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Hi there,
I own a 1993 Toyota Corolla Ceres that I bought from my dad who's been using it for the past 12 years.

Odo: 126,000 KM

It has the 4A-FE engine with the 4-speed automatic (with O/D and PWR).

The engine is superb, hasn't missed a beat, hasn't broken down , timing belt changed 20,000 km ago.
Coolant flushed + thermostat changed 6 months ago.
Oil changed every 6 months , spark plugs was changed 2 weeks ago.

Now here's the problem:

About 7-8 months ago , during heavy traffic to & from work , where it's basically stop n go , everytime I press the gas pedal lightly and then let it go lightly ....there would be a clunking sound from underneath ...and you can feel the car lurch abit. ...BUT....it doesn't happen all the time! , sometimes the clunk sound is faint, sometimes very strong.

My mechanic back then couldn't find anything wrong and couldn't replicate it ( i tried too) ..he checked the engine mount and said it's still pristine.

I'm about to go back to him to see if he can check the transmission mount, lower arm , bushings, and loose bolts etc.
What do you think ?

Also , another problem: My aircon hasn't worked since like forever, ...and that's fine , so everytime i drive, i turn on the fan only and make sure the temp slider is all the way to the left. The air coming in is pretty neutral.
BUT...about 2 months ago...and then today ....during heavy traffic , it would suddenly blow hot air that I'm SURE is from the heater core since you can kinda smell it and at the same time that happened the temp gauge on the speedometer would drop abit....so that further assures that it's from the heater (coolant) .....but the slider is on the far left ! ...also what started that is I heard like a faint click noise or like a relay or switch being toggled then the hot air started pouring in + temp gauge moves down abit.

Heeelllp please, should i just sell this car? i don't want it to empty my bank account.
But it's been really reliable thus far, very cheap to run, never failed wof.
The engine itself is still like brand new....just the structure of the car is falling ....like the suspension making creaking noise (but mechanic did bounce test and it bounced once ...what is this issue? )

One more thing, sorry for taking so much of your time, but do you know the history of the Ceres version of corolla ? seems like there are very little of them produced.

The clunking sound from underneath could be many things, but engine mounts, transmission mounts, suspension bushes etc would be the most likely causes. However, if you've had your mechanic check these things out and there's no problem, perhaps it is something in the transmission or driveline. Obviously, if it's intermittent, it makes the mechanic's job difficult if he can't replicate the problem on the day.
Regarding your heater issus, depending on which heating system your car has (electric or mechanical) this could be just a heater cable or heater flap problem. Either way, it sounds like the heater isn't quite turning off properly.
On cars with electronic climate a/c, (which we doubt your car has, but it is a possibility - given that it's a Japanese market model) as the weather cools down, the system will try to compensate. In other words, if it is 12 degrees outside, and you set the system to 16 degrees, it senses that you want to warm the cabin, so will blow hot air. Likewise, if it is 20 degrees outside and you select 16 degrees, it will try to cool the cabin. If this is the case, than maybe there is no problem, it's just that the weather is getting colder.
It would pay to mention this issue to your mechanic so that he can check the system. Also, perhaps it might be an idea to see if the a/c can be fixed, then you might have more control over the temperature.
None of these issues sound too major, so I don't know whether you should put it out to pasture just yet, although if the structure is starting to fail (ie; rust), then the car is perhaps nearing the end of its life as this can be uneconomical to repair.
The "bounce test" your mechanic weas doing was checking the shock absorbers.
The Corolla Ceres was never sold new in New Zealand - but was a Japanese market variant. We don't have any data on how many were produced, but this is the likely reason they are not all that common in New Zealand.

Hi Andrew,
Thanks for the reply.

Yes, my car does have the climate (I think) , since the fan setting has *OFF, AUTO, 1, 2 , 3) on it.
I think you're right, it might not be turning off or sealed properly...or could be a coolant leak ?

It was just a little bit cold yesterday after work but my fan is set to "1" , i never set it to auto since my A/C cold doesn't blow cold air anymore anyways .
Very strange and hard to reproduce.

I'm going to try and get the AC fixed , do you know any good , CHEAP, but trustworthy AC shop or mechanic around central or west auckland ?
Hopefully the bill is less than $1K
All I know is my compressor hasn't been working for ages, but that could be because the refrigerant has run out and the safety switch is engaged.

Any of these AA Licensed Repairers should be able to assist.