'97 Camry, A Couple of Questions

Hi everyone, I think its about time to replace the brakes on my 97 Camry LE and I was wondering if this is a task which I could undertake myself or would you recommend I take it in? I'm fairly decent with my hands and I know how to change the oil on my car and perform other routine stuff with ease. I even replaced the radiator in the car about a year ago when I noticed it had a couple of cracks in it.

So do you guys think this is a job I can complete with the help of my Hanes manual?


Also, about 3 days ago my blinker started acting funny. Since forever it had been blinking at what I consider a normal speed until about 4 days ago. Now whenever I turn right it blinks at about twice the speed with which it use to. The left blinker is still clicking at a normal pace. Is this some sort of short going on in there or is this something I can fix? Its really annoying me because I'm not sure if there is something actually wrong with my car but it doesn't sound normal.

So to summarize, my right blinker is now clicking at twice the speed as my left blinker, can this be fixed?

The brakes are an easy job. Just do one back one at a time so you remember where all of the parts go. Look closely and you will see that the two sides are kind of backwards from each other. The fast blinker means that you have a bulb out on that side, either front or rear one.

Well I checked my lights and none of my bulbs are out. Is there anything else that can be causing the fast blinker?

Also, I'm new to this brake changing thing, I know I'm going to change my pads in the front because thats whats squeaking but do you also replace the drum (I think thats what its called) in the back? My particular model doesn't have pads in the back.

Fast blinker could also be the flasher going bad. The flasher according to autozone is located: "Front seating area, driver side, driver side of steering column, mounted in corner behind instrument panel". As for the rear brakes on my 91 they wear at about 1/2 the rate as the front pads due. You can always pull the drums and check the brake condition to decide if they need work or not.

Ditto on the flasher. As for the brakes here's a little terminology 101. The front brakes are termed disk brakes. These consist of a rotor, also called a disk, that provides the braking surface the front brake pads rub against to stop the car. Pressure is applied to the pads by a piston in the caliper that the pads are mounted to. The rear brakes are called drum brakes. These consist of a round drum that provides the braking surface the rear brake shoes rub against to stop the car. Pressure is applied to the brake shoes via the rear brake cylinder mounted inside the drum.

Rotors and drums are manufactred to a specific thickness. It is the remaining thickness that determines if a rotor or drum has to be replaced. The minimum thickness is usually stamped on the rotor or drum. It's usually in the .200 to .300 range. If the measured thickness is less than that minimum, the rotor or drum must be replaced. Any repair shop that works on brakes can measure the thickness for you and tell you if you need new ones. They will measure from the bottom of the deepest grove that may be worn in the rotor or drum surface to the bottom of the deepest groove on the other side.

This is a preliminary step in resurfacing, also called turning the drum or disk. You should always have this done before installing new pads or shoes. Some say you should even turn new rotors and drums. Turning means mounting it on a lathe and shaving metal off the surface to return it to a smooth flat surface. This gets rid of any grooves worn in the surface, any glazing that has formed, and can remove the warp in a slightly warped rotor.

A digital still or video camera can help in your situation. Take pics of the brakes before you start taking them apart. You can then use the pics as a reference when you reassemble them. Cheers.

In this car, fast flashers are often caused by defective bulbs, even if they are working. They are dual filament and one of the filaments could be bad. Had this on a 96 and 2 98's, and bulb change cured it.

my reply might be late, i had the fast flasher problem on my 99 camry ce too. I removed the signal bulb and reattach again, it fix the problem. Although the problem comes back again after some time :)

Guess I should check the filament, although I duno what is that, will find out myself


99 camry ce

Bulbs can trigger that light right off the shelf. I bought a number of bad bulbs from an autoparts store and all were bad - cracked insulator. They worked but caused warning light. Buying a different brand bulb solved the problem.