Never had a V4, inline 4.

 

"Is the v6 camry just as easy to work on as the 4?" - access is quite limited on the V6, it is really crammed into the engine room. The good news is they rarely need any work. The really good news is the very much appreciated increase in power the V6 provides.

"Is there a better generation than this one?" - that depends, which generation are you asking about? (this portion of the forum covers both the Gen3 and the Gen4). The early V6 (Gen3, '92~'93 in US) had a very robust engine designed for the Toyota trucks. The '94~Gen4 V6 is a later engine with OBDII engine management. Opinions vary on which one is better. The early engine is more forgiving of things being "out", is more rebuildable and is more tunable than the later engine. The later engine suffered from sludge issues when oil change intervals weren't followed (true for the 4 cyl. too).

 

The later engine suffered from sludge issues when oil change intervals weren't followed (true for the 4 cyl. too).

The more I hear about these oil sludge issues, the more I think that the problem is behind the steering wheel. Especially when you ask around and see how much the average person values regular, preventative maintenance.

 

Just for what it may be worth, V4 engines are fairly rare in the automotive world, Ford and Lancia being the only two of that I am aware (SAAB bought the V4 from Ford).
In the motorcycle realm, they are more common, Honda and Yamaha built (and are building) many.

Oh, and it DOES matter: Jeep had a year where the 6 was replaced by a V6, and if you just ask for parts for a V6, you may be very, very unhappy.

 

I'm a little confused by your response? A v4 vs a v6 camry I didn't thi k was that different. They all use the same parts mostly. Plus v4 Camry's do not seem rare at all to me.

 

V-engines are very different from inline ones:

Camrys have an I4 engine (inline-4) or a V6 engine. Internal parts will be very different. Only time I can think of engine internals even being possibly interchangeable was with V8 engines that had two cylinders lopped off to make a V6.

 

Toyota transverse V6 engines are typically an annoyance to work on.

 

My only complaint with working on these cars, I4 or V6 is the very minimal room there is at the front of the engines. Mostly while doing timing belt jobs, my hands and arms aren't exactly enormous but I find timing belt jobs annoying as hell because of the space restrictions. V6 models will require you to remove the intake manifold to replace the rear valve cover gasket, so anything related to that bank of the engine do it while you're in there so you don't have to take everything apart again in my opinion. Actually its not much more effort to just remove the lower intake and do the bypass hose as well if you're not privy to when it was last done.

 

V6 models will require you to remove the intake manifold to replace the rear valve cover gasket, so anything related to that bank of the engine do it while you're in there so you don't have to take everything apart again in my opinion

One reason to do the throttle body bypass mod...

It's the bit of hose going rainbow-arc from the porcupine thing with sensor and green connector on it, to the barb immediately behind and to the left of the fuel hose. Don't have to worry about coolant dribbling out, or air in the water jacket when you take off the upper intake chamber. There's concerns over whether the idle engine speed will be affected as the IACV apparently uses the water temp to adjust idle, but I didn't notice any difference. Use heater hose with 5/16" or 8mm internal diameter, cut to 125mm length.

 

The V6 camry is very peppy engine to use when you do your usual maintance, ie oil change and what ever.
But when it gets to certain parts that need replacing then thats when the real fun begins.
Theres literally no room on the back side of the v bank to access bolts and what not.
Also when it comes to gasket changes because it will fucking leak in the back, good luck taking everything apart and not breaking any bolts/nuts that hasnt rusted over the course of the car's life.
Other than that, when the engine and other components are functioning correctly, its a fun car to drive because honda ricers cant beat you with their clapped out D16 or B16 motors.

 

Take a pic of that puppy. Bet ya it's an Inline 4.

 

Oh.....yeah it's inline. I didn't know "v4's" were built different

 

I4

 

Yep, the "V" is symbolic for the position of the two rows of cylinders when you look at the front or back end of a 6-cylinder engine as in Post #16 from OG Yota's post above. It's funny how long it takes sometimes for little details to click. I hadn't even heard of Madonna until I was in college. I just didn't pay any attention to "Pop Culture". Likewise, it took a long time to figure out what was the front of my V6 engine. I just assumed it meant toward the front of the car...nope, it's the end of the engine with the timing chain or timing belt. The rear is the flywheel end.

Ditto the comments that the V6 is a good engine but more difficult to work on because of less space to work in. One example is changing the sparkplugs. The V6 engine has three plugs that are very easy to access but the three along the firewall are much more difficult to change. Likewise the cam cover seals. The front one (actually the engine's left) is easy but the one along the firewall is underneath the intake manifold AND back along the firewall. It's just an extra level of difficulty and doesn't make it impossible to work on. These engines are easy compared to the new model Ford, Chevy, etc., engines with the "beauty covers" and all the additional electronics and vacuum lines.

 

After reading through this again I think I'll just buy another inline 4