Leaving tomorrow morning for a 2000 miles-10 days road trip, this year we're going to visit New-Brunswick and Prince-Edward-Island. The '90 Camry, my girlfriend in the passenger seat, me at the wheel and a trunk full of camping gear. I got a lot of job done on the car since my last trip to make the car more reliable, safe and confortable:
Brake rotors and pads + fluid flush, 4 wheels
New radiator
New cooling fan, driver side
New alternator belt
Replaced PCV valve and grommet
Distributor cap, rotor and wires
Good battery terminals
Starter relay
Brand new exhaust system, Walker, stainless
Fog lights
ES250 strut brace
Voltmeter in the dash, led cluster lighting, led trunk lighting
New starter
Snorkel and air filter
Replaced the alternator, 2000 miles will tell if the replacement is good or not
So it should be good to go. The tires are four old Goodyear Eagles but they look solid. The struts, well I need to kick myself in the ass and replace them. The engine burns no oil, leaks no oil... wish me luck!
Everything, I just kept the stock manifolds. Everything else is only a year old. Made a 900$ hole in my bank account, I had it done in a muffler shop. The old system was beyond repair, I'd waste my weekends patching holes with muffler cement and a new hole would form just next to the patch. But the growling and droning it had back then haha it was crazy loud.:rockon: You'd put an empty soda can in the cup holder and it would just vibrate non-stop. And the smell of exhaust leaking before the cat, good times...
I have the bill somewhere in the glove box if you want better details, just ask.
except for what you see in the 'optional' section. The muffler is a Quietflow SS, stainless steel. The other parts I doubt they are stainless but they are all by Walker.
I'd be curious on fitment. Every aftermarket exhaust I've used didn't line up 100% I had to heat or bend something. The midpipe for the 2VZ is $320+ dollars in Canada same for the muffler and front/flex pipe.
You mean original Toyota parts? Because what they call ''resonator assy'' on my bill is the mid pipe. It says 'Central Pipe - Walker Resonator Assembly-Import'... 169.99$.
I wouldn't worry about how it fits, seriously I can't see a difference. The muffler look the same, the pipes look the same, just newer. I figure that is how it used to look like when the car was new.
The Maritimes, eh? Have always been meaning to drive up there from Chicago also as a camping excursion. I hear those rugged coasts are wild and beautiful.
I'm back! 4089 kms or 2540 miles later. An incredible trip.
Well the 'new' alternator was indeed flaky, it was going in and out after 500 kms on the road. I swapped it for the old one on the morning of day 2.
I met a former Gen 2 owner in Linkletter, PEI. We talked a lot, he said his V6 cumulated over 450,000 kms before it was totaled in a crash. That gave me hope haha. He seemed to regret his car so bad, I gave him a full tour of mine and it made him very emotional :lol: what's up with these cars, I don't understand.
In Alma, N-B I met a guy who was working at a restaurant who owned two Ford Rangers, one 89 and one 90. He was in awe with the Camry and had a look at everything on the car. I had a lengthy conversation with him as well. He just couldn't believe all the options the car had.
I flogged my car so hard during this trip... climbing hills at high speeds, passing cars at even higher speeds and it never showed signs of fatigue. For a car that is 25 years old, going on long trips like that sure tells you something about their reliability. Pictures to come.
I flogged my car so hard during this trip... climbing hills at high speeds, passing cars at even higher speeds and it never showed signs of fatigue. For a car that is 25 years old, going on long trips like that sure tells you something about their reliability. Pictures to come.
Yep, that's the way to travel for sure. Camping is cheap, gas is still affordable and since my girl and I aren't exactly soft-shelled sofa creatures, a small tent and sleeping bags is all the comfort we need. Oh and we don't have cellphones, so if anything happens we have to fix our way out of the problem :rockon:
71Corolla, my V6 is no different. Give it some throttle and the thing jumps. Such a nice car, the seat is amazing, I love the lumbar support. Cruise control is mandatory since I lost roughly 1/3 of my right foot in 1992 so I get cramps holding the pedal in one position for too long..:disappoin
It's also worth mentioning the fog lights got the job done in Fundy, the place is a major fog spot all year long or so I heard, anyways I was happy I had them.
Yes,it has become a tradition. So Monday morning we'll pack the camping gear and leave Montreal to tour the Gaspé Peninsula. More national parks, more mountain climbs, more camping, more fish'n'chips.
This time the Camry will travel roughly 2200 kms (~1400 miles) in 7 days. We're not the least bit worried.
On a side note How well is the transmission holding up your Gen2 V6? I seen a fair enough of Gen2 V6/ES250 with failing reverse. My neighbor son has (or had) a really mint 90/91 V6 DX w/ sunroof and it has a slight knock under moderate acceleration. I know sometimes the 2VZ develops a rod knock as well but the transmission seemed to be more of a weak point in the Gen2 V6/ES250.
I'm kind of obsessed with lubrication so the transmission gets biannual drain and fills (though sometimes I think I should only do it once a year... I just can't control myself) and the fluid always comes out red. If shifts ok, 2-3 is kinda firm but never harsh. It seems to be common with the A540E. I dropped the pan a couple of times, found no metal shavings.
My neighbor son has (or had) a really mint 90/91 V6 DX w/ sunroof and it has a slight knock under moderate acceleration. I know sometimes the 2VZ develops a rod knock as well but the transmission seemed to be more of a weak point in the Gen2 V6/ES250.
Yeah I know what you mean. I've been paranoid about the low-end of my engine for a long time based on the 2VZ's reputation of being somewhat fragile but I'm over it because I'm now 99% sure that my rattling comes from my aftermarket exhaust.
My rattle noise comes from under the floorpan
I only started to hear it after the new exhaust was installed
The rhythm of the noise is not related to RPM
I have a very strong magnetic drain plug and it's always clean
I have a mechanical oil pressure gauge installed and the pressure is always in specs
So to me there's nothing to worry about. I wouldn't call the 2VZ-FE ''unreliable''. You just need to keep it cool and understand that it's not a race car motor. It's more like a smooth highway cruising engine and that's exactly what I use it for
Man those pictures are nice. Even though the car looks pretty small from the outside, you can fit so much into these older Camry.
I've been finding a bit of Gen2 on Craigslist recently. My implusive thought makes me want to buy it (but no more money haha). LE V6 and even a DX 5spd wagon. They are in pretty good shape, but I hate to be dealing with the body rust on these.
So on the last day we slept in the weirdest pseudo-medieval hotel ever. Take a look...
A new take on suicide doors :|
Supper and breakfast were included and it was pretty good food. The owner had a huge lot of vinyl records for sale (3 for 1$) so I bought a few interesting ones. Inside the rooms there were speakers and volume knobs mounted to the walls. A central cd player or computer was broadcasting rock music from the 60's, 70's and 80's.
After doing the math my car averaged 24 mpg for this trip, on 91 octane as usual. Considering the load being carried, the age of the car and its drivetrain (25 years old V6-auto with 205185 kms on it) I say it's an excellent number. Total kilometers for this trip: 2283, or 1418 miles in seven days.
It was unreal. I mean why mix medieval-like architecture with vintage music? The tallest tower was named the John Lennon Tower. The castle was built in 1983 and my guess is that strong blotter acid was involved in the design :lol: Everything inside and outside looked very dated but clean. And yes the door-to-nowhere was locked
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm doing it again. From Montreal to the Magdalen Islands, driving through New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. 1740 miles total and 38 hours behind the wheel of my good old 1990 Camry.
Day 1: Slept from 4am to 7am. Drove from Montreal QC to Memramcook NB: 10 hrs with two short stops for fuel and food. Drank a Red Bull and vaped a shitload of e-juice.
The car in NB:
Day 2: Memramcook NB to Souris PEI to catch the ferry.
On the Confederation Bridge. 12,9 kms long.
The ship:
There's not enough lifeboats to evacuate everyone on board but who cares, this ship's unsinkable! :lol: