What causes my 1997 Corolla to not idle at stop lights once it has warmed up?

Asked by Diosteama May 27, 2014 at 01:16 PM about the 1997 Toyota Corolla DX

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

My 1997 corolla runs great at all times except when coming to a stop and fully warmed up.  It runs very rough when stopped in Drive but when I move it to Neutral or Park if idles much better.  The car runs great on the highway but sure won't idle once warm and in Drive, it quite often stalls out when at a stop light.  I replaced the plugs, plug wires, rotor and dist. cap.  I am thinking this is a vacuum problem or perhaps some sort of sensor problem?

2 Answers

The problem turned out to be real bad compression in one cylinder and low compression in another. Compression should be 140 to 190 psi and my compression ranged from 75 to 145. I chose to replace my motor with one from a junk yard but the other fix would have been to tear down my motor and replace all piston rings and have the cylinder head refurbished. Car runs great at idle now, worth the effort. If you have problems with car not idleing, I would say at least check the compression on all 4 cylinders with a screw in compression gauge, it's easy to do and may give you clues as it did for me.

10

What could cause my 1997 Toyota corolla 110 to shut off while driving

1 people found this helpful.

Your Answer:

CarGurus Experts

  • #1
    Jeff Polhemus
    Reputation
    3,440
  • #2
    Gene Arnett
    Reputation
    3,280
  • #3
    hashimmir
    Reputation
    2,520
View All

Find great deals from top-rated dealers

Search

Related Models For Sale

Used Toyota Camry
62 Great Deals out of 1,070 listings starting at $3,995
Used Honda Civic
198 Great Deals out of 4,043 listings starting at $1,900
Used Honda Accord
51 Great Deals out of 1,000 listings starting at $2,000
Used Toyota RAV4
111 Great Deals out of 2,771 listings starting at $2,500
Used Toyota Tacoma
50 Great Deals out of 1,081 listings starting at $9,998
Used Honda CR-V
90 Great Deals out of 4,539 listings starting at $440
Used Hyundai Elantra
155 Great Deals out of 4,249 listings starting at $2,495
Used Toyota 4Runner
15 Great Deals out of 300 listings starting at $9,995
Used Nissan Sentra
59 Great Deals out of 1,722 listings starting at $1,995

Content submitted by Users is not endorsed by CarGurus, does not express the opinions of CarGurus, and should not be considered reviewed, screened, or approved by CarGurus. Please refer to CarGurus Terms of Use. Content will be removed if CarGurus becomes aware that it violates our policies.