[My '90 Corolla DX Sedan]

You have purchased a good brand, Toyota. Make sure all of the fluids are kept in good condition. oil, transmission, brake fluid, steering fluid, coolant, battery. Looks like the wheels are worth more than the car. They are very nice. Squealing of a belt at the extremes of turning is probably a belt (not the timing belt). Timing belt should be changed at the frequency listed in the manual. Make sure inflation of tires is proper, and the spare. Squealing brakes may be due to worn or just normal. CHeck the brakes for amount of pad left. Keep wiper blades working good. Probably replace each year especially if out in the hot sun a lot. Put a little grease on the wheel studs (that the nuts screw on to) so taking on and off is easier. Don;t worry about the paint. Repainting is expensive or not very good. When you get a nice job after graduation you can sell this one and et something nicer. Rotate the tires every 6K miles so they last better and wear more evenly. For lights- try replacing the bulbs (original equipment is good enough) or see if the lens is fogged. If so, you can get a liquid with an abrasive that with a little elbow grease you can buff the lenses to a clearer condition allowing more light through.

[i need help with a 1988 rolla PLZ]

i need help finding a 4 cyl, fwd engine, i blew mine up and i need a new one. plz i help me find one in austin tx lpz

Have you tried your local boneyards? One or more of them should be attached to a nationwide network of salvage parts dealers and should be able to find you another engine ASAP.

[Engine rebuild]

'90 Corolla LE 5spd w/4A-FE, 205k miles. I had some kind of a knocking sound coming from the rear of the engine at low idle (600-800 rpm), but would go away above 800 rpm. It sounded like a rod knock. I was under the impression that a rod knock would be present throughout the rpm range. I have since pulled the engine out and am going to go through it. What are the common trouble areas for these engines? My plan is to make this thing bullet-proof and then install it in a southern/western rust-free body so I can get another 300-400k miles out of it with none other than routine maintenance. So far I have removed the head and taken out the camshafts. The bearings and journals look like they're almost new. There is an ever so slight ridge at the top of the stroke and you can still see the cross hatch marks from the factory honing of the cylinder walls. Someone suggested that I replace the connecting rods with lightweight forged rods to reduce the inertia and therefore reduce the wear on the connecting rod bearings. Any idea where I might find some and what brand I should be looking for. I plan on having the crank checked out meticulously for any signs of wear or out of balance condition. What else should I be looking for?

Any/all advice/suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time and consideration.

[Engine oil temperature]

Japanese made '90 Corolla LE 5spd w/4A-FE. I would like to find a location in which to obtain an oil temperature reading for my aftermarket guage cluster. There is a threaded plug (12mm?) located on the left side of the block about half way between the oil pressure switch (already removed and using that for mechanical oil pressure reading) and the oil filter. Is this location part of the oil system? I thought that I had read somewhere that the 4A-GE configurations use that location for some sort of oil pressure reading. Any ideas?