Proactive Maintenance of a 98 Camry

My previous car was a used 92 Camry. Other than check air, change oil,
and change muffler when it became noisy, I did not do any proactive
maintenance. As a result a few things failed on me at most inconvenient
moments: radiator, water pump (which required changing timing belt
too), battery. As I often found myself in emergency sits, I wasn't
always able to plan where work should be done, I had to take what I
could get.

I just bought a 98 Camry with 80K miles on it. It is in great shape and
I want to keep it for at least five years, maybe until 150K. I want to
avoid my previous mistake and be proactive about maintenance, but also
not throw away any good parts that would last until 150K.

The previous owner just got a new battery. Tires are Regata 2 with 35K
miles. Because of a flat I have had them evaluated repeatedly and they
seem good for 1-2 years.

How should I approach the maintenance of this car? What should be
done and when?

Secondly, where should such work be done? I am so happy to be able tp
plan that, instead of being limited by who is near and who is open
during a holiday weekend!

Are big national chains like Sears, Pep Boys, WalMart etc any good?
CarX, Midas, Firestone? (Recommendations for places local to Chicago
are also welcome.)

I stopped at a local garage in an area where I had to kill time today.
He suggested (1) changing belts (incl timing) and (2) getting a
tune-up, even if nothing seems wrong. Is that good advice?

He was unsure about water pump: it would be $80 if done with timing
belt but a lot more if it had to be done on its own, but nothing is
wrong and it could possibly last.

Anyway, dear experts, I would be most grateful for your guidance on how
to keep this car perfectly maintained. :-)

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 04:12:28 GMT, Ajanta > wrote:

>
>How should I approach the maintenance of this car? What should be
>done and when?

Look in your owners manual and follow the severe service maintenance
schedule. If there are things you are behind on or don't know to have
been completed then go ahead and catch them up.
>
>Secondly, where should such work be done? I am so happy to be able tp
>plan that, instead of being limited by who is near and who is open
>during a holiday weekend!
>
>Are big national chains like Sears, Pep Boys, WalMart etc any good?
>CarX, Midas, Firestone? (Recommendations for places local to Chicago
>are also welcome.)

I avoid the above mentioned places at all costs. Some of them can be
good but most are not and you never know which kind you are getting.
Ask friends and co-workers for reccomendations on an independant shop
that is reliable and in your area.
>
>I stopped at a local garage in an area where I had to kill time today.
>He suggested (1) changing belts (incl timing) and (2) getting a
>tune-up, even if nothing seems wrong. Is that good advice?
>
>He was unsure about water pump: it would be $80 if done with timing
>belt but a lot more if it had to be done on its own, but nothing is
>wrong and it could possibly last.

The fact that he was unsure about the water pump is a little troubling
to me. Replacing the water pump with the timing belt on these cars is
a very good idea as you have to remove it to get to the belt anyway
and when it fails in the future (not if) it can take out the brand new
belt. Gates web site shows your belt needing to be changed at 90k
miles.

When a timing belt breaks on your engine the valves can hit the
pistons. When this happens either the valves or the piston breaks....
either way it will cost you a small fortune so don't mess around with
it. Check out
http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?br...cation_id=3487
for a pretty good explanation and a couple of illustrations that show
what happens.

>
>Anyway, dear experts, I would be most grateful for your guidance on how
>to keep this car perfectly maintained. :-)

I don't really think you can keep any car perfectly maintained. It
sounds like you have a good plan already though and should be able
avoid many unexpected problems. The toughest part is finding someone
who is good and that you can trust to work on the car.

Consider getting a AAA membership if you don't have one already. It
is very nice to have one number to call for help anywhere in the
country should the car leave you stranded.

Steve B.

Steve B. > wrote:

: Replacing the water pump with the timing belt on these cars is
: a very good idea as you have to remove it to get to the belt anyway
: and when it fails in the future (not if) it can take out the brand new
: belt. Gates web site shows your belt needing to be changed at 90k
: miles.

I think the cost benefit analysis is quite clear: If I don't change the
water pump and it doesn't break while I own my car, I save $100
approx; if it breaks, I lose at least $250 (one timing belt job, which
may have to be repeated anyway), and maybe more if there is other
serious damage.

So I guess I will do them both. However, the car has only 80K miles,
I think I can wait 1-2 years, or at least I spot some great sale
somewhere on this job. :-)

Thank you for the rest of your most helpful advice as well.

: Consider getting a AAA membership if you don't have one already.

Thanks. I have been wondering which national club would offer
the best value and was thinking of asking that question in another
thread.

"Steve B." > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 04:12:28 GMT, Ajanta > wrote:
>
>>
>>How should I approach the maintenance of this car? What should be
>>done and when?
>
> Look in your owners manual and follow the severe service maintenance
> schedule. If there are things you are behind on or don't know to have
> been completed then go ahead and catch them up.

Great advice!

>>
>>Secondly, where should such work be done? I am so happy to be able tp
>>plan that, instead of being limited by who is near and who is open
>>during a holiday weekend!
>>
>>Are big national chains like Sears, Pep Boys, WalMart etc any good?
>>CarX, Midas, Firestone? (Recommendations for places local to Chicago
>>are also welcome.)
>
> I avoid the above mentioned places at all costs. Some of them can be
> good but most are not and you never know which kind you are getting.
> Ask friends and co-workers for reccomendations on an independant shop
> that is reliable and in your area.
>>

Also great advice!

>>I stopped at a local garage in an area where I had to kill time today.
>>He suggested (1) changing belts (incl timing) and (2) getting a
>>tune-up, even if nothing seems wrong. Is that good advice?
>>
>>He was unsure about water pump: it would be $80 if done with timing
>>belt but a lot more if it had to be done on its own, but nothing is
>>wrong and it could possibly last.
>
> The fact that he was unsure about the water pump is a little troubling
> to me. Replacing the water pump with the timing belt on these cars is
> a very good idea as you have to remove it to get to the belt anyway
> and when it fails in the future (not if) it can take out the brand new
> belt. Gates web site shows your belt needing to be changed at 90k
> miles.
>
> When a timing belt breaks on your engine the valves can hit the
> pistons. When this happens either the valves or the piston breaks....
> either way it will cost you a small fortune so don't mess around with
> it. Check out
> http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?br...cation_id=3487
> for a pretty good explanation and a couple of illustrations that show
> what happens.
>

On a Camry, the valves will not hit the pistons if the timing belt breaks
but the car will leave you stranded.

I recommend changing the timing belt at 90,000 miles and if you can afford a
little extra to change thw wter pump as a prevantative measure, then I'd do
it when the timing belt is changed because much of the work to change a
water pump is removing the timing belt.

Although changing a timing belt is not that difficult, Toyota dealers have
it down to a science and often have sales on timing belt replacements. I
recommend that you have the timing belt changed by a dealer.


--
Ray O
correct the return address punctuation to reply

"Ray O" > wrote in message
ervers.com...
>
> "Steve B." > wrote in message
> ...
> > On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 04:12:28 GMT, Ajanta > wrote:
> >
> >>
> >>How should I approach the maintenance of this car? What should be
> >>done and when?
> >
> > Look in your owners manual and follow the severe service maintenance
> > schedule. If there are things you are behind on or don't know to have
> > been completed then go ahead and catch them up.
>
> Great advice!
>
> >>
> >>Secondly, where should such work be done? I am so happy to be able tp
> >>plan that, instead of being limited by who is near and who is open
> >>during a holiday weekend!
> >>
> >>Are big national chains like Sears, Pep Boys, WalMart etc any good?
> >>CarX, Midas, Firestone? (Recommendations for places local to Chicago
> >>are also welcome.)
> >
> > I avoid the above mentioned places at all costs. Some of them can be
> > good but most are not and you never know which kind you are getting.
> > Ask friends and co-workers for reccomendations on an independant shop
> > that is reliable and in your area.
> >>
>
> Also great advice!
>
> >>I stopped at a local garage in an area where I had to kill time today.
> >>He suggested (1) changing belts (incl timing) and (2) getting a
> >>tune-up, even if nothing seems wrong. Is that good advice?
> >>
> >>He was unsure about water pump: it would be $80 if done with timing
> >>belt but a lot more if it had to be done on its own, but nothing is
> >>wrong and it could possibly last.
> >
> > The fact that he was unsure about the water pump is a little troubling
> > to me. Replacing the water pump with the timing belt on these cars is
> > a very good idea as you have to remove it to get to the belt anyway
> > and when it fails in the future (not if) it can take out the brand new
> > belt. Gates web site shows your belt needing to be changed at 90k
> > miles.
> >
> > When a timing belt breaks on your engine the valves can hit the
> > pistons. When this happens either the valves or the piston breaks....
> > either way it will cost you a small fortune so don't mess around with
> > it. Check out
> > http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?br...cation_id=3487
> > for a pretty good explanation and a couple of illustrations that show
> > what happens.
> >
>
> On a Camry, the valves will not hit the pistons if the timing belt breaks
> but the car will leave you stranded.
>
> I recommend changing the timing belt at 90,000 miles and if you can afford
a
> little extra to change thw wter pump as a prevantative measure, then I'd
do
> it when the timing belt is changed because much of the work to change a
> water pump is removing the timing belt.
>
> Although changing a timing belt is not that difficult, Toyota dealers have
> it down to a science and often have sales on timing belt replacements. I
> recommend that you have the timing belt changed by a dealer.

The Gates book shows the V6 to be interference, I believe, while the L4 is
not, if I read it correctly.

I would pick my mechanical service carefully. Some dealerships are crappy,
others may be pretty good. A blanket recommendation to take your car to a
dealership garage is not the best advice,
in my opinion.

Ajanta wrote:

> I just bought a 98 Camry with 80K miles on it.

> Are big national chains like Sears, Pep Boys, WalMart
> etc any good? CarX, Midas, Firestone? (Recommendations
> for places local to Chicago are also welcome.)

See www.toyotanation.com forums for a great deal of information about
Toyotas.

A survey several years ago by Consumer Reports found CarX to be better
than the other chains, but I wouldn't take a car to any chain garage
except for very simple work where no diagnosis was needed. They're
especially bad for fuel system diagnoses, where they don't know how to
do anything but read the OBD II codes and try to fix almost every
problem with a tune-up or fuel injection flush. It's better to use a
dealer or a good independent garage very familiar with your type of car
(and where all the mechanics have gone to the factory school for your
particular vehicle model), and AAA approval is desirable since it
obligates the garage to AAA arbitration, whether or not the customer is
a member.

> I stopped at a local garage in an area where I had to kill time today.
> He suggested (1) changing belts (incl timing) and (2) getting a
> tune-up, even if nothing seems wrong. Is that good advice?

Considering the mileage, that's probably appropriate. But in general,
be skeptical of any garage pushes tune-ups or fuel injector flushing,
the latter actually being harmful and contraindicated by manufacturers.
If the water pump runs off the timing belt, change it along with the
timing belt.

Flush the brake fluid every 2 years as it absorbs moisture from the
air. If you flush the brakes yourself, do not pump the pedal down any
farther than it usually travels because any farther will cause the
master cylinder to be ruined, and ABS usually requires special
procedures.

Have the transmission drained and refilled, but don't allow it to be
flushed with a special machine. I believe Toyotas have a drain plug in
the transmission pan, so this is as simple as an engine oil change.
Use ordinary fluid recommended by the manufacturer, not a special
synthetic. I don't know if you can use ordinary Dexron III/Mercon in a
1998 Camry or need Toyota T-4 fluid, but don't use the wrong type.

Use only Toyota antifreeze. Don't assume that other red or pink
antifreeze is similar since the color is from dye, not from the active
ingredients, and there is no industry-wide standard to classify
antifreeze type by color (i.e., Toyota red and GM red are much more
different than Toyota red and ordinary green).

Don't assume that most service advisors know much about cars. They're
primarily salesmen and often recommend far more maintenance than
required by the auto manufacturer or will specify outright wrong
repairs when they should instead merely describe the symptoms.

Toyota forums, such as www.toyotanation.com, and general auto repair
FAQs, such as at www.popularmechanics.com are useful. MOTOR magazine
back issues, at www.motor.com, are very good about details you can't
find elsewhere. And Toyota factory manual is not only very complete
but also unusually easy to understand

> wrote in message
m...
>
> "Ray O" > wrote in message
> ervers.com...
>>
>> "Steve B." > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 04:12:28 GMT, Ajanta > wrote:
>> >
>> >>
>> >>How should I approach the maintenance of this car? What should be
>> >>done and when?
>> >
>> > Look in your owners manual and follow the severe service maintenance
>> > schedule. If there are things you are behind on or don't know to have
>> > been completed then go ahead and catch them up.
>>
>> Great advice!
>>
>> >>
>> >>Secondly, where should such work be done? I am so happy to be able tp
>> >>plan that, instead of being limited by who is near and who is open
>> >>during a holiday weekend!
>> >>
>> >>Are big national chains like Sears, Pep Boys, WalMart etc any good?
>> >>CarX, Midas, Firestone? (Recommendations for places local to Chicago
>> >>are also welcome.)
>> >
>> > I avoid the above mentioned places at all costs. Some of them can be
>> > good but most are not and you never know which kind you are getting.
>> > Ask friends and co-workers for reccomendations on an independant shop
>> > that is reliable and in your area.
>> >>
>>
>> Also great advice!
>>
>> >>I stopped at a local garage in an area where I had to kill time today.
>> >>He suggested (1) changing belts (incl timing) and (2) getting a
>> >>tune-up, even if nothing seems wrong. Is that good advice?
>> >>
>> >>He was unsure about water pump: it would be $80 if done with timing
>> >>belt but a lot more if it had to be done on its own, but nothing is
>> >>wrong and it could possibly last.
>> >
>> > The fact that he was unsure about the water pump is a little troubling
>> > to me. Replacing the water pump with the timing belt on these cars is
>> > a very good idea as you have to remove it to get to the belt anyway
>> > and when it fails in the future (not if) it can take out the brand new
>> > belt. Gates web site shows your belt needing to be changed at 90k
>> > miles.
>> >
>> > When a timing belt breaks on your engine the valves can hit the
>> > pistons. When this happens either the valves or the piston breaks....
>> > either way it will cost you a small fortune so don't mess around with
>> > it. Check out
>> > http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?br...cation_id=3487
>> > for a pretty good explanation and a couple of illustrations that show
>> > what happens.
>> >
>>
>> On a Camry, the valves will not hit the pistons if the timing belt breaks
>> but the car will leave you stranded.
>>
>> I recommend changing the timing belt at 90,000 miles and if you can
>> afford
> a
>> little extra to change thw wter pump as a prevantative measure, then I'd
> do
>> it when the timing belt is changed because much of the work to change a
>> water pump is removing the timing belt.
>>
>> Although changing a timing belt is not that difficult, Toyota dealers
>> have
>> it down to a science and often have sales on timing belt replacements. I
>> recommend that you have the timing belt changed by a dealer.
>
> The Gates book shows the V6 to be interference, I believe, while the L4 is
> not, if I read it correctly.

I stand corrected! By the way, a timing belt that is getting ready to fail
will start to make a slapping noise so they generally give warning before
they fail. If you change it every 90,000 miles, then no worries.
>
> I would pick my mechanical service carefully.

I agree - see my earlier responses.

Some dealerships are crappy,
> others may be pretty good. A blanket recommendation to take your car to a
> dealership garage is not the best advice,
> in my opinion.
>

Dealerships must meet special service tool, training, equipment, and
facility requirements. They also receive a full set of factory service
manuals and new special service tools every year as well as receive every
technical service bulletin as soon as they are issued. Dealership service
departments are rated by consumers and regularly receive customer
satisfaction scores.

Independent service facilities generally do not have every special service
tool for Toyotas, do not have factory service manuals, do not have factory
trained technicians, and do not receive service bulletins as quickly as
dealers do. In fact, many do not receive service bulletins unless they do a
specific search for one.

I have no problem with most independents for simple work like oil changes,
brakes, suspension, etc. but beyond that, their knowledge and experience
tends to be generic where Toyota technicians have more specific knowledge
and experience. My recommendation was not a blanket one to take the car to
a dealership; it was for a timing belt replacement.
--
Ray O
correct the return address punctuation to reply

Ray O wrote:

>> The Gates book shows the V6 to be interference, I believe, while the L4 is
>> not, if I read it correctly.
>
> I stand corrected!

Actually, I believe you were initially right, and that he might have read it
incorrectly. I have a Gates document from 2001, and it says that this Camry
V6 is non-interference, like all belt-driven Toyota engines. I don't
remember if the OP mentioned what engine the car has, but both '98 Camry
engines are belt-driven non-interference engines.


> By the way, a timing belt that is getting ready to fail
> will start to make a slapping noise so they generally give warning before
> they fail.

Is this true? I thought timing belts would give out with no warning at all.

"S.S." > wrote in message
...
> Ray O wrote:
>
>>> The Gates book shows the V6 to be interference, I believe, while the L4
>>> is
>>> not, if I read it correctly.
>>
>> I stand corrected!
>
> Actually, I believe you were initially right, and that he might have read
> it
> incorrectly. I have a Gates document from 2001, and it says that this
> Camry
> V6 is non-interference, like all belt-driven Toyota engines. I don't
> remember if the OP mentioned what engine the car has, but both '98 Camry
> engines are belt-driven non-interference engines.
>

I believe the IMZFE engine is interference type although for many years,
Toyotas with timinb belts were non-interference.

>
>> By the way, a timing belt that is getting ready to fail
>> will start to make a slapping noise so they generally give warning before
>> they fail.
>
> Is this true? I thought timing belts would give out with no warning at
> all.

A timing belt can give without warning but they generally start making noise
before they do.
--
Ray O
correct the return address punctuation to reply

"Ray O" > wrote in message
ervers.com...
>
> > wrote in message
> m...
> >
> > "Ray O" > wrote in message
> > ervers.com...
> >>
> >> "Steve B." > wrote in message
> >> ...
> >> > On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 04:12:28 GMT, Ajanta > wrote:
> >> >
> >> >>
> >> >>How should I approach the maintenance of this car? What should be
> >> >>done and when?
> >> >
> >> > Look in your owners manual and follow the severe service maintenance
> >> > schedule. If there are things you are behind on or don't know to
have
> >> > been completed then go ahead and catch them up.
> >>
> >> Great advice!
> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>Secondly, where should such work be done? I am so happy to be able tp
> >> >>plan that, instead of being limited by who is near and who is open
> >> >>during a holiday weekend!
> >> >>
> >> >>Are big national chains like Sears, Pep Boys, WalMart etc any good?
> >> >>CarX, Midas, Firestone? (Recommendations for places local to Chicago
> >> >>are also welcome.)
> >> >
> >> > I avoid the above mentioned places at all costs. Some of them can be
> >> > good but most are not and you never know which kind you are getting.
> >> > Ask friends and co-workers for reccomendations on an independant shop
> >> > that is reliable and in your area.
> >> >>
> >>
> >> Also great advice!
> >>
> >> >>I stopped at a local garage in an area where I had to kill time
today.
> >> >>He suggested (1) changing belts (incl timing) and (2) getting a
> >> >>tune-up, even if nothing seems wrong. Is that good advice?
> >> >>
> >> >>He was unsure about water pump: it would be $80 if done with timing
> >> >>belt but a lot more if it had to be done on its own, but nothing is
> >> >>wrong and it could possibly last.
> >> >
> >> > The fact that he was unsure about the water pump is a little
troubling
> >> > to me. Replacing the water pump with the timing belt on these cars
is
> >> > a very good idea as you have to remove it to get to the belt anyway
> >> > and when it fails in the future (not if) it can take out the brand
new
> >> > belt. Gates web site shows your belt needing to be changed at 90k
> >> > miles.
> >> >
> >> > When a timing belt breaks on your engine the valves can hit the
> >> > pistons. When this happens either the valves or the piston
breaks....
> >> > either way it will cost you a small fortune so don't mess around with
> >> > it. Check out
> >> > http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?br...cation_id=3487
> >> > for a pretty good explanation and a couple of illustrations that show
> >> > what happens.
> >> >
> >>
> >> On a Camry, the valves will not hit the pistons if the timing belt
breaks
> >> but the car will leave you stranded.
> >>
> >> I recommend changing the timing belt at 90,000 miles and if you can
> >> afford
> > a
> >> little extra to change thw wter pump as a prevantative measure, then
I'd
> > do
> >> it when the timing belt is changed because much of the work to change a
> >> water pump is removing the timing belt.
> >>
> >> Although changing a timing belt is not that difficult, Toyota dealers
> >> have
> >> it down to a science and often have sales on timing belt replacements.
I
> >> recommend that you have the timing belt changed by a dealer.
> >
> > The Gates book shows the V6 to be interference, I believe, while the L4
is
> > not, if I read it correctly.
>
> I stand corrected! By the way, a timing belt that is getting ready to
fail
> will start to make a slapping noise so they generally give warning before
> they fail. If you change it every 90,000 miles, then no worries.
> >
> > I would pick my mechanical service carefully.
>
> I agree - see my earlier responses.
>
> Some dealerships are crappy,
> > others may be pretty good. A blanket recommendation to take your car to
a
> > dealership garage is not the best advice,
> > in my opinion.
> >
>
> Dealerships must meet special service tool, training, equipment, and
> facility requirements. They also receive a full set of factory service
> manuals and new special service tools every year as well as receive every
> technical service bulletin as soon as they are issued. Dealership service
> departments are rated by consumers and regularly receive customer
> satisfaction scores.

Some dealers are good, some are crap, as I said before.

> I have no problem with most independents for simple work like oil changes,
> brakes, suspension, etc. but beyond that, their knowledge and experience
> tends to be generic where Toyota technicians have more specific knowledge
> and experience. My recommendation was not a blanket one to take the car
to
> a dealership; it was for a timing belt replacement.
> --

" I recommend that you have the timing belt changed by a dealer."

You dont have to take it to a dealer. You want to take your car to a good
and competent
mechanic, wherever he may be. Dealers dont always provide this quality.
They SHOULD,
at the prices they charge, provide experts but unfortunately this just isnt
always the case.