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Toyota Camry Maintenance
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Comments
My point was (and still is) why fiddle with it and take a risk of you (or your family) getting stranded somewhere or having it snap while being tailgated by a semi on the freeway?
Kind of like driving with bald tires. Will you have a blowout? Probably not.
I just have to wonder if it's a tight wallet or just stubborness on your part now?
False economy in my opinion but I wish you another 100,000 miles!
I would like to change my PVC valve on my 1998 v6 XLE Camry. Does anyone out there know where under the hood the pvc valve can be found? And do you have any advice to keep in mind when changing it?
Thanks all
Froto25
Car maintence, sometimes its fun to do, but I can't remeber ever liking paying for it.
Thoughts?
When slowing down using the break pedal relatively harder than usual, since I usually use my cruise control; my Camy shakes. I noticed this last week but thought it was grooves in the road or something. But this shaking is consistant whenever I press down alittle hard, say because the PARKWAY tolls are ahead.
My car has 63,000 miles on it already.
(almost entirely highway miles) I've never
changed the brakes because the Toyota dealer says I don't need to. What could the problem be??
I'm getting worried. Any advice?
I will try to take it to the dealer this week, but what should I expect??
Thank you in advance for any experienced advice.
Joseph
The Toyota dealer will probably suggest new pads and a rotor turn. Not a big deal.
So I thought I'd be clever and take a gamble and buy a used combo switch at the wrecking yard for $35. Next, I paid my mechanic $50 to install the used part. Guess what? The darn replacement part's intermittent wiper didn't work either. From my understanding, the first generation Camry's had a history of this particular problem.
Since intermittent wipers are important to have in this rainy area I live in, I guess I'll have to fork over the $200 for the new part and pay my mechanic another $50 to install it.
I don't think I'll gamble it again with another used part. You live and learn.
I have done so several times, genuine Toyota parts at wholesale prices. At least check them out.
Just an opinion from a former "big three" loyalist who still buys big three, but realizes that there are others as good or better out there.
If you are going to do it yourself make sure to change that piece of hard foam called Spring Bumper (if its worn or cracked) and the locknut.Be careful when you compress the spring.
Hope this helps and be safe.
What replacements have you done besides struts?
Some one said drain plug on the 4 cylinder engine is on the firewall side of the block. I can't imagine radiator not having a drain plug. It will take forever to drain coolant from engine block alone!
I searched through the CAMRY PROBLEMS board and found that 97 and 98 Camrys had strut problems. I'm annoyed that the dealer did not acknowledge this when I purchased the car used last years with 15k miles. I specifically identified a problem which was temporarily helped by replacing the strut covers.
Anyway, the dealer's price of $525 for the struts seems reasonable. Parts directly from Toyota add up to $380 including shipping. This includes struts, insulators and top mounts (insulators and top mounts are covers by my extended warranty).
I can't find mine and dealer won't answer my question.
I just need to know if the owners manual recommends the timing belt to be changed at 60K or 90K ?
What jerks!
Thanks-
vierville@yahoo.com
Dealers / Service folks have answered my question but they answer it generically. 60K means you should change belt, none of them would actually tell me if the owners manual recommends it or was it a dealer recommendation.
Too many dealers are on the conservative side or just rather would want you to do the repairs whether its required or not.
I would just have it done and forget about it for years to come.
Or, you could be like my buddy wilcox and drive the car until it snaps and leaves you stranded.
Who knows...? it could go 100,000 miles or more.
Myself, I don't like getting stuck!
I know many people that have 80K miles on theirs and have had no problem. I say, that if one takes care of their vehicle, does not abuse it, and does not drive in harsh conditions, then 80,000 is reasonable mileage (for a 1996 V6) before considering replacement.
Is there any way to quickly inspect the belt's condition? Say like something that might take an hour or less? Seems like someone once posted that it could be done.
If I had the time and where-with-all, I'd love to spend some time at the bay where the timing belts are replaced and get first hand knowledge of what these things look like after "X" number of miles of service. Wouldn't you guys?
wil
Also, does this model have dual sets of brake/taillights? The owners manual sort of hinted at that (had two different diagrams) but I couldn't readily determine if a second set exists on the hatch next to the back up lights (and are completely on-working, including brake lights) or they are not relevant.
Thanks for any help.
Muhit Rahman
As the timing belt runs and the car is put through the arduous task off and on stopping and starting this increases the load on the timing belt and it continuously stretches, as it does the computer is constantly compensating along with the other dependent componets that feed the ecu.
Yes you could stretch or exceed the time when the belt should be changed, yet don't underestimate the load and wear you're putting on the other dependent components, ie: ecu, o2 sensor, map sensor, maf sensor, throttle position sensors, various regulators, which of course degenerates.
As the load is placed on these sensitive items they are over compensating, increasing there failure rate, all the while timing is slowly out of sync due in part vehicle is not running at optimun level, replacing the belt according to manufacturer specifications, perhaps is averting failures to other components or increasing there life expectancy.
So timing belts are not just a matter of picking and arbitrary number we think they should be replaced there are inherent reasons for such a recomendation that are unbeknownst to us, given we are not automotive engineers and have limited understanding in this area
The bad news is that if the timing belt breaks then there is a chance of being inconvienced or perhaps stranded.
The question (for me) is what percent probablility will the belt break in my car at 80,000 miles. 1%?... 2.5%?... 5%?... ?
Currently, I know many with 60,000 plus miles and no problems.......
http://autospeak.com/shade094.htm
You're on the freeway going 75 with a semi behind you and contaminted by the oil, the belt snaps...?
The odds of this happening are pretty rare, I know...still I'll change the belt.
This one owner car is operated in very favorable conditions. I'm going to push it to 80,000 miles...
Stay in touch...will keep you posted.
Extending thinking like this will of course lead to new heights of paranoid maintenance and end up with the driver driving off the road in a perfectly maintained vehicle after spilling hot coffee in his/her lap while yapping on the cellphone in the left lane with the right foot hanging out the window.