I left my 97 corolla parked for 3 weeks (has ~137,000 miles). When I tried to start it afterwards, it does not . I checked the battery; it is pretty strong (also tried to jumpstart just to make sure that there is enough juice flowing). When I put the key in and start the ignition, I can hear the cranking sound. I can hear the empty clicking of the ignition system (I think) trying to start the engine, but failing. I did some search on Google and also spoke to the guys at AutoZone. Seems that the problem can be one of the two things:
a) sparkplugs need to be changed (got them changed at 90,000 and 121,000 miles; bought the car at 77,000 miles)
b) fuel filter something ??? : don't know much about this
I have never tinkered around under the hood, but am willing to DIY this time. Need some guidance and expert advice on this matter. I read and printed the spark plug replacement tutorial from the AutoZone website; looks fairly simple to follow. I will try to check the spark plugs first and see if they need to be replaced. Am I on the right track here? Is there anything else that can cause this problem? I would like to try and solve this without taking it to the shop. The folks at PepBoys wanted to charge $90 for towing to their shop (~ 5 miles away) and another $80 just to diagnose the problem. So even if I spend about $150, I still do not have a working car. Help, please ???
Last edited by corolla_owner; 10-01-2007 at 07:13 AM.
Status has changed on the vehicle. Now, the battery seems to be completely dead. Looks like the problem is the battery after all. Even though it was working 3 weeks ago, it may not have had sufficient cranking amps to start with. The battery is more than 5 yrs old and has depleted completely about 3 times (in the 5 yrs) when I left my headlights on.
I will take the battery to the AutoZone guys, get it tested abd replaced if necessary.
Status has changed on the vehicle. Now, the battery seems to be completely dead. Looks like the problem is the battery after all. Even though it was working 3 weeks ago, it may not have had sufficient cranking amps to start with. The battery is more than 5 yrs old and has depleted completely about 3 times (in the 5 yrs) when I left my headlights on.
I will take the battery to the AutoZone guys, get it tested abd replaced if necessary.
Go ahead and replace the battery since it needs replacing anyway.
But the first thing I would look at is the fuel filter. Also, since the car sat for three weeks, any chance that some condensation (i.e., water) accumulated in the fuel tank?
I also own a 97 toyota corolla with 238,000 miles on it and have never had to have any repairs done to it.
-Just change you're oil and oil filter
-Air Filter
-Sparkplugs
-Timming belt
It's one of the most dependable cars in the world.But they will eventually break down. I used to leave my car sitting for a month at atime when I would go on vacation and I would come back and it would still run fine.
-I would change the battery.
-Also the sparkplugs
-Oh yeah do you have gas in you're car? Someone could have siphoned it out. Ha.
Good Luck
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97 Corolla won't start
. I checked the battery; it is pretty strong (also tried to jumpstart just to make sure that there is enough juice flowing). When I put the key in and start the ignition, I can hear the cranking sound. I can hear the empty clicking of the ignition system (I think) trying to start the engine, but failing. I did some search on Google and also spoke to the guys at AutoZone. Seems that the problem can be one of the two things:
Re: 97 Corolla won't start
“College is like a fountain of knowledge and the students are there to drink”
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