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Camry Engine/box Reliability

Galois

By Galois,
in General Automotive Discussion

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Galois Veteran

Galois

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pretty good. i've gotten used to the r154, its a little clunky, but you learn to deal with it. i'll have to do the timing belts soon though. and i haven't fixed my speed sensor. so i get lottery numbers at speeds above 70kmh. lol

Baha, makes the speed cameras more exciting!

greensa14 Collaborator

greensa14

Posted
Posted

I just bought a 1990 Camry for a cheap daily. Cost me $600 with Reg. I know this is a lot older than you are looking for, but i still see a lot of these on the road which can only say good things about the reliability.

But have to agree......Corolla's and Camry's are very reliable cars.

iseekool Veteran

iseekool

Posted
Posted

Hmmm, how exactly do I keep an eye on them? Watch for the engine light and listen for knocking? How would I notice if the variable length intake manifold (didn't know it had one btw lol) is playing up? Sorry for the qs.

$4700, I'm imagining we'll be using this car for a long long time though. It's so comfortable, easily enough grunt to pull a trailer on a freeway, just nice to cruise in. I just have to make sure to keep up the amorall and waxing etc to keep it in good shape. Will probably change all fluids over the next 20k km, just so I know what's in there. Might be worth putting a transmission cooler on too.

How's the soarer going?

LOL - Sorry. What I meant was, these are things that commonly go wrong with these cars, probably have some spares handy - so if any go bung, just replace them - or replace them now as pre-emptive maintenance :)

Regarding the variable intake length manifold - It's just something to be aware of - as the issue seems to "confuse" mechanics into thinking the issue is something else.

Galois Veteran

Galois

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I just bought a 1990 Camry for a cheap daily. Cost me $600 with Reg. I know this is a lot older than you are looking for, but i still see a lot of these on the road which can only say good things about the reliability.

But have to agree......Corolla's and Camry's are very reliable cars.

Nice buy, there are plenty on the road. Did you go the I4 or the v6? Auto or manual. My grandmother had one of these before she passed. It sat in our driveway for 2 years untouched. When a wrecker came to pick it up, he hooked up a battery and it started on the second tickover... THE SECOND. Quicker than my skyline at the time, than either of my cars now. I couldn't believe it. He then put into Drive, and off he went onto his car-towing trailer.

i've learnt to drive at gear 4, 3500rpm,

and gear 5, 2800rpm

What speeds are these? The appropriate ones for your local speed cameras I guess? haha

LOL - Sorry. What I meant was, these are things that commonly go wrong with these cars, probably have some spares handy - so if any go bung, just replace them - or replace them now as pre-emptive maintenance :)

Regarding the variable intake length manifold - It's just something to be aware of - as the issue seems to "confuse" mechanics into thinking the issue is something else.

Ahh cheers mate. Only issue at the moment is the overdrive light, which is apparently a fuse. Oh, and also the towbar has some surface rust. Common problem, will take it off and either try to fix it myself or get a pro to sandblast and re-paint it (not paint, whatever that tough rubber stuff it).

Any suggestions on who might be able to do this?

SoFreshSoClean Proficient

SoFreshSoClean

Posted
Posted (edited)

I had an SV21 2.0 manual for my first car. It was red so it went faster.

Put a 3k sound system in it, lol.

Thrashed the absolute balls off it, put cheap 20W50 in it. Engine never complained once. Blew the gearbox dropping 2nd like a sikkunt p-plater haha :P $400 to replace, no biggie!

Mum even kept it after I was done with it, after 250,000 ks the suspension was pretty shagged, think it developed a power steering leak too but it still ran perfectly! To this day its still the comfiest car I ever owned. (Better than the BA Fairmont Ghia I had for a while)

Sold it for 2.5k to some schmuck :thumbsup:

TOYO0038.jpg?aspect=Default

What a machine!! :rofl2:

Edited by SoFreshSoClean
Silvia GTR Mentor

Silvia GTR

Posted
Posted

probably the biggest issue is more if it's been owned by someone who doesn't get it serviced as often as they should

As regards to all cars, this. I did an oil change on my mates, mates camry that had not been changed in over year.....yucky.gifwacko.gif

Galois Veteran

Galois

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I had an SV21 2.0 manual for my first car. It was red so it went faster.

Put a 3k sound system in it, lol.

Thrashed the absolute balls off it, put cheap 20W50 in it. Engine never complained once. Blew the gearbox dropping 2nd like a sikkunt p-plater haha :P $400 to replace, no biggie!

Mum even kept it after I was done with it, after 250,000 ks the suspension was pretty shagged, think it developed a power steering leak too but it still ran perfectly! To this day its still the comfiest car I ever owned. (Better than the BA Fairmont Ghia I had for a while)

Sold it for 2.5k to some schmuck :thumbsup:

TOYO0038.jpg?aspect=Default

What a machine!! :rofl2:

You got 2.5k for that?!?!?! Schmuck indeed!

As regards to all cars, this. I did an oil change on my mates, mates camry that had not been changed in over year.....yucky.gifwacko.gif

True, that's why I went for the one that I did. Had 190k km but looked immaculate, had good service history, and the engine bay was greasy enough that it hadn't had a clean but not a hint of an oil leak. Was much better than all the others we'd seen which all had far less kms

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