Banjo

Hi Alex ! Welcome aboard Rollaclub ! Campbelltown N.S.W. eh ! I bought my current KE-55 couple in Campbelltown in 1996. Still in love with it, and still going strong. Used to live in Raby, just behind the Raby Tavern, before I saw the light and moved to the sunshine state. Anyway, be aware that the speedo cable for the KE55 is different for auto & manual transimissions, when looking around wreckers. I lost mine recently when I did a bit of off road, and snagged the cable, where it hangs down a bit before entering the rear end of the gearbox. An extra metal cable clamp onto the chassis rail, to prevent this sag, will prevent these problems. I had a bit of trouble getting hold of a good second hand speedo cable. The inner is no problem, as after market replacements are available from Repco & the like for about $ 40.00. The outer sheath will be the problem. If you get stuck, give me a yell and we will get you one up here in Qld. There is a good guy at Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast who has some. Love to see some pictures of your car. Plenty of info & helpers here in this club for you. We all love our K series Corollas. :P

Three Cheers for Nick ! Hurray ! Hurray ! Hurray ! :P :P :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :kiwi: (Y)

Well Done ! Extra glass of red tonight with dinner ! 1 million hits a month coming up ! Top of Toyota Sites list coming up ! We're flying ! Need that Jap spec Hi-Ace party van on eBay. Let's all take it to the footy. "GO THE CANE TOADS" :P :P :dance:

Don't know whether any of you guys know of, or have used the following site before. AUTOSHOP101 I came across it recently, while researching how different electonic engine management systems solve the problem of exacting timing during cranking. The site is very informative. It has basic information and some very interesting technical articals on lots of interesting automotive control subjects. The technical articals are fairly generic, but are all based on TOYOTA technology, so most things you read on the site are very applicable to our engines. I recommend the site as a good read to any "newbies" who read these pages but are too frightened to ask, because they don't know an EGR from a BOV. The AUTOSHOP101 site uses plenty of acronyms, but clearly spells out what each one stands for. After you read a few of the technical articals, you quickly realise how many acronyms there are in this game. If you are not directly in the industry, it must sound like double dutch. The site is an easy read with plenty of clear diagrams and precise & concise text. Have a look and see what you think. I was impressed and it is now added to my favourites. :P

Had a cracked lower ball joint that gave similar symptoms once ! :P

Funny; I came upon this just last weekend. Have built a test bed on the garage floor out of a couple of 200mm x 50mm hardwood sleepers I got from the local landscape supplier. Had the 5K on it to test run it before dropping in into the car. Anyway, started up first pop, after strip down & rebuild, but would not idle. Read up & discovered the purpose of the fuel solenoid; wired it up, and perfect idle. "putting in corner of memory" . . . . . . . If ever out on the road with major electical problem, and have to hot wire ignition to get car going, always remember to run a wire from Bat +ve to fuel solenoid. :thumbsup:

Well ! You two have now answered a question I wanted to ask Mike, but just wasn't game. Why do you call your car "Cricket" ? Now I know. A bit like our Chrysler "Centra", isn't it Fook ? :P

I endorse all the suggestions made above. All K series engines leak oil, but with close attention to detail, they can all be eliminated. Luckily they are all on the distributor side of the engine, which is easy to get at. First rule is to keep engine clean, so oil leaks are obvious as soon as they occur. SuperCheap $ 1.78 degreaser & hose ! The rocker cover is easy to fix. The older, the rocker cover gaskets get, the harder they get; and hard gaskets don't seal well. Get a new gasket. Clean surface of head where gasket contacts head scrupulously. Final wipe with metho & dry. Put a fine bead of silicon gasket sealant right around the gasket in the centre between those two tiny little "flaps" on the gasket. Tighten down rocket cover nuts tightly. Problem solved, guaranteed Those pesky spark plug aluminum tubes are the greatest culprits. They are horribly expensive. Someone on RollaClub, recently posted they bought a set of four (4) and it cost $ 80.00. I've paid less for whole engines than that ! You can get more life out of them by squaring back up the top flange, and opening up the spark plug hole a little with a tapered reamer (or large file handle end) so that they do not bind, & rotate when tightening up the spark plug. Always fit new rubber "O" rings and put some sealant around "O" ring, as suggested elsewhere in this thread. The mechanical fuel pump is always an annoying source of oil leaks. The pump has a little well inside at the bottom, and a drain hole in case the diaphragm perforates and leaks petrol. That's so it does not build up, & flow into sump. Trouble is, as I see it, the oil gets splashed / blown onto the lever & runs down into the bottom of the pump and comes out the drain hole designed for fuel. Others might have other ideas as to the reason. If sump becomes pressurised, then any outside opening in the engine to ambient, is going to be an easy path for oil to the outside world. The other factor in all this, is the keep the pressure in the sump area of the engine down by making sure the breather valves etc. are always clean & working. Remember, both top & bottom of pistons act as pumps, An oil catch can, & breather can help here if necessary. Ever seen how much oil gets pumped out of a race engine into those catch cans. Rob, could probably throw some more light on this. Not sure whether oil catch cans breathing to atmosphere are legal on a street car. Most PCV valves breath back to the inlet manifold. Anyway, attention to detail in this area, can eliminate oil leaks in K series engines. :down:

Heavens, why would you ! I once worked for a company that had one of those little Datto utes for a town run-a-round, pickup thing. It was horrible. So light in the rear end I could just about pick it up. It handled like a shopping trolley with arthritus, and I can't image adding extra power without lots of work to the suspension would do anything to improve it. However the 4AGE seems to drop in nicely. Looks like it's got more room than Fook's 4AGE in a KE-35. Maybe this guy had a bigger trye lever to shoe-horn it in. Like the blue cam covers to match the body work. Oh well, everyone to their own taste. That's my 5 cents worth ! :down:

Many thanks all ! Problem resolved ! :)

Someone, must know the answer to this question. Anyone got a K series camshaft lying around, that they can have a look at, and see if one of the front bearing journals has a flat on it to act as a low pressure oil pump for the rocker gear. :)

Jamie, Your suggestion is the way I've always done it. I've always assembled the engine with bearing shells very "wet" and turned over the motor. The engine turns over much better without the plugs fitted, but the great danger with spark plugs & S/Plug tubes removed is that oil on it's way back from upper head to sump will get sucked into cylinders. Stops anything else accidentally entering cylinder. Never fill a K series engine with oil, with spark plugs & S/Plug tubes removed. I made up a cute little tool, (well 4 off actually) Get four old spark plugs. break out insulator until all that is left is the metal boss. Weld 10mm dia. metal tube to top of spark plug boss. Screw in when working on the engine in upright position. Prevents oil entering cylinder, and allows engine to freely spin without compression, without the danger of upper head returning oil getting into cylinders. The whole idea of the drill thing is to precharge new filter & all oilways before the engine ever turns over. Cheers ! :)

Did a search but can't remember whether it was on this site or another that I read this advice. Someone suggested using a screwdriver shaft on a drill to prelubricate the bearings before a first start, after an engine strip down/rebuild. With dizzy removed the oil pump is not connected to running gear, so can be turned by poking said apparatus down dizzy hole. Never tried this before so gave it a go at the weekend, on 5K just about finished. Lubricated the bottom end OK, but couldn't see any oil coming out around the rockers. Occurred to me that upper head lubrication maybe from a flat on the camshaft journal as I have come across in other engines I have worked on. Quick reference to the Gregory's manual didn't provide wanted info. Not wanting to pull out a camshaft to find out, I thought I'd ask someone wiser than I. Anyone know whether the oil pump on the K series feeds the rocker gear directly or via a camshaft bearing flat etc. ? Oh, by the way. Make sure your screwdriver shaft is very very firmly in the chuck. My chuck came a bit loose, and as I extracted said drill & shaft, the shaft fell out and disappeared down the gap to the side of the oil pump to the bottom of engine. Was just about resigned to pulling sump off to extract screwdriver shaft, but thought I'd try the magnet trick. Little magnet attached to piece of plastic tube, and would you believe, scored first time. Was very lucky as shaft must have stood straight up. Lesson learnt. Thanks in advance. :)

Here's a link to a thread initiated by Teddy re this subject What do you keep in your car ?

About six months ago there was an intersting thread on Rollaclub about what tools usually were carried in the boot on a daily basis. Not much, if I remember the contributions. But there are three very basics that should be found in every Corolla rear guard side well. 1. Roll of electrical tape. 2. Tube of 5 minute Araldite. 3. Couple of thin wire coat hangers. :)

Maybe Aliens did build the pyramids. But they must have driven Hi-Luxes, and had Sidchrome socket sets ! Maybe they pulled the stone blocks up the ramps on Sidchrome sockets with their Toyotas ??? :)

Yes, I'd forgotten about "McGuyver". He was cool. Fix anything; do anything, with whatever was at hand. Anyway I'm not so sure my friends solution to removing the bus gearbox was so original. Isn't that how the Egyptians built the pyramids, rolling those big blocks of stone, up an earth ramp on their Sidchrome socket sets. :) :D :D :D :D :fuzz: :fuzz: :fuzz:

Grims right Fook. All my Sidchrome 1/2" drive sockets have the same diameter around the boss where the 1/2" drive coupling is made. :)

Jamie's mention of sockets reminds me of a guy I worked with several years ago. He was a paraplegic engineer in a wheelchair that let nothing stop him from leading a productive life. I went to a few parties at his house and I can assure you, nothing stopped him. He decided to buy an old Sydney bus and fit it out and drive around Australia, with some friends (3 were girls). The fit-out took almost a year, but was beautifully done. Anyway, finally the day came, he resigned from work and off he went heading north from Sydney. About two months later we got a call from him requesting help. He was broken down near Rockhampton in Qld. with something in the gearbox broken. He asked if we could go down to the bus depot at Tempe in Sydney & see if we could get him this spare. He said the bus was parked on the concrete driveway at a service station just south of Rocky. Anyway, we got him the part, had it shipped up, and didn't hear from him again, until he returned to Sydney nearly a year later. Anyway we are up at the local pub hearing his stories, when I ask about the broken gearbox. "How the hell did you get the gearbox out of the bus ?" I asked. "Easy" he says. "We jacked the bus up, took 2 days, laid out all the sockets in my socket set under the bus, with a thick piece of marine ply on top. Removed the floor, and lowered the gearbox with some rope, and rolled the 3/4 tonne gearbox out from under the bus on top of the sockets." Reinstallation was, he recounted, a reverse procedure of the removal. Now, there's ingenuity for you. :) :D :D :D :D :fuzz: :fuzz: :fuzz: :fuzz: :fuzz:

Yeh ! I think everyone in those days used to mark their tools. Lots used to mark them with those vibrating electric etching engraving machines, made by "Scope". You don't see them around these days. I worked with an electrican who even had his name engraved on the shaft of each of his screwdrivers. :)

A true artisan ! :)

That's interesting Fook, as I am just about to do a complete lighting upgrade on my KE55 coupe, and was going to use the LED bulbs. I think they're about $ 9.00 is Super AutoCheap. The problem with the flasher and LED bulbs is that the flasher units are made to only work with the filament bulbs. LED bulbs draw much less current than the standard filament bulb, and therefore result in less voltage drop in wiring & connectors. Unfortunately, the flasher unit is a bi-metal switch arrangement. The indicator is switched, current flows to the bulb, bi-metal switch heats up & distorts, switch opens, current stops flowing and bi-metal cools down. Switch closes again & cycle is repeated. The LED current is not great enough to heat the bi-metal strip, so the flasher unit will not work. I assume, Fook, your indicator LED light is permanently on. There must be a simple solution. I'll see what I can discover. On the same topic, amber & red coloured bulbs are great when faded lamp lenses are faded or new ones hard or expensive to get hold. I've tried that special stuff you paint on the inside of the lenses, but in the Qld sun, it is only effective for about 6 months. :)

Recently I had the head off my 4K-U. When replacing the radiator I noticed the heater pipe spigot on top of the water pump looked a little blocked on the inside. I ran a big drill down the inside diameter by hand to clean it out. After doing so, I was amazed how thin the aluminium wall was after the corrosion had been removed. Being a bit concerned it might not have enough strength to be reliable, I put a little sideways force on it, only to have it break off in my hand. Now it was late on a Sunday afternoon, and although there was a second hand pump lying around in the garage somewhere, I was inclined not to use same, as I have often found that water pumps that have been lying idle for some time, provide short lives before bearing or seal failure. The pump boss below where the spigot had been seemed to have plenty of aluminium "beef" to it, so I wondered if it was possible to drill out and fit a new spigot/outlet. A large drill (about 5/8") was used, and the a nice recess was soon formed. I then searched the shed for a bit of pipe that could be forced into service as a new spigot/outlet for the heater pipe. Nothing turned up the exact size I wanted. Then I spied my box of tube spanners. A 13mm tube spanner had exactly the right outside diameter. Out with the hacksaw and off with the hex sections at each end, and I soon had a new spigot. A quick mix of some Araldite, and I soon had the new spigot firmly in place. Next morning, I reattached the heater pipe, filled with water, and the daily drive was back on the road again. That was some months ago now, and the repair has been both reliable & permanent, thanks to a 13mm tube spanner & a tube of Araldite. :)

Had this story told to me in a pub (the only pub) at Fords Bridge, out the "back of Bourke" in N.S.W. Farmer was removing the engine out of his old 1950s Austin that had served him faithfully for many years, as a farm workhorse. Truck under a large gum tree. Steel cable over a branch connected to the rear of a small cat bulldozer he used for clearing fence lines. Got engine out O. K. and was hanging in mid air. Removed Austin truck and was just backing his flat top under the elevated engine, so he could lower, and then transport to town for repairs. About a klm away some contractors were building a new dam for the farmer, and ran into a very large old tree stump that wouldn't budge. A few sticks of "gene" under the stump should fix it ! Well I think they overdid the the few sticks. A giant explosion rocked the earth for a couple of kilometres. The tree rocked, the branch snapped, and the engine plummetted to earth passing straight through the weathered old boards on the back of the flat top, to become completely entangled between the chassis & tailshaft. Three years after hearing this story, I was in the same area again and called on a property to ask for directions. There near the outsheds was a flat top with a slightly bent chassis, and a truck engine firmly embedded between the rear chassis. The farmer was so disgusted, he told me, he just walked away and left it there, but had used the timber off the table top for fire wood. sob

Jason ! Does that mean when you now sleep at night, you have the feeling your 4A-C engine has never left you ? :)