A Few Questions About My Corolla...

[cee7resh]

So i friggin love my corolla, which i've named freedom. Its an all stock(at the moment) 1991 Seca Csi limited with the 4A-F engine(thats the carbureted one right?). I recently lost my job and so i have a lot of time on my hands, so i've been spending a lot of time on the car. I don't have a great deal of coin, so all i've done is replace the spark plugs, brake pads, leads, filters etc but now i want to start adding on rather than maintaining. I'm a bit a noob with cars but with all the problems my corolla had, i've started learning. My questions are:

 

What does Csi limited mean? What about it is limited? just curious....

 

Do more expensive spark plugs help? I just got the cheap ones coz i figure its just a spark which they have to make. can't be too much difference.

 

I went to my local repco and the guy said you can't put a pod filter on a carburetted engine. True? If so, are there any alternatives?

 

Is there the possibility that i could go to the wreckers and rip the EFI system out of a corolla there and replace the carbureter, or is it too much work? What would be involved?

 

When i put the engine in neutral and rev it i hear a pinging noise. What is it, how can i fix it?

 

You don't have to answer this one because its probably too broad, but what are the main causes of knocking noises coming from the engine bay? They aren't too loud, but they are there, especially when the engine is cold. I'd love to have the engine sound a little better.

 

Thanks for any replies i get.

[Hiro Protagonist]

So i friggin love my corolla, which i've named freedom. Its an all stock(at the moment) 1991 Seca Csi limited with the 4A-F engine(thats the carbureted one right?). I recently lost my job and so i have a lot of time on my hands, so i've been spending a lot of time on the car. I don't have a great deal of coin, so all i've done is replace the spark plugs, brake pads, leads, filters etc but now i want to start adding on rather than maintaining. I'm a bit a noob with cars but with all the problems my corolla had, i've started learning. My questions are:

 

What does Csi limited mean? What about it is limited? just curious.... If it's a CSi, then it's a 4AFE engine not 4AFC, so it'll be EFI not carby. The "Limited" just refers to the model name, maybe "limited-spec" aka base-model? Sometimes Limited can be "limited edition"

 

Do more expensive spark plugs help? I just got the cheap ones coz i figure its just a spark which they have to make. can't be too much difference.

What are you calling cheap and expensive? NGK, Bosche or Denso copper plugs are fine, no need for iridium/platinum plugs, but they're not much more expensive than no-name brands and much better quality

 

I went to my local repco and the guy said you can't put a pod filter on a carburetted engine. True? If so, are there any alternatives? You can, but the pipe-work is a bit more involving (because the carby engines have the "hat"-style filter. However, you might have EFI anyway

 

Is there the possibility that i could go to the wreckers and rip the EFI system out of a corolla there and replace the carbureter, or is it too much work? What would be involved? You _could_, but you'd essentially need the whole engine (as you'd need loom, sensors, injectors + head (as the early 4AFE has the injectors in the head)) plus computer, and the wreckers will probably charge an arm and a leg. Better-off just buying a complete car and putting the best of each into the one shell

[cee7resh]

The engine is definately carby, i know that much, its 4a-F, and i have csi limited sticker on the side. I got the bosch copper plugs. By expensive i mean the platinum/iridium ones.

[RainWarriorDregs]

I went to my local repco and the guy said you can't put a pod filter on a carburetted engine. True? If so, are there any alternatives?

 

 

Rubbish. You can do what you want. However, it will not increase power or anything. All it does is make your engine howl, it was sweet for novelty value, charging past people in third gear at 5500rpm and watching them shit, but other than that... its useless. haha

[Trev]

CSi had a 4afc, They are just a higher level of CS.

[Hiro Protagonist]

CSi had a 4afc, They are just a higher level of CS.

 

There is no such thing as a carby CSi. Either it has had an engine change, or the stickers/badges are wrong (indicating possible accident damage/swapped panels etc)

The CSi came out with the facelift series 2 AE9x series in 1991, the CSi was a replacement for the CS (the "i" denoted the switch to EFI, stood for "injected". And the CSi Limited did not come out until 1993 (run-out model by the looks of it, as the AE10x replaced the range in 1994).

 

So if the car is a 1991, then it ain't a CSi Limited.

Edited March 24, 2010 by Hiro Protagonist

[Grand Master of Awesome]

haven't you guys heard

POD filters burst into flames.

[Johno]

haven't you guys heard

POD filters burst into flames.

Where did you get that from? I used pod filters in differnt cars for years and never had an issue. It would if you had it sitting on the exhuast manifold...

Edited March 24, 2010 by Johno

[Grand Master of Awesome]

Where did you get that from? I used pod filters in differnt cars for years and never had an issue. It would if you had it sitting on the exhuast manifold...

 

 

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ipromise/...h-1225842561655

 

 

;) hahaha

[Evan G]

how about those foam mushroom filters? there not oil filterd?

[Trev]

There is no such thing as a carby CSi. Either it has had an engine change, or the stickers/badges are wrong (indicating possible accident damage/swapped panels etc)

The CSi came out with the facelift series 2 AE9x series in 1991, the CSi was a replacement for the CS (the "i" denoted the switch to EFI, stood for "injected". And the CSi Limited did not come out until 1993 (run-out model by the looks of it, as the AE10x replaced the range in 1994).

 

So if the car is a 1991, then it ain't a CSi Limited.

 

B/S Ian, They came in both.

 

http://www.rollaclub.com/board/index.php?showtopic=22862

 

http://www.twincam.info/index.php?showtopic=35424

Edited March 24, 2010 by Trev

[Hiro Protagonist]

B/S Ian, They came in both.

 

http://www.rollaclub.com/board/index.php?showtopic=22862

 

http://www.twincam.info/index.php?showtopic=35424

 

 

The first link is useless, the OP says they have a '92 CSi and never once mention carby. Anyway, the average punter probably doesn't know the difference between CS and CSi and just assumed that the base model was always called CSi (just as a person not educated about the KEs might always assume that the SE was the top-of-the-range because it was "Special Edition")

 

The "upgrade" of a CS was the CSX. When the 4AF went fuel injected, the CSX was replaced by the Ultima (which in Seca form got the 7AFE in Nov 1992 with the RV), and the CS changed to a CSi, with the SE remaining carby but stepping up from the 6AFC to the 4AFC. Remember that you can't always go off badges etc as it is quite common for whole hatches or bootlids to get swapped (either due to accident damage, rust etc) and the badges come along with it. If you take a look at Redbook, you'll see that in August 1991 (ie the release of Series 2), the CS disappeared and the CSi appeared for the first time in Corolla history (only EFI engines before that were in the SX and AE82 TC), and at the same time the engine changed from 4AFC to 4AFE (except in the SE). Then, in 1993, the CSi Limited appeared as a run-out model.

 

In saying that, show me official Toyota Australia spec-sheets saying that there was a carby CSi, and I will admit defeat. I highly doubt such literature exists though.