Corolla Tsport Temp Drop

[peter0111]

Hello guys, I’m having a rare occurrence well I think so anyways. My car seems to take a bit to reach full temp and once I get out driving my temp gauge seems to drop down below half way and maybe to the 2nd line before the bottom? Is this normal ? Usually tsports heat up to half way on the temp gauge and hold there. Any help or suggestions appreciated.

[Mooly]

I had a TSport for many years. Your picture shows a gauge that is slightly lower than where it should be (even the standard Corolla is the same here) but the gauge in my experience never quite gets to the next line above in your image. In other words visually they always look a fraction below a true horizontal position.

It should never vary at all whether idling in freezing cold weather to pushing it hard and up to the 8200 rev limit. It should be rock steady.

Suspects could be the thermostat and also (given the age of these now) a cooling system that needs a good flush (radiator and heater matrix etc) 

[Yugguy1970]

Aye, if it goes down when driving and up when idling it's a sticky thermostat.

[peter0111]

Yeah I’m going to change out the thermostat, any idea why my idle is 1100 instead of the standard 800/900 ? 

[Mooly]

From memory it can be over 1k if not up to temperature... so could all be related. 

Also make sure plugs are good as they can cause strange issues but I wouldn't look to hard at this point. Fix the temperature issue first. 

 

[TonyHSD]

Likely to be the thermostat stuck open. You can try motorway drive at 60-70mph and the temperature gauge will drop further.
Thermostat best to go for original Toyota or blueprint if you are an  aftermarket. These are good quality ones and often the same brand as your oem from Toyota. Original ready mixed coolant also a good idea. 👍