[ddyer]

My Son's first car was a 99 Camry. It was used and abused.
He grew up, got married and a few kids. Said he was going to donate it after failed attempts at selling for $1000.
I took it off his hands and went through it front to back.
Tires were first. Struts, Brakes, Exhaust, New Headlights,Battery, Led's everywhere, Fuel Filter, Plugs, wires, O2 Sensors, Wiper Motor and everything else that needed fixed. Completely Scrubbed the Interior with some upholstery cleaner that comes in an armor all set. Smells like lemon.
The Car smelled like a wet dog. Just changed the oil last weekend at 197K and bought another set of tires.
It is Rusted and ugly, but now a reliable car.
Gonna drive her til the wheels fall off!

 

[cjepps]

Now that the rear disc conversion is in full swing, I decided to swap the 00-01 calipers and pads to the 97-99 calipers and pads. They're larger, so more contact area is good. Plus, I got the first ones from ebay and the bolt sizes seemed questionable. 7mm bleeder screws, 17mm caliper slide bolts, WTH? Not at all like what Toyota does. Their rubber boots came apart, causing the need to buy additional ones anyways.
So the 97-99 ones I just installed are from RockAuto, and are much better quality. They're also the Correct bolt sizes! Gonna bleed them a bit more just for good measure.
Also adjusted the parking brake. Feels secure now.

 

[cjepps]

After picking up the 00-01 Camry Wiper Cowl covers earlier in the week, I converted the hood prop to the hood struts. I did have the factory threads that were near the cowl, and the slot was already there too. No need to drill there.
However I did need to drill into the hood for the other end of the strut to connect. There were no pre-threaded holes on my 97's hood. Took a fellow member's advice and grabbed some nutserts for that side. I got them to work and they hold really well. I may tighten one side a bit more, but they're pretty dang secure.
White gauge faces came in the mail, so that's coming up soon.

 

[QuickSilver11]

 

[ddyer]

Nice Camry!

 

[QuickSilver11]

My Son's first car was a 99 Camry. It was used and abused.
He grew up, got married and a few kids. Said he was going to donate it after failed attempts at selling for $1000.
I took it off his hands and went through it front to back.
Tires were first. Struts, Brakes, Exhaust, New Headlights,Battery, Led's everywhere, Fuel Filter, Plugs, wires, O2 Sensors, Wiper Motor and everything else that needed fixed. Completely Scrubbed the Interior with some upholstery cleaner that comes in an armor all set. Smells like lemon.
The Car smelled like a wet dog. Just changed the oil last weekend at 197K and bought another set of tires.
It is Rusted and ugly, but now a reliable car.
Gonna drive her til the wheels fall off!

Did you swap out all interior lights for LEDs?

 

[ddyer]

Yes, Even the Dash.

 

[ddyer]

Super bright!

 

[cjepps]

View attachment 404669 View attachment 404670 View attachment 404671 View attachment 404672

Nice work!!! They look really good. I'd like to get a pair at some point in the future.

 

[QuickSilver11]

Nice work!!! They look really good. I'd like to get a pair at some point in the future.

They don't quite fit as perfectly as the OEMs do, so I'll have to mess around with it when I get more time. But they are very clear and bright

 

[QuickSilver11]

Super bright!
View attachment 404760

I remember doing something like this to my other Camry... Boy what a PITA to get in there! I personally like the soft green glow of the OEM dash lights, but yours does look pretty sweet

 

[QuickSilver11]

Hey, how did you deal with the dummy light for "bulb out" on the dash after you installed your LEDs? That's where I'm at right now, shockingly little info on this.
You said you spent $200 on the LEDS? Maybe I read that wrong, it was about $56 shipped for me from superbrightleds for almost everything.

I read somewhere before that since LEDs draw significantly less power, you might have to install a resistor to trick the system. I'm sorry I can't post the link for the source.

EDIT: Just did a quick Google search, and I think this is similar to your current issue:

How to Install Load Resistors for LED Turn Signal Lights

How to Install Load Resistors for LED Turn Signal Lights: Why are installing load resistors necessary for LED turn signal lights? If you don't install load resistors (also known as equalizers) with LED turn signal bulbs, you will experience the notorious hyper flash issue. Hyper flash is exactly...

www.instructables.com

I'd advise looking into it some more.

 

[ddyer]

I don't have the hyper flash issue.
That dummy light has been on ever since I got the car. I read on here somewhere that a ground wire in the trunk harness goes bad and causes this issue.

 

[ddyer]

It doesn’t bother me much. Drove it 600 miles this past weekend to Chicago and Back.
Ran like a top. Just turned 198k.

 

[cjepps]

I read somewhere before that since LEDs draw significantly less power, you might have to install a resistor to trick the system. I'm sorry I can't post the link for the source.

EDIT: Just did a quick Google search, and I think this is similar to your current issue:

How to Install Load Resistors for LED Turn Signal Lights

How to Install Load Resistors for LED Turn Signal Lights: Why are installing load resistors necessary for LED turn signal lights? If you don't install load resistors (also known as equalizers) with LED turn signal bulbs, you will experience the notorious hyper flash issue. Hyper flash is exactly...

www.instructables.com

I'd advise looking into it some more.

I found some LED flashing brake lights that were really cool. But they did trigger the bulb malfunction lamp on the dash.
I checked on the load resistor setup and it didn't quite work.
I may have needed to position the resistors on a different part of it, but since it's a dual filament bulb I was curious if it would require one load resistor for each function. (1 for brake lamp, another for turn signal. 2 per corner). That would just be a pain to deal with so I went back to factory bulbs.

 

[Raptor178]

Changed spark plugs, valve cover gasket, the tube seals, camshaft plug, pcv valve and grommet, and spark plug wires about a month ago. 200 miles later, no oil leaking from the valve cover gasket anymore!
My #1 wire broke, I'm surprised I didn't have a misfire with how the electrode got stuck to the spark plug. It helps to do the job without forgetting anything the first time, but I had to take the valve cover off again to remove the camshaft plug because I forgot. I couldn't get the old plug wire clip out from the valve cover. I'll have to remove the broken plastic some other way than trying to chip it out.
Next big job is gonna be timing+drive belts and water pump. I think I can hear my timing belt slap against the inside of the cover. I'm just past 140k miles on this thing, and I don't know its service history. So, better to get it done before anything terrible happens.

Pics from the job:

http://imgur.com/a/s86PwfS

 

[ddyer]

Water pumps are notorious for going out on these old Camry’s especially if you let them sit

 

[QuickSilver11]

I don't have the hyper flash issue.
That dummy light has been on ever since I got the car. I read on here somewhere that a ground wire in the trunk harness goes bad and causes this issue.

In your case, that's probably what it was originally, if you didn't switch your headlights over to LEDs. For those who have switched over to LEDs, and everything else was fine until then, that's more than likely the cause. Halogen bulbs have a certain resistance and the computer/system was built with this in mind. An LED has even less resistance than a halogen, so when installed, the system thinks the bulb is bad because it was designed to operate with certain resistances... And when it doesn't "see" what it's expecting, the dummy light comes on.

 

[QuickSilver11]

I found some LED flashing brake lights that were really cool. But they did trigger the bulb malfunction lamp on the dash.
I checked on the load resistor setup and it didn't quite work.
I may have needed to position the resistors on a different part of it, but since it's a dual filament bulb I was curious if it would require one load resistor for each function. (1 for brake lamp, another for turn signal. 2 per corner). That would just be a pain to deal with so I went back to factory bulbs.

Do you have the wiring diagrams for the Camry? I recently bought them off someone, and they helped me figure out which wire I need to attach my backup camera to when I finally get around to installing it.

Edit: Seeing as the brake light bulb is a dual filament bulb, yes, each filament is a different size, so they present as different resistances inside the circuit. I'd like to think there's a specific load resistor made for each type of bulb, though, so one load resistor should work for a dual filament bulb, but I'd probably have to look around a bit.

The turn signal bulb is a single filament bulb.

 

[cjepps]

Do you have the wiring diagrams for the Camry? I recently bought them off someone, and they helped me figure out which wire I need to attach my backup camera to when I finally get around to installing it.

Edit: Seeing as the brake light bulb is a dual filament bulb, yes, each filament is a different size, so they present as different resistances inside the circuit. I'd like to think there's a specific load resistor made for each type of bulb, though, so one load resistor should work for a dual filament bulb, but I'd probably have to look around a bit.

The turn signal bulb is a single filament bulb.

Yes you're right. I said that wrong, I meant the Brake and Tail combination bulb. Not the turn signal.
I have the Haynes manual and found which of the 3 wires would be the positive for the brake light. When I tried it, they flashed and everything, but the bulb malfunction light still turned on. Maybe I do need to connect a resistor to each one since they're both going to the same LED bulb.
I may just work with the 3rd brake light and attach a resistor to that one, and have it flash a few times before going solid.