Hello guys, want ur opinions of 1983 Camry Hatchback - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Yoduck · 06-01-2011, 02:23 AM

Hi, and thanks for all ur opinions. I am the owner of a nice car that used for 3 years. It was passed on to me from a senior friend, he was the second owner. I also know the first owner. They really took care of this car did not drive it to much as you can see on pics the amount of miles. Now its being sitting on the driveway for a year. The clutch has a problem dont know if broke or some parts inside got damage. The other thing is that some parts in the ignition got damage too. It may be something electrical short according to my friends. It would cost me almost $700 or more to make it run again. Money that I dont have. And I dont want to fix it again. Or should I fix it??? and sell it? my friends tells me that I would be better of buying another car. What do u guys think? any good offers from you guys that would like to make it run again?

Here are the pics

***TrailDust*** · 06-01-2011, 11:09 AM

Hello, welcome to Toyota Nation! I'll move your thread over to he appropriate Camry forum so the other owners there can give you some insight into whether you should keep your car or sell it.

Sturdavj · 06-01-2011, 11:22 AM

How many miles ?

Low miles= might want to consider fixing it

High miles = dump it and buy another Toyota

You might want to price shop in your area for a replacement car before you decide on your course of action..

white90dx · 06-01-2011, 12:19 PM

How do you know how much it will cost to fix if you don't know what's wrong with it? What are the symptoms? Maybe we can help.

If you can do the work yourself, it very well could be worth saving. Even if you can't, if the problems are simple, it might still be worth it.

-Charlie

Yoduck · 06-02-2011, 02:20 AM

hi guys and thanks for all ur inside info. Well the parts for this car are ship, but what I notice all the mechanics tell me that it is a hard work because the car is a front while drive. In order for it to fix the clutch they have to remove all the motor that is what they said. Others tell me that they need to work under the car and it is to dangers. In other words the mechanic is the one that gets most of ma money. According to my seniors friends the car has 2 problems, electric short (part of the Ignition), and clutch. It has 121,000 plus miles all original from same motor. thanks for all your help...

white90dx · 06-02-2011, 01:03 PM

The clutch job shouldn't be too expensive, and FWD clutches aren't really that difficult. Any decent mechanic should be able to take out the transmission essentially by itself to replace the clutch. What's with the worry about it being too dangerous?!? That's what they get paid to do...

The electrical short will just take time to find - but might take an electrical specialist.

-Charlie

atobe · 06-02-2011, 02:44 PM

you can also ask your local transmission shop... if you bring them the parts they can do it for you fairly quickly since they're used to removing/replacing transmissions.

Sturdavj · 06-02-2011, 04:57 PM

That’s low miles!

If you take care of it, you can get twice that many miles (or more) out of it . I have a 1990 Camry with 292,000 mi & 1986 Corolla with 282,000 mi on them and I plan to double the miles on both before I park them for good

When you Say mechanic and then tell us they say it’s dangerous. I read inexperience ?

It is dangerous working under any car/ truck or vehicle and that is why you take all of the safety precautions and be sure to use quality tools and equipment to get the work done.

There are posts on YouTube that show how to change out the clutch without pulling the engine, and yes it possible to do so.

Having just pulled/re-installed my engine to replace my automatic transmission I would pull the engine for a clutch replacement only if it had over 200,000 miles or other serious problems. Mine had 292,000 miles and I replaced a number of parts while it is on my engine stand

Sturdavj · 06-04-2011, 09:27 AM

"According to my seniors friends the car has 2 problems, electric short (part of the Ignition), and clutch". It has 121,000 plus miles all original from same motor. thanks for all your help...

I have been thinking some more about this one, Can you describe the problems with the clutch ?

What happens when you attempt to put car in in gear
Was it a sudden fail, or did it happen over a period of time
Was/is there any slippage when starting out in first gear
How much clutch pedal travel do you have before it begins getting stiff, or does it go all the way to the floor with no stiffness

While it is possible for a clutch disk to be worn out at 121,000, to me it seems a little soon ?

***Zembonez*** · 06-04-2011, 09:32 AM

It is really really old. I would not spend much patching it up.

Kingdom934 · 06-12-2011, 04:49 AM

Not bad condition. Looks like it is a car that was left in the sun a lot (due to the tearing interior). I love the Gen1, so it would be great to get one and fix it. You do; however, need to weight in the amount of money it'll be to fix it along with the feeling on how much you really want that particular car. The 2SE is a pretty easy engine to work on for the most part. Judging from the pictures, the valve cover gasket is leaking (see all the oil soaked on the top end of the engine). Commoon for any car that age.