyota brand cost $30. To play it safe, I decided to buy the Toyota brand and install it in the car.

I bought a new Toyota brand thermostat at a nearby Toyota dealer and they charged me about $43 because I had to but the rubber seal that goes around the thermostat. When I pulled out the old thermostat, I discovered that it is one of those cheap after-market brands. No wonder it did not last long. I test drove it again and this time the engine temperature gauge showed a temperature that is slightly below the mid-range. This is good.

One thing I notice when driving is the front shakes a bit when I am driving about 55 miles per hour. At first I thought that the front wheels were not balanced or there was a hump in it. Another possible problem could be that the engine or the transmission mounts are worn out. I checked the engine mounts and they seemed to be good but the transmission mount had a large tear on the rubber. This is causing a lot of play when driving at high speed.

I went to the Auto junkyard to look for the transmission mount. The ones I found were either damaged or just worn out. I decided to just buy a new one at a cost of $33. After I installed it, I drove it around and the front shaking reduced a bit at 60 miles per hour speed.

While I was test driving the Toyota Corolla, I decided to drive by the house of an old friend. When I got to his house, he told me that he is looking for a car to buy. I let him drive the car around their neighborhood and he was convinced that it was a good car for him. Since he is a good friend, I decided to bring the price down. I actually felt bad that I won’t have a good profit from the sale but I am hoping that in the future when he or his relatives needs another car to buy, they would seek my help.