cornucopia of problems...

[sampsongrsk]

Have I got the compendium of issues....

I am a noob to TN and have a 98 4 cylinder AT, with 123k on it. I bought it at 121k and couldnt be happier with the previous owner because she kept just about every receipt for the car including purchasing papers.

I am going to be moving to florida in the next 3 weeks and need to take care of my camry issues before i am 1000 miles away from any of my tools. The problems are as follows:

1. It is extremely hot and humid in florida especially when im going to be going there and i believe i am having some minor (hopefully) AC issues. When i turn the AC on the car makes a whinning sound especially on acceleration and i believe it to be coming from the compressor, I checked the sight glass and it goes between totally clear and a milky smokey opaque color. I thought it was due to not enough refrig being in the system so I put more in, then the compressor constantly clicked on and off and once in awhile made a rubbing sound. According to my gauge it was a lil above 50psi at 90 degrees F outside, so i released some refrig (r134?) and now its back to where it was with the whinning sound and milky color. My question is will i need to replace the compressor soon? or is there anything i can do to remedy it? or is this just natural for a 98 camry with a 4 cylinder engine? on top of that will it drag down my MPG significantly?

2. I checked my transmission fluid and it doesnt smell burnt but it is kinda brown in color. I dont think the previous owner has done any towing or drove it under harsh conditions, so she hadnt needed to do any transmission work before i got it. Should I drain and refill the tranny? and if so does anyone know a way to DIY flush and completely refill the tranny? This is my first car i ever bought that i will be planning on keeping for more than a few years so i want to make sure that i keep babying it and see it through to at least 200k.

3. I believe i need to replace the front driver side door lock actuator because the door lock will not respond to clicking of the remote or the automatic door locks from inside, i checked the connection rods and they do not budge, does anyone know where i can find a used one or something for relatively inexpensive?

I know this is alotta questions but only one more!

4. the trunk lever on the driver side front seat doesnt want to open the trunk, is this a common problem? I move the latch up and down and can hear movement in the trunk when i have the back seats down but it just wont open, the gas cover lever works fine and i imagine it runs the same track as the trunk line, could there be some form of tension problem? any help would be appreciated.

I know some of this questions are probably only unique to my car but any help would be appreciated, but if you have no idea just go ahead and give me a bump anyways since im new!

Thanks in advance

[poiter_mcd]

sorry - quick answer to #4 re. the release lever (just had to deal with that on my 95 camry today).

The fuel & luggage are on different lines - the plastic part in the lever breaks really easily, and you need to replace the whole plastic unit (both fuel & luggage) to fix one of them, if you catch my drift. Either live with it, or buy a new plastic unit. Go to a wrecker to find one. In Australia, I asked toyota for a replacement, and they said as they aren't made locally, they are $130. Found one today at a wrecker for $20.

hope that helps - gotta rush off, but thought i'd add this as I was sorting it out today
cya
Poiter

[sampsongrsk]

thanks poiter

[ASG14]

#1: I have a '96 V6 with 101k miles, and has made the whining noise sinc eI got it at 61k. Shouch just be normal. but it also depends on what kind of noise it is exactly. Is it just an extremely high pitch? Thats what mine is.

#2: It;s good practice to regularly drain and refill the tranny pan. It;s not hard, and will only cost you like $10 in tranny fluid. May as well just do it. And at 123k miles, if it;s not burnt, it's likely been changed.


#3: Several places. Check:
-Here on TN in the classifieds
-Ebay
-www.car-part.com whiuch is a hugh salvageyard database
-Find (If there is one around) a Pick and Pull junkyard where you pull the parts off the car yourself.

Ebay may be the best bet though.

#4: As poiter said, the Gas and Trunk are 2 seperate cables. Since you hear the clicking in the trunk, that is where the issue likely lies. I;d suggest taking off the trunk locking mechanism and inspecting it to see if something is wrong.


I hope this helps a little,
Adam

[sampsongrsk]

wow, thanks asg14, you are a life saver. I was just about to order a salvaged compressor too!

[ASG14]

What you really need to worry about is if you hear a grinding, or really abnormal noise. I thought the same thing with the compressor when I 1st started to drive my car. Still can;t figure it out!

Out of curiosity, where in FL are you going to? there is a lot of Toyota meets my friends put on in the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area. There is actually one on July 21st.

[Venom_5]

my a/c compressor is dead after making whining and clicking noises ... just a heads up

[sampsongrsk]

haha, fort lauderdale exactly, send me any information if you got it, id love to goto one

[ASG14]

^ http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t195552.html

Originally Posted by Venom_5

my a/c compressor is dead after making whining and clicking noises ... just a heads up

Thats what I mean by unusual noises, haha. Get a junkyard one with low miles. Make sure it has a guarentee though.

[NCCamry95]

The sight glass should be free of clouds. The compressor on my 95 has knocked for 10 years and still works perfectly....very cold air. There is an old TSB about the knocking and how to fix the mount. I guess that I will do the fix when or if my a/c ever quits.
RB

[ycartf]

#3 - I have heard of many folks having problems with a total flush so I just change the 30-40% of the fluid that will come out the drain plug each time I am already under there with a drain pan changing the oil. ATF does not cost what oil does ($18.60/12qts at Sam's two months ago) and doing it with this regularity ensures that at least 95% of my fluid is never more than 9-12k mi old.