Took Camry to Dealership for a onceover

[Rob_0126]

Oh boy, what a laundry list of things that are wrong. :/

My question to any and everyone who cares to answer my thread:

What is important to replace and what isn't?
Engine was rebuilt bout 1,500 miles ago.

Heres the list1992 Camry V6 XLE ; 176,556 miles)

- Steering rack is leaking - Prolly not much as the fluid level of the PS fluid reservoir doesn't budge.

- Coolant fan randomly goes full throttle - possible coolant temp sensor, not sure.

- I.A.C. valve isn't working properly - Idle dives on a complete stop, but then back up after a second or 2. Is their a way to clean it, or is it gone?

- A front bank freezeplug has signs of leaking - coolant level use to go down, hasn't in the past 3 months.

- Distributor housing blowing oil - they said it's leaking oil thru the shaft into the distributor - I get an occasional longer than usual cold crank, but not often

- Ball joints have a little play - Suggestions?

- Needs struts all around, especially fronts - the fronts are separating, according to them.

- Transmission has internal issues - It hard shifts from 1st-2nd, but they checked the tranny electronics and they are fine. suggested internal leaking? btw, it's the original, i think just a filter/flush was all that was done.

- Flex pipe leak - I have the solution, a bosal y-pipe, but will i have money to buy it after all this?

- VSV wire harness connectors are just set in - The wires that supply the power to the vsv's on top of the front bank have the wires individually set into their place. Service man said they are suppose to be in a piece, like a connector, not just each wire connected separately.


Input would be appreciated. I dont have much money to do this with at all.


Robert

[davemac2]

Originally Posted by Rob_0126

Oh boy, what a laundry list of things that are wrong. :/ .....

Robert

- Steering rack is leaking - live with it and throw something on the floor for the fluid. A new rack installed will set you back $400 minimum.

- Coolant fan randomly goes full throttle - you can live with this for a while. Your fan is hydraulic. it will affect your gas mileage a bit, but no biggie. Make sure your ps fluid level is maintained because of your rack leak.

- I.A.C. valve isn't working properly - yes, you can clean this. Use a seafoam treatment on your TB. The V6 IAC's are much larger than the I4 versions and more reliable, so it could be related more to a sticky EGR valve or TB. IAC removal takes about 1 hr. You have to remove some coolant hoses and air hoses on it. If that and the TB cleaning does not work, check the EGR. Otherwise go get a junkyard IAC and try it. It could be the servo inthe IAC itself.

- A front bank freezeplug has signs of leaking - not much you can do about it since the engine may need to be pulled to fix it. Ask them if it is serviceable without pullin gthe engine. They should have replaced these with the the rebuild months back, no?. go back to the rebuilders and complain.

- Distributor housing blowing oil - replace the distributor since it is not fixable if leaking oil internally. the junkyard is your best friend here. easy to do yourself. replace the distributor o-ring too and the rotor.

- Ball joints have a little play - how much play? if they have never been done, replace them. It's very easy on your camry, they just bolt on. ~$60-75 per joint for new.

- Needs struts all around, especially fronts -if they have never been done, then yes do them if your ride has gone soft, otherwise wait for a while. They are not super important for safety or reliability. When you're ready, do it yourself with monroe quik struts. Otherise this can set you back $700-1000.

- Transmission has internal issues - hard shift from 1st to 2nd is usually a bad (ie sticky or broken at its base) or misadjusted throttle pressure cable. (ie. way too much hydraulic pressure in the trans) If you had your engine rebuilt recently, then when they put the engine back in, they may not have adjusted the cable back properly near the TB and now it is too tight. Happened exactly the same with my wife's engine replacement. The ferrule at the base of her cable near the trans had actually broken. To replace the cable the trans pan and valve body need to be dropped. Not for the shy, but it is DIY if you are competent. Otherwise, probably a $300 job.

- Flex pipe leak - junkyard, or go to a muffler shop and have them weld in a new flex secton only, or wherever it is leaking.

- VSV wire harness connectors are just set in - get the connectors at the junkyard and fix it yourself.


dave mc

[xtremeskier97]

You CAN fix the distributor leak if it is internal OR external. They are just o-rings. You just have to be careful when taking it apart and putting it back together. Digital camera is your friend...or video tape yourself taking it apart.

[davemac2]

Originally Posted by xtremeskier97

You CAN fix the distributor leak if it is internal OR external. They are just o-rings. You just have to be careful when taking it apart and putting it back together. Digital camera is your friend...or video tape yourself taking it apart.

did not know that! so it's just another o-ring huh?

dave mc

[Rob_0126]

Originally Posted by davemac2

did not know that! so it's just another o-ring huh?

dave mc

The dealership service man told me you cant just replace the o-ring on the housing. the internal leak is the housing going bad itself.

Course, possible hes wrong, but you'd think he'd know?

Anyone else got an idea?

btw, thanks Dave, I printed that out and Im gonna chew on this list, see what i should do. I need to know how to clean the IAC step by step, it's a $300 piece even at a discount. :/

[groovemasterodi]

Check the Camry FAQ my fellow Georgian. Simple and easy to clean the TB and IAC, and a decent bit o fun too.

[xtremeskier97]

I dont think the 'housing' can go bad. That doesnt make sense to me.

[Rob_0126]

Originally Posted by groovemasterodi

Check the Camry FAQ my fellow Georgian. Simple and easy to clean the TB and IAC, and a decent bit o fun too.

Did some looking with the pdf's, I already pulled I iac one time to clean it. It looked brand new except the tip, so I cleaned that. Not too long after that, I started to get the idle problem gradually getting worse over months.

Did I do something wrong?

[davemac2]

Originally Posted by Rob_0126

Did some looking with the pdf's, I already pulled I iac one time to clean it. It looked brand new except the tip, so I cleaned that. Not too long after that, I started to get the idle problem gradually getting worse over months.

Did I do something wrong?

maybe? did you actually remove it from the TB? Maybe the IAC gasket is bad? did u replace it? When you cleaned the IAC, did you force the valve piston at all? Check the condition of your intake hose carefully as well.

dave mc

[Rob_0126]

Originally Posted by davemac2

maybe? did you actually remove it from the TB? Maybe the IAC gasket is bad? did u replace it? When you cleaned the IAC, did you force the valve piston at all? Check the condition of your intake hose carefully as well.

dave mc

i removed it. I replaced the gasket and screws, same iac. i dont think i forced the valve, just used seafoam spray on it to loosen the carbon up. not sure about intake hose, ill have to look.

the intake is pretty dirty. i cleaned up the tb plate good with seafoam spray and a tooth brush.

Also, cleaned the ACIS blade good, which is the opposite side of the intake.

Cant figure why the guy that rebuilt the engine didn't clean the whole intake.

[Rob_0126]

UPDATE: Replaced distributor housing that was leaking internally real bad; step in throttle improved dramatically.

Also, i do hear some intermitent noise coming from the power steering at times. Maybe this is the cause of the fan roaring randomly.

Could the power steering going bad cause the cooling fan to roar high speed randomly, then normal other times?

[davemac2]

Originally Posted by Rob_0126

UPDATE: Replaced distributor housing that was leaking internally real bad; step in throttle improved dramatically.

Also, i do hear some intermitent noise coming from the power steering at times. Maybe this is the cause of the fan roaring randomly.

Could the power steering going bad cause the cooling fan to roar high speed randomly, then normal other times?

The hydraulic valve for the fan which has a high/low low setting I guess is located at the power steering pump I believe. If that valve is bad or is getting a bad signal due to bad connector or bad temp sensor (sensor located on thermostat housing below alternator), this would cause the intermittent roar. I'm assuming you don't have your A/C on when you get this issue? Also, if the PS fluid is low due to a leaking rack, you can get sounds from the PS when air is being taken into the system.

Is your power steering OK? Ie. besides the rack leak, are you getting smooth steering operation?

dave mc

[Rob_0126]

Originally Posted by davemac2

The hydraulic valve for the fan which has a high/low low setting I guess is located at the power steering pump I believe. If that valve is bad or is getting a bad signal due to bad connector or bad temp sensor (sensor located on thermostat housing below alternator), this would cause the intermittent roar. I'm assuming you don't have your A/C on when you get this issue? Also, if the PS fluid is low due to a leaking rack, you can get sounds from the PS when air is being taken into the system.

Is your power steering OK? Ie. besides the rack leak, are you getting smooth steering operation?

dave mc

I get that almost sounding 'air in the system' from the power steering rarely, but mostly after a first crank in the morning.
PS is still good though.

So the coolant temp sensor can cause the fan to freak? You know, I have had an oddity, where I can sit at a drivethru for 3-5 min, SOMETIMES the temp guage would go past half way, so Id rev the engine to 1,200 rpms, and it would come back down a fair amount below half way.

Suppose I should test the ohms of that sensor today.

As for a low pressure sensor on the PS, where is it and how do I change it/test it?

thanks

[Hajoca]

For about $10, you could try Lucas's powersteeting stop leak... my rack developed a seal leak and that was my solution for a year now. I do not have a hydraulic fan unit like yours.

Flexpipe is under $100 at local muffler shops that will weld in a new flex section. The part is around $60.

Freeze plug leak requires you to find it, knock it out and push in a new one... could be alot of work.

[Rob_0126]

Update: Replaced the IACV(ACIS) gasket, Replaced the Coolent temperature sensor(Actual name is 'Coolant Fan Switch Sensor' or 'Radiator Fan Switch). Why the fan switch is on the thermostat housing, baffles my mind. However, So far, after a 5 min drive, no coolant fan roaring anymore. Ill find out for sure tomorrow. If it does, THEN the coolant fan roaring randomly IS the coolant fan switch gone nuts. I tested the old, and it registered from 15k ohms down to .02 K ohms at different times, when it should show open or closed only.

The idle dive is still there, but I did look at the intake hose, and it does have some cracks in the ribs, so it must be causing the dive, I hope.

Again, on the 92 camry v6 3vzfe engine, the sensor on the thermostat housing isn't the coolant sensor, but the coolant fan switch.

BTW, on mid throttle, I can hear some noise coming from the power steering pump. I have lucas oil in the PS, do I need something else to seal up the rack leak?

More suggestions would be great. I want to nip this in the bud once in for all.

thanks