New Used Camry Owner

[jrock80]

Hey guys (and girls),

I just bought my first Camry tonight. Its a 1990 Camry LE with 131,000 miles on it. It has the 3S-FE engine in it. The previous owner was an elderly couple from Florida. The car is in mint condition inside and out. No rust at all on it and it was completely serviced. This is a 1 owner car and it shows. The interior looks like no one has ever sat in the back seat. Every power option works flawlessly. The engine is so quiet you can barely tell that its running. The timing belt was changed at 127,000 miles back in 2001. The car has been parked since. It was then driven from Florida to Pennsylvania where it was just traded in at my local Toyota store. The owners were comming back up this way to visit and bought an 06 Camry. I picked it up for $1,000. Anyway, the only thing the car needs is a tune-up. Needs plugs, wires, cap and rotor, air filter, and fuel filter. The oil was changed and a new battery installed before it was driven from Florida to PA. The oil is very clean still, I was expecting it to need changed again from sitting so long but it doesnt look bad at all. I may do it anyway just to be safe. Anywho, does anyone have any recommendations on what brand of spark plugs to get? The original owners manual is in the car, looks very easy to do on this engine. I just want to take really good care of this car as someone else already has. I want to be one of the ones that gets 300k out of it. Oh one other thing, the transmission fluid and coolant look good, but do you think it would be a good idea to have them changed anyway from sitting so long? I have heard bad things about changing transmission fluid if its really old, something about disrupting particles and having the tranny go as a result. Any input would be great.

Thanks again everyone, I love this car!

Josh from PA

[throwback]

well josh, spark plugs if you want longest lasting and performance id go with bosch platinums 4, spark plug wires id go with nology great company for spark-longer lasting- and performance, as for the filter your best off with a drop in k&n filter, yes i would recommend you change all fluids because leaving any type of fluid in your car for a long time with out using it is bad for the engine.

i hope i helped you out with any questions you had in mind. good luck and good buy for 1,000 dollars toyotas are truly long lasting cars.

[jrock80]

It sounds to me like I really dont need anything special than? I called the Toyota dealer for parts and their prices are outrageous. I dont mind paying for factory original parts but if aftermarket are just as good, I might as well save myself some money.

[skewe]

Welcome.

Spark plug,
go with DENSO

NGK have been known to give problems with camry engines

[Keep]

welcome to the board.

post some pics of your car in the gallery!

[88 LE]

^^

I think you meant to say Bosch plugs are known to give problems.

Denso or NGK is whats recommended. I've used both on a 3S-FE without any problems.

Denso = Q16RU-11

NGK = BCPR5EY-11

Gap them to .044


Plug wires and dist. cap on a 3S-FE are all one piece. The plug wires do not detach. I suggest using a OEM (Toyota) dist. cap + wire set. Replace the rotor at the same time.


Toyota dist. cap and wire set is around $60 - $70. Not to bad, but not exactly cheap either.

And the rotor is a few bucks.

[Toyteq]

Denso only. Unless you want a missfire down the road.
NGK second.

Get the plug wires and cap from the dealer... just like 88 LE said.

[jrock80]

Hey guys, well I got it all tuned up. Replaced the cap, rotor, wires, spark plugs, fuel filter, and air filter. Didnt cost me much at all and was all very easy to do. The car is running like a top now. Smooth and efficient. I am actually using this car as a second car, but have fallen in love with it. My other car, a 2005 GTO, is awesome, but this old Camry just amazes me with all its features. I took a day trip today, drove 220 miles and filled up when I got back home, only took 5.8 gallons of gas. I filled it up right before I left for the trip. So this 15 year old car is getting almost 40MPG! I cant believe it. I was 70-75 most of the trip and didn't have the AC on.

My next question is probably something that I am just obsessing about. I noticed that when then tranmission shifts, the shifts are firm and quick. Is this normal for this year of car? I have an automatic. The shifts aren't harsh or sloppy, just firm. Moving the gear selector in and out of any gear is as smooth as silk. No noises or anything like that. I am just wondering if a flush and fill will help to smoothen things out a little. Ideas?

Thanks again for all the tips and help. Like I said, I just love this car.

[illusive562]

welcome to the gen 2 family! i changed my spark plugs to ngk copper tops last month and i noticed a better fuel economy but as for performance...it feels the same, next time im going with some denso iridiums for the fun of it even tho ngk works fine for me...

[95WhiteCamry]

Originally Posted by 88 LE

^^

I think you meant to say Bosch plugs are known to give problems.

Denso or NGK is whats recommended. I've used both on a 3S-FE without any problems.

Denso = Q16RU-11

NGK = BCPR5EY-11

Gap them to .044


Plug wires and dist. cap on a 3S-FE are all one piece. The plug wires do not detach. I suggest using a OEM (Toyota) dist. cap + wire set. Replace the rotor at the same time.


Toyota dist. cap and wire set is around $60 - $70. Not to bad, but not exactly cheap either.

And the rotor is a few bucks.

if you buyt the correct spark plugs for the vehicle, don't they already come pre-gapped to the correct size?

[jrock80]

I bought the NGK = BCPR5EY-11 because the Densos werent available in stock anywhere locally. They were already pregapped. Worked perfectly.