Putting Camry on Injured Reserve!

[curtisz]

So I have decided to put the Camry out-of-commission for a bit. I am purchasing an 08 Corolla today.

The Camry has started to lose quite a bit of coolant while driving, and I have been having issues finding the leak. There is nothing leaking on the ground (other than a couple known oil leaks). I have on a couple of occassions noticed steam accumulating on the intake side of the engine compartment after driving the car on the Interstate. Since I had the car (2 years), I have occasionally noted slight amounts of water on the inside of the oil filler cap, but I have never had any noticeable amounts of water in the pan after an oil change. Also the last couple of oil changes have left me worried. I found part of what I can only describe as a very small plastic-like sleeve in my oil two changes ago. Last oil change had a few really small chunks of metal in there, and the one I did this last weekend proved to have a few more.

I just cannot keep using the car as my daily commuter, because I put in between a quarter to a third of a gallon of coolant after a one-way commute (52 miles one way). I usually have to cross my fingers on my return trip when the weather is warmer. The car runs pretty darn hot on a 80+ day.

I would like to keep the Camry and swap a new engine in it, but I have been wondering if it is worth it. The front of the car is bent slightly. It is also not the prettiest in the world. Should I keep 'er on the road? Should I part her out?

[es250nut]

Wagon eh? Well from a practical standpoint, if the bend you are referring to affects the handling or the wear on your tires (bent frame), I would suggest letting it go.

If it's just cosmetic and you don't mind doing a bit of wrench work, you can get a decent JDM 3sfe for around $500. They usally come with a 12 month unlimited mileage warranty if you replace the timing belt, seals and thermostat. (+$150)

I consider our wagon the most practical car we have, it is great for most everything, and it actually looks good doing it. My neighbor has one of our previous Camrys (87 LE sedan we sold him when I got my ES250) and now he is thinking he wants a wagon, so he doesn't have to take the truck anytime he goes to the hardware store.

[curtisz]

Well, the handling and tire wear on the car was horrible until I replaced the bushings on the LCA's and the ball joints. I put brand new 80k tires on it last month, and I have not noticed any unusual wear on the vehicle's tires since. The radiator support is what is mostly bent out of shape. It had actually busted away from the frame on the driver side. The radiator does not sit quite right on the support, and the lights/grill don't fit well either (the grill is wired in). I am also thinking that the sides are bent in slightly. The nose trim does not sit right, and the hood hangs over the driver side fender slightly, but looks proper on the passenger side. I can take a few pictures of the radiator support area and how the hood sits, if anyone is interested.






*EDIT for idiocy!*

[es250nut]

Sounds like it's a simple matter of fixing the upper geometry. I've been known to use 2x4's and jacks to fix this kind of problem. if you use the corner on the passenger side firewall to brace against you might be able to push the drivers side front corner back into place.

I had an 87' that was stolen from an acquaintance that was run sideways into a concrete barrier and spun around by the thief who stole it. After getting it back he sold it to me for $500. I caught a ride to Portland intending to drive it back. The hood would not latch due to the misalignment of the front and the same was true of the trunk. He was totally dumbfounded when I took the jack out of the trunk grabbed a few 2x4's and proceeded to straighten both the front and rear ends enough to get both to close and latch in just a few minutes.

One other thought, for the most part, misaligned body panels if they don't have creases caused by being damaged will tend to try to revert to their "normal" shape, so if you unbolt the fender along the top and the fender springs outward enough for the hood to clear, then you can use the technique I talked about above to push the inside fender wall so the bolt holes line up. You might use a hammer to try and straighten the radiator support as you are doing this, otherwise it will try to pull the fenders inward as you note.

[curtisz]

I wonder how hard replacing the radiator support would be? I was looking at picking up an 87 parts Camry with a damaged back-end. It has a professionally transplanted Celica engine (not sure if it is the 3SGE or the 3SFE the owner is checking his records).