My 98 Corolla takes too long to warm up

[johnhampkey]

Lately my 1998 Toyota Corolla (130 000 miles) takes too long to warm up in the mornings, usually 15 to 20 minutes, and when its warming up there is this noise that sounds like a valve tapping that goes away when the car is warm and has been running for awhile. Other things that I notice is that when the car is cold, there is not a lot of force in the engine (specially going uphill). This doesn't happen when the car is warm. Also, If I turn off the car for 15-20 minutes, the engine cools down really fast. Thanks for your help!!!!!

[Kiwi-Corolla]

One of the most simple and cost effective things you could do is to replace the thermostat. It's very cheap to buy and very easy to install, and will more than likely fix your warm-up problem. I'll move this thread into the 8th Gen Corolla forum as you're likely to get more of a response in there

[johnhampkey]

Thanks for doing that kiwi-corolla. As for the thermostat, I thought the same thing and I replaced it for a new thermostat about a month ago and the problem persists.

[leeor_net]

Are you having an issue with the engine tempurature or with the cabin heating? Cabin heating has nothing to do with the thermostat at all and instead would be your heater core.

Assuming it's not the heater core and is indeed the engine tempurature, (which sounds like it considering your description) did you get a high-quality thermostat? Did you get a theromstat with the right tempurature setting (thermostats come in a range of temps and having one too cold will cause the engine to take a long time to heat up)? Are you sure the engine isn't heating up or is it the instrument panel not showing the right temp? If it's the instrument panel, it's more likely the coolant temp guage or the wiring for it. Check those.

[Bdub215]

Originally Posted by johnhampkey

Lately my 1998 Toyota Corolla (130 000 miles) takes too long to warm up in the mornings, usually 15 to 20 minutes, and when its warming up there is this noise that sounds like a valve tapping that goes away when the car is warm and has been running for awhile. Other things that I notice is that when the car is cold, there is not a lot of force in the engine (specially going uphill). This doesn't happen when the car is warm. Also, If I turn off the car for 15-20 minutes, the engine cools down really fast. Thanks for your help!!!!!

sounds like piston slap. as far as this timing are you driving or are you sitting idle?

[sam333]

As far as the temp goes ,how fast the car heats up to operating temp depends on how cold it is outside, even with a good thermostat of the proper temp range.

At 50 f outside air temp, it takes about 10 min for my corolla to get up to temp.

The corollas temp gauge usually sits right in the middle of the range when warmed up. If your temp gauge reads low and you have no heat out of your heater then it could be your thermostat or water pump( water pump going out /bad coolent circulation).

When the thermostat is bad ( stays open) , your coolent wont heat up enough to provide heat out of your heater core.

If your coolent was low ( no coolent through the heater core, and steam and air around your temp sender in the block, your gauge could read cold when the engine was really hot) you could have the same symptoms. I have seen this with very low coolent levels.

Your tapping noise( these engines are noisy) when cold ( unless really loud) is common at start up in cold weather.

The rough running when cold could be your coolent temp sensor(It effects the amount of fuel to your engine when cold ,also timing) .

[dorman68]

Could be a partially clogged heater core?

[leeor_net]

Originally Posted by sam333

Your tapping noise( these engines are noisy) when cold ( unless really loud) is common at start up in cold weather.

I can confirm that this is a normal sound for the 8th generation corolla's. My corolla has made that tapping sound (almost like a flapping/fluttering in the valves) since I bought it. It only happens when the outside temp is less than 50 but once the engine starts warming up the sound goes away.