Loss Of Heat

[tarantula_123]

Hi,

My Corolla T - Sport is not blowing hot air out or heating the car.

The air con works fine, but I feel the heating has dropped dramatically, and I was wondering if anybody has encountered similar problems.

It is slightly warm to the touch, but compared to other cars, it is completely inferior.

I'm not sure if it's me, but the actual power of the blower is weak on these cars?

Thanks,

tarantula_123.

[TomdeGuerre]

Reasons for the lack of heat include:

Thermostat stuck open.

Airlock in the water heater circuit (possibly caused by leaking head gasket).

Blocked heater matrix.

Seized heater control valve.

Incorrectly rigged or broken heater controls.

You say the air-con works so it seems your fan is working OK.

[oldcodger]

Just to add to Toms list, also check your pollen filter is not blocked, so reducing airflow.

Assume your temp gauge is indicating a normal running temperature ?

Also before the engine gets fully hot, feel the pipes in the engine bay going to the heater, the inlet should be hot and the output a bit less, but if its cold then it might be blocked or the controls are faulty.

Seems the heater matrix can block up, if i thats your problem, then search this forum on 'heater matrix' there is a couple of extensive threads on ways of clearing it.

Is yours an electronic button or manual control system / age ?

[tarantula_123]

Hi,

I had a look at my pollen filter. Dirty on top/Clean underneath.

My coolant reservoir in front of radiator (clearish plastic with black lid) is a little bit/quarter above the low level.

My temp gauge has always been working normally. Air con blows fine. The actual power of the blowers has always seemed weak to me. Is this just me? It is is not as strong as some of the other cars I have drove.

Also, what do you mean by electronic button/manual control? Inside the car I have manual up down/air con/mode/front/rear/auto.

Thanks,

tarantula_123.

[oldcodger]

Hi,

I had a look at my pollen filter. Dirty on top/Clean underneath.

My coolant reservoir in front of radiator (clearish plastic with black lid) is a little bit/quarter above the low level.

My temp gauge has always been working normally. Air con blows fine. The actual power of the blowers has always seemed weak to me. Is this just me? It is is not as strong as some of the other cars I have drove.

Also, what do you mean by electronic button/manual control? Inside the car I have manual up down/air con/mode/front/rear/auto.

Thanks,

tarantula_123

The blower does seems low power, but it depends on which vents are open and what speed setting you have it at. Full speed is usually ok, but very noisey.

Your coolant level sounds rather low, has it been at that level for long ? could do with being topped up, though use only the proper stuff with deionised water. Tap water could contribute to blocking if its hard water.

You have the electronic version, not the three manual rotary dials; so your heater flaps are motor controlled, and the flaps/linkages could have broke or stopped working.

With the engine at normal temp, and say a fan speed of 4 bars, turn the temp control up and down slowly, at some stage you should hear a woosh sound as the flap opens / closes to regulate the heat.

Can you hear that moving ?

Also what happens if you put the temp up to 25+ and press the auto button, it should turn the fan on full, but does it heat up any better.

The electronic version like ours will have to have a temp sensor, so that could also be faulty and cause the problem, though do not know where it is located or how to test.

[tarantula_123]

I will give them all a try later mate.

A friend said he bets his bottom dollar it is the thermostat. My granddad said I probably have a coolant leak.

I am not sure as I have never really paid much attention to the coolant level, only the oil etc.

Do you think it's worth getting a coolant flush/swap and a new thermostat anyway? The fluid inside is brown.

Thanks,

tarantula_123

[oldcodger]

If it was the thermostat then the temp gauge wold not be holding around the mid way it typicaly does.

To double check, now its turned cold, set off with from a cold engine and driving steady you shold get up to normal temp in about 5 -10 mins / 4 to 5 miles.

Brown coolant means trouble see here http://www.the-car-doctor.com/cooling.htm

[tarantula_123]

Hi,

I had a look today. I thought it was brown but must have been the street lighting or my bad eyesight. It is actually clearish.

A few owners/fanatics have told me they are sure it is the heater core which is clogged up. Regardless, I am gonna get my mechanic to do a full coolant flush/heater core flush and replace thermostat just for peace of mind.

I will try your method when I go out tomorrow oldcodger, as I have not tested it yet.

Just out of interest, as I will be buying my own antifreeze but don't want to pay Toyota prices, is this an OK alternative (meets specs etc)?:

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Toyota_Corolla_1.8_2003/p/car-accessories/winter-essentials/antifreeze-coolant/red-anti-freeze/?523770511&0&cc5_866

Thanks,

tarantula_123.

[oldcodger]

Just out of interest, as I will be buying my own antifreeze but don't want to pay Toyota prices, is this an OK alternative (meets specs etc)?:

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Toyota_Corolla_1.8_2003/p/car-accessories/winter-essentials/antifreeze-coolant/red-anti-freeze/?523770511&0&cc5_866

Thanks,

tarantula_123.

The important thing is that all the old fluid is removed before adding a different type , which if you are having a flush done , then thats not a problem.

My 1.6 is 6.5ltrs in capacity, though you can never drain it all out, so 5ltrs would probably do me, but no idea what the capacity of your Tsport is, would expect it to be larger ..?

[tarantula_123]

Hi,

I have had a good look at the operation of my heater etc now.

I'm not really sure of hearing any whoosh sound on the normal vents. It just sounds like it always has done, but weaker. When I push the front button though there is always a slight delay then a big whoosh noise of a fan turning on or something.

The two passenger side vents are slightly warmer than the drivers side vents. However, the far left passenger side vent is barely blowing anything out at all. I am almost certain it shouldn't be this weak. The drivers side vents are coolish/luke warm.

My coolant is at the same level.

Yesterday my car took a little while longer to start up as well. Is this likely to be the cold weather which all of a sudden has turned up?

Thanks,

tarantula_123

[Key]

I had a similar problem with a 2.2 Renault Laguna the car was approx. 7 years old @ the time, Renault wanted £600 to replace the heater matrix. (Yeah Right. I thought)

I drained the coolant & flushed the system out for about 60 minutes with a garden hose & iirc I injected compressed air in there too.The problem was 100% solved for whatever the antifreeze @ that time cost.

BTW I did mine in late autumn time thus no frosts. It might pay you to fill up & bleed with plain water to check all is OK. Just in case you have no choice but to drain it out again, it's too difficult to catch, to avoid waste.

HTHs

[tarantula_123]

Hi,

Yeah, I definitely think it is a blockage or something has a loss of power/stopped working.

The mobile mechanic I always use is having a look this week, so hopefully I will get it fixed and post the problem. He said he has done this problem before and he usually just connects the heater core up to a pressure washer to remove all the crud.

Regardless though, I am going to Euro Car Parts today to get a thermostat kit and antifreeze.

Thanks,

tarantula_123

[Key]

I don't really consider that I'm a Techie or expert on cars, but I'd be a bit concerned about having a 1500 psi jet washer connected to the heater matrix which I'd guess is designed to cater for about 7 to 15 psi. Sounds a little bit risky to me.

[tarantula_123]

Hi,

I think that's what he said. I've just been told to get the heater core flushed out as well as just purely changing the antifreeze.

Do you think the car would be OK on antifreeze which is not Toyota branded? I just rang Toyota and they charge £39.82 for 5l of pink, which I think is very expensive, and £24.58 for 5l of red (both ready mixed).

He said he cannot really say whether the car will be ok on anything other than pink because all Toyota cars after 2003 are recommended to have this in.

Thanks,

tarantula_123

[Key]

I'm afraid that's well beyond my understanding of coolant it's related to the OAT Coolant specification. I've been slated for the following on a different manufactures forum. I'm a big believer in sticking to whatever the car company say with some items i.e brake parts, sensors, & coolant type too.

I well remember a Guy buying a new Rad sensor for a Renault from an after market supplier after which is car overheated like crazy without the cooling fans cutting in. After many posts on another forum he removed & checked the rad sensor, it turned out it didn't signal the fans to cut in until a stupidly high coolant temperature had been reached.

IMO £39.82 is a small figure for complete peace of mind.

For what it's worth Just my POV

[tarantula_123]

Hi,

I bought 10 litres of Triple QX red antifreeze pre-diluted so hopefully this will be ok, as it has excellent reviews on Amazon.

The thermostat comes as one whole piece with a black rubbery circle fastened around the edge. I am presuming this is all I need for a replacement.

Thanks,

tarantula_123.

[tarantula_123]

OK,

Update here. I had the mechanic come today. He flushed the coolant and flushed the heater matrix/core.

It seems to be medium hot - hot again now.

However, he didn't get round to replacing my thermostat as he didn't start work on the car until 1pm, and due to time, he said he wouldn't be able to replace it as the alternator would need to be removed to access it. Also, he told me to buy a proper Toyota thermostat if going ahead with this, due to the guaranteed fit etc.

Anyone had any trouble with this?

Also, there are hairline cracks on my auxiliary belt, which he said he would recommend replacing.

Thanks,

tarantula_123.

[oldcodger]

Hi,

So did he use the hi psi pressure washer to flush the main waterways and the heater matrix ?

Out of interest , how much did he charge ?

You say it now runs med hot - hot , what does your temp gauge show ?

Does it get to full temp within a few miles and then holds at that level ok - which generally means the thermostat is ok.

If its only just got up to full temp and you turn th heater on max temp , with 2 + bars of the blower then the gauge will probably drop a little bit.

So you got a third party stat, what brand /supplier, generally most well know brands are a good fit, though no experience of the Tsport fitting; though expect he is covering himself saying it must be Toyotas parts as expect he has been given all sorts of rubbish to fit in the past which would fall back onto him if they went wrong.

The aux belt, on the 1.4 /1.6 its a 10 min job with just a spanner to release the tension.

The odd little crack is not is that bad, though if you have never replaced it, then for a few pounds its piece of mind; I used a decent brand, not Toyota , on mine.

[tarantula_123]

Hi,

This is the thermostat I purchased:

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Toyota_Corolla_1.8_2003/p/car-parts/car-cooling-parts-and-car-heating/cooling/car-thermostat/?20982013J&1&3072d2c218af8d14c1bf9e180a100adbf3c8f24d&000325

The temperature dial near the speedo always remains in the middle when the car is fully warmed up, just slightly lower than the middle. I don't mean the actual car was running medium to hot, I meant the blower vents to heat the car up were. Sadly though, they are now back to coolish air again, which is bad.

And I presume he used a pressure washer, yes. He only topped the coolant off after that though, not fully flushed. This is because when I get the thermostat fitted, he will have to drain the coolant out again.

Also, he charged £35 for an hours labour.

Thanks,

tarantula_123.

[oldcodger]

I'm only a diyer like you so knowing which brands of parts are good is difficult, unlike someone whos in the trade.

Though online reviews are open to 'fixing' if you search on the brand name and look at a good cross section of posts and forums you generally get a clearer picuture.

From my quick search those Circoli ones do not seem to get any good comments vs th Gates ones which do, though around £20. ( at £5 for the Circoli , the old saying, you gets what you pays for)

What price are Tototas own ?

For the few pounds difference its going to cost a lot more to replace if a cheapie fails early.

Given that it is the heater matrix thats blocked again perhaps it needs a chemical soak /flush as described in those other posts ..?

[tarantula_123]

Hi,

I don't mind paying for a genuine thermostat, but if there is little difference to the circoli one I will leave it.

However, I have just checked under the bonnet and the coolant is back near the low level again. So I am presuming I have a leak.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

tarantula_123.

[oldcodger]

I don't mind paying for a genuine thermostat, but if there is little difference to the circoli one I will leave it.

How can anyone compare them on on paper ? What do you expect for £5 ?

However, I have just checked under the bonnet and the coolant is back

near the low level again. So I am presuming I have a leak.

It depends, you often find the level drop a few days / miles after a refill ; its because some small air locks always remain when filling; only after a good run are they 'worked' out and so the level drops.

Make a note of the level, if it drops any more, then likely you have a leak; as aready mentioned a good garage should have the methods to detect it.

[tarantula_123]

Hi,

I rang my mobile mechanic who flushed the heater core/matrix out and he said I probably had an airlock which the water pump pushed out as I was driving along (quite common apparently). He also said if it keeps blowing luke - warm air, he can only think of a thermostat next, or other than that, somebody has fitted an over-efficient radiator in, which is cooling my car too much.

I only question the price of the thermostat, because I don't want to be ripped off by a dealer if the thermostat I have from eurocarparts is just as good.

To fit a drive belt, the thermostat and a full coolant flush, Toyota quoted me 2.5 hours labour at £89 an hour, which I think is absolutely ludicrous.

My local garage is charging me £54 labour to do the lot this Wednesday.

Thanks,

tarantula_123.