Toysrme

Na, I just keep rebuilding the damned things left & right. Thanks tho! Want a story? IDK My #2 best friend of all time completed a local Toyota program a few years back that was one of the tops in the country while he was there. He calls me anytime something say pre 96 breaks & he can't figure it out hah. He tries to get me to come work at the dealer changing oil & doing some tech work, but eh... /me is tired of lots of oil & no real work & that's exactly what they want. I really should go get certified so I can go anywhere & be a tech. I've been thinking about it for over a year now. I just loath more school. Not that any of that *BLEEP* means *BLEEP*. My best friend's dad is the manager & life-long mechanic at a big local garage. I do alot of fill-in work for them. I've spent a lot of spare time doing a lot of tech work on imports for him over the last few years. I spent a summer a couple years ago doing lots of grunt work at a transmission shop. Learned some good stuff there... Transmissions are the biggest racket in the car industry. hah! Don't get the wrong impression about anything tho... Forums are just a place for people to partake in opinions. I like troubleshooting alot, so I do it. Helps me with what I choose to do. That doesn't mean I'm *ever* right about anything. Besides.... Atleast 75% of the problems people complain about are either very common to the basic platforms, or common to nearly all similar cars to begin with. Anybody could hang around a few forums for week reading & be able to answer the majority of the questions on it. What's fun is when somebody comes up with something off the wall & you either nail it, or you learn something new. Even when you're wrong about something. So? Just opinions. Just make sure if you're going to tell someone something that you're not sure about, you should say something to that affect when you say it. Right, or wrong - people don't hold grudges when you're troubleshooting. win-win-win for everybody.

Couple of months late. :) Start a new thread & tell us all about your ES250.

I think he has it covered already bro. ;)

OEM Toyota/Lexus plug wires atleast. Or higher quality. I.E. Vitek <cough $250 Magnacore cough> It's *extremely* rare that you need plug wires on these engines. Just don't use cheap wires if you need to replace them. I recommend NGK 5553's for plugs. The upper intake manifold gakset it multi-layer steel. It shouldn't need replacing. You *might* break some of the paper seals for things like EGR / throttlebody / IAC / ACIS if you clean them while you have those off. I'd pick up a tube of Ultra RTV <whatever color you want> just incase you break some. You'll need it to put on the valve cover gasket around the cam bearing caps too - so you might aswell get a tube for $5-6. Ofcorse you need the valve cover gaskets. The front one is nothing more than pull the plug wires / coils & unbolt it. So you might as well do that too. I think I've solved the valve cover issue perminantly by using RTV (See that post). Obviously I won't know for a long time, but I am very hopeful. You have to have all day to piddle with that tho, so it's definately not for everyone! So... All you *actually* need is the valve cover gasket & a bottle of RTV. Change the front & rear o2 sensors. You'll never have an easier time doing the rear sensor than right now!!! & clean the intake while it's off!

Eh, wish I could tell you some way to get it off, or do it for you. But you know how the internet goes. :( That's about the only thing I can think of without telling you to use a bolt remover, or cut it, or torch it. I hate those damned 12 pointed sockets. Between those & mechanics that are hell bent on using 500-1000lb/ft impact drivers on any bolt they touch, there wouldn't be a single stripped, or damaged piece of hardware on any car... Makes no since that tool companies send out 12 pointed sockets. The ONLY 12 pointed bolt/nut I know of on my '93 are the head bolts. How often do they think people really need a 12point * 14mm socket???

That's pretty much the story. Most of the time the valve just sticks from carbon build-up from the exhaust running through it. I highly doubt their idea of a service is cleaning the throttle plate, EGR valve, or upper intake for that matter. Practically the same thing as sucking seafoam, ATF, or throwing some water injection on it. About the only thing you clean is the area immediately around the intake valve face (The bowl) and the combustion chambers. It kinda depends on how far along the EGR valve is. If you can catch the carbon before it causes a big problem where you need to replace it (or there is some other problem that you can't fix by cleaning). Then you can keep them working a long time. Otherwise, ya. You gotta replace the whole thing. Sometimes the modulator's diaphram splits. Sometimes the controlling vacuum lines get old & split. All are stuff to check. For the most part, as cheap & "not difficult" as cleaning something like an EGR valve is, give that a try before spending $$$ on a new valve + modulator + vacuum lines. Unless you have the moeny to spend & don't mind doing so. ^ Werd on EGR causing running problems. The ECU is use to EGR being on & off at certain times. If it's off when it shouldn't be, the A/F mixture is slightly lean (Part throttle/cruising) and you can wind up with some mild pinging. If it's stuck open when it shouldn't be, you're running rich & dropping power.

On the front wheels, I've gotten 6,000 miles on two sets of EBC green pads, no better out of Raybestos/Autozone expencive pads & close to 20,000 miles on these HPS pads & am still just over 1/2 life. I tend to drive very, very hard at times. Well balanced pad. Seems to be long life, quite & soft on the street. Give them a little warm up (Not nearly as much as EBC Green require) & they're stiff, communicative & stop very, very well on a track. I pimp them heavily because I've never had a better street/track brake pad. Not as many Lexus converts yet, but I had talked several Camry owners into grabbing a set for the front axle & all were very happy with them.

Na, I taught myself to weld on a cheap wire feed welder by sawzalling my cat apart & putting it back together. I'm much, much better now. If I were gonna buy a TIG, I'd buy the Harbor Freight TIG. I doubt you can sell me a working TIG, torch, rods & gas for sub $500. If you can, I'm all about it tho! Even if it's used. Odds are that I'm gonna buy that TIG & a new 4*6 bandsaw in the next 2-3 weeks. I'm atleast buying a bandsaw. Maybe some gas tanks & make a MIG. But I'd rather have a TIG... <Shameless plug> I'm likely returbo'ing again & will need to make some headers to do what I want to do. Maybe make a Y-Pipe, or two. Maybe make some headers + y-pipes (Tho I've never liked the performance gains from headers). I've had a Camry buddy that's been riding me for a year to make him a set so... Using an old miter saw as a chop saw is getting rather annoying. It's bandsaw time.

You're doing the right thing by stopping before you kill it. I never had problems with mine & it comes off all the time. If it's a 3/8" wratchet, slip a pipe on the end of it to work as a cheater bar & use a 6 pointed socket (Not 12 point). With your off-hand, hold the wratchet / extension as firmly as possible so it doesn't slip & apply a slow building pressure with the other one.

Loooves Hawk HPS.

1) 5-10 peakhorsepower. Depends on the condition it's in. 2) The sound will not change. 3) Busting out a cat is... Extremely difficult for the good cats Lexus/Toyota uses. It's best to just cut the flanges off it (Or make new flanges) and weld a striaght pipe in. (Commonly reffered to as a "test pipe".) 4) It depends on the year, and emessions package you have. If you have a '94+ (You have a 2000) then yes, you will set off a CEL. You will have to simulate the o2 voltage (0.45v) to trick it. It can be worth it. The effort involved in busting out a descent big cat like we have is annoying. I suggest building, or buying a y-pipe & having the cat removed at that time & install an o2 simulator. Or get on ebay & buy one of those "high flow" cats for $20-30usd. That be worth a good 20 peak hp. 15 past 4500rpm.

If you don't scan the code & tell us what it is, we can't help you. It's just random shots in the dark... Go to someplace like autozone & get it scanned for free.

I find it unlikely to be filter problem. Air filters don't do anything very measureable either way. Fuel filters on any modern Toyota are rarely, if ever a problem. Who knows. Anything can happen! It could be running hot... The gauge just tells you a rough guide as to what the temperature of the coolant exiting the lower intake manifold is. Not the temperature of the coolant at various places inside the engine where it could be overheating & cooling back down later on before it exits. At any rate... Start by resetting the ECU & drive it like you stole it for awhile a good half hour. After that, I would run around town until it's having problems & then do a compression / leak-down test to see how the valves/rings are doing when they're hot. Clean the MAF wire, throttlebody etc. Check/replace the plugs. (I recommend NGK 5553's on that engine) While you're definately not confused about the issue & it sounds like there really is a problem. Understand what a "deep push" on the throttle pedal means to the engine. If you're not atleast 75-80% wide open throttle, most ECU's are lallygagging with the fuel trying to keep gas mileage up, so it aint exactly gonna take off like a rocket. ;) That being said, check/replace the main o2 sensors also. If the A/F ratio is getting off when hot, it'll decrease power. Like sur4dude said. You may want to flush the transmission fluid out, or atleast do several drain & fills. That'll change all the transmission & differential fluid out. Either way, preventative maintenece.

There have been plenty of E-153 conversions done on A/T vehicles. There is no reason to waste so much time, and money converting the A/T engine & management to an M/T 3vz-fe, or an M/T 1mz-fe. There were many more E52, E-53 v6's around than he realizes!: 87-91 Camry/ES250, E52 92-94 ES300/Camry/Camry Coupe/Camry Wagon 97-01 Camry 98-02 Solara Sienna minivan at one point. The rav4 had the other E-153. Same for the MR2 turbo's & a few misc celica's.

It shouldn't. You didn't cut the dog-bone mount off did you??? Wire feed welding. :) You've *got* to make yourself a new y-pipe. You'll be thanking me for years every time you hit > 4500rpm.

<Insert the Damn good post chief forum picture here> Wrong pressure caps are a death nail to engines that use them. You're talking huge coolant boiling temperature changes if it's more than a psi low.

Keep the cooling system fresh and they won't overheat. They notorious for not showing signs of overheating. The differance in a 3vz-fe and pre-mls gasket 1mz-fe when overheating is that you can tell the 1mz is overheating with the temp gauge. The 3vz-fe will simply go from no signs to red-zone as the block takes forever to heat up. You *could* do it. It's all direct bolting on. But you'd need to ditch the transmission, and the stock ECU, all the electronics. You wouldn't want to. Buy a new/used 1mz-fe from a 94-96 Camry.

Brandon doesn't really give a *BLEEP* when the oil pans themselves will obviously hold well over a gallon of oil. So long as the oil pick-up isn't sucking air, and you don't double fill the thing with 10 quarts of oil. Anything in between is ok.

It's overheating. I think you blew it up. Do a compression / leak-down test.

Yep. Jump FP +B in the diagnostic port in the engine bay & turn the key to ON. There should be fuel pressure. Download the '94 Camry repair manual. http://camry.turboninjas.com/CamryRepairManual.rar

ebay, or TAPRecycling.net

You can drive around with 6-7 quarts without a thought. The pan<s> themselves holds around about a gallon. (More for 1mz-fe's on the larger dual pan.). Three immediately bad things can happen when you have way too much oil: 1) The rotating assembly slaps into more & more oil (Not really a problem, but will decrease power from growing resistance - don't confuse this with your power loss. Different issue) 2) Eventually you'll fill the entire crankcase & no longer have oil circulation as oil has no where to drain. 3) Fluids are incompressible. Piston going down = blowded up But it takes alot of oil to do that stuff! Not something that would be apparant if it was just over filled. A quart, or two, maybe three over isn't going to hurt anything. It's just wasted money. I would bet the cam timing too, or a timing/vacuum problem. Minor cam timing changes shift the powerband around. One/two teeth either way on either the cam sprocket, or intermesh gear won't change timing too bad. (7.5* for the intermesh gears+any change to the distributor if it's the rear intake cam) Three teeth & someone that drives the car regularly would feel the change. Anything more than three & you get into running progressively worse. Intake cam opening VS overlap also makes a huge differance in the sound of the engine. I agree with sk. I think the first job is to check & re-check the cam timing.

No that's the only way. Otherwise, the cams turn anytime you rotate the bolt. In general, the cam bolts are on tighter than the amount of force it takes to rotate the cams. So when you go to take off a cam bolt (Normally around 80lbs) the cam just spins. Take the upper intake air chamber off to get to the rear valve cover. It is so helpful if you have a flexable extension shaft to do the rear valve cover, but a 6", or 9" extension & some time is all you need.

Ditto. What's the psi rating on both the manifold & radiator pressure caps? You need to burp the system too. They fill with air like crazy the first time you do a complete fill. Assuming it hasn't already overheated & warped a head, leading to a toasted head gasket. Which explains where all of your coolant is. It will as soon as it overheats. I'd warm it up & do a compression test / leak down test. I think you've blown it up.

The housing at the back turns & pulls off. Pull the wire & bulb out of the headlight. If you have to dorp the assembly out. It's just 3 bolts.