[z44ss]

im about to buy a 90 camry 4cyl with 156,xxx miles. its got a loud tick when it first starts but quites down in a few seconds. the guy that had it before had it serviced regularly but im sure it needs some work and i can do that. im getting it as a back up car in case mine or my brothers car goes down. im just wondering if i should start running synthetic in like my other cars or will it cause a problem.

any other advice and warnings, im open to all opinions...

Post 15 explains the knocking

 

[bigfootbryce]

be careful. i bought my 89 camry as a "gap" car until I could afford something else. that was in '02. still driving strong with 276k miles on it.

 

[z44ss]

well ive got 2 cars im in the middle of rebuilding motors and im affraid something is going to happen to mine or my wifes daily drivers and ill be stuck.

What oil do you run? i'm hoping with some good oil and change it often it will clear up the ticking in the head on start up.

 

[white90dx]

No need for synthetic - just run a decent 10w30 or 10w40 with a good filter (Stock Toyota or Purolator).

The sound you hear is lack of oiling for the motor. Watch the oil pressure light - the noise should stop right when the light goes out. It is normal on these motors, sadly. It shouldn't happen if you have recently run the car (< half and hour or so).

-Charlie

 

[z44ss]

ok thanks. i get the car wed so ill see then. i know the car needs front struts. and probably any other hardware that is replaceable with it. the guy said he has had them replaced 3 times thus far but they need replaced again. any place to get cheap ones, or anything i should do with the stuts up front.

 

[bigfootbryce]

Most of my mileage has been with valvoline. Now, I'm running castrol high mileage. no difference really. just get good quality.

As far as the front struts go, I haven't been able to find any quick struts for this generation.
You'll need strut compressors, struts, strut bellows (the covers over the strut), and bumper stop and might as well throw in the strut mounts.

shop online. rockauto has good prices.

 

[kesando]

Yea, My valvetrain chatters a bit when cold especially in the winter. Not so much now that its warming up outside. I did my first oil change with castrol high mileage and a purolator pure one oil filter

 

[z44ss]

im glad to hear the chatter is normal. that was im biggest concern. the car is rough on the outside, just paint really. but its been taken care of pretty well. air compresser just got replaced and recharged, tranny overdrive was rebuilt 2 years ago, and all the regular maintence was done on a schedule. only problem i think i might have right away is the alternator cause we had to jump the battery to get it started i drove for a few minutes around the neighborhood and it died right before i got back, so ill have to get it tested and see if it has a weak alternator.

 

[DC 2vzfe dx]

if you decide to switch to full synthetic, first change the oil with synthetic BLEND, DO NOT CHANGE FROM CONVENTIONAL OIL STRAIGHT TO FULL SYNTHETIC!!!!! change the engines oil with two phases!!! first synthetic blend then after 3K miles change to full synthetic... reason is not to mix the conventional oil with the synthetic... VERY bad for motor

 

[z44ss]

if you decide to switch to full synthetic, first change the oil with synthetic BLEND, DO NOT CHANGE FROM CONVENTIONAL OIL STRAIGHT TO FULL SYNTHETIC!!!!! change the engines oil with two phases!!! first synthetic blend then after 3K miles change to full synthetic... reason is not to mix the conventional oil with the synthetic... VERY bad for motor

isnt that what a synthetic blend its? most guys i talk to say its just a myth about going from conv. to synthetic being bad. do you have any info of this? on this car im going to just use conventional anyway to make it cheaper.

 

[DC 2vzfe dx]

myth??? naw

imagine trying to mix two different types of oils... conventional oil will begin burn after a few tanks of gas... synthetic tends to not burn when hot or after higher mileage then conventional... if you mix them both together there will be lots of gunk or burned oil residue in your motor... and synthetic oil actually helps clean the engine and make it run smoother as if you just changed your oil the day before... and if you dont have time or money after your mileage hits over 3000 miles you can run it without changing it for a little longer without damaging anything..

i think if you switch to synthetic yo will find yourself adding less and less more oil every few weeks if you motor is an oil burner like my V6...

but if you dont take my word for it.. THEN CARES!!! its you car not mine.. and i believe it works a lot better than the cheap stuff... myth or no myth just trying to look out for whats best for my engine =]

 

[white90dx]

myth??? naw

imagine trying to mix two different types of oils... conventional oil will begin burn after a few tanks of gas... synthetic tends to not burn when hot or after higher mileage then conventional... if you mix them both together there will be lots of gunk or burned oil residue in your motor... and synthetic oil actually helps clean the engine and make it run smoother as if you just changed your oil the day before... and if you dont have time or money after your mileage hits over 3000 miles you can run it without changing it for a little longer without damaging anything..

i think if you switch to synthetic yo will find yourself adding less and less more oil every few weeks if you motor is an oil burner like my V6...

but if you dont take my word for it.. THEN CARES!!! its you car not mine.. and i believe it works a lot better than the cheap stuff... myth or no myth just trying to look out for whats best for my engine =]

Sorry, not true...

You will burn and leak significantly more oil with synthetics than you will with conventionals. What oil is left in your crankcase will lubricate better though!

The same things that make synthetic oils work so well to lubricate also causes them to leak past seals more easily. The oil doesn't break down as easily with high heat, but the 3s-fe or 2vz-fe doesn't run hot enough for it to matter, really.

Also, 3k oil changes are pretty much totally unnecessary. My first Camry went 267k miles with no problems with 5-7k oil change intervals. Regular oil, good filter - that's it. It only burned about a quart every 5k miles by that time...

-Charlie

 

[DC 2vzfe dx]

hmmm.. maybe so, but i noticed that after i switched to synthetic my engine doesnt leak at all.... and doesnt burn any oil since i switched oils... runs a lot smoother too.. hmm it could just be me lolz..

but good point on that side of view... but i never said regular cheap oil was bad.... just saying that synthetic is good too =]

 

[z44ss]

yea ive seen high mileage cars that switch to synthetic start to leak. happened on my lt1 camaro and happened really bad on my F150. on the truck it leaked so bad i switched back to conventional and used a real thick oil, didnt stop it completly but slowed it down enough for me to not have to fix it before i sold it. on the camaro i kept using synthetic and it leaked a little bit more but not bad. synthetic is deffenitly better but for the reasons its better it will find its way past seals.

well im about to go get the car so wish me luck lol...

 

[z44ss]

ok i got the car. here is the dill with the ticking... guy said that it was leaking oil at one time and had to have a seal replaced. before it was replaced he didnt drive it much but one day decided to take it in town and while driving gave it gas hard to get around someone and it started the knocking. when he got home and checked the oil it was dry. he then got the oil leak fixed and hasnt driven it much since. it only knocks in the high rpms. while accelerating right before the tranny shifts the knocking starts and then stops after it shifts and the rpms drop and does the same thing in every gear. its probably not just a lifter is it?

 

[z44ss]

you think the ticking in the upper rpms could be a timing problem?

 

[disregard]

one of the bearings might be done for. How does it idle ?

 

[z44ss]

one of the bearings might be done for. How does it idle ?

it idles fine, and is very easy to start. under normal driving it doesnt knock till right before it shifts so whatever rpms that is. sounds like its coming from the head i think. but would a lifter do that only at higher rpms?

 

[Justin727]

possible detonation or carbon build up. Run some fuel injector cleaner and a full tank of 93 thru it to see if it knocks possibly needs a fuel filter as well