warming up question - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

lessthansane · 12-27-2004, 11:07 AM

My car seems to be taking longer and longer to warm up in the morning... is this just something I have to deal with, or is there something i can do? I have a 94, and the mileage is gettign really high (over 140,000) so are there any parts which need replacing to fix this issue?

McTimson · 12-27-2004, 11:11 AM

Not sure how cold it is over in CA, but usually it takes longer for a car to warm up in the cold. Have you done regular tune-ups and stuff on your car?

lessthansane · 12-27-2004, 11:25 AM

yeah

Mike Gerber · 12-27-2004, 03:07 PM

Change the thermostat. The spring inside of it gets weaker over time due to all the heating and cooling cycles it goes through. When the spring gets weak it, opens up too early and allows the coolant to flow to the radiator too early in the warm-up process. This opening up at too low of a temperature makes the car take longer to warm up. This is an easy thing for the DIY to replace. Just get a Chilton's or Haynes manual for instructions and do it yourself. I would recommend an OEM thermostat and new gasket (actually an o-ring rather than a gasket). If you are not comfortable with something like this, take it to someone and have it done. It's really not that expensive. I would guess around $15 for the thermostat and o-ring and about an hour to an hour-and-a-half for labor.

Mike