Issues I need help with:(

[burninator409]

1988 Toyota Camry, 3S-FE, 253,xxxmiles, 5-speed.
This is my first car, and as of now I plan on keeping it forever, as it has a lot of sentimental value.
anyway, these are the issues I am currently having and would greatly appreciate any input.

The car has been totaled before I bought, front left frame leg appears to be bent, no noticeable affects.

1. sunroof leaks
easy enough, I have narrowed the problem to needing shims to make the seal flush with the roof, but why is it no longer flush? is my roof warped? whats the best way to fix it?

2. Engine a little iffy
Changed the Timing belt and pulleys last year, took until March of this year to get right. Skipped teeth while changing because I didn't have an impact gun. I think its there, but when first started up it bogs down. Replaced the Throttle Position sensor from a later model 3s-fe, because it threw a code.

3. P/S belt looks to be rubbing against plastic timing belt cover
Not sure, although it looks like I forgot to put a nut on the other side of the motor mount, so the engine has some wiggle room.

4. brakes violently squeak when the wheel is turned.

5. grinding/clicky noise when turning
pretty sure its the cv joint, but the boots aren't torn.

6. bouncing idle
mostly while braking

CLIFF NOTES:

88 camry 3S-FE, 5-spd, 253xxx mis

P/S belt rubbing against timing belt cover,
brakes violently squeak when turning and breaking,
bouncing idle, mostly while breaking,
where to get parts for engine rebuild?

[zythr]

This is a car you want to keep forever? Seems like you have some work ahead of you. Sunroof, if you look at the General Discussions section here on this website, you'll see what some members have to say about it. As for the other things, if you can get a hold of a service manual. It will help with some if not all the issues your facing. Good luck

[white90dx]

Bent front frame rails is pretty serious on the gen2 Camry... The front bottom of the rail holds a suspension mount that can compromise the suspension geometry.

All of the problems you mention are fixable (other than maybe the frame...) - but we will probably need more info to really get to the bottom of it. Just attack each one by itself.

Here are a few suggestions though:

4. Check the brakes - pad life, slider pins/brackets, rotors. Might also be caused by worn wheel bearings.

5. Replace both front axles. They are cheap to get rebuild ones from Autozone or wherever.

6. Clean the throttle body and idle air controller, and make sure the engine is in otherwise good shape.

-Charlie

[89Camry89]

Like others have said, the bent frame is a difficult thing to overcome. If you aren't worried about that, then...



After rain, water falls out from the headliner where it meets the front corner. Others have mentioned searching the forum, there are drains beneath the outer seal (open the window and look). Those drains can get clogged. I suspect that is the problem with mine and I plan to investigate soon. Also, I have to help my moon roof close. It needs me to help push up on it for the last bit of travel. The motor doesn't have enough strength to get it closed tightly on its own. In addition to pushing on it, I tap the button a few times until it is truly seated. Once or twice may not be enough, 3 or 4 usually is.


I am not sure what difference the impact gun would make with teeth on a timing belt job. Do you mean you sheared new teeth off of the belt while torquing the crank gear nut?

There are timing marks on the cam shaft gear and a mark on the crankshaft as I recall. After you get the timing belt on and tensioned, but before you put everything back together; manually turn the crankshaft over two revolutions, or 720 degrees. If everything is in proper time, then all of the timing marks should be lined up once again. Two revolutions of the crankshaft should be one revolution of the camshaft. If the marks don't line up after this test, start over.

Years ago when my timing belt failed, the way it failed was that enough consecutive teeth were sheared off of the belt to allow the crankshaft to spin freely inside the belt. There were missing teeth all along the belt, but 10 or so around the crank gear. If your belt is not intact, I would strongly consider doing it over.


If a belt is rubbing the plastic, I would go over everything carefully and see if anything was assembled out of sequence. It's been a long time since I did that job, but it seems like there were different layers of bolts that went through the same shrouds. You can throw something off by putting in certain bolts too soon.


Inspect the brakes visually. You can have a wheel and caliper off within about 15-20 minutes. Is the pad intact? Is it grinding metal against metal? Is it the wear indicator? Is the piston dirty or jammed and not releasing pressure on the brake pad? Are the pads worn evenly or is one of them much more worn?


If it is clicking, I would say that pretty much has to be a drive axle (CV joint). They are probably around $65-$85 each for DIY. On my model, I needed a slide hammer to pull the driver side out of the gearbox because there is a compression ring on the end of the inner spline. The other side does not work that way. Mine is a 1989 with automatic.

If it is a grinding sound, then I don't really know. Presumably something is rubbing?


Not sure about the bouncing description. If you are not sure about a motor mount, I would get in there to fix it / bolt it on properly. I have had rough idle from time to time and that kind of bounces things around. If you mean it is funky while braking, are your rotors ok? Are they warped? If your pads are not right, then it opens some possibilities for your rotors. If they are warped the car tends to do kind of the opposite of lurching but in a rhythmic pattern. It is in sync with the wheel revolutions. A certain points in the rotation the friction may be greater because the rotor thickness is wider than everywhere else. For the moment that passes the brake pads the car stops harder.

Worn distributor contacts can make it run roughly.