They lied to me!

[thebrokeenthusiast]

Toyota said my corolla is made for Canadian winters. If that's true, why does my power steering stop working, and my thermometer only reads down to -30?

For those wondering, its -42 out tonight.

[silver04rollas]

That should not be happening. Is it - 30 C without windchill or with? If it is without then holy hell that is uber cold. You are in the deep north of Alberta in the west so I could imagine it being that cold. You have to remember the temperature sensor only captures the ambient air temperature. Since the car is moving, windchill is treated much like a headwind in order avoid skewing of the temperature readings.

I have yet to drive in temperatures below - 20 C in Calgary ( I hope I never have to) so not sure about how display behaves below -30 C, but definitely never had my power steering stop working. Both with my current XRS and the previous Corolla S.

You need to get it checked by the dealership since the powersteering fluid must be freezing up or something.

[mikered30]

You can do something about the power steering and the tranny issue, if you have one. Use synthetic ATF as power steering fluid. Do multiple drain and refills with synthetic ATF and you will notice better cold weather steering. Same concept for your tranny if you have that problem.

[thebrokeenthusiast]

Originally Posted by silver04rollas

That should not be happening. Is it - 30 C without windchill or with? If it is without then holy hell that is uber cold. You are in the deep north of Alberta in the west so I could imagine it being that cold. You have to remember the temperature sensor only captures the ambient air temperature. Since the car is moving, windchill is treated much like a headwind in order avoid skewing of the temperature readings.

I have yet to drive in temperatures below - 20 C in Calgary ( I hope I never have to) so not sure about how display behaves below -30 C, but definitely never had my power steering stop working. Both with my current XRS and the previous Corolla S.

You need to get it checked by the dealership since the powersteering fluid must be freezing up or something.

It was -42 that night without the wind. The coldest it got that week was -49 also without wind. We see very extreme weather in the winter here.

[impulseRED]

wow a corolla can survive those conditions......? YAY if theres ever a nuclear winter i know my corolla can take me where ever!!!!

[NMGeorge]

I feel for you guys.... I lived in Minot, North Dakota for 3 1/2 years, back in the mid 80's. Having lived in Florida, south Texas and southern California prior to that... well I never knew what is was like to get that cold.

Perhaps your PS fluid has absorbed some water? I was a mechanic for the Air Force while I was there and the cold sure did hammer on our vehicles too. Good luck.

[thebrokeenthusiast]

Originally Posted by impulseRED

wow a corolla can survive those conditions......? YAY if theres ever a nuclear winter i know my corolla can take me where ever!!!!

Yes, Corollas are incredibly tough cars. Mine has been to hell and back pretty much, and still works just fine.

Originally Posted by NMGeorge

I feel for you guys.... I lived in Minot, North Dakota for 3 1/2 years, back in the mid 80's. Having lived in Florida, south Texas and southern California prior to that... well I never knew what is was like to get that cold.

Perhaps your PS fluid has absorbed some water? I was a mechanic for the Air Force while I was there and the cold sure did hammer on our vehicles too. Good luck.

I never thought of that. Thanks for the advice!

[wernermeister]

My 2006 Corolla was the very first vehicle where I became aware of "cloudiness in the power steering fluid".
I have not yet figured out why this is, but syphon off the PS fluid every 3 months or so and put in some synthetic hydraulic fluid.

Never had this on my 1990 Camry or 1998 or 2007 Sienna.

Happy driving