Hello all. i am a new owner of a used 1997 Corolla with 115k KMS on it. Its a 1.8 manual DX and seems to be in a good shape. I am not sure what are the normal enginne temperature for corolla engines. The guage quickly (within 10-20 mins) comes to the middle of the scale and stays there with minor variations. Should i drain the radiator only for maintainance reasons or should i not bother. Please advice. Thanks.

From my understanding, I don't think it is much of a danger until it hits the red zone...has it done that with the minor variations?

Thnks for replying Roxy, No it doesn't go to red zone but is it fine for the car to go to the mid heatup levels in a few minutes. Is it normal, a good thing ? or a bad thing. how often should the coolant be changed for a Toyota is what i am not so sure of ? would u know !?

The needle should be right in the middle under normal driving and what you experience should be normal.

You should change your coolant every 2 years.

My recommendation is to get the in-line coolant splicing kit from Canadian Tire....this is a good project to do in October. You would cut your heater-hose at the highest point in the engine near your firewall and splice in the hose-adaptor.

Basically it's a coolant flush valve where you hook your garden hose up to it to flush out your coolant. Use the liquid flush chemical from Canadian Tire as well.

For $12, concurrently change your thermostat.....and you're set for Winter eh.