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Old 08-24-2005, 11:18 PM   #1
cycosurfer
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Smile 1991 Toyota Camry that keeps going and going

Fortunately this time on this post there isn't anything wrong with my car. I'm just wanting to know how other people are faring with their Camry's. My car has 189,998 miles on it and it is running like a charm; all the things that I believe need to be replaced have been. I'm not going to be able to invest in another car for a while since I'm in college. Therefore, I'm going to need this car to last close to forever until I get a good job with some formidable income. I was wondering how long other people here have had their Camry's last. And, if there are any tips you could suggest for me to keep this thing running like the energizer bunny..

*Constant oil changes (Every 3k or 3.5k mi)
*Timing belt replaced at 180,000
*Transmission filter changed at 160,000
*New Platinum Spark Plugs at 165,000
*Air filter changed at 175,000 miles and still very clean


Compression ratios on all the cylinders were great...

Still gets me 26-30 mpg...

Do you guys think there's anything else I can do to make my engine happier?

2.0L I4 EFI
Camry Deluxe

Last edited by cycosurfer; 08-25-2005 at 02:44 PM.
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Old 08-25-2005, 05:44 PM   #2
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Cool

*Add an auxiliary transmission cooler. Pick a core up at a junkyard for $5-15usd, two 5/16" brass T fittings, 8 small hose clamps, zip ties, 5/16" oil hose.
*Flush the transmission fluid every other year, or drain the pan every other oil change.
*Change the oil every 5,000miles - 6 months for dino oil, 7500-10,000 miles - 10 months for good synthetics.
*Clean oil pan & screen, transmission pan & screen & change transmission filter every 5 years.
*Rotate tires every oil change, twice if you're using a long life synthetic.
*Clean the inside of the upper portion of the intake manifold, throttle plate, ISC/IAC valve(idle valve), and EGR valve yearly.
*Change differential fluid every four years.
*Flush the brake system with fresh dot3, dot4, or dot4+/Dot5.1 every three years.
*Change the fluid in the power steering reservoir every year, or flush the power steering system every other year.
*Flush the cooling system every other year, or drain yearly.
*Change radiator cap<s> & thermostat every 5 years.
*Change PCV valve every 5 years.
*Change o2 sensor<s> before 100,000 miles accumulates.
*Change cat convertor before 100,000 miles accumulates.
*Change distributor cap & rotor every other spark plug change (120,000 miles).
*Check belts yearly, change belts when needed, change all belts (including timing belt) every 90,000 miles. Replace the water pump every other timing belt change.


Otherwise, just keep track of things. Like CV boots, things you need to grease, seals that can leak etc.



*Use only NGK, or Denso spark plugs. Might as well be the generic $1 versions, as they last over the specified change time.
*If spark plug wires ever become damaged, only replace with OEM wires, or high quality wires.
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Old 08-25-2005, 07:08 PM   #3
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Re: 1991 Toyota Camry that keeps going and going

Also,
lightly spray your CV boots with silicone lubricant when you're under the car for each oil change. Get as much of the surface shiny as you can. They will last a long time.

Pay attention to the body lube points and check the torque the chassis bolts as recommended by Toyota.

Make sure you use a high quality air filter. Some are very coarse and let in alot of abrasive dust. They do this in the name of high-performance, but other real hp filters are much better. Oil-wetted elements are the best (AMSOIL, TRD, etc). They actually trap the dust in the oil and prevent it from bouncing off the filter element.

Wash off the bottom of the car, wheel wells, bottom of engine compartment, etc a couple of times after salt exposure in the winter. As long as it's really cold, the salt is not too harmful. Once it has warmed above freezing, wash it off as soon as you can, at least once.

Wax your paint at least once a year before winter. More often is better. Use a good quality wax (I like Meguires, but there are alot of good ones).

Get the carbon out of your combustion chambers periodically - maybe every 100k or so. SeaFoam is quite good for this. Adding some to the gas (or Techron) once in a while is a good idea to minimize deposits on the injectors.

Watch all your fluid levels often. Even if they never change, if one of them suddenly start dropping, it is much better to catch it now than when something starts making noise.

To state the obvious: Drive your car like you want it to last. Everything else being equal, the harder you drive it, the less miles it will have in it.
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Old 08-27-2005, 01:45 AM   #4
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My 1991 Camry is actually fine, but I don't have the money to keep up after it. I need new spark plugs... need to get the tires rotated and get one wheel replaced with one that I got because the old one wobbles... I think it could use a new alternator and battery and after that... oil change, new struts, balance wheels, alignment. But most of that will come with getting the tires rotated. By the way it has 140,000 miles on it. I honestly love my Camry, and if I could have one car in the world, it'd be a Ferrari, but since I'm so poor, Camry.
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Old 08-28-2005, 02:24 AM   #5
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I used to have an 87 Camry 4-cyl, auto trans and I kept it for 15 years. It had about 186,000 miles on it if memory serves and I still miss it to this day. I did all the things you are doing, especially changing the oil and filter religiously every 3,000 miles, and doing everything else on schedule and this kept it on the road for all those years. Preventive maintenance is always the key to happiness. You're doing the right things so I hope you enjoy many more miles of happy motoring.
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Old 08-28-2005, 03:00 PM   #6
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Re: Re: 1991 Toyota Camry that keeps going and going

Hi, Brian -
Where are the "body lube points".
I haven't seen grease fittings under mine, although perhaps they're coated with crud..
lightly spray your CV boots with silicone lubricant when you're under the car for each oil change. Get as much of the surface shiny as you can. They will last a long time.

Pay attention to the body lube points and check the torque the chassis bolts as recommended by Toyota.

Make sure you use a high quality air filter. Some are very coarse and let in alot of abrasive dust. They do this in the name of high-performance, but other real hp filters are much better. Oil-wetted elements are the best (AMSOIL, TRD, etc). They actually trap the dust in the oil and prevent it from bouncing off the filter element.

Wash off the bottom of the car, wheel wells, bottom of engine compartment, etc a couple of times after salt exposure in the winter. As long as it's really cold, the salt is not too harmful. Once it has warmed above freezing, wash it off as soon as you can, at least once.

Wax your paint at least once a year before winter. More often is better. Use a good quality wax (I like Meguires, but there are alot of good ones).

Get the carbon out of your combustion chambers periodically - maybe every 100k or so. SeaFoam is quite good for this. Adding some to the gas (or Techron) once in a while is a good idea to minimize deposits on the injectors.

Watch all your fluid levels often. Even if they never change, if one of them suddenly start dropping, it is much better to catch it now than when something starts making noise.

To state the obvious: Drive your car like you want it to last. Everything else being equal, the harder you drive it, the less miles it will have in it.[/quote]
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Old 08-28-2005, 04:23 PM   #7
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Re: 1991 Toyota Camry that keeps going and going

Chassis lube points (zerk fittings, etc) are where Toyota designates them. You will have to look them up. My intent was to call your attention to the need for the body lube points to be greased or whatever. They include door hinges, locks, trunk lock, etc.
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Old 11-04-2005, 09:11 AM   #8
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Good news

My car now has a tranny cooler installed. I'll continuously post how long the car is lasting... so far, 196,750 miles and counting....

by the way, I'm only curious, but what's the longest lasting (total mileage) camry that you have known of? or own? let me know....

Last edited by cycosurfer; 11-09-2005 at 10:46 PM.
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Old 12-20-2005, 09:45 AM   #9
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Re: Good news

Quote:
Originally Posted by cycosurfer
My car now has a tranny cooler installed. I'll continuously post how long the car is lasting... so far, 196,750 miles and counting....

by the way, I'm only curious, but what's the longest lasting (total mileage) camry that you have known of? or own? let me know....




I have read in the local new paper of one familly that has reached 600,000 thousand miles. the story was featured in the paper and they still drive the camry ( i beleive a 92) they love it .
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Old 12-21-2005, 09:01 AM   #10
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My 91 Camry only has 168,000 miles on it. I only drive it to the light rail station, so I don't put many miles on it now. For longer trips I use our 2002 Camry. I haven't had any problems with either car. I used to have an 85 too.
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Old 12-25-2005, 12:04 PM   #11
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My 88 I4 daily driver odometer reads 203870, and it's on its second tranny.

I'm going to install a tranny cooler before the spring.

The general rule of thumb is:

"Take care of the car and it will take care of you."

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Old 12-26-2005, 12:14 AM   #12
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Lightbulb Re: 1991 Toyota Camry that keeps going and going

Quote:
Originally Posted by Toyrolla
My 88 I4 daily driver odometer reads 203870, and it's on its second tranny.

I'm going to install a tranny cooler before the spring.

The general rule of thumb is:

"Take care of the car and it will take care of you."

I'm just replacing on my 1992 V6 camry, the timing belt, drive belts, dist. cap & rotor, new NGK plugs, new wires, new sealing on valve covers and oil pan and new water pump. I'm cleaning and coating areas for protection underneath and one area that hasn't been mentioned is the hydraulic and fuel lines running down the engine compartment firewall and along the bottom of the car on the drivers side. These lines have a protective cover with slots in it for drainage....put there to protect the lines from damage from stones, etc. In my part of the country...Ontario, Canada our roads are sanded and salted and this brine mixture with the sand grit becomes trapped between the protective cover and the bottom of the car and corrosion starts eating the lines away. This is my 2nd. camry...had a great 85. I oil inside the panels and underneath but this doesn't do much for these lines. I'm removing the cover and cleaning and coating the lines and cutting a 2-1/2 - 3 " piece of pvc lengthways.Than take a wax seal they use on toilet sealing installations, soften and coat the lines. You can paint them first with a tremclad and then coat. If you have space left fill the pvc with a grease....it sheds water and then cover the lines with the 1/2 pipe by attaching galvanized straps with galv. self tapping screws or use the old screws. For extra protection put on a coat of tremclad on the straps. If you want you can drill bottom holes every ft. or so to let out any H2O that may get in ...it will fall to the bottom. Pvc is one cover. You could have an aluminum piece rolled with flanges made by a window company. Probably many other possibilities.
These are critical lines and you can't see them unless you remove the cover. You may get an unwanted surprise. Can be checked each year or more often.
Some food for thought!
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Old 12-28-2005, 12:30 AM   #13
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Re: 1991 Toyota Camry that keeps going and going

Quote:
Originally Posted by shwshnk15
hi, im new to the site but i thought this was an interesting post, so i thought i'd respond too. i've also got a 91 camry deluxe v6, and i love it entirely. this really is a fantastic car. my family is the original owner of the car and we've babied it as much as possible. Currently our car is only at 93,000 miles and going strong. i keep up with the regular oil changes and tune ups, rotate the tires and check the fluids, but i dont know enough about cars to do anything else to it. i just thought i'd chyme in.

I posted this as it's own thread as well ...I felt it important enough to make owners aware if they live in the colder climates where sanding & salting occurs on the highways. If you live in this type of climate and these conditions ocurr i would strongly recommend taking a look at your covered lines.
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Old 01-06-2006, 02:03 PM   #14
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204,000 miles and still going strong...
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Old 01-07-2006, 12:36 PM   #15
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Got just over 205,500 miles on my 1990 V-6, but I don't think that is so terrific. It runs very well and is quiet, but I don't do anything special except keep up with any leaks and change the oil at 3k to 4k miles. I've seen a number of good tips in this thread. I recommend keeping the car away from shops unless absolutely necessary, and keeping parts OEM where practical.
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