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.
Are you sure you're car is done? My car looks exactly like yours, V6? I bought my car with a siezed waterpump, witch in turn blew the timing belt, also melting the bearing cage on an idler pulley (i did not know this)... Big mess. But its running great again for the most part after a little work and a few parts at 317K!
Replace your waterpump when you do a timing belt replacement!!! Waterpumps are fairly inexpensive anyway.
Most of the time, it's the water pump bearing that seizes and then chews the timing belt to bits. If you have a 4cyl you should be okay cause the engine is non-interference, so the valves don't hit the pistons when the timing goes down the drain. I don't know about the 1MZ though. This happened to me on the old car and a new timing belt fixed the problem. Along with a couple bearings and whatnot. Usually the water pump starts making a grinding noise. It did it for about a week and then bye bye.
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Restoring '65 Chevy Impala Super Sport w/ 327-300 small block, Edelbrock carb/intake and T-5 tranny that will probably blow up.
Black '98 Camry LE 4Cyl Auto, 188 000Kms and counting
Black '98 Camry CE 4Cyl Auto, 295 000Kms and counting - SOLD
Why are the water pump blowing up? 0_o Scaring me.
Last week I had the T belt and water pump replaced on my gen3.5 4cyl, the independent Toyota shop that did the work recomended that I change the pump every second time the T belt is replaced. The Tech said that a new belt puts a new pressure on the WP bearings and will cause it to fail later, not in a few miles, but in say 25,000 to 30,000 miles. This is only the second T belt that has been installed on my car because it has 97,500 miles on it. I was going to do it myself, but a broken finger prevented that option.
Bear 95
well, i could I put in nearly a grand in last year, and 500 the year before that. So i am not sure if i wanna dump another 800 into the car. Gonna talk to the mechanic and see
For a few hundred bucks you'll have a car that's had the MOST important maintenance item freshly done. (Water pump and timing belt.) Almost no other failure can take a Camry off the road.
The Gen 3 is one of the most pessimistically engineered (some would say overengineered) cars ever made,
and practically the only thing that ever sends a V6-equipped example to a junkyard is body rot in northern
states with salted roads or accidents in any state.
Their cost of maintenance is lower than almost ANY other car.
Let me put it this way: Would I have invested 1500 dollars and counting, over 100 labor hours and counting, and more coming, in the repainting and restoration of my '92 V6 LE if I didn't plan to keep
it for many years to come?
What I've put into it lately is more than the Blue Book value of the car but I'm happy with the results
so far and I'd do it again. It looks almost like a brand new car, it runs as good as it EVER did, it's
never seen a tow truck up close in its entire life, and what does wear out can be predicted by looking at
the maintenance charts in the owner's manual. There have been no surprises and I've always been
willing to spend the money to keep it on the road. And it WILL be on the road for many years to come,
barring an accident. Its cost of ownership is VERY low, averaged out, and makes good financial sense
to keep it rather than make payments on a newer car.
I'll drive it until I can't get parts for it anymore and then it'll go to an automotive museum, with any luck.
It's not like you'll expect to see many Camrys in automotive museums but the day will come when they're
a rare car. At that time I'll still have it, I wager. Then it will be a cool example of a good car from the
vintage 90s.
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