Gen 7 Interior Heating & Hi

[jonsey47]

:) Hi All

I'm Rob and have just joined this forum as recently bought a storm grey (not sure if that is the right name for the colour) 51 plate celica gen 7. I've previously owned Toyotas having had four starlets (2 written off and 1 GT Turbo, dont worry they wont both me :) and an Avensis. I've just upgraded from a Mondeo and so far am really enjoying the ride...

Just looking for some knowledge sharing too around interior heating. Having just bought the car it had no Air-con and just recently found out it had no heating either. The aircon is now nearly fixed cold air coming out (but a leak that is still to be resolved, didn't have to pay the garage until they fixed it). Although the no heating is a real headscratcher, i'm going to put it in for a full service next week but just wondered if anyone had any ideas off the top of their head?

The temp gauage gets up to half way (i assume having not seen another) but does take a while to get there about 8-9 mins is this normal? In which case I could rule out the thermostat. When I tried it again tonight there was for about 5-10 seconds a really warm blast of air when I turned it to HOT and the blower on full, but then it went cold again.

I'm really hoping its something simple like the coolant needing flushing or something (the radiator was changed last year) and not something like the heater matrix or control panel.

One other quick thing how good are toyota at getting spares? The clips that hold on the cover over the drivers side headlight are missing and its rattling..

As I'm yet to fully understand the Celica any help would be appreciated.

Cheer

Rob. :D

[Felfy]

Hi Rob

Welcome to the forum and welcome to the excellent Celica, (great car)

I'm stll a Noob on the Celica myself, (I've only owned mine since February), but I'll try to help as much as I can

Firstly, the colour is called Thunder Grey in the UK - Toyota colour code 1D2

The lack of heating sounds like it's an airlock somewhere in the heater matrix or a faulty thermostat, (just guessing though, I'm still learning myself)

What engine do you have?

I've got the 190bhp engine and that's up to running temperature within 3-4 minutes, (needle halfway up guage)

Also, do you hear any 'gurgling' from just behind the dashboard on startup? If so, this may indicate low coolant level

With regards to the engine cover clips - Are they the 'pop-up/down' plastic rivet type? If they are, there's an equivalent clip available from Halfords at approx £1.00 each

Toyota are pretty good with spare parts, but they are generally quite pricey - But again you are paying for quality

If you need any more help, don't hesitate to contact me

Good luck with your new Celica

[jonsey47]

Hi Mate

Cheers for the fast reply and welcome.

Yeahs its a 190 TSport (or thats the Badge on the back, not sure how you now?) It seems mine takes longer to warm up than yours so could be a sign of a dodgy thermostat. Althought the temp guage does stay at half way and doesn't dip at all. I'm wondering if its an airlock , the coolant was a bit low when I looked the other day but topped it up with water. Maybe a good flusj, clean and Thermostat (if broken) will cure it.

Do you know how you know if the heater matrix has gone or is broken? or anything else it might be?.

Re the clips yeah its the plastic clips that generally hold other bits of plastic to the metal body work, I'll have a look at Halfords on Sat, there must be something similar. Otherwise for a 75k car its running good.

Rob.

[Felfy]

Hi Rob

As I mentioned, I'm still 'learning' the Celica and it's foibles, and my Heater is working OK, (for now ;)), so I'm not much help on that front I'm afraid

A good clean & flush of the cooling system might fix it and if all else fails; it's new thermostat time

One thing I'll point out though is this; you should avoid using water in todays cooling systems - Even for topping up - Always use the manufacturers coolant or an equivalent make

You can tell it's a 190 engine by the engine block cover - A normal 140 engine will have 'VVT-i' embossed there, a 190 engine will have 'VVTL-i'

The extra 'L' stands for 'Lift'

Have you driven and revved your engine above 6,250 rpm yet? If all's well with your engine, you should notice a distinct incease in power output just above 6,250 rpm (+50bhp approx)

If it doesn't 'Lift' at 6k rpm or thereabouts, you either have a normal 140 bhp engine or your Lift Bolts are badly worn or broken

Another thing I'll mention is the excellent forum at celica-club.co.uk

(Membership is only £10 per year & it's the best tenner I've spent on the car so far)

Good luck at Halfords