Tired engine? 2001 Vitz RS

[Mehavesnoname]

Hey.

I've got a well used 2001 Vitz RS that i bought for cheap a few years back (exterior in rough looking condition, paint/clearcoat coming off, front bumper damage, wheel coating eaten away by something etc etc) and it had high km's when i bought it (305,000km/s, now up to 335,000km/s).

The first things we did were replace all the spark plugs (to decent ones, not the cheapest available), replaced air filter, changed oil and oil filter plus a couple other things. Since then we've also replaced the fuel filter, and have done multiple oil changes in the past 30k km's too.

We've changed it to thicker oil recently to try stop it from going through so much (needed to keep topping it up, more than both my other cars combined). Started using 10w/30 synthetic (?) and now using 10w/40 semi-synthetic. It seems to have mostly curbed the excessive oil use.

But the main reason for this post is to hopefully get some sort of idea what is causing the tired feeling engine.

Basically the symptoms are;
- A grinding/mechanical type sound when putting decent load on when accelerating (half throttle or more). I've driven many cars (albeit with lower k's), and it's not a common sound. It's quite quiet, you can't hear it with windows down or radio on, but it's there.

- Inconsistent power delivery. Sometimes it's sluggish power delivery (with little surges thru the rev range, like it's turbocharged etc), and sometimes it's really zippy and rev happy. It still seems to be random and not really caused by anything in my control?
Like i can floor it in second gear one minute and it's nice and smooth and linier, the next time it'll be "nothing-nothing-nothing-POWEEEEER-less power-POWEEEER" etc. Basically it feels a bit like my turbo Nissan, but with less of a kick when the turbo kicks in.

- The aforementioned oil burning issue, for which our mechanic suggested thicker oil.

Firstly, i know i shouldn't expect much from an engine with such high km's, and no idea how it's been looked after by previous owners, but basically i'm hoping to find out the possible reasons for its inconsistent power delivery and roughish sounding noises when under heavy throttle.

I very nearly bought a 150k engine the other month, but opted not to only because the car is still reliable (*touch wood*) and wasn't sure if fixing this power problem would be an easy fix, or an engine rebuild. If the latter, it's significantly cheaper to just chuck another engine in it ($8,000NZD+ rebuild compared to $2,000 NZ incl. engine).

At the end of the day it's just my daily driver and our road trip/gravel road car, so it needs to be reliable. Which is why i wasn't bothered about the exterior condition, as it's good for parking in supermarket car parks where no-one cares about opening doors into other cars.

It is a tough wee car though, and it loves gravel roads and other such adventures. It's a very fun car to drive despite the low power, and the interior is in quite good condition surprisingly (aside from wear and tear on gear stick and steering wheel), which is why i intend to ignore my mechanic's advice to scrap metal the car when the engine dies.

Anyway. Would be good to know if i should fix it or just do an engine swap or not if another one in the 100,000km range pops up for sale again.

Cheers.

[mitch9521]

I'd run it till it spills its guts all over the road. 1NZ-FEs are dirt cheap here.

[Mehavesnoname]

Sorry for the thread bump.

So my mechanic said that the power probs i mentioned (below) could be due to old/worn injectors. He suggested a second hand set (fitted for $275NZD or so), as new ones are $175NZD brand new, each.

Has anyone had a similar power prob that was fixed with new/replacement injectors?


- Inconsistent power delivery. Sometimes it's sluggish power delivery (with little surges thru the rev range, like it's turbocharged etc), and sometimes it's really zippy and rev happy. It still seems to be random and not really caused by anything in my control?
Like i can floor it in second gear one minute and it's nice and smooth and linier, the next time it'll be "nothing-nothing-nothing-POWEEEEER-less power-POWEEEER" etc. Basically it feels a bit like my turbo Nissan, but with less of a kick when the turbo kicks in.

[sh0rtlife]

injectors would make the most sense, seconded by anything controling the fuel curve IE maf, ecu, o2....and things dont have to be throwing codes to be bad enough to cause an issue

bumping your own thread is a GOOD thing..gives us the back story we need

[IndestructibleYaris]

I just bought an injector tester which is just a pulsing timer to activate the injectors, I got it to back-flow and clean the injectors on my 1nzfe but turns out a third of my gas is water and ethanol that is no longer suspended with the rest of the fuel. 25 dollars to have a tool to clean injectors indefinitely until they stop working or the pintle gets too worn and leaks is a pretty cool deal in my opinion. I might make a lil flow bench with a poopy fuel pump, fuel hose, and some graduated cylinders, highly recommend you do that route too before you go guessing with a mechanic and expensive injectors. I have 350k miles with no issues so far and with my fuel being constantly mixed with old debris and water, so I doubt your injectors are done already, they might just need cleaning

[Mehavesnoname]

Well i'm glad that i didn't spend too much on the engine etc now. The Vitz got written off a couple of weeks ago by a road ragey 'Karen'. She sideswiped the car while my wife was driving it after 'Karen' got sick of tailgating wifey.

It's all on dashcam, including the chase afterwards and wife and 'Karen' having an argument a few blocks later.

Karen is in trouble with the Police and her insurance have already paid out for my car. Sadly it was underinsured and i can't afford to replace it. $5,300 of damage (suspension/hub etc damage too) for a car insured for $3,300.

Plus panel/paint damage to rear fender, back door, drivers door, front fender, front bumper, wing mirror and front wheel.

R.I.P Vitz. Gonna miss you. :(

I might get another one in the future if i can find a better looked after, lower k's one. But we'll see.

Thanks for the help anyway peeps. :) :(

[Compeer]

Well i'm glad that i didn't spend too much on the engine etc now. The Vitz got written off a couple of weeks ago by a road ragey 'Karen'. She sideswiped the car while my wife was driving it after 'Karen' got sick of tailgating wifey.

It's all on dashcam, including the chase afterwards and wife and 'Karen' having an argument a few blocks later.

Karen is in trouble with the Police and her insurance have already paid out for my car. Sadly it was underinsured and i can't afford to replace it. $5,300 of damage (suspension/hub etc damage too) for a car insured for $3,300.

Plus panel/paint damage to rear fender, back door, drivers door, front fender, front bumper, wing mirror and front wheel.

R.I.P Vitz. Gonna miss you. :(

I might get another one in the future if i can find a better looked after, lower k's one. But we'll see.

Thanks for the help anyway peeps. :) :(

Damn theres a bunch for sale around now for parts too, thats a shame could have saved her.

[Compeer]

Well i'm glad that i didn't spend too much on the engine etc now. The Vitz got written off a couple of weeks ago by a road ragey 'Karen'. She sideswiped the car while my wife was driving it after 'Karen' got sick of tailgating wifey.

It's all on dashcam, including the chase afterwards and wife and 'Karen' having an argument a few blocks later.

Karen is in trouble with the Police and her insurance have already paid out for my car. Sadly it was underinsured and i can't afford to replace it. $5,300 of damage (suspension/hub etc damage too) for a car insured for $3,300.

Plus panel/paint damage to rear fender, back door, drivers door, front fender, front bumper, wing mirror and front wheel.

R.I.P Vitz. Gonna miss you. :(

I might get another one in the future if i can find a better looked after, lower k's one. But we'll see.

Thanks for the help anyway peeps. :) :(

Damn theres a bunch for sale around now for parts too, thats a shame could have saved her. RIP another JDM RS Vitz:brokenheart:

[sh0rtlife]

ive never seen one in the states..ive seen the dorky coupes but not the hatch...another sad one i wish we woulda gotten

[WeeYari]

ive never seen one in the states..ive seen the dorky coupes but not the hatch...another sad one i wish we woulda gotten

You've got a Canadian '07, get yourself a Canadian '04 or '05. Lots of them out there.

[bronsin]

Couldn’t you buy the car back from the insurance company and use it for parts? When the Yaris I bought for my son was totaled I was thinking Of doing that

But it’s great to see people who are using old Given up on cars like this! Most of them are certainly good for it!

[sh0rtlife]

i dunno if he can in NZ..i know some countrys dont let you

[sh0rtlife]

You've got a Canadian '07, get yourself a Canadian '04 or '05. Lots of them out there.

were they echo's vits or yaris tho?.....in all the time i spent up there i dont remember seeing them..but ive got ZERO issue dragging one across the border

[mitch9521]

were they echo's vits or yaris tho?.....in all the time i spent up there i dont remember seeing them..but ive got ZERO issue dragging one across the border

Sold as the Echo Hatchback, 3 door and 5 doors were available. A "sporty" RS trim was sold as a 5 door only too, came with some minor cosmetic bits on the interior and exterior but is mechanically identical to a normal one. They are common traffic here even in 2022.

[sh0rtlife]

both in vancouver and vancouer island(victoria) i cant say ive seen any over the 11 or so years ive been in n out of there

i specificly was asking on the yaris/echo/vitz cause i wasnt sure which name that they sold em under up there for that generation.....

will troll around and see what turns up, i know the 2dr non hatch ones sold here were just stupidlooking

[IndestructibleYaris]

It's worth fixing right, it's not worth running thicker oil. You can premix waste oil in the gas 40 to 1 and you won't lose a drop of oil from the crankcase. I do this to get rid of waste oil and to keep the upper cylinder and parts good with upper cylinder lubricant. This benefit of keeping the engine healthy was lost with the ban on leaded gasoline, one of the greatest changes for public health but one of the worst for engine health. Running some kind of upper cylinder lube will reduce crankcase oil consumption. This is just a bandaid for the worn engine though.

There could be a lot of issues with the engine, and anyone saying "run it till it pukes oil" doesn't value the yaris. One day you won't be able to buy any less-used engines. One day your engine will be valuable. Might as well learn rebuilding one of the best engines ever made, or do the carousel of buying running used cars and scrapping the old one every 3 years. Think about whether it's time, money, or knowledge stopping you from your goal. Seems like you really care about the car and want it to be right. There's a lot of books and videos on how to repair or diagnose cars, and there's a free service manual on the yaris itself. This is a do it yourself thing, and really a labor of love, otherwise a mechanic will take you for a ride that is very expensive.

[mitch9521]

both in vancouver and vancouer island(victoria) i cant say ive seen any over the 11 or so years ive been in n out of there

i specificly was asking on the yaris/echo/vitz cause i wasnt sure which name that they sold em under up there for that generation.....

will troll around and see what turns up, i know the 2dr non hatch ones sold here were just stupidlooking

The 2 door coupe Echos are actually quite rare here, I almost never see any for sale and/or in the wild. All of them are 4 doors or the hatches.

[sh0rtlife]

The 2 door coupe Echos are actually quite rare here, I almost never see any for sale and/or in the wild. All of them are 4 doors or the hatches.

HAHAH shows how the world market works...down here i dont think ive ever seen a 4dr or a hatch, but the wonky 2drs were common enough that i still come across them in the wreckers

[mitch9521]

HAHAH shows how the world market works...down here i dont think ive ever seen a 4dr or a hatch, but the wonky 2drs were common enough that i still come across them in the wreckers

Its funny, the third gen 3 doors are actually quite rare here too. Almost all of them are 5 door LEs with some SEs sprinkled in. If I search for 3rd gen 3 door Yaris' in the entire country, id be surprised if I got more than half a dozen results. :laugh:

[sh0rtlife]

Its funny, the third gen 3 doors are actually quite rare here too. Almost all of them are 5 door LEs with some SEs sprinkled in. If I search for 3rd gen 3 door Yaris' in the entire country, id be surprised if I got more than half a dozen results. :laugh:

meanwhile in the wreckers down here and forsale..yourll find 2nd and 3rd gen 3drs and sedans...5drs pretty much dont exist,,and the gen1's only exist as a sedan