Is it just me? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

WhippinCamry · 02-28-2011, 01:26 PM

Im almost ready to get rid of this car.
its just tooo damn slow. has anyone else had trouble keeping up with cars in traffic?

ive done alot of maintenince, new parts. everything.
cars still pretty slow. very annoying.

also had a tranny question.

ive changed, i would say 60-70 percent of the fluid. and filled with new fluid and lucas stabilizer for trannys. cause the car shifts hard into drive and reverse and sometimes into first from a stop.

didnt help.
tranny levels perfect 2 shops have said.

should i go for a filter change? its never been changed i dont beleive
car has 168 thousand miles on it.

i know it can ruin a old tranny but im sick of the way it jerks into drive and is just all around slow. exspecially out of when its it first gear.

nopain00 · 02-28-2011, 03:41 PM

How long have you had the car? Are you saying that it used to have enough power and you're noticing a drop recently, or that it's never been powerful.

I have the same car '91 Camry DX 3S-FE that I bought new. I haven't noticed a drastic drop in power over the years. I have no problem keeping up with highway traffic. I even tow a trailer with it occasionally, and don't notice a problem. It's not going to win any races, but for a daily commuter, it's fine.

blu_91_cam · 02-28-2011, 04:58 PM

If your comparing it to a modern car then yea it's slow. My sisters 2007 I4 feels just as fast as my 91 V6 but like nopain00 stated above I have no problems driving on and off the highway.

As for the tranny most people would suggest just a drain and fill on such a high mileage car. I haven't really heard anything about Lucas additives but I have used lubeguard product and it actually works pretty well no slipping and harsh engagements.

Kingdom934 · 02-28-2011, 05:28 PM

lol...my Gen1 is slow. I do have problems going up hill (maintaining 60 on inclines), but...thats just natural for the 2SE though I think. I gotta
have it kick in 3rd (OD off) to just hold the speed. Still gotta do other stuff thouguh

REgards with harsh shifting, did you do your transmission filter and fluid? Mines used to have a very hard time shifting into 3rd (it's an auto) when the car got hot. IT would just rev high in 2nd and when i let go of gas, it'll just drop in netrual. it'll take a few times to have it 'get' into 3rd and then 4th. A new transmission filter and a drain and refill fixed that

Check your motor mounts also. There are 4 (one on each side). Mines are all shot..so it's shaky in my car (a lot of viberbtion).

Hve you try checking if any brakes are dragging? (gotta lift the car and try rotate wheels by hand). check for any valcuum leaks also

WhippinCamry · 02-28-2011, 07:52 PM

ive had the car for about 7 months or so. and when i got it it was in rough shape.
fixed ALOT ALOT of things. runs good. idles sometimes has "rough" patches.

brand new tight 3mm vaccum silicone hoses also.
new tranny mount and front motor mount (to help the jerking) but didnt work.
mounts were not even broken.but replaced cause i was already in the shop with the parts.

rear brakes prolly are dragging. there due for pads. i hear a slight scraping. need to do that soon.and needs struts. primarly in the back.

otherwise its top condition.got the cold air intake and a dc sports hi flow muffler.

seems like the acceleration sucks in traffic. always got newer cars on my ass from lights. which tells me im not making much power lol.

also is it normal, when i advance the distributor slightly. i can tell the throttle gets harder (which is of course good) to press. but it idles a little rougher?

is that just a trade off? power for a rough idle. if so ill take it.
dont wanna run premium or anything. no ping or detination.
spark plugs are perfect.

Kingdom934 · 03-01-2011, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhippinCamry

ive had the car for about 7 months or so. and when i got it it was in rough shape.
fixed ALOT ALOT of things. runs good. idles sometimes has "rough" patches.

brand new tight 3mm vaccum silicone hoses also.
new tranny mount and front motor mount (to help the jerking) but didnt work.
mounts were not even broken.but replaced cause i was already in the shop with the parts.

rear brakes prolly are dragging. there due for pads. i hear a slight scraping. need to do that soon.and needs struts. primarly in the back.

otherwise its top condition.got the cold air intake and a dc sports hi flow muffler.

seems like the acceleration sucks in traffic. always got newer cars on my ass from lights. which tells me im not making much power lol.

also is it normal, when i advance the distributor slightly. i can tell the throttle gets harder (which is of course good) to press. but it idles a little rougher?

is that just a trade off? power for a rough idle. if so ill take it.
dont wanna run premium or anything. no ping or detination.
spark plugs are perfect.

Not sure if that helps the ignition timing by advancing it. For me, it toned down my engine noise but I had no power. Just left it as it was before.

Acceleration sucks for me...I always got a newer car on the back of me. Head lights shining in my eye due to these cars being 'lower' that most modern cars anyhow. Once I'm on the freeway though, I'm pretty set - until a massive hill comes. Good thing is that I'm driving slower since in my versa I always caught myself speeding lol

Naturally, the earllier 4cylinder Camry (esp the first and second generation) were pretty sluggish...again at the time they were good.

holmesnmanny · 03-01-2011, 02:34 AM

Check it out, bro. I've done a bunch of drain and fills to get around having to pay 90 for a flush and one thing I've found is that your fluid has to be exactly perfect. And for my car, perfect is halfway in between the marks in betwen the "hot fluid" marks. I'm not talking about the cold marks, those don't really help to get it right.

Fill up to around top mark(notch) and check it while it's hot. Then crack it open and let about a few ounces out. Then drive it. If it jerks while going into gear or reverse it's too high. Crack it and drain about 3 ounces or so more. Then drive it again. Keep doing this until you get it right.

Trust me, it has to be perfect or your car will slip going into overdrive, will not catch when coming out of curves and trying to get it to find the gear properly and so on.

Don't listen to anyone that say the fluid is right. As long as it's red just work on it being perfect.

WhippinCamry · 03-01-2011, 08:55 PM

drained good amount of fluid and still sluggin and jerking.
maybe filter. dunno...............?

holmesnmanny · 03-01-2011, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhippinCamry

drained good amount of fluid and still sluggin and jerking.
maybe filter. dunno...............?

Like I said, it's really easy to have either too little or even too much fluid. Make sure you only drain a couple ounces before driving and retesting. I can not stress "couple ounces" any more strongly. I haven't dropped by pan yet but certainly that could be a problem. It's really not hard. Duralast has a filter gasket combo for like 20 bucks. I wouldn't get a cork gasket since it can leak if you don't torque it perfectly. The duralast is rubber not cork.

'88 All-Trac · 03-01-2011, 10:25 PM

My mom's 4cyl was sluggish until I rodded out the rotten catalytic converter. It'll out-pull a new camry no problems...

WhippinCamry · 03-01-2011, 11:20 PM

will do. i drained some. no good. drained a little more. no good. drained some more a little less jerk when put into gear. so i drained a little more. and it stayed the same. and eventually seemed to go back to jerking hard as usuall.

i have noticed when its cold out. and or just in general. if i let the car warm up for a few mins. it doesnt jerk much when put into gear.............

and all trac id like to rod mine out. but no good tools!. might just have to buy a high flow one and put it in at the shop. no shops would rod mine. called all over lol.

'88 All-Trac · 03-02-2011, 12:38 AM

I used a carpenters hammer and a wide chisel. Took 20 minutes once it was out. Save the insides, recycling centers can pay pretty good for that stuff. Best offer for mine so far is 70 bucks. Big hunks of platinum-rich metals.

holmesnmanny · 03-02-2011, 01:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhippinCamry

will do. i drained some. no good. drained a little more. no good. drained some more a little less jerk when put into gear. so i drained a little more. and it stayed the same. and eventually seemed to go back to jerking hard as usuall.

i have noticed when its cold out. and or just in general. if i let the car warm up for a few mins. it doesnt jerk much when put into gear.............

and all trac id like to rod mine out. but no good tools!. might just have to buy a high flow one and put it in at the shop. no shops would rod mine. called all over lol.

lol you're supposed to have the car fully warmed up before checking. Also, you're supposed to check the fluid while the car is running. On Honda's you check the fluid with the car off. Make sure you drive around a bit before checking the fluid as it appears as the transmission heats up the fluid seems to want to rise. That's why there are two sets of notches. The two on the bottom of the dipstick are for cold start fluid checking and the two at the top are for hot fluid checking.

87CamryTan · 03-07-2011, 12:36 AM

Not sure if your car is rear disc or rear drum brakes but I had the same problem in my car, felt like something was dragging my car down it had no power at all. Took off rear drums and found my shoes and drums were covered in brake fluid and my brakes were not disengaging even when I wasn't pushing the brake. Replaced the rear wheel cylinders and had way more power. If their disc brakes the sliders may be stuck causing it to drag too.

Kingdom934 · 03-07-2011, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 87CamryTan

Not sure if your car is rear disc or rear drum brakes but I had the same problem in my car, felt like something was dragging my car down it had no power at all. Took off rear drums and found my shoes and drums were covered in brake fluid and my brakes were not disengaging even when I wasn't pushing the brake. Replaced the rear wheel cylinders and had way more power. If their disc brakes the sliders may be stuck causing it to drag too.

Brake fluid? geez. Were you noticing anything else wrong such as fluid lost also?

I gotta get this checked. Best way would to jack up each side of the car and give the wheel a spin to see how much it'll keep spinning. I highly think this is my problem also. It just feels like I'm driving a much heavier car. gotta give this a shot when the garage is free!