We have a 03 Corolla that had a leaky radiator. The leak started while we were on a 1400 mile trip. kept on adding coolant and finished the trip. Near the end of teh trip could hear a knocking or slapping nolise when the engine was loaded. I changed the radiator and now the engine is VERY sluggish and when under load the engine knocks/rattles/pings, what ever noise it is it is bad. I pulled the plugs and all 4 are white. I pulled the O2 sensor and it also is covered with a white coating. I think the engine is running lean and I am wondering if the coolant was sucked through the air filter and damaged the injectors or the cat. The engind never indicated getting hot during the radiator problems. Thanks for the help.

Asked by DCcorolla Oct 02, 2014 at 11:17 PM about the 2003 Toyota Corolla CE

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

03 Corolla with 455,000 miles.  Still runs good and uses only a very little oil.  No indication
of overheating but pings very badly and is very sluggish.

2 Answers

26,985

You sure have gotten your money's worth out of that Corolla! Are you the original owner? All things being equal, the two problems may not be related. Typically, a coolant problem will not cause a performance issue (except overheating but you said no temp light was coming on). You may want to look at the cat converter and see if it has gotten plugged. Age sometimes does this and yours certainly qualifies on that basis.

1 people found this helpful.

Yes, I'm the original owner. How do I test to determine if the cat is bad? Thanks for your help!

Your Answer:

Own this car?

Share your experience with others.

2003 Toyota Corolla

Review another car

CarGurus Experts

  • #1
    Jeff Polhemus
    Reputation
    3,450
  • #2
    Gene Arnett
    Reputation
    3,280
  • #3
    hashimmir
    Reputation
    2,520
View All

Know more, shop wisely

Search

Related Models For Sale

Used Toyota Camry
2,332 Great Deals out of 42,546 listings starting at $975
Used Honda Civic
1,392 Great Deals out of 25,474 listings starting at $1,500
Used Honda Accord
1,447 Great Deals out of 26,383 listings starting at $1,395
Used Toyota RAV4
2,312 Great Deals out of 34,098 listings starting at $1,495
Used Honda CR-V
2,243 Great Deals out of 41,433 listings starting at $1,000
Used Hyundai Elantra
898 Great Deals out of 33,430 listings starting at $1,500
Used Mazda MAZDA3
485 Great Deals out of 11,522 listings starting at $825
Used Toyota Tacoma
2,082 Great Deals out of 56,977 listings starting at $3,401
Used Toyota Prius
588 Great Deals out of 10,891 listings starting at $1,000
Used Nissan Sentra
810 Great Deals out of 28,178 listings starting at $850
Used Toyota 4Runner
1,361 Great Deals out of 18,439 listings starting at $2,999

Used Cars for Sale

2025 Toyota Corolla For Sale
20 Great Deals out of 8,110 listings starting at $19,814
2024 Toyota Corolla For Sale
164 Great Deals out of 2,883 listings starting at $15,498
2023 Toyota Corolla For Sale
168 Great Deals out of 2,112 listings starting at $13,995
2022 Toyota Corolla For Sale
275 Great Deals out of 3,572 listings starting at $11,900
2021 Toyota Corolla For Sale
204 Great Deals out of 2,321 listings starting at $10,999

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.