The Joy of Repairing Older Cars: A Lesson from a 2.5-Year-Old Toyota Camry

As I sat in front of the Toyota Camry, I couldn't help but notice how well it was still running despite being two and a half years old. The car's oil burning engine was a surprise, but its automatic transmission and five-speed standard transmission made it a quick and fun drive. What caught my attention, however, was the tire pressure monitoring system that didn't work at all.

It seemed like a rare bird to see such an old Camry still working perfectly fine, especially considering its age and mileage (172,000 miles). But as I began to scan the car's systems, I discovered some surprising insights. The engine and ECT (Electronic Control Throttle) were functioning well, but the short-term and long-term fuel trim readings were 2.3%, which is decent considering the vehicle's condition.

The Camry's fuel trim was a great example of how cars can run efficiently even with aging components. Running lean, as opposed to rich, was what most people wanted, and it actually resulted in better gas mileage. As I explained to one of my clients, "If you make it back to normal, you will lose a little bit of gas mileage." The Camry's fuel efficiency was impressive, getting into the 20s and low 30s on the highway when driven slowly.

A closer inspection revealed some minor issues, such as dog damage from traffic, but overall, the car seemed like a great example of how older cars can still be reliable. I took it for a spin to test its performance, and it handled smoothly, despite the worn-out struts that made it ride kind of like a Porky Pig cartoon.

The Camry's story also served as a reminder about Toyota's engineering prowess, particularly in their unibody construction. Unlike traditional trucks with frames, the Camry's body was designed to be one piece, eliminating the need for separate frames. This design choice helped prevent rusting and made it easier to repair parts, as I had noticed that they still sold spare parts for these cars even after millions of units were sold.

The oil burning issue was another interesting finding. The car used a quart of oil every 1,000 miles, which was relatively low compared to other vehicles in its class. While it did burn some oil, the emissions were minimal, and there was no smoke coming out of the tailpipe. This was a testament to Toyota's commitment to reducing pollution and ensuring their cars ran efficiently.

As I continued to inspect the Camry, I couldn't help but feel a sense of appreciation for these older vehicles. Despite their age, they still had so much to offer, from reliable performance to impressive fuel efficiency. While it would be nice if Toyota would fix them for free, the fact that parts were still available and affordable made them a great option for anyone looking for a dependable ride.

For those who might be wondering what kind of oil is cheap and suitable for these vehicles, I recommend using conventional oils like 5W-30 or 5W-40. These oils are generally affordable and will provide the necessary lubrication for the engine's components.

Finally, as I wrapped up my inspection and said goodbye to this trusty Camry, I couldn't help but think that sometimes it's the older cars that can teach us the most about repair and maintenance. By taking the time to learn from these vehicles, we can develop our skills and become more confident in our ability to keep them running smoothly.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enrev up your engines okay we got an 08 cam here with 175 000 miles and unfortunately it's an OA and it's got the notorious two AC Fe engine 2.4 liter and yes it burns oil he bought it used it does only burn a cord about every thousand miles of course he's not stupid he looked it up and saw ah they're fixing some of these so I took it and they said no no it's got more than 120 000 miles uh we're not going to fix it which is total nonsense because they built the piston rings wrong now they could have at least said well we'll put piston rings and maybe not rebuild the whole engine but they're not going to do anything they're strong engines my grandson has the same one he drove a Tennessee Rhode Island back didn't have any problems he just had to he had a couple quarts of oil that's all it's annoying though that Toyota made something like this they never actually recalled them see so it's not like the undies and Kia's that explode they had to recall them all and they got to replace all those engines right and even then they try to wheel their way out of it this was sort of a voluntary thing Toyota did and in this case they're not going to do anything about being that it's just the piston rings that are worn it still runs perfectly fine and the most interesting thing about these is a lot of people don't know that much about piston rings the Piston goes up and down the ring ceiling there's various rings and what happens to these things are the oil rings on the bottom are the ones that wear out so it burns oil but the compression Rings which are the ones on the top that hold the compression in are perfectly fine so they still get phenomenal gas mileage they run perfectly fine but they burn oil because the bottom rings are warm and there's really nothing you can do you could put half of your weight in it might slow it a tiny bit but you don't want to ruin an engine by putting too thick oil then in the winter the camel wear because it's on the top it'll run dry too long from too heavy off so just use the oil that it was supposed to take and carry a few jugs in the back whenever it gets down to the one line as you can Court low put a quart in it's not that big of a deal but do not do what some people do well it burns oil so I never have to change it what the heck I'm pouring new stuff in yes but the sludge will still go to the bottom of the engine and clog everything up that's another thing that really pees me off is companies like Audi they tell the people oh well uh we don't have to take the bottom of your car off because Audis have all kinds of seals on the bottom of them and it takes a long time to get it all off so they can't get to the oil drain plug so instead pull out the dipsticks and they suck the oil from there well that's a stupid idea too let's face it the crud goes to the bottom right and the bottom is still going to have crud in it it's like these guys that say oh well I'm not going to drop the transmission pan I'll just suck it out and then put new fluid in no the crud is in there and in the case of a transformation of course the filters in there if you don't take the bottom off change the filter the filter filter's still dirty so there's no excuse for not doing physical labor when you're changing fluids and people tell you oh we'll hook a flush machine up don't worry that'll do a good job no that can actually ruin an automatic transmission you can flush radiator systems sure that's fine but Transmissions no it's a northern car so it's got all kinds of corrosion on that you don't really care about that the interesting thing is around 91 92 Toyota pretty much perfected their anti-rust technology so this doesn't have a rust problem if it was a Ford GM probably rotted all the other day the guy brought the Avalanche over here and we opened the back door there's just a big hole behind it full of rust and he got zip tied the plastic factors on so they wouldn't flap in the wind that's not the case in these as you can see you're they're all rotten away in the real Wells they're all perfectly fine a few scrapes and running into stuff but that's not the car's fault and you can see he carries a lot of tools these things have great trunks you know you can fit an awful lot of stuff on one of these trunks now he's finding out with all this weight that it does sit a little bit low has a tendency of bouncing out and banging all the stuff in the back but 81 Corolla hatchback I put air shocks on the back because I had a ton of tools I fill them up and then if we took it on a trip or something I just let the air on and they'd be regular shock so you can do that he probably won't it's an old car he didn't really care that much about it so let's see what it sounds like and that's not the noise it's making that's a diesel behind me so we'll get in here where it's quiet first you put the brake on because it is a standard transmission after all so start up talks right up like a typical Toyota it looks exactly the same as my grandson's Camry it's a year newer but except he took care of it the seats are still good the seats in my grandsons are ripped up way to put seat covers on them and you can hear it sounds like a Toyota engine guys gonna hear a tiny bit of valve noise in it and that's something that I'll talk about that's normal and you really don't care what Iota it really doesn't affect the running of the car the thing about Toyotas is especially these engines the overhead cams move the valves with stainless steel shims now they say You're supposed to adjust in so many miles blah blah blah but nobody ever does anymore because the cams right on these stainless steel shims the stainless steel shims last a long time they're really strong but if you do have to adjust them you got to measure them all then you got it right which is which then you gotta take the cam off and then you gotta take the shoes out then you got to measure the shims and whatever off it is you got to get chimps that are so much bigger or so much smaller good luck excited them usually the Toyota dealer doesn't even stock no shims and truth be told all the Toyotas that I've ever owned I never adjusted the valves my Celica has 240 000 miles I've never adjusted the valves it still runs fine it makes a little bit more noise than this because it's got almost double the mileage but it doesn't mean anything you don't care off a tiny bit it really isn't going to hurt anything and like I say hardly anybody even does that anymore unlike the Hondas it just have little screws and lock nuts that you can do with your hands and wrenches takes a long time to do but you can do it like that you don't have to tear the whole engine parts buy all these shims these you do with those stainless steel shins basically they're gonna last forever so hook up the old scan tool and while we're waiting we can see got some mileage on 172 000 miles but of course it's Toyota everything works and yes it has a CD player that's what people used to use it's got a nice sunroof and other things on the back you want to run the seat so I put a little covering on it and it's old school it's got a manual seat they don't break they're a lot simpler I just saw an automatic seed break on a Toyota that was two and a half years old one's still working perfectly fine Camry all right knows that it's oil burning engine it's an automatic scan here we go this is a very rare bird this is a Camry but it's a five-speed standard transmission let me tell you these things are really quick the only thing we find is one problem the tire pressure monitoring system you don't expect these things to be working on such an old car the engine and the ECT and we'll look at live data here we go now it is an older vehicle but still we got 182 points of data we can look at that's enough to blow anyone's mind short-term and long-term fuel trim 2.3 2.3 exactly the same that's decent considering the vehicle's got 172 000 miles it's only off 2.3 percent and it's positive so that means it's adding fuel it's running a little bit lean which actually is what most people want because I've actually had people they wanted it perfect and I'd fiddle around until I get it perfect right then they got worse gas mods and they said now we're getting worse gas for muds I said well it was running lean you're going to get better gas mileage running lean and if you make it back to normal you will lose a little bit of gas mileage the Camrys don't use all that much gas he has no idea he doesn't even bother my wife has no idea what her car is getting either she just puts gas and drives it around I'm sure it's getting the regular gas mileage that these things get they'll get in the 20s and they they can get the low 30s if you really go slow in a highway keep it in Top Gear so there's nothing wrong with that and you can see the air fuel ratio hey it's almost perfect it's 0.996 1.000 is perfect so as old as it is it's only off 0.004 and that ain't much that looks fine so let's take it for a spin now we do have a little dog damage here yeah so we're waiting for traffic here on the usual Insanity of my corner on the hill there here we go it's a tiny Car Smart car look at this thing it's fun to drive still it's got plenty of get up to go just because the oil control Rings make it a little and burn oil the other rings work perfectly fine and there's no smoke coming out of the back or anything no it does ride kind of like a Porky Pig cartoon man because he carries all this weight and the struts are worn and it bounces around but I mean let's make that he's not driving this thing to Californian back so he doesn't care I'll check it out it doesn't shake it's smooth it's still a great car it's an old Camry with a lot of miles he's put a lot of miles on it himself he carries all those tools in the back they're well made vehicles and up here up north hey it's not rotted away the odd thing was the unibody they don't have a frame it's all one part of the frame the whole body and everything they screwed up with some of their trucks they had actual frames because they didn't coat the frames correctly you've seen Tacoma's Tundras where the frames rotting away Toyota's got warehouses is those frames and still some people are getting them fixed for either kind of being wanky I've met one guy in Illinois they wouldn't do his but they did the guys in Indiana and they were the same truck they screwed up on the frames but these are unibody and they didn't they don't rust away and since they sold millions of them you need parts you can get them they're cheap this Burns oil so what oil is cheap and like I say it's the oil ring runs perfectly fine it just uses a little bit of oil they pass inspection from that that's not a pollution problem it doesn't make them really pollute you know they're burning oil one quart every Thousand Miles you don't see any smoke come out of the tailpipe you're not really going to notice it a little soot but it's not oily soot now I've seen some of the Scions and when you stick your finger in it just slime because they're burning a quart every 75 miles and they're going through well I know them out but this you really don't have to worry about it it'd be nice if Toyota to fix them for free but with that mileage they're not doing it anymore but they're still running so if you never want to miss another one of my new car repair videos remember to ring that Bell everything\n"