14th Jun 2003, 13:18

Water pumps don't leak water, they leak coolant; Secondly, ask any master technician at a *dealership* what they recommend in terms or oil change intervals, and they will more than likely tell you no more than 4 or 5 thousand miles. The owners manual is to remind people with no common sense or knowledge of cars to change their oil. Some people do go 10 and 15 thousand miles, believe it or not. I assume over 90% of the sludge victims, though they will not admit it, are these people.

16th Jun 2003, 21:56

I have a 99 Camry LE with 67,000 miles. Yesterday, the Check-Engine Light was on. Today, my wife took it to the dealership. After inspection, they told her that the oxygen sensor is bad and needs to replace. The cost for replacing the sensor and some cleaning work is $479.00. The breakdown is.

1. Diagnostics $85

2. Oxygen sensor $43

3. Sensor air fuel rati $265

4. Misc cleaned phrottle body valve $42

5. break clean $5.

Total labor is $270 and total part is $170. This is much more expensive than I thought. Does this make sense?

17th Jun 2003, 09:04

I have a 1999 Toyota Camry with 75,000 miles. The check engine light came on recently and is on all the time. I am going to try disconnecting the battery to reset the computer.

I had never heard about making sure the gas cap was tight. I hope I haven't done damage to the car.

17th Jun 2003, 11:00

I have recently looked into purchasing a '99 Solara from a friend of mine. This car has about 49k miles and does not get driven aggressively. I took this car out for a test drive and after listening to the awesome JBL sound system, I decided to listen to the car noises. I was extremely disappointed. The rear right wheel seemed to be making some very nasty and very loud pulsating humming noises (worst at 40 mph). This wheel has the full size spare instead of a regular tire in, but I fear that the problem may be in the bearing and not the tire. Has anyone else had this problem?

23rd Jun 2003, 08:46

The Toyota owner's manual requirements were developed by the engineers designing the vehicle and are specific to the engine. Auto mechanics will tell you to come in every 3000 - 5000 miles because the extra business that they get from those who come in frequently is their bread and butter. They get to do the tire changes, brake jobs and any other little defect that they can find when you bring it in for service. The manual on the other hand says you can change the oil in a Toyota every 7500 miles with no problems unless you primarily drive on dirt roads, tow heavy loads or do frequent stops and starts in subfreezing temperatures, then you need to change the oil every 5000 miles. If you follow the manual requirements and developed problems, then it is not because of oil changes, it is because of some other problem or defect. Smoke in exhaust, engine light illuminating, high oil consumption, or chunks of oil on your dipstick are all signs of an engine sludge problem which is serious. If your light is on, you should get the diagnostics read on it immediately. The good news is that Toyota has issued a special policy to cover sludge in the 1997 - 2002 Camry engine (as well as other Toyota and Lexus models) for 8 years, unlimited miles. Toyota modified the PCV system and engine head in mid-2002, so these components are the likely culprit in engine sludge development.

24th Jun 2003, 13:43

I have an 'O2 corolla with 80'000 miles. The check engine light came on, and the dealer said it was the fuel evap system, and everything checked OK. 80 dollars later, the light came back on, and the dealer said I should have them replace the charcoal canister, for 410 dollars. They want 270 for the part, and I am looking for a better deal on the part, to change it myself. Because of the high mileage I put on the car, I purchased the extended warranty, and funny enough... nothing that goes wrong,is included in this bogus warranty.

1st Aug 2003, 07:57

My 1999 Camry XE has had the similar "Check Engine" light on and off routine. It started around 45K, was on for a couple days, then went off. The dealer plugged it in to the computer and couldn't find anything wrong.

It came on again a few months later, and then went off after a few days. After a few more months, this pattern repeated again. Last month, I began to notice a rancid sulfur smell while accelerating. I suspected the O2 sensor, although I'm not sure a faulty sensor would produce this effect. (anyone??)

The light is currently off. We took in the Camry for a check on struts and shocks (they were fine), and had them plug in the engine to the computer. Although the light is not on right now, the computer identified the O2 sensor as the source of the light previously (although no such info was stored in the computer last year). As for the smell, they identified a leak in the exhaust into the trunk (a vent of some kind) and fixed it, NOT the O2 sensor as the problem. A few weeks from now I will check back in with you all to confirm the stinky acceleration is indeed gone.

3rd Aug 2003, 20:10

I also had this problem with the engine light coming on. There is black smoke that is coming out of the muffler and smells like burnt gasoline. Finally when I am driving and I first take off it seems that there is not enough power until I hear the gear changing, when I stop the car it almost goes off and the engine keeps jumping.

All of these things started to happen the same day that I filled my tank while my engine was running, usually I don't do that. I also think that maybe all this is happening because I changed the brand of gasoline a month and a half ago. Is there somebody that knows what is going on with my 99 Camry.Thanks.

23rd Oct 2003, 14:26

I have a 1998 Camry LE. I have just gotten done replacing the entire engine, the timing belt and a complete overhaul on my car. This has been the worst experience of my life and the most expensive one at that. When the Clicking in the motor started Toyota wanted $585 before they could even look at the car to see if warranty covered it. And I still need to replace the O2 sensor to get the check engine light to come off. Toyota has refused to even hold up there end of the warranty. All the work I had done to my car is all listed in my warranty. What else can be done?