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'95 Camry.. Going for bigtime maintenance/tune-up.. questions

Hello everyone! I'm new here so go easy on me :)

I have a 1995 Camry. Fantastic car. I have had pretty much 0 problems with it since I started driving it in 1998 (got it used). The car currently has 99,500 miles on it and I'm at a point in my life right now where I was thinking.. Should I buy a new car or just do a bigtime tuneup on my current car and ride it out for 5-6 more years..

So, considering I am going to be getting a house early next year, I decided it would be best for my wallet to just drop some money into the car I have now and ride it out for several more years. However, I have some questions for you pro's:

1) What are all the parts/fluids you guys would recommend replacing/changing/tuning in a 3rd generation camry that has had very little service in the past? I'm fairly certain the timing belt / water pump need to be changed about now, so those are two DEFINITE things I plan on getting replaced.

Additional: Also, depending on what things I should change/replace what recommendations do you have for quality fluids/parts? best bang for the buck type stuff?

2) I have a slight electrical problem in the car. The lights in the area of the temperature/air control panel are out MOST of the time.. But for some odd reason, when I turn the dial they sometimes (rarely) come back on for the duration of the ride.. How much would this cost to get fixed do you think? (I'm assuming because it's an electrical problem, going to cost a lot to fix and will probably not be worth it.)

3) The car has a fairly rough idle. Also on top of the rough idle, sometimes (not all the time) the car will dip very low RPM's idlling making the car very shaky.. (Years ago it had to be taken in for service because the car was actually STALLING at idle from the low RPM's.)

4) A friend of mine in chicago is actually very familiar with toyotas and is willing to help me replace/change anything in the car within reason (not the timing belt/water pump because they are too hard to get to with the stuff he has available in his garage). So if labor costs are usually an issue with certain things that are within reason to get to, I can cut those out.

I am willing to spend a good amount of money on the car to keep me going for many more years. I do not put many miles on the car as I pretty much just drive to/from work every day which is a very short drive (2-3 miles).

Also, what are my options with installing a new audio system in the car? Anyone have any recommendations for recievers/speakers? I currently just have all the stock stuff that was in the car from day

Sorry for the long post and thanks for any help you can provide!!

Adam

Reply to
Adam
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SNIP

I have a 93 4 cyl. Camry and a limited budget. I find that the total cost of repairs is lower than the payments and higher insurance premiums on a new vehicule. You do spend a little more time at the garage though.

SNIP

I find the stock speakers in my car to be quite good actually but I replaced the stock shitty AM/FM tape deck for a Clarion CD player. I'm happy with this setup.

JP

Reply to
JP

Do the timing belt and ALL oil seals on that side of the engine. Dont forget the one behind the oil pump and oil pump shaft. Also do the water pump at the same time, there are all in one place so it makes sense. New platinum plugs, flush out the tranny and drain and refill the transaxle, they are seperate things on 4 cylinders. Take a battery filler bulb and suck out the fluid on the power steering fluid and replace with new correct fluid. Clean the throttle body for fuel injection. New air filter, new fuel filter too. Check your CV boots, replace boots if cracked. Change the oil every 3,000 miles one of the high mileage oils will help your seals stay flexible and not leak. Have the coolant drained and refilled with Toyota red coolant. Check the brakes too. Rear ones last forever, just have them cleaned. Use toyota parts only especially brake/waterpump parts... Others will chime in with the rough idle fix, its common but easy to fix. Oh my lights are the same way on my 97 Camry. I have not fixed them since I dont drive much at night and the dash does not look easy to remove. BTW I have 186,000 miles on my Camry and it still runs and drives like new. I want to keep it at least to 250,000 miles. No clue on aftermarket radios, I rarely listen to mine anyway.

Reply to
ROBMURR

hmmm.....

Reply to
Phil

Reply to
Chris Aseltine

whaaaaddya doin' :) hey spacemang hows it goin?

Reply to
Adam

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