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Toyota Camry: Problems & Solutions
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A light tan or brown mayonaise-like consistency glop on the underside of the oil filler cap is neither sludge nor sludge related. It's a harmless mix of normal oil and water vapors that've condensed and adherred to the relatively cooler plastic cap. It's most likely evident in vehicles operated in cold weather and/or short trippers. Sludge is tarry BLACK and gritty to the touch. In its worst form, it becomes hard baked-on to the hot surfaces restrictng oil flow. When an oil gallery becomes clogged from sludging, bye-bye bearing. Sludge is the result of oil breakdown from over-extended oil change intervals and/or operation in extended hot, highspeed applications. Cold, short trip operation can abet sludge formation, too, from incomplete cobustion of fuel along with the slightly richer fuel mixture encountered during this type of operation. As noted, a good romp will help prevent sludge in a healthy engine. Established sludge, however, can NOT be dealt with by extended driving. It has to be hot-boiled out with solvent after complete engine disassembly despite the claims made by certain snake oil supplemental additive makers. If you want to keep your engine sludge-free, service the oil and filter according to the "severe service" recommendation in your owner's manual - and this applies to both conventional as well as synthetic motor oil formulations. There ain't no free lunch.
A car that locks itself is a minor inconvenience; a car that unlocks itself is an invitaion to theft, so, NO, neither event should be considered normal. I drive a Sonata, and I've come across the locking-without-apparent-reason situation occasionally. (never had it unlock itself yet, though...) The thought's ocurred to me that nearby security devices, radar guns, radar detectors, garage door openers, passing CB transmissions, etc. may unaccountably trigger these events, but this is just personal wild-eyed speculation.
If you happen to press the unlock button on the remote AND all 4 doors are fully closed, and then you don't physically open one of the doors within 30 seconds, all 4 doors will relock automatically.
If you carry your keys in your pocket, by bending down or squatting, you can accidentally activate the "unlock" function (I've done it several times). Then all 4 doors lock in 30 seconds.
A good sign of preliminary sludge development is very dark or black and/or gritty oil on a dipstick. If this is a regular occurrence between oil changes, chances are sludge is in the process of developing, or will soon develop. This is the time to take remedial measures, like changing oil more frequently.
Looking in the oil filler port or on the oil filler cap is not a good indication,(a) because there is usually a baffle plate just under it which blocks any view of internal components, and (b)condensation routinely occurs at that point in the form of a whitish goop, and this is almost a normal development and not really any indication of sludging.
All of this said, bear in mind that sludge can develop in any engine when and if oil changes aren't done often enough at appropriate intervals and/or if recommended intervals by the manufacturer are exceeded.
The Toyota issue, unfortunately, was dramatically overplayed by some sludge activists, and grew into a widespread controversy mainly because of their herculean efforts at promoting it as a design flaw. There was, in fact, no design flaw. However there was a huge amount of misinformation circulated around the net to make it look like a flaw existed.
Toyota responded to the bad publicity by issueing their SPA which was primarily a goodwill gesture to show they stood behind their products, but the activists jumped on it as an "admission" that a flaw existed. It wasn't admission because there was nothing to "admit."
Toyota also made some minor changes to their V6 engine which made them more tolerant to neglect of oil changes, and the activists jumped on this as another "admission".
Again, there was nothing to "admit"; these minor changes were made only to make engines more forgiving of neglectful maintenance.
Finally, Toyota reduced their recommended oil change interval from 7500 miles to 5000 miles. Once more, the activists ecstatically claimed another "admission".
The real reason for this was because it was learned that many owners were going well beyond the older interval of 7500 miles. Toyota simply reduced the interval because of a common practice by some owners to go well past the older interval because it "won't hurt to delay another 1000 or so miles because these Toyotas are so dependable".
Bottom line is simply change oil and filter on a regular basis. Use the factory recommendation as a guideline, but check oil routinely because driving conditions can vary considerably. If oil is starting to look dark brown, black, or if it feels "thin" and/or gritty, it's time to thing about getting an oil change.
Use of a good quality synthetic is also a good idea. It only costs a little more, and is excellent additional insurance.
1. Black full-sized S class had right wheel completely broken off on FWY 405 near int FWY 5. The wheel rolled out into the middle of the freeway in the busiest commuters traffic. The guy was struggling to coast the car on 3 wheels into the car-pool lane on the left. I thought it was impossible, then I remembered the S-class is RWD. The guy looked ashen-faced. Must have been very scared when the wheel broke off.
2. Black mid-sized E class was diabled in the left lane on a FWY 15 overpass, Poway rd. exit. 2 Asian guys were trying to push the car off the street
It's a record to see 2 diabled benzes the same afternoon. But I have noticed there are far more disabled Benzes in Socal than any other brands combined. My friends who bought new Benzes are constantly driving loaner cars due to repairs that take days, sometimes weeks.
It's funny why people would pay premium prices for cars that can potentially be dangerous to drive.
Mesquitetree
I have the manual seats in my car and i've tried all sorts of positions but can't get comfortable on long drives.
The Camry owners manual mentions lumbar adjustment for the manual seat. I guess that was a option cause I don't have knob for that on my seat.
Do the Camry power seats of my generation have the ability to tilt the bottom seat cushion?
Thanks for any reply
Would like to post another small problem but cannot find where to start discussion.
check your owners manual.
perhaps its an engine temp sensor issue, not a transmission issue.
I've had a Honda Accord with a similiar problem. The main relay on the accord had to be changed out. Once that was done, the problem didn't reoccur.
Is this the same solution with our Camry?
Does anyone have any ideas?
If that doesnt have any effect then yeah, to the shop.
I wouldnt let the minimum-wage neanderthals at Jippy lube anywhere near my transmission. Or the techs at a shop for that matter unless the trans was already broke. They will just want to sell you a flush for $150 and who knows if it getes done right or not anyway? I'll do that myself.
Ask for Toyota parts heck i'd even buy em from Toyota and give em to em to put em on for you. Because the shop will just call his parts guy and it wont be a Toyota dealer either.
Have someone watch the sight glass before and during A/C compressor startup. As the compressor starts you should have a very brief period of bubbles moving past the sight glass. Once it stops if you watch then after a period of time you will again see bubbles.
A sight glass with an empty refrigerant line looks very much the same as one full of liquid flowing by. When the compressor starts you should briefly see bubbles as the pipe transitions from empty to liquid.
Cycling on and off is normal operation but one second intervals seems exceedingly fast, too often. Sounds as if the pressure switch has failed (not enough hysteresis) or liquid refrigerant is being depleted too rapidly, probably due to your expansion having failed, is too open.
Assuming you see the bubbles transition change the pressure switch first.
My 05 SE 4cyl is ready for new tires. I have just under 16K on the car, and the Potenza RE92s are almost down to the wear bars. (I got 27K out of these tires on my 97 and 02 Subaru Legacy GTs...hmmmm.) Has anyone had any luck getting any money back, or at least 'store credit,' from Bridgestone on these beasts? I am considering the Goodyear Assurance TrippleTread, Yokohama AVID H4S, or the Potenza G009. Any experience with those? I am a moderate driver, and run mostly highway miles, so I want something smooth and quiet, with a little bit of handling mixed in.
Also, since last fall, my sunroof has been VERY noise. When it is fully closed, it still sounds like it is open. I actually have to tilt it up a little bit to make the wind noise go away. The dealer looked at it in November, lubricated the seal...but that didn't do anything. It does sound like the whole assembly rattles or squeaks a little bit when I hit a bump or pull into a driveway at an angle. Anyone else had this problem?
Other than that...this car has been great. I was hesitant to switch from Subaru after having three new ones since 97, but this Camry has me hooked on Toyota!
I have the same tires on my '05 XLE with just under 12K miles, and so far, so good.
I don't think they have a treadwear warranty, so you're probably out of luck getting any money back (or credit toward replacement tires).
You can check out tirerack.com for recommendations, including owner reviews, on replacement tires.
As for the sunroof, mine (on my '04 LE) makes a small creak when I back out of the garage and drop from the concrete onto the gravel driveway, but otherwise I don't notice any undue noise. I agree that you should try another dealer since your car is still under warranty.
Thanks for the information. I do have Mobil One synthetic oil in my car, thanks to a male friend of mine who also knows about cars. Says his cars all go over mileage because of this. I will check on the antifreeze. Sounds like you know cars, so I plan on changing the antifreeze this next weekend!
Appreciate your help. Want to get at least 300,000 out of my little Camry!
Thanks for any reply
If you want somthing quieter, check out Tirerack.com for choices and feedback from buyers as someone has already mentioned. My other choice would have been the BF Goodrich Traction T/As as it gets a little wet here in Florida from May to October and every little benefit helps.
Deke
Thanks,
Russ
Please let me know if anyone else have this problem and if there is any solution to this.
Thanks!!!
Have a mystifying problem: 95 Camry, spark timing checks OK with timing light during cranking. So the timing belt must be OK unless it jumped time by exactly 180 degrees, very unlikely. Injecting gasoline, ether, propane at throttle body with intake hose disconnected does not get it to fire. Vacuum at throttle body seems normal to hand feel during cranking. The AFM is not in use at this test, but at least it should fire once since spark timing is correct, and it has manually injected fuel of some type. But all it does is crank. No codes are set. Can hear fuel pump with Fp and B+ jumpered with ignition on.
This problem makes no sense. Correctly timed spark + ether, etc., should make it fire once, or make it do something. Vacuum at throttle body indicates correct valve timing, which correct spark timing also indicates, since distributor is driven from exhaust cam.
Any and all suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks. Looking forward to words of wisdom from a forum subscriber.
BernieK
berniek@technicaldevelop.com
I own a 1992 camry 4cyl, and just recently haven't been able to get it to fire up. There were no prior warning signs of this, and it cranks like the battery is fine, but the engine never fires up. Everything sounds normal, and there wasn't any sound to make me think anything was wrong. I have enough fuel, but bad fuel could be a possibility, who knows!
This engine has almost 300k on it (rebuilt around 100k) so I have gotten it's worth, but hoping to continue using it, as it's become it's own sort of legend...
I might take it to a dealership, but I am worried about getting charged much more than I am willing to keep a car with 300k miles on it running. Hoping to find some easy tests to narrow it down or something DIY.
Any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!