Fix my '98 Camry or not?

[crazn]

Since last summer my car has had trouble starting in the summer during the really hot weather. The problem subsided over the Fall/Winter/Spring and started up again this summer. No local shops could diagnose a problem. When my car started idling "rough"(at stop lights, stop signs) I decided to to it to a dealer ship.

Turns out my engine light was bad and it should've been on. This is what they found:

Coolant Temp Sensor($160)
Throttle Position Sensor($250)
Converter($1,000)
Converter Caskets($???)
HO2 Sensor($400)
EGR Position Sensor($100)
EGR Valve($300)
EGR Gasket($???)
Fuel Service($160)
Timing Belt ($380)
Front Wheel Bearings($700)

That's over $3k in things they said were needed to be done to fix my car's problems.

It's a '98 Camry with 220,000 miles on it. I feel it's time to get rid of it but people say I should just try to fix it.

I think I'll take the dealership report to a local shop here and see what they say but for people that are knowledgable...are these parts that would make my car not start in the hot weather/idle rough? How are the prices? Anything easy enough to DIY(not me, my Grandpa).

I just don't know what to do here.

[fj62]

Take your car to a local parts dealer that offers free diagnosis for the check engine light. price items that are causing these codes. I doubt all of these sensors are bad.

It depends on how long you want to keep it. At what price point do you want to get rid of it an buy something else? NO shame getting rid of it with 220,000 miles. You will be spending more money than you could probably get if you decided to sell.


Coolant Temp Sensor($160)
Throttle Position Sensor($250)
Converter($1,000)---- You can buy generic for a lot less
Converter Caskets($???)-use OEM (Toyota)
O2 Sensor($400)------ buy generic
EGR Position Sensor($100)
EGR Valve($300)
EGR Gasket($???)
Fuel Service($160)------ throw in a can of injecter cleaner-
Timing Belt ($380)--maybe when was it changed last??
Front Wheel Bearings($700)-- did your car fail inspection for bearings?

That's over $3k in things they said were needed to be done to fix my car's problems.

It's a '98 Camry with 220,000 miles on it. I feel it's time to get rid of it but people say I should just try to fix it.

I think I'll take the dealership report to a local shop here and see what they say but for people that are knowledgable...are these parts that would make my car not start in the hot weather/idle rough? How are the prices? Anything easy enough to DIY(not me, my Grandpa).

[icoben]

I would just spend $20 to replace the coolant temp. sensor first. It is a common problem for old camry
Do it youself. It is really easy.

[crazn]

Originally Posted by icoben

I would just spend $20 to replace the coolant temp. sensor first. It is a common problem for old camry
Do it youself. It is really easy.

That would be a good place to start but my engine shakes when I'm at a stopped. So that might get it starting better.

Any idea about the shaking while idle?

Thanks for the replies.

[icoben]

Originally Posted by crazn

That would be a good place to start but my engine shakes when I'm at a stopped. So that might get it starting better.

Any idea about the shaking while idle?

Thanks for the replies.

Does it shake when starts at cold conditions? like park overnight and start in the morning?

[TrueBooleanFalse]

Shaking while idle could be a few different things. Low RPMs, rough or missing/broken motor mounts, injectors clogged, if you hear noises - engine troubles.

[JohnGD]

+1.

Change out the engine coolant temperature sensor (2-wire deal, not 1-wire gauge sender) about $30.

And also clean the idle air control valve. The motor and thermostat spring cap should be removed and the rotor made sure to spin freely.
5sfe IAC Removal (lots of pictures)

[BMR]

Fuel service. (???) What the heck does that mean?... did they give any explanation of what that is and why it's needed???

And wheel bearings? Again, why? Did you notice anything that would indicate they're bad?... grinding/rumbling/vibration while rolling?

It's certainly possible it needs all that, but I'm very wary that they're just padding the bill. I'd say take it to an independent shop for a second opinion before doing anything.

[crazn]

The rough idling is not loud and it doesn't shake too much. I maily feel the shaking in the brake pedal. It also idles rough at any time of the day and any temperature.

I heard that replacing the converter and the oxygen sensor could help the problem. I heard that these could have cause the computer to report ALL of these error codes. So basically what i've learned is: the converter and oxygen sensor is a good place to start if I want to fix it.

Local shop where an old high school friend works said about $420 for a new converter and oxygen sensor. Does that sound like a good deal? Worth trying to fix for this much cheaper price? Could make it driveable or it could lead to more money being required to fix it.

Thanks again guys.

EDIT: As far as the wheel bearings go I have noticed nothing(same with the brake pads they said I needed replaced). There were about 10 other things on the estimate that were not related to the no start/rough idle issue. Just other things they said needed maintenance. Padding the bill? probably. But he was very adamant about the wheel bearing so I threw it on the list here.

[crazn]

Update: After they replaced the cat converter they said a cylinder in the engine was missing and driving it could damage the new cat converter. So they looked at it and determined it was one of the ignition coils.

Drive it home, seems fine. Drive it the next couple days and it still seems to idle rough and has poor acceleration. Sometimes when I get upt to 40-50 it will not accelerate and is kind of "jerky", but then it smooths out and will accelerate again.

People I've talked to and that have looked at it said it's still running on 5 cylinders.

What is a fix for this? Spark plugs is something I've heard.

Thanks.

[Woodyg]

Originally Posted by crazn

Update: After they replaced the cat converter they said a cylinder in the engine was missing and driving it could damage the new cat converter. So they looked at it and determined it was one of the ignition coils.

Drive it home, seems fine. Drive it the next couple days and it still seems to idle rough and has poor acceleration. Sometimes when I get upt to 40-50 it will not accelerate and is kind of "jerky", but then it smooths out and will accelerate again.

People I've talked to and that have looked at it said it's still running on 5 cylinders.

What is a fix for this? Spark plugs is something I've heard.

Thanks.

if you are running on 5 cylinders you should have a misfire code go buy yourself a code reader, see if you can catch a pending code...........also create a detailed signature of your Car so it shows up on every post