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You may want to have a repair shop actually look at what is wrong and give you an estimate for repair, as opposed to a used car manager guessing based on a sound.
I can buy a replecement for $20 or so online. Has there been any recall on these ? It would seem dangerous to be unable to open the door from inside in an accident.
How difficult is it to remove the old plastic interior latch unit ? Do you just pry the unit out to replace, or have you got to disassemble surrounding upholstery panels ?
Apparently it happens a lot as there are a lot of ads for replacement parts.
Thanks for any help .
Any ideas?
I have 1997 Camry LE, 166,830 miles. Excellent vehicle! Purchased new in '97. I inquired at Sears Automotive about cost for tune-up. I was asked about spark plugs and replacing wires. Approximately $200 total, so I didn't have work done today. I stopped taking my car to Dealer for service in 2007 (only because it was no longer convenient).
Sears has since done oil changes, transmission service, & minor services. In addition to spark plugs, what parts would be logical to replace for a tune-up. What should I expect to pay? I do not work on cars, but I like to be informed when dealing with mechanics.
By the way, Sears person also said my car required high-grade oil because of high mileage. Any comments about this?
Thanks for any feedback.
I had always kept regular preventive maintenance services on my camry until now--budget issues. But I also want to try to avoid major repair situations when possible.
However, these are two totally different generation vehicles. The 98 is a generation 4 Camry which covers model years 1997 thru 2001. The wagon is part of a generation 3 Camry which covers years 1992 thur 1996. I would guess this is NOT a clean swap, but that is only a reasonable guess.
I have a 1993 Toyota Camry LE 4 cyl. It has 230,182k miles and runs wonderfully with an epa of about 27-29mpg
It was my grandmothers since original purchase in '93 and all maintenance has been kept up throughout its life. Since I've owned it I change the oil/filter(myself) every 3k or less. Every 15k I change the trans fluid/filter/gaskett.
I think CV joints are going to be to a big task for a beginner like me. And maybe even the motor mounts.
Whenever driving (or operating in a small environment like a parking lot, etc) and I turn more than about 180 degrees in eiter direction I can hear a pinging and through time it is getting much worse and louder. The pinging often comes from both sides. And sometimes when *slowly* going over a speed bump or pulling into driveway the banging noise occurs as well. Is this CV joints? or boots/axle/etc?
I am sure the struts need replacing too...
MOTOR MOUNTS:
When reversing or stopped at a light or decelerating the steering wheel and most of the car often shakes and rattles pretty bad. This is the worst when in reverse. I am pretty sure this is one(or more) of the motor mounts.
According to my Haynes book there are 4 motor mounts. The (2) that are easily visible and accessible when opening the hood look fine. I think its a mount underneath the transmission since it rattles ALOT more in Reverse as opposed to N or Drive.
My questions are...
Do the symptoms I've provided match what I've diagnosed in any way?
If so, what would the single itemized cost estimates be for.. (PART / LABOR)
CV joints/boots/etc
Struts(all 4)
Motor Mount(s)
Thanks for any reply!
ChrisMN
I'd classify the bad sounds of struts and cv joints more like creaking and groaning and grinding....vs.... pinging.
If this was my vehicle that I was picking up for my daugter to drive, I would replace the struts, cv joints/shafts and while I had it apart I'd throw new brake rotors/calipers/pads on it. Of course you also need an alignment. If you haven't done any major mechanical work before, this is certainly not a job you'd want to tackle yourself. Swapping the springs on the struts can be very dangerous for a shade tree mechanic, and a shop has a big spring compressor that makes that job a snap for them to do. I've done it myself in prior vehicles, but the last vehicle I had to fix it I just had a shop do it.
Personally, I've never had motor mounts go bad, so I wouldn't be replacing them as a guess or hunch.
How do the plugs and wires look? Has it had an engine tuneup recently?
As with any older high mileage vehicle, you have got to start thinking about an end-of-life plan. It sounds like the vehicle may be in very good condition and warrant this maintenance. But 250K is a lot of miles, and you're going to find more and more opptys to have to make maintenance decisions whether to fix it or not.
You didn't mention timing belt and waterpump replacement, when is the last time those were done?
I am pretty sure the struts and/or shocks are original. And I do not know if the CV joint/shafts have been replaced before or not.
The brakes were just replaced about 9,000 miles ago. (as well as an alignment) I know it would for sure need another alignment after cv joints/shafts replaced.
I tune it up every 15K(plugs, wires, cap, rotor) and the last tune up was about 7,000 miles ago. Very clean engine, magnaflow exhaust, K & N Air Filter cleaned every tune up.
The timing belt and water pump were replaced at 174,092k.
Being a person who has had "clunkers" most of my life I have had to pay for motor mounts on 2 cars and the symptoms are exact. But of course I'm going to get a professional decision...
Do you know a ballpark estimate of the costs of
Struts/shocks - item & labor
CV joint(s)/shaft(s) - item & labor
Motor mount(s) - item & labor
I know its hard to diagnose and give estimates in this situation but I am just wondering if this is like over a 1000$ job or 500$ or less..
Want to get some pro advice before going to mechanic to be haggled.
Thanks alot
You can find the cost of parts, just call any autoparts chain (PepBoys, Autozone, etc) and they'll give you the cost of parts for cv axles and struts, and I guess even motor mounts. Potentially I guess you could even search internet parts sites.
With the parts cost knowledge, I would then call a couple tire / alignment shops in your area. These are very standard repairs, and they can give you estimates very quickly. The last time I had struts done I had them done at an NTB Tire store (part of Sears chain), and also got an alignment and tires at the same time. Somehow I think each strut w/labor was around 150-200 each, part strut/shock about half of that and the other half labor. I've seen a number of shops w/advertisements and actually PepBoys might even do them if you have larger shops w/service bays. Call around, you'll find the current market rate range for your geographic are pretty quickly. Common repair, on a common vehicle, can't get any cheaper than that.
Sounds like your vehicle is well maintained, probably well worth this investment.
Take all the keys and vehicle back to the dealership, and they can re-program the security to the keys.
It's under warranty, let them fix it.
Part of isolating it down to the problem area, is to hear whether the problem is related directly to the speed that the tires are rotating (which also has brake rotors, CV joints, and output of transmission rotating at same speed), or at engine RPM's (internal engine, external accessories to engine, input shaft to the transmission).
I could interpret a 'chuck, chuck' noise to be a lot of things:
- brake pad worn down, and hitting metal to metal against high spot on rotor
- CV joint bad, binding as it is rotating
- valve bad in engine
- bearing bad in engine or transmission
- bearing bad on an belt driven accessory to the engine
- belt frayed and slapping
- etc
Grinding noise could be brakes, or transmission, or ??
Get it to a qualified mechanic, shouldn't take long to zero in on problem area.
I also had a P0456 where an evap leak was detected. The fuel filler neck is leaking and both the neck and cap need replacing.
Anyone know if these are necessary jobs? Can I safely drive without the repairs (they're pretty costly)? Any help is much appreciated!
You'd have a sensor in the pipe in front of the catalytic converter, and another sensor after the catalytic converter. The computer monitors both of these sensors. Based on the sensor feedback, it adjusts the engine parameters like air/fuel mixture, timing, etc to get optimal performance.
If the computer is detecting the 2nd sensor is a problem, then we know the first sensor is working and it's able to adjust engine parameters into tolerance correctly. However, then the gas goes thru the catalytic converter and is read by the 2nd sensor. If it doesn't like the readings from the 2nd sensor, then either the sensor is bad, or the catalytic converter is bad. Sensor is the cheaper of the two, and they do go bad and need repairs.
If you have to, you can buy an inexpensive reader and read yourself, I think I paid like 40 bucks or so at Pep Boys on sale a year or two ago.
I would like to keep this car running for a few more years. What do you think about the money investment? Is a '96 Toyota Camry worth putting another $2K of work in to keep it running for another 3 years? This is not a time for me to take on a car payment. The body is not in the best shape (NYC parking!), so the resale value isn't the top. Appreciate your input.
$500 is less than 2 payments.
If you buy something new (anything), your insurance payments would go up substantially from what you are paying now...that's probably enough savings to pay for your struts by itself.
I think you'd probably be very hard pressed to find any vehicle in your area for $2k, that would be anywhere near as reliable as your car.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Yes
Could be the drivers side left kickpanel, but also might be behind glove compartment. Easiest way to determine, follow your ear to the clicking (when it's working).
Would expect to find a flasher at any parts store.
1.Should I do a flush like another Camry owner here has done using 8-9 qts of fluid using a one gallon jug and should I change the filter as well?
2.Is it time for spark plugs and wires?
3.Besides the things I mentioned is there anything else I should be changing? All the belts look good.
4. How do I flush the radiator? Just drain all the fluid out and replace with 50/50?
5. She had a preinspection on the car prior to purchase and they said she needed front brakes and rotors, is it OK to just go to Advance Auto for such things?
Also I understand it may be time for a new timimg belt. How nessessary is this at 60K? And should we change other things like water pump while we are in there? This car is a new addition to our family, I don't want her to get starnded in the middle of nowhere with a breakdown.
Thanks
I have a 2003 Toyota Camry, has about 95k miles. Car runs great, smooth ride, etc... However, over the weekend, I was parking my car on a hill (facing down). When I had the car on reverse, my car would continue to go forward. If I'm facing down a hill and have the car is on reverse, shouldn't my car stay still (meaning not move forward nor back when removing my foot from the brake pedal)? Is this the beginning of a transmission problem? Or did my car do this because I was attempting to park the car on a hill. My car works fine (drive/reverse) on a flat surface.