Struggling with 2003 Camry last night

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i asked because i don't know much about tools. All i wanted to know was what that tool that belle tire/discount tire and other places use that's electrical that they plug into the wall to remove your wheel. I thought it was like a plug in electric screwdriver or something. I'm not trolling, I just honestly don't know squat about a lot of the toosl and car repair procedures, but honestly would like to learn so I can keep driving my car for 10 more years.

But thanks anyways, Vikas. I asked about electrical tools because I tried a lug wrench and it didn't work and I know electrical tools are more powerful than hand tools.

I was going to post this, this is something I posted on toyotanation, this is a joke, quite funny.

wanted to share this one with all you TNationers out there.


http://www.theonion.com/article/toyo...really-s-50480

http://www.theonion.com/article/toyota-recalls-1993-camry-due-fact-owners-really-s-50480


Though my vehicle is "old" it shouldn't be old by camry standards as I didn't see any of the gen 5 except for one 04 in one of the larger Detroit junkyards, whereas there were a few gen 4s 97-99 especially, with hardly any ones from after the facelift when the headlights became clear (and why? I noticed in the ninties, headlights weren't clear but by the late 90s and by the 2000s, pretty much all cars had clear headlights and tailights. Why is this? They do look better than the old opaque headlights, but why didnt' they make headlights clear all along?)


Anyways, I saw a ton of 92-96 gen 3 camrys, though in the junkyard and I got the washer pump frmo one of those, luckily it worked as the reservoir connection and the electrical connection were the same though the shape of the hose connection wasn't 100% matching but the diameter was the same, so it fit, but just wraps around differntly than from my original pump and it cost 3 dollars and it was a really easy fix, much cheaper than the almost 80 dollars the mechanic quoted me on that same washer pump job, 40 for parts, 40 for labor. I got the aap part for 15 but returned it, as I later learned, you had to splice it or something and it's an ACI and it'd be complicated, whereas the 12v denso from the 3rd gen camry just plugged right in without any complicated wire work.


I know it's the onion, but this was written in 2015 about a 1993 being recalled. Guess that means my camry isn't old at all by Toyota standards and I have 10 more years before it gets "recalled" hahaha, and it happens to coincide with when i want to drive this camry until, 2025, because by then, the new cafe standards will be in effect and i could have a new, innovative, fuel efficnet car by then.
 
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I have plethora of battery powered impact wrenches but when push comes to shove, nothing beats long breaker bar or cheater pipe! I also had an corded impact wrench from HFT but I gave it away. For the amount of hassle of using it, it just did not have enough oomph.

As I said before, watch many videos so that you will know exactly what to do and only then pick up a wrench.
 
i see. thanks, here's another post I posted earlier about an update on my camry's water pump upon having it inspected yesterday

today, I took it to a shop which did a free, quick inspection. He showed me where the water pump was leaking and I realized it wasn't due to my spilling of coolant, it was under the belt on the left side of the engine (that's a serpentine belt, right? not the timing belt,l since some people say the timing belt is together with the water pump, but for this car, it's the serpentine belt) and I saw that belt, next to the water pump wasn't in the best condition, as in I could see the X's where it was stitched, is that bad, or is that normal, to see that x? Also, coincidentally, autozone gave out free belt checkers today, it's that plastic blue thing that sort of looks like a comb, I didn't have time to ask him how to use it, as I was in a rush, but are those any good or accurate, and how are they used? I might as well change my serpentine belt with the water pump, but the mechanic
showed me the water pump and shined a light on it and I indeed saw that down below, there was a pink spot, there were pink remnants that loooked "salty" like dried salts and it was stained, and that was evidence of a bad water pump, but it's only dripping, and is not a severe leak. How much time woudl you say I have, or is it very random and could go anytime and blow and mess things up, and if it does totally go when I'm in the middle of driving it, would i notice it? If that happens, I shut the car immediately and have it towed. is a water pump an easy diy job? I'm going to look for some water pump threads, but I'm hoping to save some money and diy it and get a water pump and sepentine belt and replace it, it's outside and you can see it, so i figure it can't be that hard. Anyways, yes, indeed it is driling. I saw oreilly had the import direct, the guy told me it was oe quality, but is that true? AAP and Napa had the aisin but that was 100+, I think 130 dollars, whereas the import direct is only 53 dollars, so is it that bad, or is it worth it goget the aisin as they told me the import direct was oe quality, and which serpentine belt should i get? they mentioned something with a v rib and another one, and i think gates was the oem one, is a gates belt good, or what other brands of serpentine belt are good? I have a timing chain, so while we're on the subject of belts, how do i inspect that and when should i change that or know that it's starting to go, as they say you don't need to change it, but that's assuming you don't drive your car into the ground as i plan to do, maybe for a normal average consumer driving to 100k, they won't, but if you are taking it to 200-300k, i figure the chain needs to be replaced at some point, so when should you do that or know to do that? thanks. and what's a good brand for the timing chain?
 
Originally Posted By: engineer20
I took it to a shop which did a free, quick inspection. He showed me where the water pump was leaking and I realized it wasn't due to my spilling of coolant, it was under the belt on the left side of the engine (that's a serpentine belt, right? not the timing belt,l since some people say the timing belt is together with the water pump, but for this car, it's the serpentine belt) and I saw that belt, next to the water pump wasn't in the best condition


Is this Camry a V6 or inline 4?
 
@vikas, I am NOT trolling. Asking about a timing chain is a very serious quesdtion. Things break, i'm pretty sure a chain wno't last forever or even 300k. I just wanted to know about bitog's opinions on changing timing chains. how is asking about a timing chain a trolling question? I am serious, should I change it, because while a chain is more durable than a belt, i'm pretty sure it won't last forever and should be changed at some point, so how do you konw when you ahve to change it since the owners manual or no other sources mention when to change it? geez.
 
Nobody changes timing chain on an engine as a preventive maintenance. That is the whole reason for moving away from belt to chain. On a properly designed and maintained engine, by the time chain stretches or fails, the vehicle is pretty much ready to be scrapped. You would NOT be purchasing the types of vehicles which *needs* timing chain(s) to be replaced. This is being said so that some wise guy who might try to prove me wrong by saying how he had to replace timing chain on his supercharge Audi V10 engine. You bought a Camry because it is one of the lowest maintenance vehicle that can be purchased.

You are in Michigan. Trust me when I say it; most probable cause of the death of your Camry is going to be rust if you do even the minimal manufacturer recommended maintenance on it.

At this stage, you are wondering if your waterpump is really weeping or not. Why not concentrate on that issue before jumping on timing chain?

What is your handle on ToyotaNation? Just read 5th generation Camry section there and most of your answers would be evident.
 
If you get in to habit of checking your fluids every Saturday morning, you would be in one percent of vehicle owners. Keep a watch on all the levels and if something out of ordinary happens, you will know it.

Since you have garage, when you back out, watch in the front and notice if there are any puddles on your garage floor.

If the car makes abnormal noises or drives funny have it checked. Either by yourself or by your mechanic.

Follow the manufacturer's schedule and the car will last you longer than you would want to keep it.
 
i was shown the leak by the water pump by a mechanic, so i need to get a new one soon, though it's not a bad leak and I don't notice any fluids leaking, i saw the pink spot under it, so I want to DIY the water pump and serpentine belt.

what's a good brand for serpentine? gates? dayco (autozone), that napa oem brand, etc?

I know aisin is oem but it's 130 at napa and 120 something (cheapest) at advanced auto
what about a beck/arnley which is 69.99 at advanced auto?

and the house brand water pumps are roughly in the lower 50s range (oreilly-import direct), autozone-duralast, carquest for advaned auto, and the napa house brand, i forgot but it was 54, so since the house brand prices are the same, if I wanted to cheap out and choose a house brand one, which one is better? the import direct? the autozone? the carquest? and beck arnley is slightly more but stll cheaper than aisin, will that be much better than a house brand water pump and will it be comparable to the aisin? thanks
 
Hmmm, for $120 the Toyota dealer will install a new serpentine belt on the 05 Matrix. That car had the water pump replaced under warranty at the 60k mark when it started to lose coolant.
 
If it is NOT ACTIVELY leaking today, leave it alone unless you want to bring on more trouble. If the level does not go down and there is no puddle underneath the car, there is no need to do anything.

If you are going to replace a part on your car proactively, it better be another original Toyota part. Don't even think about buying lower quality item at the stage that you are. Advantage of having Toyota branded part is that if you have to get it fixed from an independent mechanic he will at least not grumble about ill fitting part.

If you think you are capable of doing this job, why not buy OEM serpentine belt and replace it yourself first? You will build up some confidence and this step is anyway necessary to replace the water pump, so you will at least know that you can finish at least some portion of it.
 
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OP is a computer engineer but can't figure out how to post a picture. Love it!

Originally Posted By: engineer20
computers, has NOTHING to do with cars


Originally Posted By: engineer20
i'm not sure how to attach pictures here, it seems you must attach a hyperlink or only for an online pic and theres' no easy way to attach one like in an email, but i did take a picture
 
Originally Posted By: dishdude
Originally Posted By: engineer20
i'm not sure how to attach pictures here, it seems you must attach a hyperlink or only for an online pic and theres' no easy way to attach one like in an email, but i did take a picture

OP is a computer engineer but can't figure out how to post a picture.

I noticed that, too. Odd. There's something more to the story than he's telling us, evidently.

He appears to have comprehended two methods for displaying pics to members of BITOG, but it's odd that he would want to "attach one like in an email" (embed the actual image) when he already has two easy link-type methods at his disposal. In my experience, it is NOT usual to embed actual images in Web-board threads.
 
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@vikas. U mentioned oem but even if I go oem I'd get the aisin from aap for 120ish. The dealer wants 150 and the parts guy didn't tell me a brand and said it could be aftermarket but its oe spec. You mentioned not to use the parts store water pumps but they looked fine to me as I inspected them as they had theirs in stock. But beck arnley I know is a good brand that makes close to oem and its 69 so I domt know what's so bad about esp at half the cost. I'll post this on the forum too but thanks for your input.

Also, I can attach a picture but it'd have to be am online pic with a hyperlink and I don't have any online pics. Id prefer attacjing pics from your computer to the site like an email attachment. Not worth the trouble of creating a photobucket etc site then uploading it online then posting the link. I like to do things simply.
 
Originally Posted By: engineer20
Id prefer attacjing pics from your computer to the site like an email attachment.

If you're actually a computer engineer, then you should be able to describe exactly WHY most Web-boards do not have local storage of images.
 
@vikas. I want the oem belt but the dealer didnt tell me jack squat. So I dont know what oem is but oreilly says gates is oem so I was asking yall for what yall think oemwas. I said id do oem belt as the belt is important but was thinking about a cheaper water pump or a beck Arnley. You ask why not the aisin? Well cuz im not rich and I need to budget my expenses and I got another ticket with a 140 fine for a no turn on red. Geez do I have to tell ppl my personal finances here?

But napa had an oem belt for 23.99 the cheapest oem thus far but I don't knoe the brand! The dealer didn't tell me the brand gosh dangit. So that's why im asking yall about the oem belt and whether or not a cheaper water pump is decent rather than an aisin one. And its not a "Toyota" brand one. Its an aisin which sells for the lowest price at advanced auto but I was wondering if a 69 dollar advanced auto beck arnley aone was decent too and how much better those were from the cheap 50 dollar house brand water pumps.
 
Toyota has several OEM suppliers for belts, and it differs both within and between models. Two names that come to mind are Bando and Mitsuboshi

And I would never buy anything but an Aisin water pump for a Toyota. But maybe that's just me.
 
Originally Posted By: engineer20
napa had an oem belt

No they didn't. Only a Toyota dealer has OEM.

NAPA would have "OEM spec", or "OEM quality", or some other variant of that phrase. Such terms are code for "somewhat better than your typical aftermarket junk but still not likely to be up to the same standards as something sold in a box with the 'Toyota' logo on it".

Basically, you get what you pay for. If you go with the cheapest option, you may get a year out of the part, with its lifespan very questionable after that. Aisin is an OEM supplier to many automakers. Their aftermarket offerings are decent and are reasonable alternatives to OEM.
 
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