My "New" 91 Camry DX

[oobert]

I just recently purchased a white 1991 Camry DX. It has 116,000 miles, and it seemed to be in pretty decent condition. My family has always had toyotas, and my grandpa actually had a 91 V6 LE, so I remember the car fairly well. My brother's got a gen 3 94 camry, that just rolled over 200 k, and my parents have a 02 tacoma, and a 05 4runner.

This is the first car I've bought with my own money so I'm pretty excited. I've always had an interest in cars, but I'm nervous about taking anything apart and I don't really have the know how to do so.

Some things that need fixing:



Both corner lamps are broken (one's out of the car, and the other's glass shield is busted). It's probably been in an accident since the front grille is a little bit shifted along with the lights.



Missing radio / broken bezel. I ordered a headunit / wiring kit so that should be coming in the mail soon. It's really weird not being able to listen to music, but at least I get to listen to the car for any weird noises.



Broken temperature gauge. This one actually concerns me. I want to kind of take the cluster apart to see if maybe a gear's broken or maybe the sensor's gone bad, but I don't know how to do either of these things. Do you guys know if there's a write-up on this?

I also wanted to look into getting a tachometer for my car. I know it's an automatic, but I think it would be nice to know around what rev range my car's in while I'm cruising. It's pretty fuel efficient, so I'm happy. I've seen some people switching out gauge clusters and I was hoping to see if there was a write-up on this too.

Oh, and the light for the Drive gear on the PRND2L display is out.




The engine bay's a little messy, and I have this weird 'pin-stripe' paint job. Was this factory?



I just graduated from college (well, technically still in the process of getting my senior thesis completed), but I hope this car will last me a while until I start making some money to buy.... well probably another toyota.

Honestly, I'm very happy with the car, and I love it. I just want to make sure it lasts! Mine actually has power windows/ locks and a light-up ignition ring.

Thanks guys, hopefully I'll be on the board NOT asking a ton of repair questions

[Justin727]

Congrats on the buy!!!

I actually oddly enough bought mine in January w/ 116k on the clock..

Temp gauge is probably the temp sender on the block. The drive indicator is probably the little bulb. 194
gotta take out the whole center console to get to it. Sounds worse then it is but just a few screws.

look for a tachometer out of another V6 camry.. Mine came factory with one. Thats just a matter of a few screws too. The cluster is plug and play.

Those corner lamps are cheap hit up ebay..


But some other things that may need to be replaced or will because of mileage
Toyota Timing belt
Water pump
Cam and Crank seals
tensioners, idlers
Drive belts
get a felpro Valve cover gasket set
Spark plugs Denso/NGK
Toyota spark plug wires or Denso
Toyota Cap
Toyota Rotor

Of course fresh coolant
Transmission Fluid Dex III drain and fill
Differential drain and fill Dex III
Power steering flush Dex III

i'm sure there are somethings I have missed but i've done all that on my car since I've owned it.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Timin...Q5fAccessories
sparkplugs.com
and a toyota dealer that'll give you good "hook up" prices. I recomend champion Toyota out of Houston, Tx

btw if you get that setup up i posted in the ebay link you've just knocked up most of what i have listed besides a tune up and transmission service!

[oobert]

Originally Posted by Justin727

Congrats on the buy!!!

I actually oddly enough bought mine in January w/ 116k on the clock..

Temp gauge is probably the temp sender on the block. The drive indicator is probably the little bulb. 194
gotta take out the whole center console to get to it. Sounds worse then it is but just a few screws.

look for a tachometer out of another V6 camry.. Mine came factory with one. Thats just a matter of a few screws too. The cluster is plug and play.

Those corner lamps are cheap hit up ebay..


But some other things that may need to be replaced or will because of mileage
Toyota Timing belt
Water pump
Cam and Crank seals
tensioners, idlers
Drive belts
get a felpro Valve cover gasket set
Spark plugs Denso/NGK
Toyota spark plug wires or Denso
Toyota Cap
Toyota Rotor

Of course fresh coolant
Transmission Fluid Dex III drain and fill
Differential drain and fill Dex III
Power steering flush Dex III

i'm sure there are somethings I have missed but i've done all that on my car since I've owned it.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Timing-Belt-Kit-Toyota-Camry-1987-1988-1989-1990-1991_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em14Q2e l1262QQhashZitem27a919774cQQitemZ170340742988QQptZ MotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories
sparkplugs.com
and a toyota dealer that'll give you good "hook up" prices. I recomend champion Toyota out of Houston, Tx

btw if you get that setup up i posted in the ebay link you've just knocked up most of what i have listed besides a tune up and transmission service!

Thanks for the info !

That ebay link is pretty intimidating, but I ordered a Factory Service Manual. I hope that'll help me out. I also need to get my own set of tools (i'm a noob at this). but it'll be a great learning experience.

I think there may be something wrong with the idle. After a week's worth of driving, I've noticed that the car seems to stall at a stop, but it only happens sometimes (this is an automatic transmission, mind you). I asked the original owner about this, and he told me to turn off the a/c and it shouldn't do that, and I've been doing this whenever I come to a stop and it works. I'm sure it's just a temporary fix though. I guess the a/c draws too much power and the engine isn't compensating for it?

I've looked this up online, and I think people were saying it's either the IAC valve or it was a temperature sensor somewhere. I tried checking the throttle cable and it seems like it's tight enough so that it's not bogging down the idle.

[Jimnist]

Originally Posted by Justin727

Congrats on the buy!!!

I actually oddly enough bought mine in January w/ 116k on the clock..

Temp gauge is probably the temp sender on the block. The drive indicator is probably the little bulb. 194
gotta take out the whole center console to get to it. Sounds worse then it is but just a few screws.

look for a tachometer out of another V6 camry.. Mine came factory with one. Thats just a matter of a few screws too. The cluster is plug and play.

Look for a i4 Camry dash; the v6 dash won't be accurate as it gets the rpm from the ignition pulses. Pulses from the v6 are different to an i4.

[Justin727]

Originally Posted by oobert

Thanks for the info !

That ebay link is pretty intimidating, but I ordered a Factory Service Manual. I hope that'll help me out. I also need to get my own set of tools (i'm a noob at this). but it'll be a great learning experience.

I think there may be something wrong with the idle. After a week's worth of driving, I've noticed that the car seems to stall at a stop, but it only happens sometimes (this is an automatic transmission, mind you). I asked the original owner about this, and he told me to turn off the a/c and it shouldn't do that, and I've been doing this whenever I come to a stop and it works. I'm sure it's just a temporary fix though. I guess the a/c draws too much power and the engine isn't compensating for it?

I've looked this up online, and I think people were saying it's either the IAC valve or it was a temperature sensor somewhere. I tried checking the throttle cable and it seems like it's tight enough so that it's not bogging down the idle.

Check for loose or broken vacuum lines. Then Get some carb cleaner and take off the intake boot. With an old toothbrush spray and brush the throttle plate then wipe it down.
Also do a tune up.. Very simple things to do for a first time mechanic and it shouldn't be too terribly hard. Even a simple Coolant drain and refill will be fine and the same goes for the transmission fluid.

Then when you feel comfortable enough then you can try the timing belt. Its not too bad for the 4 cylinder models.

Jimnist thank you for the information!


Edit: hit up sears and catch a big set for sale for a reasonable price! Decent tools

[oobert]

Originally Posted by Justin727

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Timing-Belt-Kit-Toyota-Camry-1987-1988-1989-1990-1991_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em14Q2e l1262QQhashZitem27a919774cQQitemZ170340742988QQptZ MotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories
sparkplugs.com
and a toyota dealer that'll give you good "hook up" prices. I recomend champion Toyota out of Houston, Tx

btw if you get that setup up i posted in the ebay link you've just knocked up most of what i have listed besides a tune up and transmission service!

I was just wondering if you had any experience with these parts from ebay. Are those parts considered pretty reliable when compared to stock toyota parts? I heard that toyota parts are pretty well-engineered, so I was just wondering if these other parts were the same thing in terms of build quality and reliability.

[Justin727]

The parts listed in that paticular link are qaulity parts. As the rest of ebay I cannot tell ya..

I myself usually do Toyota only parts as I do get them at discount. But if you're on a budget then you'll do just as good as the parts in that paticular auction.