Struggling with 2003 Camry update

[engineer20]

the "doctor shopping" lead to my oil pan threads to be stripped, so I had to get another ooil pan in the time I was banned from bitog (i was banned for a month, they thought I was trolling, I"m not, I acutally had these issues, and was strugglign, and SLOWLY figured them out and got to this point today), i'm worried about my camry control arm, though.

But one mechanic (don't know who) but somebody, but I have a likely candidate given how incompetent he was, he claimed you needed a FIPG tool to do my camry's oil pan and that wouljd cost 1000 dollars and therefore I'd pay and he told me to just go to the dealer, he probably didn't want to deal with my car as he is biased against imports.

FIPG is about 15 dollars and is the black rtv gasket that toyota uses on their oil pan, liar!

and most shops wanted 3 hrs or like 280 or at least 200 somethign dollars for the oil pan, i bought 3 pans, a new one from oirelly and advance auto, both spectra, but oreilly had a LT warranty, but i realzied it'd be useless as they said they won't honor it if the therads are stripped again.

so i was looknig all over junkyards for one, a u ppull it had it, but then that vehicle was destroyed a few days later, before i had a chance to make it to the junkyard! 19.99 from u pull it, so then i went to the non u pull it's, they had one from a scion tc for 50, and one from a camry for 50 but it was in bad shape, so I went with the scion tc one, installed it, and returned the two new oil pans, spectra, and I asked on toyotanation a lot about oil pan gbrands. the scion tc one had a little rust in it.

worried about that, that won't affect anything will it? When I pulled my oil pan off (don't see why you need 3 hrs, you don't need to drop the exhaust or crossbar as the shops claimed!) just use a u joint as well as a 1/4 ratchet and extension bar, use 1/4 drive tools to get into those hard to reach spaces

i didn't use the flex ratcheting wrenches i bought, but they were on sale just in time, for me, when i wanted them for this project, they were on sale, 5 for 19.88 vs 39.88 normal and they are really expensive elsewhere, so i bought them but didn't use them, but i plan to drop my trans pan soon

i mentioned on toyotanation the trans case leak, not sure if I mentioned it here already, but I'm going to drop my trans pan and change the filter and gasket (go with oem or go with wix, oem is only slightly more expensvie, but wix is good, too? oreily's has wix), and see if changing the pan bolts and ban gasket will solve the leak

i went in last thursday to the tyota dealership for a free inspection, this was one in ann arbor
the one in canton, victory toyota, got [censored] at me and banned me from coming back for free inspections, and they did mention the trans leak but said not to worry about it, as well as needing to redo the ball joint as the new ball joint which was improperly installed was shot, but i did it yesterday, successfull, so i guess i'm set for now

but victory toyota did mention a timing chain cover leak and a valve cover leak *(jjust did the gasket 3 years ago? or 2.5 yrs ago, it was in late 2013), so I know how to address the valve cover leak and want to diy it this time, but how do you solve a timing cover leak! the old oil pan which I took out had a lot of oil residue near the part which goes in for where the filter is placed, and I heard if that is the case, you indeed do have a timing cover leak, so how do you address that?

What needs to be replaced for that and is it a hard DIY? glad most of my issues are sovled now.

And the water pump/serp belt took me about a week to do, it took up most of the 1 week I had off for christmas/new year's vacation, so I spent my week off fixing the camry, and though I struggled with it, with the help of a family member and a neighbor, I was able to finish it, I struggled, but I persevered and got it done.

but speaking of the water pump, I am concerned the water pump is leaking again, SOB! I bought an aisin one from amazon (everyone was like, OEM, OEM) and now, I notice coolant on the garage floor, small spots of coolant, could it be the water pump is leaking again? It was a tough job, i'd hate to have to do it again! and i installed a new bando belt.

 

[engineer20]

and for cotter pins, H freight sells 555 for 4.99, the best value, but they are SAE. Everything for the camry, etc are metric, so can I use SAE cotter pins if it calls for metric as they just hold the castle nut in place, or do I need the exact cotter pin and must use the metric one? Thanks.

 

[engineer20]

because I had to bleed the brakes after I installed the taurus caliper (the reman from advanced auto, turned in my core), I had some leftover brake fluid. I nkow brake fluid is hydroscopic, so you dont' want it open/sitting for a long time or it goes bad, so to avoid waste, I did a "baster method" to change some of my camry's brake fluid. I saw the reservoir had this plastic "strainer" under the black rubber cap, and I oepend that to access the fulid underneath, the rest of the brake fluid. I bastered it out until the min line, then I added enough to top it off to the max line, so it wasn't that much fluid, and the brake fluid may still be old, so I'll bleed those brake for real when I'm doing some brake/suspension work next time to bleed the brakes, but the old brake fluid was green. is this normal? is oem toyota brake fluid green or something? i can post a picture later, but it was green fluid. The valvoline was clear, but I've also used carquest wearever dot 4 before and that fluid is usually yellowish/brown (normal or is that old fluid?) and walmart supertech is clear as well, but from my experiences, I'm guessing valvoline is the best brake fluid out there, but is green brake fluid normal or no? Thanks.

 

[engineer20]

do you need to bleed the brakes when you do your struts? I might just do it when I do my struts, only the front, or the rear? My rear struts are bad, do you open the brake hose and fully take the caliper off, or no no need to fwith the rears? I'm thinking about going to that shop to do the rears for me as the aprt is under warrnaty, then get the part under warranty for the front, contact monroe directly, what is the part number? and then I should be able to DIY the fronts. when you do the fronts, you must remove it from the hose, so you must bleed your brakes afterwards, or not necessarily? I want to finish the struts, then align the car, as the alignment is still out, toyota's inspection last thursday mentioned the front 2 wheels are going bad, i ment tires, but the rears are still fine, so maybe just a front end alignment is enough for me, as that's a lot chepaer than a 4 wheel and my rears are still in good condition.

 

[engineer20]

i see dremmels are more expensive thatn the rotary tools they still in auto parts stores, but is the dremmel better or worth it? i got mine, dremmel 3000 for 30 dollars, on clearnace at walmart, normal is about 60, and i saw it 's about 60 at meijer and h depot too, so i guess i got a good deal, except generic brand rotary tools are 20 dollars, so was it worth the premium? i used the dremmel to grind off the old nut on the camry ball joint, and yes, as people have wwarned, i did mess up the ball joint stud or the threads, but it doesn't matter, as i'm turning it in, but you should use a nut splitter apparently, next time, but I didn't have a nut splitter, the old balljoint wasn't property installed, so I had to cut the nut off, and harbor freight no longer sells a nut splitter, which is why I didn't get a nut splitter.
anyways, i bought a cheap 14.99 drillmaster brand angle grinder too, it's 4.5 inches with a 5/8 arbor, i thought it was 7/8 and most wheels are 7/8s. I bought a 5/8s one later at home depot but it was 4 incheds not 4.5, but smaller is ok, but is this a good one, or no? should I return it and rebuy an angle grinder with a 7/8 arbor from h freight since 7/8s is better, or is a 5/8 arbor fine as well? the next one up is 21.99 but if it's much better, i might as well get it, and it might be 7/8 arb size as well.
i heard 5/8s is outdated and they stopped using that.

 

[artbuc]

Originally Posted By: engineer20
do you need to bleed the brakes when you do your struts? I might just do it when I do my struts, only the front, or the rear? My rear struts are bad, do you open the brake hose and fully take the caliper off, or no no need to fwith the rears? I'm thinking about going to that shop to do the rears for me as the aprt is under warrnaty, then get the part under warranty for the front, contact monroe directly, what is the part number? and then I should be able to DIY the fronts. when you do the fronts, you must remove it from the hose, so you must bleed your brakes afterwards, or not necessarily? I want to finish the struts, then align the car, as the alignment is still out, toyota's inspection last thursday mentioned the front 2 wheels are going bad, i ment tires, but the rears are still fine, so maybe just a front end alignment is enough for me, as that's a lot chepaer than a 4 wheel and my rears are still in good condition.



No way this guy is for real. I've gone back and forth but now put my money squarely on troll to win and whack-job to place.

 

[cptbarkey]

Originally Posted By: engineer20
i see dremmels are more expensive thatn the rotary tools they still in auto parts stores, but is the dremmel better or worth it? i got mine, dremmel 3000 for 30 dollars, on clearnace at walmart, normal is about 60, and i saw it 's about 60 at meijer and h depot too, so i guess i got a good deal, except generic brand rotary tools are 20 dollars, so was it worth the premium? i used the dremmel to grind off the old nut on the camry ball joint, and yes, as people have wwarned, i did mess up the ball joint stud or the threads, but it doesn't matter, as i'm turning it in, but you should use a nut splitter apparently, next time, but I didn't have a nut splitter, the old balljoint wasn't property installed, so I had to cut the nut off, and harbor freight no longer sells a nut splitter, which is why I didn't get a nut splitter.
anyways, i bought a cheap 14.99 drillmaster brand angle grinder too, it's 4.5 inches with a 5/8 arbor, i thought it was 7/8 and most wheels are 7/8s. I bought a 5/8s one later at home depot but it was 4 incheds not 4.5, but smaller is ok, but is this a good one, or no? should I return it and rebuy an angle grinder with a 7/8 arbor from h freight since 7/8s is better, or is a 5/8 arbor fine as well? the next one up is 21.99 but if it's much better, i might as well get it, and it might be 7/8 arb size as well.
i heard 5/8s is outdated and they stopped using that.

 

[engineer20]

also, what extension bar is better? I want to work on the camry trans pan due to the "trans case leak" and drop the pan, and I need to use 1/4 drive stuff, like a 1/4 drive u joint and ratchet, but I only have one 6 inch extension, a husky, which I used when dropping the oil pan

i saw stanley has 3 for 8.88 at walmart 1/4 drive
2, 4, and 6 inch

but meijer has it for cheaper, 7.99 for 3, but they are a different size, 3, 6 and 9 inch, so you have a shorter one, and a longer one. Should I get both (then I'd have too many 6 inch extension bars)
or should I get one, and if you were to get one, which would you pick? which is better, stanely or tekton, as the meijer is tekton.

And which is better? I see they usually sett 2, 4,and 6 inch extensions in 1/4 drive, not really 3, 6, 9 but are 3 and 9 inches any good, and I guess 3 can be used to substitute, adn 2 may be too short, so i'm leaning towards the 3, 6, 9 from meijer, or should i get the 2, 4, 6 one at walmart and also beacuse stanley is better than tekton, or not necessarily? Thanks.

 

[Nick1994]

I feel like I've had a stroke after reading some of that

 

[Vikas]

Originally Posted By: engineer20
and for cotter pins, H freight sells 555 for 4.99, the best value, but they are SAE. Everything for the camry, etc are metric, so can I use SAE cotter pins if it calls for metric as they just hold the castle nut in place, or do I need the exact cotter pin and must use the metric one? Thanks.
See? This is how we know you are trolling. Looks like a month of vacation was just not enough for you.

 

[Cardenio327]

I'm not so sure he's trolling. I have persons like him come into my suspension shop from time to time with their cars all hacked together, just wanting to find out whats wrong so they can hack on it some more. We have a $3 inspection fee which I levy in these cases which is usually enough to keep them from ever returning.

To the OP: There are new cars for only about $13,000. If you buy one, it will use less gasoline than your current car and have a whole cartload LESS problems. Just take it to the dealer until the warranty runs out, then find a reputable independent shop. You will actually have free time to do whatever it is you like to do.

 

[Vikas]

I mean there *ARE* adjustable wrenches in metric and SAE types. Actually I do have a set of metric adjustable wrenches made by ViseGrip. (I bought them because they were being clearanced out at very cheap price)

But metric Cotter Pins? Now that is not something which has been yet marketed.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: engineer20
also, what extension bar is better? I want to work on the camry trans pan due to the "trans case leak" and drop the pan, and I need to use 1/4 drive stuff, like a 1/4 drive u joint and ratchet, but I only have one 6 inch extension, a husky, which I used when dropping the oil pan i saw stanley has 3 for 8.88 at walmart 1/4 drive 2, 4, and 6 inch but meijer has it for cheaper, 7.99 for 3, but they are a different size, 3, 6 and 9 inch, so you have a shorter one, and a longer one. Should I get both (then I'd have too many 6 inch extension bars) r should I get one, and if you were to get one, which would you pick? which is better, stanely or tekton, as the meijer is tekton. And which is better? I see they usually sett 2, 4,and 6 inch extensions in 1/4 drive, not really 3, 6, 9 but are 3 and 9 inches any good, and I guess 3 can be used to substitute, adn 2 may be too short, so i'm leaning towards the 3, 6, 9 from meijer, or should i get the 2, 4, 6 one at walmart and also beacuse stanley is better than tekton, or not necessarily? Thanks.

Yes.

 

[HangFire]

Originally Posted By: Tegger
Originally Posted By: engineer20
also, what extension bar is better? I want to work on the camry trans pan due to the "trans case leak" and drop the pan, and I need to use 1/4 drive stuff, like a 1/4 drive u joint and ratchet, but I only have one 6 inch extension, a husky, which I used when dropping the oil pan i saw stanley has 3 for 8.88 at walmart 1/4 drive 2, 4, and 6 inch but meijer has it for cheaper, 7.99 for 3, but they are a different size, 3, 6 and 9 inch, so you have a shorter one, and a longer one. Should I get both (then I'd have too many 6 inch extension bars) r should I get one, and if you were to get one, which would you pick? which is better, stanely or tekton, as the meijer is tekton. And which is better? I see they usually sett 2, 4,and 6 inch extensions in 1/4 drive, not really 3, 6, 9 but are 3 and 9 inches any good, and I guess 3 can be used to substitute, adn 2 may be too short, so i'm leaning towards the 3, 6, 9 from meijer, or should i get the 2, 4, 6 one at walmart and also beacuse stanley is better than tekton, or not necessarily? Thanks.

Yes.


Listen to everything Tegger says!

The fun just keeps coming. Check out his other thread, Struggling with a 2009 Taurus. Four posts of pure streaming unconciousness. But for goodness sake, don't reply! (Unless you can achieve Tegger's sublime succinct wisdom.)

 

[engineer20]

@vikas, I'm not trolling. I'm eager to ask questions which I've been curious for a while. I"m serious. Harbor freight sells cotter pins for the cheapest, but they are SAE and I believe most of what this car calls for is metric. I think SAE should work but I'd like to know others' opinions.

 

[ddrumman2004]

I hope he has a metric hammer while working on that Camry.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted By: ddrumman2004
I hope he has a metric hammer while working on that Camry.


It better be a Japanese metric...

 

[Vikas]

Originally Posted By: engineer20
@vikas, I'm not trolling. I'm eager to ask questions which I've been curious for a while. I"m serious. Harbor freight sells cotter pins for the cheapest, but they are SAE and I believe most of what this car calls for is metric. I think SAE should work but I'd like to know others' opinions.
If you are not really trolling, you should NOT even pick up a tool because you lack even basic understanding of mechanical things. Given how much repairs that you have done so far, I am sure you already know the answer to Metric/SAE cotter pins.

Do you understand what is the function of the cotter pin? Can you describe it without googling it in your own words? Then can you tell me what is difference between Metric/SAE cotter pin and how it will affect the usage of them?

You say you are not trolling; so I am giving you benefit of doubt.

Go ahead and answer my questions.

 

[engineer20]

I googled it. There are metric cotter pins and ebay sells them. I'm thrifty, which is why I wondered if sae cotter pins would work.
I got the water pump done and at last the ball joint done after I failed the first time. But slowly, I've been doing the repairs. The cotter pin just holds the castle nut in place but I don't know much else about them but if the nut is metric, shouldn't the cotter pin, which im just logically deducing? Why the discouragement and hate? Why not encouragement and help?

 

[engineer20]

Toyotanation has been helpful during my time away. I've posted the same things there but wasnt allowed to post about the taurus there, but they helped.