New here.

[commpilot]

Hello all,

Just introducing myself. My name is Brandon and I recently bough a 1998 Camry LE to commute back and forth from home to the airport. Has 141,000 miles on the clock, paid $2700 for it.

My question to the forums regulars and Camry buff's - what would be some good regular maintenance to perform on the car at this mileage.

[marc780]

1. Change the oil. unless you know its history, the first thing i would do is to do two oil changes in a row to flush it out some. change the oil, leave old filter on. Replace plug, add oil, run engine for several minutes. Change the filter and the oil again.
I dont believe in using any flushing solvents or chemicals except maybe something like marvel mystery oil that is more a lubricant and not a solvent (to my mind, flushing solvents are bad for the bearings)

2. Change the transmission fluid. It has a drain plug, change it like the oil. drop the pan if you want to, and change the filter or clean the screen. (I just skip this part since if the strainer is clogged the trans is on the way out anyways.)

3. Change the timing belt, idler and water pump. If you dont know when it was done on this engine, i'd assume it needs it.

If you want to see foryourself, you can always undo the bolts on the timing belt cover without removing anything else, and pry the cover open far enough so you can have a look at the belt. This wont tell you everything about the belt but if you see missing teeth, cracks, and protruding threads on the belt, then you know for sure you need to change it now.
(recommended interval is 60,000 miles on the 4 cyl). Or you can just drive it until the water pump goes out, which may not happen for many many miles - and do it all then.

Thats about it for the real important stuff.

[Mike Gerber]

To add to what Marc has mentioned, I would also change out the coolant. Changing all these fluids will give you baseline from which to work. I would then change the oil and filter every 3,000 miles or 3 months, whichever occurs first. I would also change the transmission fluid and coolant every 30,000 miles or 3 years, whichever occurs first. You might also want to do a complete flush of the brake fluid. This is not listed in any manual, but is a good idea IMHO as brake fluid is hydroscopic, meaning it picks up moisture over time. It also get's dirty over time. It's this dirt and moisture that can ruin expensive brake system hydraulic components.

I would also like to make 1 correction. The timing belt change interval on the generation 4 Camry (1997-2001) is 90,000 miles.

Mike