3rd & 4th Generation (1992–1996 & 1997–2001)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1992-1996 & 1997-2001
Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance all involving America's favorite family car, the Toyota Camry.
Sister has a 92 Toyota Camry with 195k miles on it. Well maintenance ain't kept up like it should be IMO(plugs,wires,ect) just oil changes here and there. Today I check her oil and its low. I check her spark plugs and this is what I get out of each of the plug holes.
After seeing this I didn't even bother pulling the plugs out. The oil thats in the holes is old because its almost sludge. The oil in the oil pan is definitely fresher/thinner. How hard would this be to fix? How should I go about removing the oil? The car actually still runs fine though but I told her she didn't need to be driving it till it was fixed.
my recommendation for best fix: remove the spark plugs and let goop drain into cylinders, as long as no dirt is visible. crank engine with plugs out and let it cycle through with some brakekleen to wash down sludge. just don't flood cylinders with brakekleen. Replace plugs and plug wires, and perform valve cover reseal with new tube seals (that's the leak).
Or, you can do what I did with my sister's 95 dx - say "eh, it's not misfiring" and wipe everything down and stuff it all back together like it never happened.
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1996 Camry Sport (that's a DX Coupe with decals) with 186k
european cars are just like japanese cars, just heavier and more expensive.
7 ASE's.
Or you can clean out the oil down there and then tighten those large 30MM hex nuts to 17 foot lbs. in 3 even passes. First 6, then 12 and finally 17 foot lbs. There are rubber spark plug tube seals under there and they get loose over time and the rubber flattens out a bit. Retorqueing usually (but not always) cures the problem. If it doesn't, then you will need new rubber seals and a new cam cover gasket. I retorqued those nuts on my 94 in late 2001 when I had a slight leak in to one of the spark plug wells, and it is still holding fine.
Incidently, I would not use brake-clean, normally one of may favorite cleaning agents, to clean down in those wells. Use carburator cleaner and a rag. You do not want to get anything that is not O2 safe down in to the cylinders. Having the engine burn off things internally, that are not O2 safe, can ruin the O2 sensor. Brake-clean is not O2 safe.
Mike
Last edited by Mike Gerber; 05-03-2008 at 01:29 PM.
hmm. forgot about tightening them up first. thanks for the reminder, mike.
Every shop I've ever worked for has used CRC or similar, and I believe they are o2 safe. I forget that there are products out there that aren't. Regardless, what's the likelihood of brake clean containing lead or nickel?
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1996 Camry Sport (that's a DX Coupe with decals) with 186k
european cars are just like japanese cars, just heavier and more expensive.
7 ASE's.
If I remember correctly, you can remove the valvecover for access to the spark plug cylinders. At the bottom, I think there is an oring that is compressed by tightening the cylinders. Just tightening the nuts on top of the valve cover might not fix it. If not try the cylinders or remove them and replace the orings. I think NAPA might even sell a kit with a new valvecover gasket, and new orings for the bottom.
I think he also has a leak on the actual threads in the plug tube itself.
The plug tubes are threaded in the cylinder head and oil is getting through the threads.
If you could just take the tubes out, via pipe wrench or a special tube tool remover, seal up the threads on the tube and run them back in.
Just wanted to mention its not leaking any oil up there around that big nut, thats just where oil dripped when I first stuck the socket in. I took that pic to show how bad it was on the socket.
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