94 prizm, 165,000 miles =

[jamesmetairie]

just bought this 1.6,a/t. can anyone recommend what maintainence items i should start first. are these prizm,s like my old 1990 corolla. it would only run with toyota dealer ignition wires (with dist cap attached).i bought the best elsewhere and it would not run.also when does power steering usually go out? this one has a leak somewhere, big time.maybe broken hose? also do these automatic transmissions make it to 250,000 miles?outside drivers door handle cracked off. drivers door mirror cracked off. where,s a good place to buy such. thanks for any advice.

[treywink]

Get a book something like a Haynes car repair manual for Corolla and Geo Prizm. Start with the 1st section that covers the basic tune-up requirements. Then proceed on to the 5k, 10k, 15k…. inspections until you have covered all the topics you care to. When you perform these periodic inspections it will become apparent as to what you should work on. Good luck!

[nick bamberger]

You can find door handles at a junk yard. The transmissions will last to 250,000 miles if properly maintained. Just dont let the fluid get brown. Depends on how the previous owner maintained it.

edit--the more I think about it, 250,000 seems a bit high. 220,000 seems a little more reasonable, but I dont know how it was maintained

[jamesmetairie]

Originally Posted by nick bamberger

You can find door handles at a junk yard. The transmissions will last to 250,000 miles if properly maintained. Just dont let the fluid get brown. Depends on how the previous owner maintained it.

edit--the more I think about it, 250,000 seems a bit high. 220,000 seems a little more reasonable, but I dont know how it was maintained

pervious owner serviced a/t around 45000 and again around 95000.if i knew it would stay the way it is now i could deal with that. all i gotta do now is let up off the gas pedal when it revs up. it shifts quickly with that manuver. i,d like to put a 5 speed stick in this car if it don,t cost too much. the poor little car screams at 65 mph with this 3 speed a/t.i had a 1998 prizm already and didn,t learn my lesson about 3 speed a/t,s in a little car.

[nick bamberger]

Originally Posted by jamesmetairie

pervious owner serviced a/t around 45000 and again around 95000.if i knew it would stay the way it is now i could deal with that. all i gotta do now is let up off the gas pedal when it revs up. it shifts quickly with that manuver. i,d like to put a 5 speed stick in this car if it don,t cost too much. the poor little car screams at 65 mph with this 3 speed a/t.i had a 1998 prizm already and didn,t learn my lesson about 3 speed a/t,s in a little car.

Converting it to stick would be a bit uneconomical. I know people who have done it, and had it done. It would probably cost close to the value of the car to have it converted, unless you did it your self.

I would just shop around and see if I can find one with a 5speed.

BTW- I dont know a whole lot about auto transmissions, but sounds like you are developing a problem.

[motu 56]

The door handles can be found on E-bay a lot cheaper.

[motu 56]

The door handles can be found on E-bay a lot cheaper.

[motu 56]

The door handles can be found on E-bay a lot cheaper.

[bigirb2002]

man my transmission got 275thousand on it an i raced with mine. threw it in reverse while driving, abused it. toyota got strong trannys but iv switched to a silvertop 20 valve engine an 4 speed tranny