1990 Toyota Corolla DX from North America - Comments

When I first got the car from my Grandmother a shop tried to tell me the brakes needed to be totally replaced rotors pads calipers, they were wrong I got another year and then only had to have the front rotors turned, front pads and driver side caliper replaced, cost 250$.

About three months later I had part of the exhaust replaced, cost 110$.

The most significant problem I've had (currently) is that the transmission has failed, I had noticed a drip coming off the transmission pan about a year ago and had a shop tell me it would cost 250$ to check it out, I chose to keep an eye on the fluid level by checking the transmission dipstick regular. I never felt any slipping or other signs of trouble until one night on the way back from a 900 mile trip the tranny seized. Apparently this paricular model has a separate reservoir for the differential which holds transmission fluid to keep the gears lubricated. I'm bumbed out about the fact that I was trying to be aware of the fluid level and never knew anything about a separate place to have fluid for the transmission and NO mechanic ever said anything about it when I'd get my oil changed. If you have ever heard of this problem I'd be interested to hear from you, if not BE AWARE of differential level, mechanics I talk to say it's common problem with the Corolla and it's twin the GEO prism, but I think it's only with the Auto tansmission.

Overall a great car, very dependable.

Would like to keep and get more mile out of her, but am disssapointed about transmision.

Pick up is slow, but once up to speed she cruises.

We had the same problem with our 1991 Corolla and the separate reservoir for the differential. $1700.00 later we are going to small claims court to see if we can recoup our loss. We know nothing about cars and depend on our mechanics to fill fluids and be aware of where to put them. It was good to hear of another person who had gone through the same thing because the auto shop we were taking our vehicle to still denies the existence of a second chamber and I am on-line looking for proof.

A friend of mine has a 1990 Toyota. She had the same problem, noticed tranny fluid dripping, kept checking the fluid, but then one day it just stopped moving. Took it in and they told her it was a second resevoir that can't easily be checked and that he's seen this before. Who knew?

The owners manual of my 1997 corolla list the gear box in question as the differential. Toyota states it should be inspected at each service with the transmission fluids. If the vehicles in question was being serviced by a Toyota dealer, you may have some recourse.

Yep, In the Geo Prizm manual it shows the differential.. its very hard to check and no repair shop that I've taken it to seems to know what I'm even talking about even after showing them the owners guide, I finally checked mine after scraping my knuckles to the point of bleeding I checked it and it was low.. the fun part is getting the fluid in there, this was a bizarre thing and I have never seen another car besides the Corolla/ Prizm that has this check point-

I had the same issue with my prizm, but I was aware of it as it is outlined in the manual. the only real problem I have with it is that most "tranny" shops are not aware of it and seem to just ignore the situation. it is CLEARLY described in the shop books and isn't that hard once you are used to it. it's common in AE-82, AE-92 and AE-101 chassis cars. I find once or twice a year is fine to watch it, as long as you're not leaking. do be careful if you buy a used tranny. a lot of them have bad diffs.

Wow, I just had the same thing happen to me as described above. First, I notice some transmission fluid leak previously, but my fluid level seems to be OK that I only needed to add 1/2 a quart every 2-3 oil changes. So perhaps, it may have been leaking out of that differential housing as described, because eventually, my transmission ceased up. Travelling about 60mph, felt my transmission switch to a lower gear, then to a much lower gear that my tyres even screached from running at a high speed. Then finally, my car rolled to 5mph, and can't accelerate. Also heard mechanical noises inside my transmission as I try to accelerate.

I decided that it's time for me to give up this car as the car's value is not worth the repair bill.

Though, don't get me wrong, I love this car, aside from this major problem, everything else seems fine. At 173000 mileage, the engine still runs great, even now!