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Sedans Toyota Camry Toyota Camry: Problems & Solutions 
5279 messages, Last post on Aug 22, 2006 at 1:43 PM
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Replying to: 210delray (Aug 09, 2006 11:14 am)  The mileage issue was notice about 1 year into owning the car when I started community about 45 miles one way to work and the premium gas was adding up. I switched a couple of time to 87 and I notice a huge difference in the mileage because I was going to the pump more often. When I asked the mechanic, he just said that it was a typical occurence in cars built in the 90s and early 2000s. When I did the math, it ended up costing me the same so for the convenience of not having to get to the gas station so often, I opted for 91. But this is not major issue. I need to consider whether I need to fix the smoke problem or buy a new car. If I can fix the smoke problem affordably, I would then see about fixing this gas issue.  Update: I contacted several mechanics today and they seem to think that it is the head gasket that needs to be replaced. If this is true, they quoted about $1200-$1300 to fix. This would be worth fixing, but does that sound right to the mechanically abled on this page.
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Replying to: bildow (Aug 08, 2006 9:09 pm) 
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Replying to: smile1017 (Aug 09, 2006 1:26 pm)
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Replying to: toyoman1 (Aug 09, 2006 3:21 pm) Is the smoke white or blue? I believe you (smile1017) said white, which usually means coolant getting into the engine oil, which in turn could very well be head gasket failure. Are you losing engine coolant? You cannot put off replacing the head gasket. However, blue smoke on startup is generally caused in the Camry 4-cylinder by worn valve stem seals. It can be put off for a while, until it gets worse. I don't think it'll affect the emissions test if it just happens when you first start the engine in the morning. You said, I switched a couple of time to 87 and I notice a huge difference in the mileage because I was going to the pump more often. When I asked the mechanic, he just said that it was a typical occurence in cars built in the 90s and early 2000s. The mechanic is flat out wrong, certainly for the 4-cylinder Camry, which has always been designed to run on 87 octane. The key words in your statement are "switching a couple of times." Unless you ran with multiple tankfuls of 87 for a lengthy stretch of time, you're not going to get the real story. But I'm not going to keep arguing about gas mileage -- like our receptionist at work who swears she gets 28 mpg out of her '03 Tahoe V8 on her short commute to the office!  Geez, if the truck really did that well, GM wouldn't have worry about hybrids or displacement on demand! |
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Replying to: ramelan1 (Jul 10, 2006 11:02 pm) |
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Replying to: smile1017 (Aug 09, 2006 1:26 pm) If you indeed see WHITE smoke and you are losing coolant. It really could be head gasket and price quoted sounds about right. Make a few more calls and see if you can get a better price. I don't think $450 can replace head gasket -- maybe like Jeffy lube, charge you but never really do the work. 
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Replying to: jander111 (Aug 09, 2006 10:24 pm) 
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Replying to: jdeib (Sep 27, 2005 5:56 am) 
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Replying to: toyoman1 (Aug 10, 2006 1:13 am) I can't imagine an Oil Express Lube handling a head gasket replacement -- too big a job. How long did the job take, since you were watching it? If about an hour or so, it would have been the valve cover gasket.
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