Premiere Toyota service

Having someone around is good advice. You should also give the car a good shake before you go under it. If it is going to fall better it fall while you are shaking from above than shaking from below.

Personally I won't go under a car with only a jack stand holding it up. I either have the jack and a jack stand holding or I put a tire under there too. Even then I don't like to be under there and get my business done as quick as I can to get back out from under it.

Steve B.

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I had been really busy the past 4 days, and so didn't have much time to post.

However, when some free time finally opened up yesterday, the first thing I did was get the floor jack from Sam's and lift the car onto stands.

Daniel, I can say that placing the drive selector lever in Park in an automatic transmission car was /not/ sufficient to keep the front wheels from turning. They turned quite freely, in both forwards and backwards directions while the car was in the air.

You were able to turn them both at the same time, in the same direction?

In my experience, Park should hold the front wheels relatively stationary. This has been the case when I have had to remove and reinstall wheels on Chevrolet, Buick, and Nissan vehicles. (And, I realize that two of the crossposted groups are Toyota groups, but this has also been crossposted to rec.autos.tech which is an all makes group.)

There may be a small amount of back and forth movement when some amount of torque is applied with the wheel lug nuts while the wheel is raised above the ground, but the motion should be very slight at most, and should reach a definite stopping point very soon.

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It's not a matter of obsessing over it. It's a matter of exploring the topic, and having fun doing it.

I'd love to put 0w-30 in my Camry if we can reach a definitive answer as to its appropriateness. The

I again recommend folks read the following surgeon and PhD.'s thorough discussion of the matter at

Just to repeat, the '06 Camry's manual recommends 5w-30 in the 2AZ engine, but the '08 Camry Solara's oil filler cap has both 5w-*20* and 0w-20 marked on it. The Solara also has the 2AZ engine. So it's reasonable to assume that 0w-30 could be used in the 2-year-old Camry without ill effect. The advantage of using 0w-30 in cold climates is substantial.

And, of course, both 5w-30 and 0w-30 oils have the same viscosity at engine operating temperature. (30-weights can range in viscosity between 9.3 and 12.49 at 212 Fahrenheit, a pretty tight range. For instance, Pennzoil Platinum 5w-30 is 10.5 at 212 F, and Mobil 1 is

I wonder if anyone owns an '07 or '08 Solara? What does your manual say about oil?

You keep forgetting the OP was told he had to have 'all' the wheels in the air, not just one side or one corner.

This allows an open differential to spin with the other side's wheel going in the opposite direction or the same direction in locker or some limited slips.

The e-brake only stops rear wheels 'maybe' from spinning, but most won't hold a torque wrench, especially in the reverse rotation of the wheel direction.

Mike

Totally normal to hear a few squeaks and groans as you lift a vehicle. That is the rubber bushings in the A arms, struts, shocks spring rubbers and such all shifting around as you take the full weight of the vehicle off them. Think of it as the same sigh of relief you would give if you had a weight on your chest lifted after a few years!

Once you get the vehicle in the air and put the stands under it I hope you are setting the vehicle down on the jack stands. NEVER TRUST A HYDRAULIC JACK ALONE! EVER! If possible I just leave the jack in the same spot that I used to lift the vehicle. Just lower it enough to set on the stands. That gives you three points of contact.

The oil difference is easy. Emission laws! Take a look at all the different auto makers. They still use the same bearing materials and clearances and yet they keep spec'ing thinner and thinner oils. The thinner oils reduce start-up and running friction (at the expense of reduced film thickness on the bearings) so they can lower the emissions and increase the gas mileage.

I would just run the 5W-30 in both and buy a case of WIX or NAPA Gold filters (same filter just different name on the box).

Just because it's the same engine family, doesn't mean it's the same engine. Everything from slightly revised bearings to expected usage can call for a different spec oil.

For example - does one car have an oil cooler?

Ray

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Thanks for that tip about the Wix and Napa Gold oil filters.

Napa, by the way, has a 3- or 3.5-ton /professional-grade/ floor jack on sale right now for $200. I guess the professional grade can be used on a daily basis in a shop-type setting without breaking down.

I agree with you about using jack stands. The manual for the Michelin jack from Sam's Club says "This is a lifting device only. After lifting, immediately transfer the load to appropriately rated vehicle stands."

There's a lot of good info in my jack's manual, so I keep the

The jack manual says "for best performance and longest life, replace the complete fluid supply at least once per year." It also says to use a good grade hydraulic jack oil like Mobil DTE 13M. How often do you all change your jack's oil?

My only complaint about this brand new Michelin jack is it's slightly rusty in spots. I guess I'll have to clean up the rust and repaint the surfaces and/or add lubricant for protection. That's not what I was expecting from a brand new jack.

The jack manual also says, "A periodic coating of light lubricating oil to pivot points, axles, and hinges will help to prevent rust and assure that wheels, casters, and pump assemblies move freely."

Unfortunately, the manual doesn't recommend any brand names or specific types of light lubricating oils. Anyone have any ideas for what to use?

Motor oil works well.

I usually put the jacks apart, replace the seals and clean everything every couple of years. I use a synthetic (Pentosin CHF 11S) simply because it works better when the oil gets cold. That is a BIG thing if you grab a jack to use on a wrecker or on a vehicle in the yard. The jack in the home shop on the other hand has been changed once (had it for about 20 years..)

As for lubing the jack, I use motorcycle chain lube. Sprays on thin and gets in the bearings then the carrier evaporates leaving a nice coating of lube behind.

- Steve W. Near Cooperstown, New York

I'd interpret that to mean something similar to 3-In-One Multi-purpose oil.

Make sure you use 0W-20.

The best light machine oil you can buy is a "turbine oil" which is very clean and has no additives. "Zoom Spout Oil" from Ace Hardware is a typical example if you want a small quantity, or Castrol OC-11 from an industrial oil supplier if you want a large quantity.

That said, I once worked with a guy who used red ATF on all his tools, and they seemed to keep fine.

--scott

Yes, except that 3-in-1 should be avoided because it is prone to turn into a varnish-globbed mess after a few years.

--scott

Here's some info from one of Toyota's official repair manuals for the 5th generation Camrys (2002 - 2006). The manuals are found in part or whole at CamryManuals.com, in .pdf format.

Idle speed A/T 610 ? 710 r/min. M/T 650 ? 750 r/min.

I assume A/T means automatic transmission, M/T manual tranz., and r/min. revolutions per minute. I think these numbers assume the air conditioning is off.

The 5th Generation Camrys are model years 2002 to 2006. Model years 2005 and 2006 can be considered Generation 5.5.

The torque that should be applied to the oil pan's drain plug when screwing it on is 18 foot-pounds, just like Tegger said. The metric equivalent of 18 ft-lbf is 25 N-m (255 kgf-cm).

The amount of oil to add for a drain and refill with oil filter change is 4 quarts (3.8 quarts without oil filter change). A totally dry fill is 4.8 quarts. How do you get to a totally dry fill (since draining alone doesn't get you to a totally dry fill condition). Is getting to a totally dry fill condition before adding oil a bad idea?

Forgot to ask: Is 18 foot-pounds of torque on the oil drain plug just tightening it finger-tight, as tight as your fingers can manage? Or do you have to use a wrench to get to 18? 18 foot-pounds doesn't sound like a lot of torque.

If you're the Bionic Man.

The 18ft.lb. spec suggests using a torque wrench, no?

The average man can tighten with a screw driver to 72 inch pounds (6 ft.lbs.)