Anytime you're working around fuel, make sure you approach the job with an abundance of caution. Have someone available standing by with a fire extinguisher rated for CLASS B fires (flammable fuels, oils, etc) and proceed with caution. ideally your fuel tank should be close to empty to cut down on the amount of fuel available to fuel a fire and to minimize any fuel spilling from your tank when you replace the filler neck. Ensure there are no open flames, cigarette smokers or sources of sparks. Work in a well-ventilated area and wear splash proof goggles to protect your eyes. Do not perform this job in a garage that has any form of pilot light such as a gas water heater, etc. You will most likely have to jack up the rear of your Camry and support it on jack stands to access the area. I would also soak the undercarriage filler neck tube bracket bolts/screws with penetrant oil the night before you plan to do the work. You also might have to remove the rear wheel and fender skirt to facilitate the repair. the filler tubes go down into two rubber hoses attached to the fuel tank with clamps. You might want to see if the clamps are in need of replacement before you start the job if this is your only means of transportation. The replacement is pretty straight forward and I'm sure there are YouTube videos on this matter. If youre even slightly mechanically inclined this should be a fairly quick, easy job that you can complete in a couple hours or less. good luck, and as always, SAFETY FIRST!!

 

Gas filler tube/pipe rusted thru right at the joint where it becomes wider at the gas cap.

Tank may be not far behind. I replaced my tank a couple of years ago and there's no easy way to remove gas from it. I had to remove the fuel pump access hatch and siphon out as much as possible. There's baffles inside which makes it harder to get to all the gas.

I did it in my garage (door open) without a safety captain standing by with a fire extinguisher. The risk is accumulation of fumes, so a well ventilated space is necessary. If your gas water heater is in the garage and there are enough fumes the pilot and heater start could ignite - but the fumes would need to be excessive for that to happen - just something to think about. A fan would provide extra ventilation.

You'll find the filler tube easier to install if the tank is lowered. The attachment to the tank is probably rusted on tight as well. Depending on age and how long you intend to keep it maybe a new tank as well. Certainly a shop with a hoist makes it easier for them. For DIY I used a floor jack to support the tank while the car was safely blocked high up. Still crawling underneath is a pain.

 

I did not have to touch the tank. Just a lot of rust, and a couple hoses to release. Once you have the new one to hand, you'll see all the mounting.
I'd rate it not too bad.

P.S. Did mine earlier this year.

 

Thank you all! I appreciate the details and experiences and hassles and danger to watch for. Really, it helps to make decisions based on time, money, safety etc.

My concern was that I did not know how it was attached. Worried I would have to open the tank and reach in or something or jam a metal pipe in a tank opening with gas in it and hope I do not make sparks.

I am in NW Indiana about 35 miles SE of Chicago so starting to get cold. I cannot do this with my Mr Heater 30,000 BTU blue flame garage heater on. I would rather do it in the driveway with more natural light. Now just to make it thru without my legally blind neighbor who comes outside to smoke a cigarette about 15-20 times a day to sneak up on me with a lit smoke in his mouth saying,”Whatcha doing under there. Aint you gave up on that Camry yet? and blow us up. Lol

I called the local shop to get an over the phone estimate for if there is nothing else involved but the tube. They called back and said they usually have to drop the tank on these type of jobs. Did not say specifically my model car. They wanted $375 total and if tank or brakets bad price keeps going up. I just am not paying that for that all things considered. I could by a decent set of 4 tires on sale/rebate for a little more than the $300 I save after the $75 for the part and clamps.

I was relieved to hear it does not jam straight into the tank metal on metal. That there is a rubber hose it is clamped into.

My plans is to pick a warmer day and go under car. I have four ramps I can drive it on them put jack stands and a big heavy duty jack under it so I do not get smushed and to give me a little wiggle room. Would be nice if I could keep the tire on but can work around that if needed.

I can get a visual of whats what, likely type of clamps needs and nuts and bolts need replacing and make sure if one or two vent pipe correct part and give the bolts the first pre soak and if the tank is a rust bucket or not and if in general I want to mess with doing the job or not.

I do not mind being cold, getting knuckles scrapped, dropping F Bombs and having the occasional frustration fit. Just dont want to spend a whole weekend on it or get blown up.

It is not a daily driver. Just have the weather and emmisions deadline pushing me.

Thanks all!

 

FWIW, I had my '93 done several years ago. I supplied the Spectra filler neck. It was Winter and my garage is unheated so I had the local guy do it. He charged 1/2 hour labor so it couldn't have been too involved.

 

I did the filler neck on my DiL's '03 Avalon last year. Pretty easy and straightforward. No worse than a disc brake job.

 

Here’s a DIY for the job from the sticky. It’s for a Gen3, but I’d guess the Gen4 is similar.

 

Awesome! Thanks! That helped. Its getting clearer what and how.

 

I took a look under the car today as I needed to check for another exhaust leak and of course the flex pipe is bad again. This one probably has less than 5k on it and about 4 yrs. Garage kept. Maybe my parents are scraping it on the curb or maybe motor mounts are bad, I do not know. Not sure if there is an at home ghetto fix for a flex pipe? I am assuming that it would just be a mess and time and leak soon after if I just try and ghetto patch/fix it. I should have a punch card for flex pipes between this car and the other 98 my son drives. lol Buy 3 get one free. lol

OK back to the gas filler pipe.......I sprayed/soaked the bolts and clamps and will do it again the night before. I am not real confident that they will all come out without one or more snapping off. We shall see. Not a job to heat up sticking bolts with a torch. lol. Typically when these types snap of I just drill out and use some thread locker and a new self tapping screw. Not even sure drilling is safe with gas around. Maybe after I get it all in place and sealed I could drill if need be. Hopefully all the bolts and clamp screws come out without snapping or stripping.

The gas tank actually looks great all things considered. The tank brackets are rusty. I am gonna try leave the tank be and not mess with the tank or brackets.

I backed the back tires up on ramps and was surprised there was pretty good access coming in from the back of the car and I might be able to avoid taking the tire off. We shall see.

I was actually surprise as there seemed to be a decent amount of room to wiggle the pipe in an out of the area.

It was the 2 vent pipe version model. Going to RockAuto now to order and it should be about $70-72 shipped after the discount code and I will order a basic new gas cap from Amazon while I am at it. So about $75 all in. It is a week for delivery on the filler pipe.

Thanks for tall the info and encouragement and I will post back on how it went.

 

Take the tire off, you'll need that room to get the pipe wriggled free.

 

The danger in any auto repair or with any action in life is relative to the intelligence of the person taking the action. The interesting thing is that stating this is zero help to those on any point in the Bell Curve because those on the good side already know it, and those on the wrong side can't perceive or believe it. So it is a completely relative and useless statement at the same time !!! Good luck with your repairs.

 

Read your comment twice and I am unsure of the relevance or relation or intent. I mean that genuinely not sarcastically. Maybe that means I am on the wrong end of the bell curve. Lol. Seriously though if it appears to you that way after reading my posts in this thread please let me know here or even in a PM. Or even if I misunderstood what you mean. I would rather proceed forward or pull back on the job if the opposite end if the bell curve feels it would be in my best interest. I am open to and welcome to feedback of any type. I just prefer it to be direct and clear. Thank you!

 

Definitely be careful around the gas. A friend was doing a job similar and a coworker was welding nearby and he had spilled some guess and burnt the shop to the ground unfortunately. But I think as long as you aren’t doing anything with spark you should be fine. Maybe get a piece of metal and epoxy it or duck tape it to the spot where it has rusted through to take it out. That way hopefully no gas will come out.

 

There are similar videos on Youtube as well. It doesn't look like you need to drop the tank, and I'd say the 30 minutes mentioned above is reasonable. It'd help if the gas is low in the tank, and I'd consider replacing the rubber hoses, include the large bellow one. Or just leave it for now, knowing you might have to go back in again. You have new clamps too, right?

As far as the flex pipe goes, Toyota flex pipes aren't the best, at least compared to Hondas. So I'm not surprised one would go. However, I'd check the engine mounts, there's probably too much movement there causing it.

 

Thank you! I appreciate it!

I liked the video. Make things even clearer. Although I probably would not have had my toddler that close when I am working on a gas tank. Maybe that was his stanby fireman. Lol.

Part does not come for a week but I looked under there yesterday to get a visual and to verify if I needed the one to two vent pipe model. Also to check condition of tank etc. The phillips slots and head on the clamps looked pretty bad with rust. So did the bolts. I wish I knew the sized on all the bolts to get some extras on standby. Hoping none snap off and that there will be no need to drill and use self tapping bolts. If it comes to that I will do that after everything is all sealed back up and wipe surfaces and put a big fan near me and have my todler armed with the class B fire estingwisher.

I soaked all the bolts and clamps with WD40 and will again the night before. Planned on buying new clamps cause these look real bad.

 

Thank you! I appreciate it!

I soaked all the bolts and clamps with WD40 and will again the night before. Planned on buying new clamps cause these look real bad.

Upgrade to a real penetrating fluid like PB Blaster , and increase your chance of success. Walmart or any parts place.

 

x2 on buying some penetrating fluid because WD40 is not.

Regarding the flex pipe failure: are you in a rusty region? If so, was the flex pipe mild steel? In my experience, mild steel exhausts only last about 2 years. Shop for stainless steel, it is well worth the uncharge (when I replaced the rusted out, 2 year old mild steel system on my winter car I was amazed that I could get the whole thing in stainless for only about $50 more, this one should last 10 years).

 

I may have some PB Blaster in the back of my packed chemical garage cabinet. Or I may have used it all up on previous jobs. I had the WD40 out as a reminder as I try to soak the springs to my garage door before each winter. A tech told me thats what he does to his own so you get more life out if them. At least it cleaned the dirt off the bolts. Lol. Will get some PB then.

I replaced the flex pipe on this 98 with the local shop once and did the other 98 same way. Both went bad within two years. The shop said they no longer use that brand cause too many failures. So last time I needed more so I ordered off Rock Auto or Ebay have to find receipt. The whole long tube from under engine, thru flex pipe thru cat to just before resonator. It was a walker brand. Just looked on rock auto and it says 5yr50k warranty but the wording make it seem like the cat performance and structure only. I cannot see them giving that warranty for pipes and a flex tube.

These flex pipe have been going bad regularly. I think its a combination of the car sits low as designed, the after market steel is cheap and poor quality, my motor mounts are almost 23 yrs old and 269k and 150k. In fact the 150k V6 I have a new set if mounts in the garage waiting to put on when I have time as I know they are bad at least the main front one because if the vibration and noise especially on cold start. Also the end of my driveway and my parents has a pretty high curb and also I swear after putting Monroe quickstruts on each car I swear the front sheild scrapes more often then before so maybe the flex pipe gets scrapped on occasion on a bad backup scrape. My son and my mom drive these cars mainly now so most likely they scrape backing out more that I would. I think all if those factors are contributing to the need.

I will definitely look into the stainless model for the next time on the 150k v6 as plan on keeping that one for a good while.

The 150k v6 was garage kept for at least the first 15 years and has way less rust underneath. I have even consider inspecting the gas filler tube on the 150k and if it looks good pulling that one and putting it on the 269k that has the rusted out one and putting the brand new one on the 150k cause my goal it to get to the 25 year or more mark with that one. Its a thought. Not sure if I should act on it yet. I have two jacks, four jack stands, four wheel chocks and two fire extinguishers LOL so I could see it happening. Maybe pull the 269k bad one first and see how that goes. Just because its possible does not mean I should do both. The 150k one has to look and feel very good before I consider getting heavy handed with it.

Thank you!

 

NAPA sells flex connectors, if you can find a (muffler) shop to weld it in.

 

...just make sure what you buy is stainless steel, so it will last more than 2 winters

 

The gas filler tube was delivered this afternoon early as it was not supposed to be here until mid next week so I went ahead and replaced it. I already prepped it with one round of wd40 and one round of some PB Blaster and more today. Had to wire brush the bolts to even get a socket or wrench to fit on them with o much rust. I looked at the one on my 98 6cyl with 150k and it was in very good shape with slight rust by some brackets but overall very good and mostly still black stock paint no rust so I scrapped the plan of putting the new part on that one and putting the 150k one on my 269k 4cyl that rusted out.

So its done and all hooked up well but honestly it was bitch to do but its all done. It took me about 3 hours from pulling it in the garage to puling it out and clean up and put tools all away

The bitch part was related to several things....the box with the part came absolutely mangled with big tears and large holes and one of the vent tubes sticking out of the top 3 inches. Later realized that one got bent in shipping cause it just would not line up with the rubber vent hose so I had to bend it slowly and with caution to get it close enough to hook up to the hose.

It was also cold out 35-40 degrees no sun. That cold did not help get the bolts out. If it was a sunny warm day things would have went better. I also ran out of daylight about an hour into the job as I started late afternoon and planned on about an hour so I was working with a flashlight and fumbling around with that a lot the last 2 hours.

There was way more rust than anticipated. I would be blind now if not for wearing goggles. The bolts and brackets were so rusty.

The parts that were the most bitch were the main bolts to the brackets and getting the two vent hoses back on the metal vent pipes. There was not much room to get hands in there in such a tight space with all the suspension parts in the way. There was not much clearance at all on the lower bracket. Could not fit get enough tork/strength with a socket wrench so ended up using a open wrench with a socket like end. On the upper bracket I broke two cheap 12 mm sockets and still could not get the bolt loose. So I used that wrench and got behind the car and used my foot and broke it loose and had to reset the wrench every 1/4 turn. Slow work but got it off. It was rusted on pretty good but none of the bolts snapped off so that was good.

It was hard to get the rubber hoses back on the metal vent pipes. What ended up working was using a long set of hose pliers about 16" long with a small round grabber at the end. About a 1/2" circle when closed. Then on the smaller hose just used the flat middle part of that tool and for both just had to keep wiggling and pushing at the same time while pushing the metal tube into those direction. There is just a lot of stuff in the way and no access to get you hands in there where you would prefer them to be.

Up by the gas cap the lock and release pin that works by pulling the lever inside the car was tricky at first till I starred at it and realized it had to be something in the trunk. Once I pulled the carpet back on the trunk side wall that part was easy to figure out.

This is a Chicago land car for almost 23 years mostly kept outside so lots of rust from winter salt. In a warm weather no road salt part of the county this would be a much easier job. 75% of time was getting the old one off and 25% was getting the new one on.

I could see it being done with the tire on but I chose to take off the rear tires and had the rear end jacked up very high to get a lot of work room as I wanted to inspect the rear disc brakes and sprayed them all out with brake cleaner too and basically inspect the whole rear underside parts and exhaust for any issues.

Its all back together with the new part and all good. The part from rock auto was $74 shipped and the shop quoted me $375 for part and labor if it was hassle free and more if any issues so I save at least $300 for 3 hours time and got to inspect the underside parts and exhaust and clean and inspect the brakes.

Thank you for everyone for all the advice and support! I really appreciate it! I was leery of doing this job for lack of familiarity with it and because was unsure of the risks with working around the gas and mostly because it is December and already cold out. The part was delivered today and I said screw it even though cold out and got it done and out of the way.

Next tomorrow I will try and do a temp fix on the exhaust flex pipe to quiet it down some and then go do the drive cycles and see if I can get the monitors to reset and go pass emissions test and get it plated for 2 more years. 269k and going!

 

Congratulations on your victory over rust belt cancer! Certainly, your working conditions made things much worse, as did the new part arriving damaged. Just the hoses alone would have gone much easier in warmer weather, flexing more.

Reward yourself with some tools that will make future work easier. If you are breaking sockets with hand pressure, you need better sockets. Extension bars that will let you have the ratchet in a location where it's easily swung, while applying the force in a tight spot. And combination wrenches with ratcheting box ends. Noticed yesterday that Advance has several 5 piece metric ratcheting combo sets on sale for $15, a great price for Gearwrench.

 

Thanks! Yep a nice 90 degree day in the sun and starting early in the day would have made it a much easier job. Its done though so thats awesome. Worked on the flex pipe temporary rig job today and cleaned up the rear brakes. Going for a drive now to do the drive pattern and tomorrow too and hope it works cause plates are up on 12/7 and they will not give me an extension because its my parents car and they would have to go into BMV and they dont want to cause of covid and cause they want this car let go. Lol
They think I have issues with letting it go. Lol. maybe but they been saying is time since 100k and now at 269k.

The staff at the BMV said that one option is for my parents to give me the title and that way I would have two years before I need emmisions approce instead the two days my parents have left. They said a new owner has two years before emissions due on any car you title. That may be a good option but I am concerned that may be false information. I always thought you had to pass emmisions no matter what when its your year like now its an even year and the 98 is due.

Have any of you heard about that option the BMV staff said? Is it true? If thats the case then I could get and title the car and no rush to get to pass emissions. I am located in NW Indiana. Basically a suburb of Chicago Illinois.

Any thoughts or info appreciated! Thank you!

 

Well, 2 minutes at the BMV site yielded this:
Emissions testing

They will take email questions, so you can get a pretty reliable answer in writing. On the other hand, they use "model year" and "manufactured in" interchangeably. Most MY production and sales starts several months before Jan.

The alternate year inspection, with odd MY cars in odd years, etc, could yield the desired result if, perhaps, it xfers on Jan 2, 2021. I assume they don't let continuing owners "escape" by delaying beyond their designated year, but a new owner with an "overdue" car? I'd ask about a scenario where on 1/2/21 you purchase a vehicle due for inspection this year (2020). Would the current owner's failure to have it done mean you don't have until 2022?

 

Thank you! I should have looked around online first. I was just frustrated with my experience at the BMV that day not letting me get a 30 extension on my parents car without them signing. I know there are rules but to me it was not an unreasonable request etc.

I see what you mean about asking about possible transfer early 2021 and seeing if I could wait till 2022. It is worth a shot. It makes sense as a possibility and I will have to inquire about it and read their response. Thanks again! I really appreciate it!

 

Nice to hear you got it done without a trip to the ER. From your cautious attitude I was sure you were on the correct side of the bell curve but have to admit that when you mentioned taking the other car's part you had me wondering there for a bit. LOL

As @TedL mentioned use some of the savings when you see a tool you might need one day on super sale.

Regarding old rusted nuts and bolt heads I have a set of wrenches and had my eye on a set of 5 sockets and when I checked to see of still on clearance I had a "suggested item" 70% off on a set of 13 3/8" drive impact bolt removers 70$ on sale for 20$ last week. Don't know if I'll ever need them but if the day comes I'll be glad I bought them! When I was a young one back In Quebec these would have been sweet to have.

 

Nice to hear you got it done without a trip to the ER. From your cautious attitude I was sure you were on the correct side of the bell curve but have to admit that when you mentioned taking the other car's part you had me wondering there for a bit. LOL

As @TedL mentioned use some of the savings when you see a tool you might need one day on super sale.

Regarding old rusted nuts and bolt heads I have a set of wrenches and had my eye on a set of 5 sockets and when I checked to see of still on clearance I had a "suggested item" 70% off on a set of 13 3/8" drive impact bolt removers 70$ on sale for 20$ last week. Don't know if I'll ever need them but if the day comes I'll be glad I bought them! When I was a young one back In Quebec these would have been sweet to have.

View attachment 316079

Where were those removers on sale? Those could save the skin on my knuckles and prevent. Bunch of F-Bombs!

 

x2 on those removers, I bought a set last year and they immediately paid for themselves by quickly removing some fasteners who's heads had rusted away.

I still had to drill out and re-tap (heli-coil) the ones that snapped off, but not all of them did, and for those, these tools saved hours of my time.

 

Yes I agree the thought of doing both cars and transferring a use pipe off one to the other was pushing and close to stupid/crazy for sure. It was just a thought in case the other one was bad but it was not.

Looking back the one thing I did that I did that may have been unsafe was using a wire brush on one of the bolts that was so rusted that I could not get a socket or a wrench on it because the rust build it made it like an in size. Before the wire brush thing I stuffed the gas pipe with a rag(wick LOL) to cut down on fumes and there was a breeze from outside and I was by the big garage door opening. I used the wire brush with real slow movement but still may have been a good idea. I tried the PB Blaster and a stiff plastic brissel brush but that did not help. I had two fire extinguishers outside the garage door and told my two sons to come spray me down and drag me out by my feet if they herd an explosion. They probably would have come out after their video game was over or after the quarter ended on the football game. lol

I was under the car yesterday and wire brushing the flex pipe before rigging it up and saw one small spark when vigoruously scraping the flex pipe. Made me think of the day before replacing the gas filer pipe and I did a face palm.

I want to rig the flex pipe up cheap temporary just so the leak is not an issue while I drive this thing around to get the catalytic monitor to reset. I covered the leak and most of the flex pipe with Permatex Exhaust Muffler goop which has up to 2000 degree rating(we shall see). Then wrapped it with about four layers of thin aluminum roofing flashing that covered the flex pipe about 3/4" over the flex on each end. Then gooped the ends and the seam along he flex pipe inner and outer then used 8 stainless steel zip ties. I turned the car on after letting it sit for 10 minutes after letting it set for 30 minutes and it was 90% quieter. Let it set overnight now to fully cure. We shall see. From past experience these kind of repairs last a short time but hopefully long enough to reset the monitors and then pass emissions then I will pay to have a stainless flex pipe installed. I could only honor a 24 hour warranty while it sits and cures. lol

My entire family is up my ass to get rid of the car. They want me to take it to Car Max or sell it on Craigslist and take the first offer. My wife is on me about she does not want it back from my parents and does not want it in the driveway because we have too many cars. I told her that is fine....I am keeping it if I can get it to pass emissions and I will park it in the yard then....do you have a preference of front yard or backyard?