One thing leads to another. Started with squeaking door stops. On the '94 Camry, they're plastic with indentations. Used a bit of silicone grease, worked great. Then to the drip oil can with Mobil 1 synthetic 10W30 for the pivots and door hinges. Noticed some rubber inserts at the front lower windshield edges and used a 1/2" general purpose cleaning sponge to apply some Zaino Perfect Tire Gloss, then hit the plastic across the bottom of the windshield, the mouldings at the base of the windows and the weatherstripping around the doors, trunk, front and rear of engine compartment, flexible lower sealing edges at the bottom of the doors, and rubberized (lower) trim strip on the outside of the doors. On with the sponge then wiped down with a shop rag. Could be the placebo effect, but the car sure cruises nicely now. On occasion, had noticed some squeaking during low speed parking lot turns through dips that I attributed to frame flex, so the secondary solution was cleaning and sealing the weatherstripping. Certainly looks sharp. One may say, "what a waste of time" "unnecessary work", but I've applied the same thorough inspection and detailing to the underside of the car which is how I found and stopped all the oil leaks and wound up replacing axles, gaskets and control arms discovering incipient splitting in rubber boots and bushings, seeping gaskets and so forth. You care for a car to this extent (genuine parts) and they last forever, which is its own kind of economy. My back up vehicle is a Toyota pick up truck built thirty years ago that still provides reliable service far longer than I ever expected.
- posted
16 years ago