99 Camry 5S-FE - manual trans oil change & P0441

[NLight95]

This is my first post on TN but I've been a gearhead for at 30 years now.

Back in 2001 I purchased my 1999 Camry. It's sort of a "rare" breed--it has California emissions and a 5-speed (5S-FE 2.2L) even though I live in Maine. It has about 83K miles and overall is in pretty good shape.

1. I'm going to change the manual trans fluid but I'm a little confused because I see two large drain plugs (bolts)--one towards the front of the car and the other in the rear, where I have to put the car on ramps to access it. Which drain plug is for the trans and which one is for the transfer case?

Also, how do I check the manual trans fluid? Maybe I'm a doofus and overlooked something but I don't see a dipstick anywhere. From what I can tell there's a sensor attached to the housing which looks like it may signal the computer if the fluid is low--am I right? (please correct me if I'm not--I don't have a big ego)

Just to be on the safe side I took the fill plug out with an allen wrench then screwed it back to make sure I wouldn't have any problems there. I think I'll be using Mobil 1 75W-90 but my concern is that since I live in a very cold climate (N Maine)--will the M1 flow (not pour, flow) at temps dipping down to -30F?

2. The struts rattle a bit when it's cold (<50F) but the noise disappears when it's warmer. Is this normal? I do mostly country driving and as mentioned above, 83K miles.

3. There's an exhaust leak at the rear of the flexpipe/converter. The front pipe and flexpipe/converter are one piece. The part costs $409 alone. Does anyone know of a third party auto parts source where I may be able to get the OEM part cheaper? Otherwise I may take it to the shop and have them weld it. The leak is very small thought it did trip a P1133 code (which I have since reset).

4. Since I bought the car it's had a P0441 code for the EVAP Vacuum Switching Valve. I understand this problem is relatively common with the late 90s Camrys. Does Toyota have a TSB for this issue since my car's out of warranty? If not, then would I have to replace the EVAP canister?

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions!

[hill8570]

Originally Posted by NLight95

3. There's an exhaust leak at the rear of the flexpipe/converter. The front pipe and flexpipe/converter are one piece. The part costs $409 alone. Does anyone know of a third party auto parts source where I may be able to get the OEM part cheaper? Otherwise I may take it to the shop and have them weld it. The leak is very small thought it did trip a P1133 code (which I have since reset).

IIRC, the entire assembly from the manifold to the far side of the converter is one part number, and costs a mint. I'm a big believer in buying Toyota parts in most cases, but I can't think of anything special about their exhaust components. Just have a good shop chop and weld as necessary.

[JohnGD]

The one facing the radiator is the fill/check plug. The one facing the left fender is the drain.

Mobil-1 and others started adding limited slip friction modifiers into their gear oils. These are only good for differentials or non-synchro manuals. Yours is a single-synchro (per forward gear) manual. Buy non-friction modified manual transaxle oil from the dealer. Or you can buy Redline MT90 75W-90 GL4 oil. Amazon has free shipping.

http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=46&pcid=7

The backup light switch is on top, the speedo on right (firewall). These manuals are as simple as they get.

For struts I'd get complete assemblies, like Monroe QuickStrut from rockauto.com. The mounts in these years often go bad and clunk.

Originally Posted by NLight95

1. I'm going to change the manual trans fluid but I'm a little confused because I see two large drain plugs (bolts)--one towards the front of the car and the other in the rear, where I have to put the car on ramps to access it. Which drain plug is for the trans and which one is for the transfer case?

Also, how do I check the manual trans fluid? Maybe I'm a doofus and overlooked something but I don't see a dipstick anywhere. From what I can tell there's a sensor attached to the housing which looks like it may signal the computer if the fluid is low--am I right? (please correct me if I'm not--I don't have a big ego)

Just to be on the safe side I took the fill plug out with an allen wrench then screwed it back to make sure I wouldn't have any problems there. I think I'll be using Mobil 1 75W-90 but my concern is that since I live in a very cold climate (N Maine)--will the M1 flow (not pour, flow) at temps dipping down to -30F?

2. The struts rattle a bit when it's cold (<50F) but the noise disappears when it's warmer. Is this normal? I do mostly country driving and as mentioned above, 83K miles.

3. There's an exhaust leak at the rear of the flexpipe/converter. The front pipe and flexpipe/converter are one piece. The part costs $409 alone. Does anyone know of a third party auto parts source where I may be able to get the OEM part cheaper? Otherwise I may take it to the shop and have them weld it. The leak is very small thought it did trip a P1133 code (which I have since reset).

[NLight95]

Originally Posted by JohnGD

The one facing the radiator is the fill/check plug. The one facing the left fender is the drain.

Mobil-1 and others started adding limited slip friction modifiers into their gear oils. These are only good for differentials or non-synchro manuals. Yours is a single-synchro (per forward gear) manual. Buy non-friction modified manual transaxle oil from the dealer. Or you can buy Redline MT90 75W-90 GL4 oil. Amazon has free shipping.

http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=46&pcid=7

I've ordered the MT90 from CarQuest. $41.95 for 3 qts, includes freight and tax.

Occasionally the manual trans gets "notchy" when going into first gear. Will the MT90 help in that regard?

What problems would the M1 75W-90 cause for the manual trans? Premature wear? "Irregular" shifting?

There's a hex fill plug located on the top and from what I've read here it's for the differential (DIY : Differental Fluid Change). The owner's manual calls for Dexron II but some say that's not a good idea because it's too thin to be a good lubricant. What would you recommend? Would the M1 75W-90 be ok here?

Do I need to replace the whole strut assembly, or can I get away with some better mounts and shocks?

[JohnGD]

That might be a problem with shift linkages? Or did you experience gear clashes? If the previous fill was too slippery then clashes could happen, or if there was wear on the synchro "dog teeth" of first gear.

On fluid and single fill location is sufficient. The separate differential you linked is for the automatic. Again, Redline MT is fine.

Price out the mount and strut first. It's likely they are close to the $125 (rockauto.com) for each complete assembly and you should have less problems down the road. Monroe sometimes has the buy-3-get-1-free deal. So you can come out ahead.

Originally Posted by NLight95

I've ordered the MT90 from CarQuest. $41.95 for 3 qts, includes freight and tax.

Occasionally the manual trans gets "notchy" when going into first gear. Will the MT90 help in that regard?

What problems would the M1 75W-90 cause for the manual trans? Premature wear? "Irregular" shifting?

There's a hex fill plug located on the top and from what I've read here it's for the differential (DIY : Differental Fluid Change). The owner's manual calls for Dexron II but some say that's not a good idea because it's too thin to be a good lubricant. What would you recommend? Would the M1 75W-90 be ok here?

Do I need to replace the whole strut assembly, or can I get away with some better mounts and shocks?

[NLight95]

Originally Posted by JohnGD

That might be a problem with shift linkages? Or did you experience gear clashes? If the previous fill was too slippery then clashes could happen, or if there was wear on the synchro "dog teeth" of first gear.

On fluid and single fill location is sufficient. The separate differential you linked is for the automatic. Again, Redline MT is fine.

Price out the mount and strut first. It's likely they are close to the $125 (rockauto.com) for each complete assembly and you should have less problems down the road. Monroe sometimes has the buy-3-get-1-free deal. So you can come out ahead.

I don't experience gear clashes unless I don't have the clutch depressed enough, and I've done that a few times over the years but I always try to be careful to avoid such occurrences. It's not a hard thing to do when you're in heavy traffic and shifting all the time. Everyone I know who's driven a standard has done it at least a few times. When I was teaching my bro Paul to drive the 4-spd in my old 74 Mustang he threw the shifter hard into first gear without pressing the clutch down at all. The shifter was stuck so hard in that position that when I tried to pull it out the shaft bent on the shifter (it never came out of first gear). The car was a rustbucket (like so many Fords in the 70s) so my bro actually did me a favor.

What happens occasionally is that the shifter resists going into first gear unless I drop down to around 5 mph. This may be normal because my old Tercel did the same thing as well as a Sentra I used to own. I usually like to be in first gear so if I need to take off at an intersection I don't have to come to a stop and quickly shift into first gear. I've learned that that's a quick recipe for shearing teeth off synchro rings because when you're in a rush mistakes happen.

I have the S51 manual trans and have a torx nut on top (just like the automatic). Is that used to fill the differential? I assume the drain/fill plug towards the radiator is for the trans. Or is the torx nut used as the fill location for both trans and diff? (I wouldn't think so but I could be wrong).

Just to clarify... it's fine to use the MT90 in the differential? I certainly don't want to use Dex II. It breaks down faster and is too thin, imho, to be of good use.

[JohnGD]

The plug may have something to do with the shifter/interlocks but others can chime in. AFAIK, the manual transmission and differential are lubricated together with the same fill, there is no separate diff. The older A-series automatics have semi-separate chambers for the transmissions and differentials and different fill methods.

[NLight95]

I changed the transaxle fluid and to be honest I must say I'm really disappointed in the Redline MT90 79W90. It's even harder to shift now and I can't go into first unless I nearly come to a complete stop. Shifts are less smooth and much more notchy. When I changed the fluid I let all the old fluid drain out for at least an hour then added the MT90 and checked then rechecked the fluid level. Now I'm kicking myself for changing the fluid.

I think I will look to see what synthetic Toyota uses on these transaxles so I can at least return it to the way it was shifting was before, which was considerably smoother than the MT90.

[JohnGD]

Have you tried a spin-down test? With the engine warm at idle and in neutral, depress the clutch and wait for 10 seconds then shift into R. Are there clashes?

Redline synthetic MT-90 should make for smoother shifts, especially at lower temperatures. I hope there isn't a synchro problem needing a friction modifier (like some do switching to GM Synchromesh). But if MT-90 didn't work out go only straight to Toyota.