60,000 miles service for a 1995 camry

Anybody here knows what goes into the 60k miles standard service for an older camry from 1995?

I have visited the dealer website but they seem to have only stuff for newer cars (no timing belt, etc).

Is it usually worth the money or I would rather itemise service items and split them between parts I could do myself and things I should do in the shop ?

Reply to
Pszemol
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The 95 with the 5SFE engine is similar to two generations of Camrys until 2001. The timing belt interval was 60K miles instead of 90K miles. But 60K mile was a good ideal as water pumps start to go bad and people lose coolant gradually without realizing what. There are older thermal air valves and such, but not that different.

I don't know how mechanically inclined you are. But it'll be better for your wallet and your car if you can do as much of the stuff yourself, taking better care than techs rushing the job. It's expensive at the dealer, and you won't know if they even changed your coolant. Timing belt and other services not listed are "at additional cost," like platinum plugs, etc.

You can easily save 50% by using an independent mechanic specializing in Toyotas. They are usually former techs with factory training. But finding any good mechanic, including at the dealer, is kinda hard. I've seen crap coming out of service departments. That's a reason why many of us here do the work ourselves as much as we can.

Besides, dealers don't itemize the work, they just put "60000 major service." So they can skip some of the the work and tell you that's for next year or for 75,000 service without being liable.

Pszemol wrote:

Reply to
johngdole

Plus the fact that some of the things 'performed' at these mileage interval services are just plain b.s., like "tighten the door hinges" ....funny, I've owned over a two dozen cars in my life, and not once did I ever find that one had a loose door hinge. These services at specified intervals are for setting little old ladies' minds at ease while taking vast amounts of their money. Don't get me wrong, certain services are a good thing, like replacing a timing belt and water pump, but others are about as useless as changing the air in the tires.

Reply to
mack

Here are some prices I got from a chicagoland toyota dealership:

timing belt replacement = $270 water pump replacement (together with t-belt) ~ $200 complete transmission fluid replacement (flush) = $130 fuel system sevice (trotle+injectors) = $150 complete cooling system flush = $100 platinium spark plugs replacement = $90 engine oil/filter change = $30

30000 miles service costs like $375 and the only things done are oil/filter change, coolant and transmission. The rest are "inspections" only (like exhaust, lights, etc). It does not include major things like timing belt nor the water pump.

60000 miles service is the same as 30000 except it does include sparkplug replacement and cost about $100 more...

Reply to
Pszemol

============ Here's what I did at 120,000 miles on a '94 (these are notes for my own records for work I've done at home):

6/12/04: Major Servicing: 120,124 miles: Replace: timing belt, crankshaft oil seal, oil pump oil seal, oil pump O-ring, camshaft oil seal, idler bearing, idler tensioner bearing, timing cover gasket set, valve cover gasket, ck valve clearances, PCV valve, PCV valve grommet, oil cap gasket, distributor O-ring, distributor cap, rotor, distributor packing, spark plug wires, spark plugs, fuel filter, air filter, ck. battery, oil pan gasket, transmission pan gasket, water pump, thermostat, radiator cap, gas cap, differential service, engine moving control rod, accessory drive belts: power steering pump, A/C - alternator, alternator brushes, ck. chassis mounting bolt torque, set ignition timing
Reply to
Daniel

You have it done because you had to do it (due to a failure) or you just replaced non-leaking gaskets and other things just because you had nothing better to do over the weekend ? ;-)

Reply to
Pszemol

Pszemol wrote:

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================================= Timing belt was scheduled. Water pump, primarily because I was there and otherwise at 120k it would be 180k before I got back in there again. Seals are cheap insurance. There was slight seepage. Seems like all my seals were embrittled. The PCV grommet broke into pieces as did the distributor O ring - a factor of age and heat I expect. The oil pan gasket seepage was identified by the dealer when I had alignment checked and they were right. The transmission pan gasket turned out not to be the real problem - I discovered a prior mechanic had stripped two of the pan bolts and just left them hanging, but not holding any tension. I feel very fortunate to have been able to simply use longer bolts from the dealer - those case locations allowed threading all the way through. The oil filler cap gasket was probably unnecessary. I saw the gasket available as a separate part on my microfilm parts list ($15) and it seemed like a good idea. The manual says replace the gas cap gasket, so I just replaced the gas cap, because the existing was not a Toyota part and new was only $12. Engine moving control rod had incipient cracking in the rubber bushing and I replaced it to save wear on the front and rear fluid filled engine mounts which are more expensive and more difficult to replace. I changed the thermostat and radiator cap as precautionary measures. Cheap insurance. Alternator brushes are usually questionable at 150k, so I just changed them a bit early. They're cheap, and I was doing all the other work at that time. The accessory drive belts looked fine, but seemed like a good idea to change them when they were removed anyway. The timing belt cover gasket was missing several pieces - probably from a prior mechanic. These seal the cover to keep out dirt and water. I discovered the chassis mounting bolts are accessed by removing the front undercover. One was a bit loose. I checked the ignition timing because I removed the distributor changing the O ring, and despite my paint marks, couldn't be exactly sure of position. I changed the fuel filter as precautionary. Same with the spark plug wires, cap and rotor. Did them at the same time as the spark plugs. My thinking was it's going to be 180k before I look at these again.

Reply to
Daniel

=============== Forgot to mention, both idlers made noise when turned by hand, so I was glad I already had the new parts. There was a small amount of seepage around the oil pump and crankshaft. Clearly it wasn't going to improve.

Reply to
Daniel

While you are in there, you should get the idlers replaced. The tensioner is usually the worse of the two, becoming loose and starting to make noise. The idler in the 4-cyl may still be in good shape for another 60K miles, but it usually starts to dry up. The dealer will likely add another $200-250 for the idlers. Should you should ask to get a quote for the *complete package*.

(So you get new coolant with any $200 water pump replacement, and then have to pay another $100 to have it completely flushed out? Sounds like a reason for double charging. Besides, I never thought there is a need to flush a properly maintained, prestine cooling system. )

Reply to
johngdole

Yes, they talked me into replacing idlers :-)

Exactly, that is why I did not ask for the coolant flush and did not request a generic "60000 miles maintenance" but itemized repairs instead... I figured, with a new water pump I will get the system flushed anyway. At least from the engine compartment if not from the radiator...

So what I actually got this time at the dealer was (a quote from their invoice):

- R&R water pump + thermostate $52 (1/2 h. labor) - water pump assembly $121.14 - antifreeze gallon $19.26 - thermostat $23.16

- change motor oil and filter, top off fluids $15 - oil filter $5.41 - motor oil $8.00 - gasket $1.00

- 4 cylinder timming belt $190.92 - timming belt $44.71 - 13505-74011 idler sub-assem $115.74 - 13503-63011 idler sub-assem $69.04 - belt, v, p/s, vane pmp $18.58 - v-belt $29.72

- R&R rear sway bar bushings $104 (1 h. labor) - stabilizer bushing 2x 22.40 $44.80

- minor 4 cylinder tune up $52 (1/2 h. labor) - 90919-01178-83 spark plug 4 x 8.52 $34.08

- misc variable coupon -$59

- misc variable coupon -$41

- misc shop supplies/env. waste disposal $10

TOTALS:

labor $413.92 parts $534.64 misc -$90.00 total charges $858.56 sales tax $41.44 __________________ bottom line $900.00

Suprisingly even number - they probably started from $900 and work back the charges to keep the total like this - no way they get 900 even to a single penny by a random luck... :-))))

Anyway, back to the important stuff... They talked me out of doing the transmission flush. The reason given was that the last time flush was done 60000 miles and 3 long years ago and the fluid shows brown/gray color. This color means the clutch plates (?) are worn, and replacing the fluid will cause transmission to slip... and need a costly rebuild :-((( That was sad news, since I like my camry... Is it really true what they said about the fluid color and these worn clutch plates? How much would a transmission rebuild cost ?

I guess nothing will last forever... but 211 000 miles is pretty good for an original transmission and it should still last a little before starts slipping anyway ;-)

Other recomendations from the shop are to replace spark plug wires, distributor cap, rotor and PCV valve... They told me I have the original spark plug wires - and this seems to be true - got this camry when it was 3 years old and 47000 miles - I assume it had original wires then and I have never had a need to replace them... Hard to believe, but these wires lasted 11 years and 211000 miles and they are still working...

I had also recomended to do "fuel system service" ($169.95) which is fuel injectors and trottle body cleaning. Was not sure if it is worth this much, so I hold from doing fuel system service at this time... What is your opinion about this service ?

The car runs much better now... What is little worrying is some whistling noice coming from the passenger side of the hood... like the new rubber belts or new water pump making new noises I did not hear before...

Replacing spark plugs did not help with an old problem I had: starting the warm car causes low idle speed - like 400-500 rpms, regardless of the possition of the transmission gears, including neutral... It usually goes away after rev-ing up the engine multiple of times or running couple of miles. What could be causing low idle speed when the engine is started warm/hot ?

Reply to
Pszemol

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