Now more than ever, since petrol prices are going UP, I thought I would make this post, to help people who have a Toyota 2E Carburetted Engine still, in their Corolla EE100. I will post tips and things to check and look out for, not just the carburettor, but also the rest of the car in general.
Okay, so, I have a 2001 Corolla EE100, with the 2E Carburetted engine. This carburettor is actually for a 2E-E (2E- Europe), since Toyota only made this last iteration for the RHD market, which also came to Pakistan. This car was originally purchased by my father in October 2001, and I still have the car. So as with many other people, I was also having an issue with average/decent petrol consumption. Some posts I have seen people write, state they get something ridiculously poor like 6KM/Litre.
My highest ever petrol consumption, in town, was around 12-13 KM/Litre with the AC on. Now my car has around 70,000 KM original miles, with the original Engine Block and Head. I still thought, it cannot be that poor, since it is just 1300CC engine.
Well, I found out that Toyota's JC08 (If you don't know what JC08 look it up yourself), on the Toyota 2E with a 4 Speed Manual (Not 5 Speed like I have), was about 20 KM/litre in town maximum speed 80 km/h and 30KM/litre on the motorway, Extended Urban, maximum speed at 100 km/h. So then I started to investigate what was happening. Well, after spending almost 2 years, I have literally found out all the problems, so let's start with what I check, what I adjustments and changes I did, and how it has been since.
The first issues, were the VACUUM LINE routing and where it needs to go. THIS is by the SINGLE most problematic issue with this Toyota 2E Carburetted Engine, because in Pakistan, if you have had the carburettor taken off, the clown mechanics almost SURELY did NOT make a diagramme or label the vacuum lines on where to go. Now, ever since I have been running the car, I have NOT let any "clown" mechanic in this country touch it. I know they "know much more than I do" and that "they do NOT need the repair manual, they know better than the manufacturer who built this car." I was shocked to realise, some of my vacuum lines were also incorrectly routed and connected incorrectly.
Now before we get into how to got the vacuum lines properly routed, and what did I do, let me first tell you what you will need to check if you have a Toyota 2E Carburetted Engine on a EE100 Corolla. For cars that are getting poor fuel, you will 100% need to check ALL these items to make sure it is not hampering your petrol consumption:
- Engine/Block Cylinder Compression Test.
- PCV Valve Blockage (Very poorly designed PCV Valve, which I have a fix/repair for).
- Engine Timing (Need to be at BTDC 5 Degrees for maximum fuel economy and BTDC 10 degrees for maximum power).
- Distributor/Rotor Arm/Wiring/Ignition Coil/Pickup Coil/Diode - You need to check that your distributor is not leaking internally and that all the wiring and Ignition Coil/Pickup Coil/Transistor is all working fine. Also the gap between the rotor pickup and the rotor also needs to be a specific gap.
Spark plug wiring - sure your spark plug leads/wires do not have such a high resistance. If they do get them replaced.
Alternator Bearings - You need to check and make sure your alternator bearings are not causing any noise, as this will also cause your engine to work harder and consume more fuel.
- A/C Compressor Pulley Bearing- Make sure this bearing is also good. See many times, this bearing becomes really hard, it is difficult to turn the pulley.
- A/C System REFRIGERANT GAS: It needs to be added by weight, because guess what? If your A/C COMPRESSOR is running all the time, YOU WILL HAVE PATHETIC AND POOR FUEL CONSUMPTION! Do NOT be fooled by the A/C clowns, you need to make sure that you R-134a refrigerant gas is added by weight AND that your compressor is NOT running all the time. If your A/C compressor is running ALL THE TIME, you will have 25% MORE POORER FUEL consumption, because your engine needs to burn more fuel to turn the compressor.
Drive belts - Make sure to check the tension. It should be on very tigher. Do NOT over tighten drive belts. Make sure drive belts are not frayed or severely worn.
Tyres: Check the tyre pressure and also make sure tyres are not worn. Yokohama tyres are MORE fuel efficient than Chinese Tyres. I know this because I fitted brand new Yokohama Tyres on the car, after having Nexen tyres. The Yokohama Tyres were night and day difference for rolling resistance and fuel economy.
- Front Calipers: On the Corolla AE10 and EE10, the front calipers are NOTORIOUS for have sticking caliper pistons, due to corrosion AND sticking Caliper Floating Guide Pins. Make sure your calipers are NOT stuck, and that the caliper floating guide pins are NOT stuck, and that the caliper guide pin rubber boots are NOT broken or torn. Sticking calipers/caliper guide pins WILL cause your brakes to not work properly AND cause you to consume more petrol.
- Rear Drum Brakes: Another common issues, the HAND BRAKE adjustment and the hand brake cable sticking!!! NEVER adjust your drum brakes by adjusting the handbrake lever adjusting nut. ALWAYS adjust the drum brakes by adjusting the adjuster that goes in between the brake shoes. One issues I saw on my corolla was that the hand brake cable was getting stuck. Whenever I would put the hand brake down, the cable would not disengage fully. I had the hand brake cable removed from the car, and sprayed the hell out of it on both sides with a mixture of two spray greases and now it is working perfectly! Not more drum brake noises or drum brakes that jam. Also make sure to put grease on the backing plate points, so your drum brakes move freely. This will DEFINITELY cause you to have poor petrol consumption! Also check your drum springs and make sure there is enough clearance between the adjuster mechanism and the drum shoe.
Now for the most important points regarding fuel consumption: The carburettor. Oh the carburettor. It is absolutely amazing how this piece of engineering works. You have to overhaul, clean and adjust the carburettor properly for it to work. I did the carburettor overhauling, cleaning and adjustment exactly to the repair manual specification, and it is perfect. Key note points on overhauling the carburettor: The Primary and Secondary Venturis DO GET LOOSE! This is a known issue. You will HAVE to use thread locker/sealer on the philips head screws otherwise it will get loose over time and petrol will leak down whenever your car is hot and then cools overnight. Another issue is the accelerator pump, the fuel solenoid, and ALL the small holes where fuel needs to go have to be cleaned out. And the biggest issue: The Carburettor heat riser/spacer vacuum leaks. The OEM heat riser/spacer is crap. You will have to properly cut a slightly thicker gasket and glue it on and use that. I ordered some Felpro and Mahle Gasket Maker paper and I cut the gaskets to the exact size and shape, and it has made a HUGE difference now.
Okay so everything I written above, you will have to check, fix, adjust and make sure everything is in order. Now for the detail explanation about the vacuum lines.
When I checked every single problem on my Corolla, and had sorted absolutely everything out from the front and rear brakes, to the leaking internal oil leak in the distributor, and the carburettor vacuum leaks, I really needed to figure out the PROPER vacuum routes/connections and where everything needs to go. And I have figured it out, finally.
The biggest problem with the vacuum are all the check valves and which direction they need to be. If these check valves are the WRONG way, well guess what? You can actually end up having MORE crankcase pressure, which will make the oil leak and/or consume faster. You will need to make sure also, that you oil is not LEAKING, from the rear main seal between the gearbox and the engine, as when the PCV valve gets clogged up and jammed, blowbly and crankcase gases are not getting out of the engine so then it starts going through the path of least resistance: The oil pan, the front and real main seals, the valve cover gaskets, and even back through the BRAKE BOOSTER VACUUM LINE! Yes, that is right. I have actually seen the oil actually going BACK through the BRAKE BOOSTER vacuum line, from the intake manifold ALL the way back to the brake check valve.
So when I knew which directions the check valves need to be, I then had to find out the EXACT routing and fitment for the lines. Thanks to the Toyota EPC, many other vacuum diagrams for this car on the internet, and my intelligence, I have finally found the exact routing of the vacuum lines. The most difficult part: The two distirbutor vacuum lines going from the distributor to the carburettor and the carburettor back to the distributor.
On the backside of the carburettor, the VERY back side, there are four ports. Well I figured out that the distributor connects to the vacuum to either two of these ports. Each of these ports are the distributor advance vacuum ports. Now one port is what is called PORTED Vacuum, and the other port is called MANIFOLD VACUUM. The ported vacuum (for Emissions Purposes) is located ABOVE the main throttle plate. The MANIFOLD VACUUM (For countries where Emissions regulations need not apply) is located BELOW the main throttle plate. Can you have a guess where my distributor vacuum advance was, all these years? You need to have you distributor vacuum advance connected to the MANIFOLD VACUUM PORT! I repeat, you need to have your distributor vacuum advance on the caburettor, to be connect to the port that provides FULL manifold vacuum. This was the absolutely LAST piece of the puzzle.
Now I have set my car's timing at 10 degrees BTDC, because I want maximum power and maximum smoothness. In order to have 10 degrees BTDC you need to use at least 90 RON petrol. Well I don't believe the 92 RON petrol is actually 92 RON, because 99% of the petrol in Pakistan is adulterated petrol, so I mix half a tank of 98 RON petrol and half a tank of 92 RON petrol.
I just overhaul my power steering rack and overhauled it myself (yes, that's right, I did it myself, no clown mechanics or workshops or machine shop either), so my alignment was off a bit. I have sorted that out now, and now I have calculated how much my fuel consumption is.
With everything correct, fixed, repaired, and especially the distributor vacuum advance port on the backside of the caburettor, now connected to the proper full manifold vacuum here are my latest fuel consumption averages:
With the A/C and driving VERY carefully and slowly, barely applying ANY accelerator and keeping the RPM's to 2,000 or below when shifting: 16.9 KM/litre in Urban/City driving! 16.9 KM/litre. I have NEVER got that before EVER.
With the A/C and driving NOT carefully and accelerating all the time, but not like a full maniac where I am flooring the accelerator pedal: 14.2 KM/litre.
Some other notes: I have NEVER overhauled this engine or taken it apart. I have my cooling system in proper working order. My thermostat IS installed (why the hell would anyone take it out, even in the summer???). My cooling fans are connected to the original car wiring setup and NOT "direct" fan (Why would you want direct fan? When your car is moving, the fans running DO NOT make any difference cooling the car?). I have flushed my entire cooling system every year and made sure there is no corrosion in the fluid. My A/C is filled with R-134a refrigerant gas as per the service manual. My A/C cycles on and off, even in 48 degree heat. When it is 48 degrees outside and the car is moving, the A/C is so cold I can keep the fan on the number 2 or even number 1 fan setting. I change my spark plugs once a year, regardless of mileage. I change my oil every 4 months regardless of miles (because of severe dust in this country). I change my air filter after 18 months. I replace my fuel filter once a year. I have brand new tyres as well, and made sure the tyre pressure is at 30 psi.
So what is the point to this post? It is DEFINITELY possible, to get way better fuel consumption, for a carburettor car, especially the Toyota 2E. It has been a long journey to find the exact fix, but I have finally figured it out. I hope that this post can help someone else who has a Toyota 2E engine, because personally, I think this engine now, is WAY better than the 4A-FE. And since the distributor advance is connected to manifold vacuum, the car has so much power, like it never had before.
So if you have any comments or questions or what else you may need to do to solve your higher than normal fuel consumption, then leave them below. I shall also be writing a new post on how I rebuilt the power steering rack, which is applicable to the AE10 and EE10 Corolla's! With the repair manual and the proper Toyota SST, of course.
