- The problem
- Toyota is recalling certain model year 2005-2008 corolla and corolla matrix vehicles. The engine control module (ecm) for the subject models equipped with the 1zz-fe engine and two-wheel drive may have been improperly manufactured. There is a possibility that a crack may develop at certain solder points or on varistors on the circuit board.
- The risk
- There are a variety of warnings and consequences associated with the defect. The engine warning lamp could be illuminated, harsh shifting could result, the engine may not start, or the engine could shut off while the vehicle is being driven. An engine shutoff while the vehicle is being driven increases the risk of a crash.
- The fix
- Dealers will inspect the production number of the ecm and replace the ecm if necessary. This service will be performed free of charge. Toyota will mail an interim owner notification the middle of september 2010 to advise owners of this defect and recall. This interim notification will inform owners that they will receive a future notification when parts become available to have the free remedy performed on their vehicle. The safety recall began on november 29, 2010. Owners may contact toyota at 1-800-331-4331.
Engine & cooling
2005 Toyota Corolla Engine problems
Owners have filed 128 complaints about the 2005 Toyota Corolla's engine & cooling with NHTSA - 14% of all its complaints, most recently on May 21, 2026. They describe 6 crashes, 2 fires and 7 injuries. Stalling, loss of power, oil consumption, overheating, head gaskets, timing chains and engine failure.
- Complaints
- 128
- Recalls
- 1
- Crashes
- 6
- Fires
- 2
- Injuries
- 7
- Deaths
- 0
Engine recalls for the 2005 Toyota Corolla
Engine complaints
These are the Dealers notes: ~INSPECTION ONLY HAS NEW PART NUMBER. This is the current SKU installed in my vehicle: 28113693 89661-02K41 Does this Part ECM require remedy?
My toyoda corrolla had two recalls one is the defective ecm which causes the cae to be un risk of a serious accident because it can stall while driving, this problemas damaged my car transmisin after they supposedly changed the part, they either didnt fixed it or replaced it with another defective part, now my car hesitates abd chek engine light is always on due to the ecm again not functioning properly, I contactes toyota corporate and al they did was to give me the run around I contactes the ceo and he rejected my emails, I want this to be reportes un case me abd my child can get injured due to that defect toyota didnt fixed properly.Any help will be appreciated.
The vehicle was bought in usa in 2004, and was legally transferred to another country in 2010. The recalls were not received in time to take action and fix the car in usa. The other country does not have the “know how” to fix what is stated in the recalls (takata airbag recall and a engine control module recall). Can you stop sending safety recalls in usa and redirect them to the other country? Can you provide the “know how” to the new country to fix the car? Toyota has offices and repair stores in the new country. The vehicle is not registered in usa dmv since 2010, but it is in the new countrys dmv. *Tr
My friend was driving down southside when his car began to uncontrollably accelerate and he lost all his power assist features like power steering and brakes it caused him to be t boned by a suv no airbags deployed and he almost died I just want this to be resolved I dont want this to happen to someone else
Vehicle at 35mpg, hit head on by 40-45mpg vehicle.Seat belt on- airbag inflated size of large grapefruit. Caused cardiac contusion, pulmonary embolism, 2 fractured vertebrae, fractured sternum, broken ribs both sides. Have traffic report for 10/14/18- vehicle salvaged through ins. Co. Driver only occupant on this vehicle.
Stopped at a stop light after coming off of a highway exit, and car stalled. Battery light came on. Restarted ignition and car worked fine for a few miles. Stalled again after coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. Strongly believe ecm is faulty. Could be connected to toyota recall 10v384000.
ENGINE MAY GO DEAD USUALLY ON FREEWAY SPEED
I was driving on the freeway going 65 mph and my car died. Oil was at normal level. Gas at 3/4 tank. Almost got into a major accident with big tanker trucks on side of me. Mechanic says that engine seized but doesn't know why.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 toyota corolla. While driving 40 mph, the check engine warning indicator illuminated and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the electronic control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. David maus toyota (located at 1160 rinehart rd, sanford, fl 32771, (407) 792-6524) was contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 10v384000 (engine and engine cooling). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 155,000.
My car when left on in park will shut off by itself after a short time (this has happened twice), today when I was in drive and about to pull out of work it shut off. I restarted it and everything worked fine. The car was not moving when it shut off, but both times the engine and oil light came (there might have been another light) on but when restarted they went off.
I only have 44,000 miles on my 2005 toyota corolla and the air compressor went out. I have read that this problem has occurred in numerous corollas from the same year. I believe this needs to be looked into and recalled or I will sell my car and never buy a toyota again. I will also post on social media about toyota's negligence and mistreatment of customers. I have a 2 year old daughter that needs air conditioning, so I am very upset over this issue. It is not just an "inconvienence" as it was called by toyota's "customer service". Please sort this issue. *Tr
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 toyota corolla matrix. While driving various speeds, the vehicle stalled and the check engine warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was serviced per nhtsa campaign number: 10v384000 (engine), but the remedy failed to repair the vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Takata recall my engine light is on I was told they have a recall in 2010 on toyota corolla but I didn't have the car at that time am I still eligible to get that fix for free
Air bags did not go off in a hard collision with a deer. Covering of bumper gone, hood bent 18"+-, radiator pushed into engine ,frame bent on driver's side in front of the door. Car not driveable and yet the air bags did not deploy. State farm has the car policy 182 5776-c28-23a. Police report bec icr 16-17141, blue earth county , mn state farm claim 23-0177-0w2. This vehicle has been owned by family members since purchased new. Our concern is that the air bag did not go off and it possibly was unhooked.
I had to replace my engine control module (ecm) because the engine would loose power and cut off while driving on street. This became noticeable after a rain storm. I was told because my vehicle was a matrix xrs, it was not included in a recall for the other matrix models; therefore I spent approx. $1000 In having the ecm replaced. I had all of the same cited symptoms. Please include my engine in the recall so I may be reimbursed. Thanks you.
In late 2004, I financed a brand new 2005 toyota corolla while residing in south florida. In summer 2008, I relocated to massachusetts. It was in winter 2008 that the engine warning lamp illuminated. I immediately took the vehicle to a toyota dealership. I wasn't really given a real explanation of why the warning lamp was illuminated. I was quickly told it could be fixed. So I paid approx. $800.00 To supposedly have it fixed. Literally, two weeks later the engine warning lamp came back on. I took it back to the...
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same toyota dealership and they told me they don't know what's wrong and would have to run more diagnostic test that would cost additional money. At the time, I did not have additional money since I had just dished out nearly $800.00. I have taken the vehicle to independent auto shops in which they have not been able to diagnose the problem. In the state of massachusetts, yearly inspections of an operating vehicle is required. For the past years, I have had to have the light manually turned off hoping that it would not come on in time for the car to be inspected. The car has failed on several occasions because the engine warning lamp illuminated. In addition to the engine warning lamp being illuminated, I have also and still experience harsh shifting. The harsh shifting started approx. In late 2009/2010. I also started noticing decreased lighting visibility in 2011. At night, I have to drive with my high beams to see properly. Out of frustration, I gave up on trying to find the cause for these issues. I just dealt with it. I don't frequently use the vehicle now because I live in an area that is accessible to public transportation that allows me to get to work. Most recently, I was informed by a fellow corolla owner that in 2009-2010 toyota recalled for engine and engine cooling and headlamps. I never received notifications of such recalls!
There was a recall on toyota's engine control modules. I took my car in and had it replaced in 2012 due to a failed emissions inspection. In 2016, im having the same issue again and toyota refuses to do anything about it.
While driving on pr highway, within 10 mts, the car's engine stopped having enough time to park the car on the emergency side road. When I saw smoke coming out the hood, I grabbed by belongings and walked away from the car. While I'm calling my husband I saw the car in flames. On dec. 28, 2015 I submitted an investigation with toyota of pr in relation to the fire on my car on dec 24, 2015. Until this date I haven't received any response regarding their case # [[redacted]]. When I call customer service critical...
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cases coordinator, her only response is that I will receive a written notice from head office. I've being 2 month without a car to get to work and I feel frustrated in the manner toyota has treated my situation even when I authorized them to pick up and examine the car after the incident. By the way I still have the burned car in front of my house in case they need additional data. I will appreciate if you could guide me as to my rights or options being that the car was in excellent conditions and I expected some kind of reward or voucher from toyota to at least help me obtain another car from them. Sincerely [[redacted]] , [[redacted]] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.S.C. 552(B)(6).' *Tr
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 toyota corolla. While driving at 65 mph, the vehicle stalled and the check engine light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was able to restart after the initial attempt. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the engine control module (ecm) failed and needed to be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was serviced under nhtsa campaign number: 10v384000 (engine and engine cooling), but the remedy failed to repair the vehicle. The contact mentioned that the vehicle continued to stall after the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 143,433.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 toyota corolla. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 mph, the check engine warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the ecm module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The contact stated that the vin was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 10v384000 (engine and engine cooling). The approximate failure mileage was 58,000. The vin was unavailable.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 toyota corolla. While driving at 5 mph, the vehicle revved violently and suddenly returned to normal. The failure was recurring. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The technician stated that there was no cable to adjust the idling because the vehicle had fuel injection. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 95,000.
I had a malfunctioning timing chain and its parts, and an engine problem on my toyota corolla 2005 without prior warring, such as an engine check light, rattling, knocking, or stalling. Also I wasnt aware that these problems could happen because there isnt any timing chain system maintenance in the toyota 2005 scheduled maintenance guide booklet. The independent mechanic who repaired my car thought that the tensioner on the timing chain may have had a problem that caused the cam gear to wear out, so that the timing...
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chain slipped off the cam gear. Then, the problem caused the engine valves to be bent. Finally my car got fixed. The problem occurred in a shopping mall parking lot when I started the engine, I felt boom, boom, knocking coming from the front of the car. I drove out of the parking lot carefully, but I was concerned because it was the first time I ever had this knocking from the car. So I stopped in a different parking lot of the same mall. I looked under the hood and checked the drive belt, which was intact. There was no foul smell. I restarted the car and paid attention to anything unusual. I heard rattling and I decided to take my car to an auto mechanic shop, which is closer than going home. With my emergency light on, I drove into the street less mile when I heard sounds like metal or soda cans crushing around in the engine. Then my car slowly stopped and the engine stopped. I put the car in neutral and slid down to the side of the road, barely off the road. Eventually my car was towed to the auto shop. I have a worn out cam gear, a tensioner with a few fine cracks, bent valves and the timing chain. I called toyota customer service on july 24, 2015. But I was told that since the car warranty of 60,000 miles had passed and I didnt take my car to a toyota authorized auto shop they wont deal with my car problem.
Dear all, in my toyota corolla 2005 car, check engine sign are coming and going. There is some issue with fuel pump or gas tank. I have asked the same to toyota dealership but they have no answer for the same. They are saying for checking I have to pay 150+ usd. As this is a mechanical issue, please help me to deal with the same.
This problem has occurred frequently since the first event: for no known reason, engine rpms drop to point where vehicle barely moving. Can shut vehicle off and restart and problem goes away. Check engine light comes on but no help in diagnosis. Been to dealer several times. Replaced ecm and tried other possible "fixes". So far, has only occurred in rural areas at speeds of 35 mph or less. Fortunately not much traffic. Check engine light will go off by itself as problem "fixes itself". A potentially dangerous situation but no answers from dealer or manufacturer.
The car pops out the 6th gear. It is also harsh when shifting gears, brakes have noise,air bags sign off.The car has shut off while driving and front suspension sounds horrible. *Tr
Toyota Corolla engine complaints by year
Corolla engine problems, every yearSource: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked . Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data