Camry on its last leg?

[CameronCamry]

My Camry now has 240k miles on it and I'm curious if any of you think it's on its last leg. I think the fuel economy has got worse (330 miles from a full tank to hit the empty mark) and also the top speed has dropped about 17MPH since 45k miles ago. I know there's really nothing I can do to fix the speed (not worth doing at least), but do you think there may be a fixable problem about the fuel economy?

[Ken4]

How's the oil consumption? Any blue smoke spewing out the tail pipe? Only if it consumes more than 1 qt per 1000miles, then the engines considered shot. Try some fuel injector cleaner to improve your mileage. A new air filter might help too. You might also have clogged fuel filters, there's one up front and two inside the fuel tank.

[Razo-E]

just, drive her until she gives out, but start looking for another car SOON...

do the cheap but effective maintenance procedures, to prolong the life as long as you can...

with that many miles, she wont sell very well, or even at all...

[ekpolk]

You might also try moving up to a SLIGHTLY thicker oil. Undoubtedly, the tolerances in your old engine have opened some, from all that wear. With the wider tolerances, your engine won't have as much trouble pumping the thicker oil throughout the engine on start (at least in theory). Thicker oils offer the advantage (unneeded and perhaps undesirable in a newer and tighter engine) of flowing more slowly through places like valve seals and piston rings. Also, they typically (but not in every case) have higher flash points than thinner oils and so should be better at resisting evaporation.

As long as it's starting in the morning and not leaving a smoke screen in its wake, you have the most valuable thing in the automotive universe: a paid for car!

[CameronCamry]

I know I used to burn a slight bit of oil on startup a little while back but it was pretty minor and I haven't noticed it recently. I kind of want to blame the air filter right now since I'm going through the all the gas. Would it be ok if I took out the airfilter for a test drive to see if that helps and then I know if I need to get a new filter, or is that a no-no?

How about unclogging fuel lines? Is there any easy solution for that (not ripping everything apart and replacing them)?

[CameronCamry]

well no sh!t! I took off the air filter today to see how dirty it was to find...a mouse nest of packed pink insulation! Thank god I noticed that before deciding to remove it otherwise I'd be done for. I'm going to check it out tonight to see how it is, I removed the insulation but the same filter is on it. It hasn't been changed for a while so it may not still run perfectly but hopefully this helps a bit. I might just get a K&N filter while I'm at it. Does anybody have any reviews on them?

I hope this does it

[2wickedtoyz]

congrats man you found it

[ekpolk]

Hey, don't feel bad, you're not alone. Here is a thread-starting post I put up on SC3 a couple days ago, and which I entitled "Air Filter Foolishness". Sound sorts familiar?

"My 03 V-6 is 11 months old and has 31,000 miles on it. Last week, after finding that mileage had dropped some, I pulled the air filter (for the first time...), and experienced real shock and awe. The thing was jet black and caked with a thick layer of dusty crud and dead bugs! Thankfully, the downstream side and the inside of the housing were still clean. I then pulled the cabin air filter, and found it was even worse. They are now both replaced, and I will be monitoring them much more frequently (and mileage jumped back up to 29mpg for a 200 mile, 80 mph trip last night).

My question is, how often should I really be checking my filters? I was complacent since I do NOT drive in conditions that seem very dirty, but obviously, I was very wrong. . . "

[Fever]

Originally posted by ekpolk
My question is, how often should I really be checking my filters? I was complacent since I do NOT drive in conditions that seem very dirty, but obviously, I was very wrong. . . "

Probably monthly with the miles you're putting on. Do you get bug "blooms" in Pensacola? After one of those for sure.

[white90dx]

Originally posted by Fever
Probably monthly with the miles you're putting on. Do you get bug "blooms" in Pensacola? After one of those for sure.

Heh... he wasn't asking. That was a quote from a different post.

Its really easy to check the air filter, just do it every couple thousand miles (like, with every oil change)... And they are only a couple bucks to replace when they are dirty - when in doubt, just change it.

To the original poster: I know of many Camrys that have run for 300k or more miles (I crashed my first at 267k miles, my 'new' one has almost 310k miles on it). You should have some good life left in the car before it dies. Be prepared to find a new car if it does though... And keep up on your regular maintenance!! Good luck!

-Charlie

[epborden]

Complete tear-down. Clean, polish, port. Rebuild.

[CameronCamry]

I didn't replace the filter but it didn't seem to help (not performance at least). I had to go to work so I didn't have much time to clean much. The screw holding the pipe to the air filter (or claming it at least) is rusted on so when I get the time I'm going to take the bolt cutter to it so I can completely take out the filter box and make sure everything is out. There was still a lot of seeds and junk at the bottom that I couldn't really get out.

[boosted1993fd]

You may want to change your O2 sensors if your gas mileage is suffering...they are usually a likely culprit and not everyone always thinks to change them.