Just purchased 88 camry all trac, tire size question.

[Ten_and_Two]

I'm a proud owner of a 88 Camry All-Trac. Gold in color, 3s-fe, 245,000 miles, 75,000 on remanufactured engine, 5 speed with some weird maroonish brownish interior. Picked it up from my cousin for $600.00, not sure if it was a steal, a ripoff, or just a decent deal.



Anyways, i have a few questions.

1. On cold startup, there is a little engine chatter for maybe a second till the oil pressure raises then it's gone. My father said that possible the rod or main bearings were a little loose and until the oil pressure raises they slap around a little. He said as long as I don't abuse the car that shouldn't give me any trouble for a while. Anyone else have similar problems?

2. I want to replace the struts and was wondering if it is difficult to find the rear struts. Some of the local auto parts store didn't have them but I haven't checked a Toyota dealership yet. I've read that they are the same struts used on the first generation Celica All-Trac, can anyone verify this?

3. Finally, a long one. This has to do with tire sizes and i'm kinda pissed at myself for this one. Earlier today I was working on my Celica fixing the front breaks when I had the brilliant idea of seeing how my celica wheels would look on the camry, I figured what the hell I already have two of them off... They looked nice so after finishing up I was driving to my girlfriends when it dawned on me, crap, two of the tires are 225/50/15's and the other two are 205/50/15's. Originally bought the 225's for the rear of my celica to widen the stance just a little and of course they rubbed on the struts so i had to put them up front. On the celica this didn't really hurt anything but on the all-trac, well you know the dilemma. It was about ten miles to the gf's and I took it slow on the way back, did around 40 to 45 the whole way, whether that helped my situation I don't know. I did the calculations at http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html and the 225's are 8/10ths of a inch taller therefor turn about 30 times less per mile. Now for the questions.
3a. Do you think any harm could have been done from a 20 mile trip. I have a feeling it could.
3b. With 245,000 miles on the drivetrain do you think it's already pretty worn out?
3c. How would one know if any harm was done?

Thanks for taking the time to read and any answers would be greatly appreciated. And if your gonna mouth me for making this mistake, please take your comments elsewhere cause no one really cares to hear them.

[fredk]

1 yes, most of us do
2 yes they are hard to find
3 put all the same size tires on it and go see if the 4 wheel drive still is ok

[white90dx]

1. Yup, that's normal for the 3s-fe. Make sure to use a stock sized oil filter to minimize the problem...

2. Rear struts are expensive. They are available from the dealer and will cost almost as much as you paid for the car to get a pair... Celica Alltrac parts should fit, other than possibly the brake line bracket, but I'm not 100% sure.

3. The drivetrain is fine. You wore the center diff more while driving this way, but it shouldn't be significant. Don't continue driving this way though... Also, make sure the tires you have on there are very close to equal in treadwear and you keep rotating them often.

-Charlie

[Ten_and_Two]

Thanks for the responses. Do you know what the chatter most likely is, not that it really matters too much. Is it something in the lower end or the top end? Shame about the struts being so exspensive, guess I wont be replacing them for a while.

And yea, I put the original wheels right back on as soon as I got home, nothing like swapping 8 tires at midnight with nothing but the factory scissor jack and a barely working floor jack. Also the tires that came with the car were fairly new and all the tread is the same, another plus for the cheap price.

From the information I gave about the car does it seem like an okay deal? I will post some more pictures when I get the chance if anyone cares to see them.

One other question sorry. I noticed the other day that when I open the driver side door, there are a few relay sounding clicks, and as I push the door open and pull it closed it clicks more as I move it. The window buttons and lock only work when the door is close to being fully closed, and the seat belt does not move. It was coming from a box under the center console that said "Seatbelt Warning". Any ideas?

[white90dx]

Originally Posted by Ten_and_Two

Thanks for the responses. Do you know what the chatter most likely is, not that it really matters too much. Is it something in the lower end or the top end? Shame about the struts being so exspensive, guess I wont be replacing them for a while.

And yea, I put the original wheels right back on as soon as I got home, nothing like swapping 8 tires at midnight with nothing but the factory scissor jack and a barely working floor jack. Also the tires that came with the car were fairly new and all the tread is the same, another plus for the cheap price.

From the information I gave about the car does it seem like an okay deal? I will post some more pictures when I get the chance if anyone cares to see them.

One other question sorry. I noticed the other day that when I open the driver side door, there are a few relay sounding clicks, and as I push the door open and pull it closed it clicks more as I move it. The window buttons and lock only work when the door is close to being fully closed, and the seat belt does not move. It was coming from a box under the center console that said "Seatbelt Warning". Any ideas?

The chatter is most likely the bottom end. My first Camry was perfectly fine at 267k miles (when I crashed it) and it did it the whole life of the motor...

It does sound like you got a pretty good deal. With the rust issues I see, I bet it was really worth maybe $1-1.5k? The Alltracs are rare and people are willing to pay a bit more for them...

There is a post up in the stickies by Dr. J that explains some about the seatbelt system. It sounds like you have some problem wires in the door harness, and possibly the seatbelt track is stuck.

-Charlie