My 160i toyota corolla starts but won't idle.

I don't know what a 160i is, but a 1998 should have either a 1.8L Right? Is that what you have? The trims were CE, VE, LE. Do you have an automatic or manual? Look on the top of the engine and does it have VVVi embossed on the top? The reason I ask all this is need to know before I start throwing out suggestions....BUT Yes, DO have it scanned. Just scanned for fault codes, don't pay for a diagnosis from a dealer or mechanic...Yet. The come on back here and we will get to the bottom of this. an ECU, or computer is unlikely repaired, but replaced. And going under the assumption that the battery was disconnected at the time, the new ECU will 're-learn' all the parameters on it's own after driving a while. But if you drive, say, 50 miles and it still won't idle and the CEL is still lit, something else is going on...and back to having it scanned. Where did you get '160i' ? Another thing...got me to thinking, (Oww) if the ECU WAS replaced your keys would have to have been re-programmed to communicate with it. So maybe it was not actually replaced, but re-flashed. Or did they do anything with your keys?