Friend just got a '95 LE V6

2230 Views 17 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Kingdom934, Apr 6, 2008

Kingdom934

Discussion Starter · Mar 11, 2008

Add another camry to my group of friends. One of my friends recently got a light blue 1995 LE V6 Camry light blue for $2300. Not bad for the price, but it has some flaws. I don't have pictures yet, but I plan to get pictures soon.

What I'm here for is anything I need to watch out for these V6 camry. My other friend has a 1997 LE V6 also, so getting familar with the 1MZ-FE(?) engine is needed for me.

Anyhow, some things I need to try fix for her.

Front passenger bumper blinker is broken. Cover is cracked and the support where the bulb tighten is gone. The socket for the bulb is there though. going to junker for this

High mount tail burned. Going to replace

Power antenna. Non existent. The hole for it is there along with the surround plastic thing, but the antenna itself is gone. replacing entire thing I suppose fron junker.

Driver center vent is missing. Not sure how the vent came off. Going to figure this out and find one from junker.

Driver side accessory box (coin box?) doesn't latch. gonna replace entire thing.

Center console door below radio is broken one side (it'll fall off if open). replacing.

Center console between seat. The second part of it where it is connected to the storage bin is crack and rattling a bit. Nothing serious but I would replace it if I could. storage bin door surface has cracks.

A 'clunk' in the back when going over bumps. I suspect strut mounts.

The biggest thing would be the front. The passenger side had been pushed in. The owner said when he was parking, he smack the front on like some kind of thing he told me I forgot. I'm thinking like a garden box or some kind of pipes in the parking garage. This caused the passenger headlight to be pushed in along with messing the hood latch. He manage to get it to latch correctly though. The support holding the headlight is pushed back, hence the front radiator support thing that holds the radiator in place is bent slightly (not sure what the right name of it).

Besides that, the car is fine for having 214,000 miles. Owner rebuild the entire engine when it had 180,000ish. Engine made a noise top end, but he decided to get the entire thing rebuilt. A/C is cold as it had been overhauled in 2004.

Any suggestions of comments are welcome.

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97camryle

· #2 · Mar 12, 2008

nice! I love the 95 V6 LE...that was my parents first camry and the one that I learned to drive on...still my fav. year!

however, I currently have a 97 with the 5sfe, and its just a hair slow...

Kingdom934

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 13, 2008

97camryle said:
nice! I love the 95 V6 LE...that was my parents first camry and the one that I learned to drive on...still my fav. year!

however, I currently have a 97 with the 5sfe, and its just a hair slow...

Ironic you said that.

The owner (the car was a one owner) was selling this car because he was moving to the mainland. The owner said that his mom bought the car new and that later on she gave gave him the car because he had gotten his license (It would be safe to assume that he was learning how to drive on the Camry).

I'd wish she would had gotten the I4 instead of the V6 since she is a college student with minimal income. Gas prices here are rising like crazy (regular runs around $3.42 to $3.52), but this was a great deal...aside from the defects.

I just took pictures today, but I'm am just dead after driving and being as a passenger of a car for 3+ hours. I'll post up the pictures tomomorrow.

sk8ersublime

· #4 · Mar 13, 2008

" Center console door below radio is broken one side (it'll fall off if open). replacing."

Just put a screw in hinge on the side its broken, it works fine

97camryle

· #5 · Mar 13, 2008

Kingdom934 said:
Ironic you said that.

The owner (the car was a one owner) was selling this car because he was moving to the mainland. The owner said that his mom bought the car new and that later on she gave gave him the car because he had gotten his license (It would be safe to assume that he was learning how to drive on the Camry).

I'd wish she would had gotten the I4 instead of the V6 since she is a college student with minimal income. Gas prices here are rising like crazy (regular runs around $3.42 to $3.52), but this was a great deal...aside from the defects.

I just took pictures today, but I'm am just dead after driving and being as a passenger of a car for 3+ hours. I'll post up the pictures tomomorrow.

nah, I'll be honest, after driving the 4 for a while, I'd take the V6 any day, plus the gas mileage isn't that much worse.

Like my Mom's 04 camry has a v6, and gets better mileage than I do!:clap:

Kingdom934

Discussion Starter · #6 · Mar 14, 2008

11

Pictures

Some pictures I was able to take in 2 minutes. Again I was in a rush. I'll try get more better pictures of the engine bay and inside.

sk8ersublime said:
" Center console door below radio is broken one side (it'll fall off if open). replacing."

Just put a screw in hinge on the side its broken, it works fine

Okay. I'll see what exactly is wrong with it. Thanks for the suggestion.

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97camryle

· #7 · Mar 14, 2008

Kingdom934 said:
Some pictures I was able to take in 2 minutes. Again I was in a rush. I'll try get more better pictures of the engine bay and inside.

Okay. I'll see what exactly is wrong with it. Thanks for the suggestion.

damn, just a few things to fix up!
should be a good project car tho

Kingdom934

Discussion Starter · #8 · Mar 15, 2008

Ya. Most of the things are quite minor. The only real thing that I won't be able to do work on is the front end damage.

Overall though, for $2200 can't really grumble. I went to the junkers yesterday and got the center air vents. It's going to be a slow process as a lot of the Gen3 camry were strip down pretty well in the junkers before I came to them.

Black95Cam

· #9 · Mar 15, 2008

Kingdom934 said:
I went to the junkers yesterday and got the center air vents. It's going to be a slow process as a lot of the Gen3 camry were strip down pretty well in the junkers before I came to them.

thats how it is over here too. seem like someone been going from junk yard to junk yard yanking all the stuff out that we need or bust it up. :disappoin

Kingdom934

Discussion Starter · #10 · Mar 16, 2008 (Edited)

Yea. Seems like people just want everything that can be taken from a Gen3 Camry.

I'll be honest, I broke the plastic bezel trying to get to the air vent...found out there was two more screws on the bottom part of the driver dash bezel...

Anyhow, today I manage to do a more better check. I even got more pictures under the hood. I'm begining to question how reall bad the smash on the front was due to the misalignment of the front. Besides that I was able to record the 'clunking' in the back. Quite annoying and sounds like the back end is going to fly off. Also, I noticed the car blows white smoke for 1~3 seconds after start. Air filter is pretty dirty. Looks like somebody took a blower and tried cleaning it the cheap man's way.

I need to also get another coolant resevor, the current one is cracked...

Will post it up later.

keisuke

· #11 · Mar 16, 2008

lots up here in the northeast in the breaker's yards just getting to them is the issue

Kingdom934

Discussion Starter · #12 · Mar 16, 2008

8

Anyhow, I got a video clip on the 'clunking' on the back side of the car. Sounds like a mount or something, but the sound is definally there upon going over minor things such as man hole covers on road and over rough roads. The video below has me driving over man covers and at the ending part, over the center bumps.

Anyhow the picture below are of the front of the car, engine compartment.

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geoff5093

· #13 · Mar 17, 2008

Definitely some type of front end damage there, hopefully you can still replace the parts without the bent radiator support/frame causing too much of an issue.

Kingdom934

Discussion Starter · #14 · Mar 17, 2008

I wouldn't mind doing work on it if it was my car, but what I'm worried is if I do try to fix it, it might not go back on right due to things being bent.

What I'm worried about is how long this car is going to last. I just got my friend oil, filter, and air filter. Need to do that this week.

Kingdom934

Discussion Starter · #15 · Apr 6, 2008

Big headach.

The driver door and the driver fender was making noise because they was rubbing, So I figure maybe by loosening up the two bolts near the door and push the fender out and forward before tighten it up.

Stupied idea. Both of the bolts snaped off. The noise is now worst...My friend's dad is gonna shave off part of the door where it is rubbing the fender

It appears that the driver side fender alignment got screwed over ...sometimes I wonder exactly how much is messed up in the front.

Black95Cam

· #16 · Apr 6, 2008

sometime, some damages are not visible to the eyes thus, there might be more damage then expected.

but i finally found a few junk yards that are for toyota only. (pretty much each manufacture have their own junk yard set up, which i thought was pretty cool)

desentrix

· #17 · Apr 6, 2008 (Edited)

While you're at it, you might as well redo the headlights with superfine grit sandpaper, polish, and a powerball mini.

Maybe VVTI can shed some light. I'm just making a guess, but have you checked the strut? I think you mentioned it needed an alignment as well..

Kingdom934

Discussion Starter · #18 · Apr 6, 2008 (Edited)

Thanks for the comments.

The front might need an alignment. The steering wheel has to be turned I believe slightly to the left to drive straight.

The rear 'clunking' noise could be either strut mount or the sway bar. She (my friend who has the car) said the noise isn't as bad when you got people in the back. The struts are without a doubt pass their change. The car has 217K now I believe. Hawaii's roads are not the best out there, so struts don't last much.

Just to give you an idea on what is 'high' for hawaii, Most Camry that I see in the junkers have anywhere from 90K to 150K, most in the 135K. Over 200K is uncommon here.

Getting the cloud off the headlight would be a nice thing, but everythin in the front is so messed up. Just to replace the passenger front blinker took me almost an hour. Had to tear it out the entire thing as the screw was bent in the metal backplate. My friends' dad took a dremel to shave the screw out of it.

Judging from everything in the front being slightly miss alignment, I'm scared to take any thing off...might not go back on without a fight. I can't do much and screw up...she just needs it to go to and from school. After all the car is not worth much due to the condition it is as is.

ALSO, another important thing I notice. The car blows a puff of white smoke upon START UP after been sitting for about half hour, can be driven long time or cold start. After that it seems fine.

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