On my '95 (167,000 mi.) I change the coolant every two years. If the original factory coolant is in there, I would carefully check all radiator/heater hoses & replace the 'hard' ones. I would have the system professionally flushed & have Toyota red coolant plus distilled water used to fill it up. Your cooling system protects your engine and transmission. If it goes south, big repairs can follow.
Another critical area on Toyotas is the cheesy battery terminals. If they aren't in top notch shape, replace them & apply corrosion protection spray. Corroded battery terminals can cause battery cable & starter failures.
Aftermarket brake pads could be fine, but you take your chances. Buy the Toyota pads - they aren't noisy & last a long time.
Around here (Washington, DC Metro) Pat Goss is the radio/TV car repair guru, & he says replace rubber parts that are touched by coolant & the drive & timing belts every 4 years. Maybe that's excessive, but your parts are going on 11 years, so be aware.
A factory service manual is a great investment! I paid over $100 from the dealer & it's paid for itself.
Try 800-848-4451 (Maryland) for 20% off retail, for Toyota parts except fluids.
Regular oil changes are critical to the 1995 Toyota V-6, so keep doing it.
At every oil change you could also drain the transmission pan. I think about 2 quarts come out. Use factory recommended replacement fluid.
Keep on top of the maintenance & the Avalon will give you great service.
I was looking at the things on top of the battery (+ and -) and they look corroded. Should they be replaced? The red minus cap is missing though. Should that be replaced? Also, are those the battery terminals or am I thinking of something else?
So far, I have purchased purolator fuel, oil and air filters (the STP air filter is going back), fuel injector cleaner and denso iridium spark plugs. When I take the STP air filter back, I will be getting 160 ounces of Mobil 1 motor oil. I will also call that number you gave me for the factory service manual and brake pads. I guess I will drive to the local dealership for the Toyota Red. I am not sure where I will get the distilled water though. I believe that my uncle changed the timing belt 5-6 years ago. It will probably have to be changed again.
As for the transmission fluid change, does it degrade over time to necessitate frequent changes or is changing it at every oil change only for good measure?
You are off to a great start and will undoubtedly take great care of this car!
However, my advice is to relax a little and slow down. STP filters are fine, especially if you change you filters in a timely manner. Mobile 1 is overkill unless you plan on going to extended oil change intervals. However, if you have the money and love this car, then go ahead and go above and beyond. Use the advanced search here and read all the opinions about spark plugs. I read a couple people having better luck with the less expensive platinum’s. Read on how to check the tranny fluid and learn how to look at and smell it. When you read you will find out that a drain and refill only gets so much of the fluid. Dropping out 2 quarts every 3000-4000 miles is probably overkill especially if the fluid is currently in good shape, but one method of being sure a certain percentage of the fluid is new. All fluids degrade over time, some more than others. Go to bobistheoilguy.com for much more detailed opinions about oil, and filters.
So, I say, relax, learn as much as you can, have fun becoming a DIYer, and enjoy the car, but don’t get too carried away—remember what opinions are like…, you will get many and eventually will find your own preferences for filters and such.
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1997 Avalon XLS (black, black leather, tinted windows), sold June 2009 with 183K on it, still looking and running great!
Right now the oil is changed every 7500 miles with petroleum based oil. The guy at AutoZone told me that I could probably change the oil every 7500 miles if I go with synthetic, which scared me, as I am planning on using the same car until Tesla Motors makes comparable sedans in the same price range, something that I do not expect to happen for another 20 years.
Anyway, thanks to both of you for the the advice. I will be looking at that website.
I wouldn't push past 5000K with this engine even with top quality conventional oil, given the engine's so called "sludge" history, unless I used synthetic oil. The real benefit of synthetics is that they are cleaner and continue to "clean" the engine longer than than conventional oil.
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1997 Avalon XLS (black, black leather, tinted windows), sold June 2009 with 183K on it, still looking and running great!
As far as I am aware, the sludge problem doesn't affect the 95 and 96 models. It was a design change made for the 97 model year that caused the sludge issue.
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Toyotas in the family/next of kin:
1982 Corolla Wagon, 1989 Corolla DX, 1991 Previa LE, 1993 Previa LE,
1993 Pickup, 1994 Corolla DX, 1995 Avalon XL, 1996 Camry XLE, 1998 Avalon XL,
1998 Sienna CE, 1999 Camry XL, 2000 Camry XLE, 2002 Tundra, 2003 Tundra,
2003 ES 300, 2004 Camry XLE, 2005 Tacoma
I wouldn't push past 5000K with this engine even with top quality conventional oil, given the engine's so called "sludge" history, unless I used synthetic oil. The real benefit of synthetics is that they are cleaner and continue to "clean" the engine longer than than conventional oil.
Toyota says that it should be changed every 7500 miles. There have never been any oil related problems and from what my father told me, he is using the motor oil that my uncle recommends. I am planning to switch over to the synthetic oil, so hopefully that will avoid any potential problems I could experience in the future from changing the oil every 7500 miles.
Last edited by ShiningArcanine; 07-26-2006 at 03:35 PM.
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