General getting to know my "new" 1998 Questions

[Woodyg]

I just picked up my "new" Camry. Grandma gave the car to my Daughter. It was taken good care of and most of the maintenance is up to date. I do not have an OM and I am waiting for my Haynes manual to show up. I am familiar with the 2 chamber transaxle and plan on changing the fluid in the differential chamber, along with a power steering flush and a turkey baster exchange for the brake fluid. Everything else appears up to date. I do have some general questions and thought I would fire them off and see what info I got. Please feel free to tell me anything that I might need to know about the car, ie. any common issue that it might have. I am an OK back yard mechanic and an Auto Forums veteran. TIA

please comment on anything you are familiar with!

1)timing belt and pulleys replaced 6/2008 @ 87K
2)serp and v belt along with tensioner replaced 6/2008 @87k
3)the keys I have work the doors, the ignition and the glove box. The trunk key does not work. it is at the vertical position. is my truck lock just broken?
4)What oil does everyone run?
5) what sparkplugs does everyone run?
6) I have "pink" coolant in there now. Did the car come with "pink" coolant?
7) Waterpump repalced in 2006?
8)the oil was changed faithfully about every 3000k miles. I have read about potential "sludge" issue with these engines. Do I need to worry about that? has anyone done an Auto-RX treatment on these engines?
9) What kind of gas mileage should I be expecting?

[BrightExplorer]

1) I would replace all belts just out of caution...
2) see 1. lol
3) Not exactly sure...
4) 5w30 at most 10w30
5) NGK Iridium Ix, with the NGK wire set (TE58)
6) Sorry, not sure... I'm struggling with a brain fart at the time.
7) If the waterpump works fine... it works fine... if you've got the time, money and inclination to replace it, do so.
8) It shouldn't be that much of an issue if you keep the oil changed and clean...




Advisory: I'm not responsible for anything that may happen to your car, I am not a certified mechanic.

lol

[Woodyg]

thanks for the feedback. my Haynes manual arrived to day....it says the timing belt is good for 90k miles.....I only have 23k on it now.....I think the TB and the other belts are OK for a while.....I just did the power steering flush.....the fluid was not to bad.........I will do the differential over the weekend......

[carsrus]

Pink coolant is original. Probally original coolant unless timing belt change was at dealer. If water pump was not changed it might be a good idea to watch it. Mine seized at 110k miles.

Auto RX is snake oil, if oil has been changed every 3k you have nothing to worry about.

[juanrjr06]

The pink coolant from Toyota is recommended for this car. Don't try to run anything else in it. Good luck with the "New" car, 98s are the best!!!!!

[Woodyg]

Originally Posted by carsrus

Pink coolant is original. Probally original coolant unless timing belt change was at dealer. If water pump was not changed it might be a good idea to watch it. Mine seized at 110k miles.

Auto RX is snake oil, if oil has been changed every 3k you have nothing to worry about.

Originally Posted by juanrjr06

The pink coolant from Toyota is recommended for this car. Don't try to run anything else in it. Good luck with the "New" car, 98s are the best!!!!!

thanks for the feedback....I had some Toyota pink for my Vibe so I used that to top it off......

any thoughts on what I should be getting for MPG's?

[dc_98_cam]

I have basically the same car .... only about 50k miles.
The last highway trip I took ... it was actually a February ... I got 35 mpg, about 650 miles on a tank.
Normal city driving is much more modest ... maybe 20 or 21 mpg.

[71Corolla]

Originally Posted by juanrjr06

The pink coolant from Toyota is recommended for this car

Pink is not the correct coolant, use Toyota Red.

[Woodyg]

Originally Posted by dc_98_cam

I have basically the same car .... only about 50k miles.
The last highway trip I took ... it was actually a February ... I got 35 mpg, about 650 miles on a tank.
Normal city driving is much more modest ... maybe 20 or 21 mpg.

Originally Posted by 71Corolla

Pink is not the correct coolant, use Toyota Red.

my first mileage test i got 26.5.......that was only with 5 gallons and I had some highway mileage in there but that is good enough. it is a pretty good size car........

I called 2 toyota dealership around me and neither one sells the red.........all they sell is the pink 50/50.......they both told me it is backwards compatible with the Red?

I removed my trunk lock and took it to the locksmith........it was frozen from not be used........they rebuilt for $25. it works great. they also told me not to use the crumby key I got from home depot because it ruins toyota locks....so I go t anew key from them and it does work better......

[Yuko]

Originally Posted by Woodyg

I called 2 toyota dealership around me and neither one sells the red.........all they sell is the pink 50/50.......they both told me it is backwards compatible with the Red?

Many say that Toyota's Red and Pink coolant can't be mixed together because of different chemical. If the coolant system had been complete changed over to pink, then it should be fine to stick with it. Topping off with distilled water should be fine.

[Woodyg]

pullin gup my old thread.......I am going to costco tommorrow to by some cases of MObil 1 FS 5w30 for $22? for 6 quarts..........that is what I use in my other cars. I believe the car has had Dino in it it's whole life... I have had many used cars that I switched over to synthetic without any issues...........just checking what others are using. Does FS 5w30 sound good?...........

[JohnGD]

Winter is coming up so 5W-30 should be fine. 10W-30 works during the warmer months. You can also check Advance Auto and see if their ~40% off coupon will give you a better deal. You might want to look at Mobil-1 0W-40 as well for year-round performance.

+1 NGK Iridium-IX.

If you can open the the brake bleeders that's a better way than only changing the brake fluid in the MC. What brake fluid did you use?

Toyota Pink is basically 1/2 a Dexcool with the sebacic acid and not the 2EHA. The Pink showed high weight loss (corrosion) in laboratory tests with copper/brass heat exchangers (heater core). Specifically it doesn't protect the high lead solder used in copper/brass systems. It's primarily designed for Gen5+ all-aluminum systems.

If you can't find full-strength Toyota Red, then check your local NAPA for Valvoline Asian Vehicles formula. NAPA can special order for you. Or flush and switch over to Valvoline G-05.

You can read more in this and other discussions:
http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=44821

[fenixus]

I'm sorry to say, but your dealers are wrong and trying to sell whatever they've got in stock.

we've been through that discussion here on TN and seems that some dealers tend to give that wrong information.

The (only) correct coolant for this gen of engines is Toyota Long Life Coolant (RED) concentrate that needs to be diluted 50/50 with distilled water. the difference is in salts used in both coolants. The end result is that PINK coolant was NOT designed for mixed kinds of metal parts in cooling systems of gen3 or gen4 (premature corrosion or oxidation may occur with it), it will work great however in gen5 & 6.

Originally Posted by Woodyg

I called 2 toyota dealership around me and neither one sells the red.........all they sell is the pink 50/50.......they both told me it is backwards compatible with the Red?

[fenixus]

AAP online coupon codes do NOT work with motor oils (ATF is OK though). I wish they did, I would have a secured unlimited source of M1 0W-40 at a decent price

Originally Posted by JohnGD

You can also check Advance Auto and see if their ~40% off coupon will give you a better deal. You might want to look at Mobil-1 0W-40 as well for year-round performance.

[JohnGD]

I see. The closest AAP from Calif is in Colorado. I wish there's that kind of discount on ATF here.

Walmart's 5qt oil for about $27 (5W-30 and 10W-30) and Autozone and O'Reillys sale of $32.99 with a Mobil-1 are the best around here.