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Toyota Camry: Problems & Solutions
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Its like a kind of motor mount but more to stabilize front and back motion. About 8 inches long - rubber grommets and bolts on each end.
Well, I currently own a 95 Corolla DX and am planning for a used Camry, pre 1997, preferrebly a XLE V6. Before I sign on the dotted line, I will look into Carfax and other reports.
Question: There is a 1993 Camry Le V6 with 75K and odd miles on the market now along with a 1996 V6XLE (which I am not interested 'cuz of cigarette odor in the car, otherwise this car looks great).
Toyota tells me that they do NOT have the service information on their system and hence they cannot tell me about timing belt replacement and important stuff like that. They told me to talk to the original owner and then speak to their mechanic - this is out of question and cannot be done.
Any advice or suggestions or comments??? Better yet, if you know anyone selling, let me know.
Thanks
S
Just figure that into the price you ultimately pay.
Thanks
94 Camry, 4 cyl, automatic 90k miles, - very very slight clunk noise from front on moving from a standstill, wheels pointed straight ahead. If you let the car move a foot or two and slowly mash on accel, no clunk. No clunk at any other speeds.
Ideas??
In addition, I need to know where motor mounts are located (the same vehicle)....Where are they located and what is the difficulty for replacing them?
Thanks in advance!!!!
Brakes:
The most irritating problem was the groaning and grinding in the front brakes. I took it to the Honda dealer several times and he could not fix it. He finally told me it was caused by metallic brake linings (the government outlawed asbestos, he said) and there was nothing he could do about it. I finally turned the rotors myself and installed NAPA brake pads. No more problems. Are Toyota pads low quality? If I could fix the problem, why couldn't the dealer?
A/C:
The A/C compressor would rumble each time it came on. The dealer replaced the belt, tightened the compressor and finally replaced the compressor. Nothing helped. He told me it was because the government outlawed R12 and the new freon R134a made compressors rumble. I never could fix the problem. Never knew what was causing it.
Smoking:
The engine started smoking at 30,000 miles. The dealer replaced the valve guide seals. The engine started smoking again at 66,000 miles (I had a 60,000 mile warranty). This time he told me that it was my fault because I did not change the oil and the engine was sludged up. The engine was, in fact, full of sludge. I was able to prove by documentation that I had changed the oil and filter every 2500 miles. He claimed that the lube shop used inferior filters. I researched the issue and proved that the aftermarket filters were comparable to Toyota OEM filters. So, the dealer reluctantly fixed the problem again after I talked to the Toyota District Ombudsman about the problem.
Rattle:
The dash rattled. I had the dealer fix it several times, but it would return after about 8,000 to 10,000 miles. Never did figure out how to fix it permanently. The rattle was to the left of the driver near the door post under the dash.
Transmission:
The transmission started leaking at 40,000 miles. It was the pan gasket. I had the dealer change the fluid and filter and install a new gasket. About 6,000 miles later, it started leaking again. He tightened the bolts and it stopped. At 68,000 miles the transmission started leaking again at the gasket. Enough was enough. I sold the car.
My question is this: Has Toyota owned up to any of these defects? Since I sold the car, I have learned that many people are having these same problems.
Some of the 4cyl do have valve guide problems. The only thing it seems to do is smoke a bit during start-up. I've seen them with 200K and still doing the same thing so it's not like the engines about to blow up.
I don't think any of your problems are big defect issues. You just got a somewhat problematic one. I mean they sell 300,000 a year and if it was a huge issue it would be very obvious. There is probably 2 or 3 million of these things on the road, you'd see them lined up on the berms. I've put over 400K on 3 different Camrys and have spent very little on repairs. Going to buy my fourth when the redesign comes out in the fall as long as I can get heated seats:)
I had the blue smoke on startup and my valve stem seals were replaced under warranty ('97 Camry 4-cylinder at 57K miles). I had no sludge though.
Auto transmission pan gasket leaked? How many cars of any make/model with auto trannies go more than about 50-60K without some kind of leakage ?
However, I cannot say the same about oil seepages. Valve covers which I seemed to have stopped by tightening the bolts but now may have a seal seepage but I have 132,000 on the engine.
Just a thought...one of many possibilities.
They probably fail since they sit right next to the exhaust pipe and get "cooked" all the time.
Anyone else seen this problem???
Well, I took it to the local toyota dealer to have it inspected. Nothing major, recommended the timing belt replaced which I figured ($250), tranny service (70), coolant flush (50), Top engine cleaning (70), and replacing the power antenna assembly (260). I don't really know if this car needed all this work now, except for the belt which is a definite. Well, I took it back and the new salesman I talked to would not go lower than 8K at all. So I told him I would see and give him a call.
Well, I went to work (I work at a BMW dealership and I would get one from them, and could get a great deal, but all that ever gets traded in is 97 BMW's or so, which are just a little out of my range lol) to get a carfax and some advice. They're advice is to not buy this car from a "dirt" lot. . They said that this dealership gets most of its cars as the rejects for the major lots (and this one was bought from a Mercedes dealership in a near buy town). So, do you guys think this would be a problem car? Should I avoid it and just find something else, wait till someone actually trades in a camry for a BMW, or what? Any advice would be great!
-Greg
I suggest you try (test drive) other '98 - '01 Camrys and see if they are the same as yours. If so, then there's nothing that can be done, except possibly getting a "seat belt extender," free from Toyota, which is really intended only for people who are too large to fasten the belt.
The light on the dash ( the one that has a symbol of a car with light coming from the rear of it) is on. It comes on when the brakes are first applied, and it stays on. The manual says this is caused by a brake light bulb being burned out - I have replaced both of them - what to try next?
Any idea where the relay is that turns this bulb ob the dash on, is?
I am wondering how fast the speed meter can react when you apply
the gas pedal normally? My 90 Camry V6 with A/T has shifting
problem: up shift from gear 1 to 2 is not smooth. The harder
you apply the gas pedal, the smoother feel you get. But you
can still feel it. Except from 1 to 2, other up shiftings,
include all down shiftings are normal. Is this so called harsh
shift or early shift or something else?
One symptom I find is the speed meter. I notice the up shift
from 1 to 2 happenes when the speed meter points to zero (apply
gas pedal normally), that is even the speed meter indicates the
speed is zero (the real vehicle speed is not zero for sure), the
1 to 2 up shifting happens! Is this normal for Camry? I checked
my friend's 88 Prelude, when he apply his gas pedal normally, the
1 to 2 up shifting happens at about 15 km per hour (according his
speed meter). Is there a problem of my Vehicle Speed Sensor?
By the way, how many speed sensors inside my vehicle? Some said
one, some said two. one is inside the instrument panel, just behind
the speed meter, and another one is on the transmission, is this
correct?
What I thought is there are mutlple controllers in charge of
transmission shiftings. Speed sensor is one of them. if the speed
sensor faild or misbehave, other controllers take over of shifting
controls. Since the speed at gear 1 is slow, I can feel the shifting
is not smooth.
I guess something wrong with the speed sensor: normally, speed sensor
senses the real speed, if the real vehicle speed is 10KM/hour, the
speed sensor senses 10KM/h, and send the right signal (e.g. 2 Volts)
to speed meter. But somehow the speed sensor is not working correctly,
it senses 10KM/h but it sends the wrong signal (e.g. 1 volts) to the
speed meter, or it senses 2KM/h and sends 1 volts to speed meter or
other controllers.
What do you guys think?
Can you guys give me some idea about this problem?
Thanks in advance!
-Travis
Tranny Type: A540E
do you guys know how many speed sensors inside my
vehicle? Alos where are them? Can I just replace
or take it off by myself?
thanks
has trouble when it shifts from 1 to 2.
Let me start with what the problem is: I feel the car shifts from
1 to 2 is not smooth, very rough. other up-shifting and down-shiftings
are just fine, not matter if the engine is hot or cold. I also noticed
there is something abnormal of the speed meter. When the 1-2 up shifting
happens, the speed meter needle points to zero, certainly, the real
vehicle speed is not zero. after the 1-2 shifting happens, the speed
meter needle just goes up like normal. is this correct or is this normal
for a camry? I notice my friend's prelude (A/T), when his needle points
to about 15KM/hour, then the 1-2 upshifting happens.
as I said before, I found there are some articles talking about
1-2 harsh shifting in this board. mostly like something wrong
with the check ball inside the valve body, or bad accumlator spring or
by adjusting thortte cable. So, I took my car to two AAMCO transmission
dealership in Toronto. after they checked the vehicle, the first
dealership told me, if I spend $300-$600 CADs, they can fix it, then
I asked them to do it. guess what? they did what they suspect,
but the problem is still there! anyway, they did charge me anything,
and told me if I spend $1500 canadian dollars, they guarantee to
fix it. The car is 11 years old, I just don't want to speed too much
money on that. So I went away. This morning, I took my car to the
second AAMCO transmission dealership, tell them what the problem is,
and tell them what I suspect as well as what I found on the internet,
damn, he just didn't listen to me, when I said I also notice something
not correct with the speed meter, he responsed: "The internet didn't tell
you this?". anyway, anothe guy checked my car, and said the transmission
need to be rebuild, which will cost $1900 candian dollars plus other parts!
then I told this guy is the valve body ok? is the spring ok? he said
he tried to adjust shift timing, it didn't work. so he said the problem
is not the check ball nor the spring, coz when he change the shift timing,
the shift points should change, but they didn't change. do you guys think
this is correct? BTW, he said he changed the shift timing, when I drove
back my car to work this morning, I noticed the 1-2 up shifting is little
bit smoother than before, also other up shiftings are kind of late, but that's
my feeling, I am not so sure about that.
I wonder can I adjust shifting timing by myself? Can I check my speed sensor
by myself? anything else I can do before I send my car to another garage to
repaire?
AAMCO gave me a bad impression, because I have went to the second AAMCO
transmission garage two weeks ago, after a short road test, the guy told
me nothing wrong with the transmission...then after two weeks, I sent my
car to them again, they said I need to rebuild my tranny for $1900+ to fix
the problem...Damn, are they specialists? I will never trust AAMCO again
especially the one on 2941 Eglinton.
BTW, I did a simple road test according to Tony's suggestion in this board:
put gear in "L", drive it to 20km/h, then shift the gear to "2", I feel the
shock.
any suggestions are welcomed!
BTW, any of you guys from Toronto? can you suggest somewhere I can go to fix
my tranny? It's too difficult to tell the mechanic what I think the problem
is, they just don't want to listen to you.
Thanks!
And when you do fill up, stop after the pump shuts off automatically.
Then see if you still have the problem.
Any ideas?
http://www.SalesCircular.com - no more buying newspapers for store circulars
I have been getting ~21 mpg average. It has something to do with a starting problem. When it starts, sometimes it sounds bad, I think it is leaking gas into the engine while it is sitting for long periods of time (like overnight), and then when I start it, there is extra gas in there so one of the cylinders isn't firing smoothly and thereby causing the engine to start up rough and sound bad. The low mpg correlates with the amount of times it starts bad. The mpg has come up to 28 mpg at times, and it almost always started normally. So, all the people telling me that 21 mpg was normal (4-cylinder automatic) were wrong of course. So, I think some kind of fuel injector seal is leaking slowly when the car is off.
What part do you buy and how hard was it to install?
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.
MUR
Has anybody got help on that one. Or have the previous 2 mag writer had theirs fixed. If so what was it.
PS kyle25 have you been able to repair your signal? Mine just started doing this two days ago at 44,000 miles.
I had the fast-flashing turn signal also (it was the left front bulb). I solved it by removing and reinstalling the bulb -- apparently it wasn't making good electrical contact.
What was your oil change interval?
And who did it?