Help And Advise For A New Owner Please!

[chatlow]

Hi all,

I have just bought a 1999 Yaris 1.0 vvti. has only covered 50k miles. Apologies if this first thread is in the wrong section... but I have a number of issues that I will be working on this Sunday and would really appreciate any help from you

1. Juddery/hesitant acceleration. Initially thought this was in 3rd gear only but seems to be occurring when you've just changed gear and put your foot down. It will then go away higher up the rev range. having to change gear without too much throttle at the moment to avoid it. also tested the car in neutral and as soon as you touch the throttle it sounds like it misses first, then revs..

2. blue temp light. I know this comes on when the engine/coolant hasn't warmed up yet but it last week during the snow (last time i used it), it didn't go off at all. even after 20 miles of driving. i did, however, have the blowers on full and hottest heat for most of the journey. they seemed to blow out warm, not hot air though.could this be due to temp sensor or thermostat?

3. Oil leak. It is dripping from the drivers side of the engine. most noticeable when the car has been parked up for 20 mins. had a quick look and it seems to be coming from the sump gasket. will look properly on Sunday but does anyone know if a gasket is used for the sump or if it's a liquid instant gasket instead?

I have bought new plugs and an air filter so hope this will improve the acceleration issue. If not, can you suggest anything else? I have read about the maf sometimes causing an issue? Also going to carry out an oil change this weekend too. Understand it's 5w30 used but does it matter how good a brand it used (worried as it's a vvti engine)

Sorry for all the questions!!

Thanks,

Rod

[Madasafish]

1,

Clean MAF with great care.. Carb cleaner spray works.

2. The thermostat may be on the way out

3. Sump gasket is liquid gasket..

4 Use semi synthetic oil as a minimum...The valve gear and chain run under stress so non semi synthetic = rapid wear. (I actually use synthetic which is better but more expensive - except on special deals.)

Check the oil leak is not coming from the chain case.. if it is best leave it unless you like hard work...

A Haynes manual is worth while.

[chatlow]

Thanks for the quick reply!

Will clean the maf as well then. are there any tests to prove the thermostat is dying before I replace it?

ive bought semi synthetic, but it's budget triple qx stuff from eurocarparts. hopefully be ok just have to replace it sooner.

engine does sound very 'tappety' so hopefully this will be due to oil.

cheers

[Red Yaris 54]

The blue temp light not going out could well be that the outside temperature at this time of year (with snow and ice) is not allowing your engine to warm up enough to extinguish the light

This is not helped as you had the heater and blower on full which slows up engine warm up.....your heater only blew warm air!.....Quite normal in freezing conditions when only travelling 20 miles with heater on full. :)

Before thinking about changing the thermostat check that the blue light goes out when running the car in warmer weather

[HowardL]

Only DIY'er,

but I would have thought the light would go out, even in the temps we've been having,

Mine (1.3, '53 reg) goes out after 2 miles in the coldest weather.

Same with my sons ( 1 litre, '52 reg).

If I was a betting man i would put my money on the theremostat

I would be worried if I'd gone 20 miles and the blue was still on!!

[Madasafish]

ve bought semi synthetic, but it's budget triple qx stuff from eurocarparts. hopefully be ok just have to replace it sooner.

..Should be OK for 5k miles.

Son's 2001 1.0 warms up in snow and ice in under 3 miles.

[chatlow]

Thanks all. Thinking i will do the service and clean the sensors and maf before touching the thermostat.

Well ive just been told by the blue light went off today but the wife isnt sure how long it took. Unfortunately on the way home the engine management light came on! Whether it came on because of a sensor, the maf or even low oil, i dont know but will check the oil when shes home. Is it fairly easy to read the ecu codes?

[chatlow]

Argh just checked the oil and it looks ok. However, when i checked the coolant i noticed some oil on there!! Also saw a bit of sludge under the oil cap but think thats condensation. Compression test on weekend as well now :-(

[HowardL]

1,

Clean MAF with great care.. Carb cleaner spray works.

2. The thermostat may be on the way out

3. Sump gasket is liquid gasket..

4 Use semi synthetic oil as a minimum...The valve gear and chain run under stress so non semi synthetic = rapid wear. (I actually use synthetic which is better but more expensive - except on special deals.)

Check the oil leak is not coming from the chain case.. if it is best leave it unless you like hard work...

A Haynes manual is worth while.

Aint heard that before,

it doesn't stipulate that in the Haynes...well I aint seen it mentioned, perhaps I haven't looked hard enough.

I use Toyotas oil....that may be semi, haven't really looked at the specs

Synthetic is waste of money for the Yaris.

If changed frequently...every 5000 miles the engine should have no problems in it's life ...synthetic is not needed in a standard Yaris

[Chris81]

The blue temp light not going out could well be that the outside temperature at this time of year (with snow and ice) is not allowing your engine to warm up enough to extinguish the light

This is not helped as you had the heater and blower on full which slows up engine warm up.....your heater only blew warm air!.....Quite normal in freezing conditions when only travelling 20 miles with heater on full. :)

Before thinking about changing the thermostat check that the blue light goes out when running the car in warmer weather

I know this man is a moderator but why does he post such nonsense all the time. None of this is correct at all.

[Red Yaris 54]

The blue temp light not going out could well be that the outside temperature at this time of year (with snow and ice) is not allowing your engine to warm up enough to extinguish the light

This is not helped as you had the heater and blower on full which slows up engine warm up.....your heater only blew warm air!.....Quite normal in freezing conditions when only travelling 20 miles with heater on full. :)

Before thinking about changing the thermostat check that the blue light goes out when running the car in warmer weather

I know this man is a moderator but why does he post such nonsense all the time. None of this is correct at all.

Chris......Not so much nonsense as you mistakenly believe

In extreme freezing conditions many cars that have not had the luxury of being kept garaged overnight can take a long time and several miles (20+) to reach normal operating temperature

The OP said that he had the heater on fully with the blower and that after 20 miles it was only just warm

Only just warm would not be hot enough to extinguish the blue temp warning light

I correctly suggested that the OP tried the car in "normal" non extreme cold conditions before needlessly going to the expense of a thermostat change..........In fact the OP has subsequently reported that the light has extinguished normally within a reasonable mileage.

I reject your unwarranted criticism of my post..........There are other instances on TOC where members have had similar symptoms.....(Aygo Forums)

Running a car in extreme cold conditions with the heater and blower on full is the slowest way for the engine to warm up enough to extinguish the blue low temp warning...........The engine will warm up much faster if the heater/blower is used in moderation

BTW......Being a moderator on here is not made any easier by comments like yours :)

[Chris81]

I still have first hand experience with the mk 1 Yaris (my t-sport and a friend's 1.0) and even in the extreme weather of winter 2009/10 when the outside temp was down to -10, the blue light goes out pretty quickly. In fact, I've noticed it go out whilst the car is sitting idling for 15 mins or so as it warms up, with the heater on full heat, blower on full and pointing at the windscreen to defrost it. The 'blue light' turns off when the coolant reaches a set temperature, dictated of course primarily by the engine internals. On the 2 mk1 Yarises I know, the blue light goes out after a couple of miles of driving regardless of the outside temperature, so if it's still on after a 20 mile run, then something's wrong somewhere.

[HowardL]

I've never ever owned a car that take 20 or more miles to get to temp.

[Madasafish]

I have owned a car which took 8 -10 miles to warm up in winter.

It was made in 1929, had no water pump or thermostat, a thermosyphon cooling system and about 8 gallons of coolant... When I fitted its radiator blind it warmed up in 4 miles.

[Red Yaris 54]

I still have first hand experience with the mk 1 Yaris (my t-sport and a friend's 1.0) and even in the extreme weather of winter 2009/10 when the outside temp was down to -10, the blue light goes out pretty quickly. In fact, I've noticed it go out whilst the car is sitting idling for 15 mins or so as it warms up, with the heater on full heat, blower on full and pointing at the windscreen to defrost it. The 'blue light' turns off when the coolant reaches a set temperature, dicated of course primarily by the engine internals. On the 2 mk1 Yarises I know, the blue light goes out after a couple of miles of driving regardless of the outside temperature, so if it's still on after a 20 mile run, then something's wrong somewhere.

Chris.....You miss the point.....The OP was operating the car in very much lower than -10 in South Wales (Recorded temp around -15) and driving in extreme conditions from cold without a stationary warm up period. I agree that a 15 minute stationary warm up with no extreme low temperature airflow through the radiator may well extinguish the low temp warning light

The induced wind chill from the moving vehicle at extreme low temperatures would however prevent an efficient warm up particularly with the heater/blower selected high and may result in the low temp light staying on for much longer than normal (possibly 20 miles?)

I did suggest to the OP that he try the car in a more normal temperature before going to the trouble and expense of a possibly unnecessary thermostat change.........He has subsequently reported that the low temp light has apparently gone off much sooner when the outside temperature is higher

I too have much experience with early Yaris's and have previously noted that the low temp light is very slow to extinguish when driving from a cold start in extremely low temperatures

I still feel that the OP should save his money and not be in a rush to replace the thermostat unless the low temp warning light stays on at "normal" outside operating temperatures

Maybe it is a pity that we no longer have radiator blinds! :)

[Madasafish]

Radiator blinds?

I block off the lower air intake on my Mark 1 Yaris d4d.. warms up in 2 instead of three miles. No problems - remove in March.

[chatlow]

As much as i appreciate the responses i am more concerned about the water and oil mixing than the overall temperature issue. Plus they might be a related issue.

Anyway time to get a compression test done and confirm the head and buy a gasket kit.

Let the fun commence!!

[chatlow]

Little update... Compression test was 180,190, 180, 185.

These look ok?

Also, how do I read the code? Really don't want to pay a garage to do it for me when I have the softwa on my laptop for the other car.

Thanks