I want to know if there have been any recalls for Toyota Corolla 1998 for clock spring (spiral cage assembly) for horn. I was told I would need this part to repair my horn which is not working (about $500 plus tax).
I was also told my gaskets are leaking oil which could cause a fire (also transmission is leaking). Cost to fix both gasket and transmission leak is over $500.
These are both safety issues. I read on one website that the gaskets for 1998 Toyota Corolla made out of metal coated with graphite. They said they believed this is to give impression that they are comparable to graphite and paper gaskets. All paper and graphite head gaskets have quite a bit of squish to fill in gaps of 0.001" +/- when torqued down of the engine deck surface. The preferred best head gasket method is to always have the cylinder head decked. They went on to say "I think these engines will put out a slow micro leak on the backside of the engine regardless of head being decked because their head gaskets are metal coated with graphite. Their gasket has almost no squish (even if there is a nickel plating somewhere in the metal gasket). Note it takes 1000-3000 miles of driving for micro leaks to develop after head gasket install"
My automobile is in the shop at this time. I really didn't even want to drive it elsewhere for 2nd opinion because they said leaks could cause fire.
If you have any information on this, please let me know.
1/9/14
I want to know if there have been any recalls for Toyota Corolla 1998 for clock spring (spiral cage assembly) for horn. I was told I would need this part to repair my horn which is not working (about $500 plus tax).
I was also told my gaskets are leaking oil which could cause a fire (also transmission is leaking). Cost to fix both gasket and transmission leak is over $500.
These are both safety issues. I read on one website that the gaskets for 1998 Toyota Corolla made out of metal coated with graphite. They said they believed this is to give impression that they are comparable to graphite and paper gaskets. All paper and graphite head gaskets have quite a bit of squish to fill in gaps of 0.001" +/- when torqued down of the engine deck surface. The preferred best head gasket method is to always have the cylinder head decked. They went on to say "I think these engines will put out a slow micro leak on the backside of the engine regardless of head being decked because their head gaskets are metal coated with graphite. Their gasket has almost no squish (even if there is a nickel plating somewhere in the metal gasket). Note it takes 1000-3000 miles of driving for micro leaks to develop after head gasket install"
My automobile is in the shop at this time. I really didn't even want to drive it elsewhere for 2nd opinion because they said leaks could cause fire.
If you have any information on this, please let me know.
Thanks,
- Sue S., Pensacola, FL, US