Getting the Camry back on the road

[largepete]

Here's the long story. My friend left his 93 Camry LE in my yard while he went to China. That was a year ago. I was starting the car once a month and running it for 10-15 minutes, moving the car to different spots in the yard, just warming it up really, until the battery died and I didn't feel like jumping it. So then it sat 100% dormant for 8 or 9 months.

I wrecked my car a week ago, and I wanted to put the Camry on the road and drive it until I can get new wheels, but it has some problems. They are:

1) The battery was dead, dead. Tossed it and put the battery from my wreck into it.

2) The power steering unit has a busted hose or something. When I started it a week ago, it just spewed its fluid on the ground. I'll check on it later.

3) The car has a real issue with coming out of park. If you grab the shifter with two hands and really squeeze the heck outta the button, it will eventually come out of park, but you really really have to wrestle with it. It's also very stiff going back into park. Once you have it out of park, the tranny shifts okay to reverse, drive, 2, low.

I'm trying to figure out what is wrong with the tranny or shifter and what I can do to fix it. I checked the fluid, and it was ok. Any suggestions?

[Your Uncle Moe]

Check your fuses. Same problem happened to my friend and it turned out to be a blown fuse. You should have a couple of spare fuses under the cover. Even if it looks okay change it anyways. Thats all the help I can offer.

[Your Uncle Moe]

Oh yeah. Power steering is highly overated. I drove my car with a dead power steering pump for 3 months. I got so diesel in the process. Two stones with one bird. Hahaha

[Nico]

I don't have a clue concerning your tranny problem, just an advice I would give though (even if this is not the thing that will put the car back on the road...) : change the oil. You're not supposed to keep the same engine oil for more than a year.

[88 LE]

Originally posted by largepete
2) The power steering unit has a busted hose or something. When I started it a week ago, it just spewed its fluid on the ground. I'll check on it later.

High pressure hose from the pump?

3) The car has a real issue with coming out of park. If you grab the shifter with two hands and really squeeze the heck outta the button, it will eventually come out of park, but you really really have to wrestle with it. It's also very stiff going back into park. Once you have it out of park, the tranny shifts okay to reverse, drive, 2, low.

Check the neutral safety switch. Its attached to the front of the tranny.

It could be sticking when you shift in/ out of park.

Unbolt the shifter cable from it and move the lever up and down. The lever should move pretty easily except for when it clicks into the lowest position (lever all the way down).

When you goto bolt the shifter cable back on make sure that it shifts into every position. My friend and I swaped the tranny on his Camry and it wouldn't shift into low gear cos the cable was in the wrong position, so make sure you check it.