1999 Toyota Camry LE from North America - Comments

I replaced the front struts

O2 sensor

passenger seatbelt roller replaced.

I've owned this car for nearly three years and I'm very disappointed. Engine seems okay so far and luckily haven't had sludge problems, but I'm using Castrol Syntec blend. Haven't noticed paint problems, maybe because the car is garage kept. The suspension is horrible. I replaced the front struts at 38,000 miles and now a year later, there seems to be another rumbling noise from the same area in the front passenger side of the car. Toyota really needs to redesign the suspension on these cars. Have also had problems with oxygen sensor and check engine light coming on. According to Toyota, the fuel system is sealed and extremely sensitive. Even in the dead of winter, you must shut car off when refueling or car will stall due to fuel system. Their fix was to replace gas cap seal. When the same problem happened after initial service, I disconnected battery to reset computer and avoided Toyota's high service fees. Also, had to have the rear passenger seatbelt roller replaced due to a bad spring coil. Had to speak my mind here as I know that Toyota won't own up to any of these weaknesses or make good on problems.

If your check engine light is coming on, you may want to make sure that you do not have sludge (will need to remove valve cover). Toyota will check for free (according to their TSB on sludge) if you exhibit one of several signs of sludge - check engine light is one of them. Do you have any smoke from exhaust when you first start up? I think I have heard of a faulty O2 sensor somehow being linked to sludge development. Good luck.

The check engine light has been coming on intermittently since the car was new. It was taken to the dealership each time and they replaced sensors two times. Other times the light came on and there were no diagnostic codes stored so they simply turned the check engine light off. Recently, now that the car is out of warranty, the light has come on and the car is missing badly with sulphur smelling exhaust. I paid to have the fuel tank removed and drained because the technician thought we got some bad fuel. That didn't eliminate the problem so they replaced the mass air flow sensor. This did not solve the problem so they had the car in the shop for 11 days and finally replaced an oxygen sensor located someplace near the catylitic converter. They said the sensor was pitted and covered with carbon. We drove the car for a week and it ran fine, then the check engine light came on again today. I don't know what to do now. Other than draining the fuel tank Toyota has warranted the sensors that were replaced under customer goodwill. The car has 20,000 miles on it.

One should always turn the car off when refueling- there are large signs posted at every gas station informing customers to do so. The sludge problem- which does not occur when customers maintain their cars regularly, including oil changes every 3750 miles, not 7500 miles- is not a TSB, or Technical Service Bulletin, it is a SPA, or Special Policy Adjustment, and no, it will not be checked for free. The customer must approve inspection first, and if sludge is detected and the customer can provide ample service records, then warranty will cover- if not, the customer is on his or her own to repair, reassemble, etc. A check engine light has no direct relationship to sludge unless the circumstance is very, I mean very severe. And lastly, discolored smoke from the tailpipe could mean several things, but again has no direct relationship to sludge. If white, it could be a coolant leak. If blue, it more than likely is valve stem seals. If it is a cold morning with lots of condensation, smoke is normal. Do not judge from smoke alone. Have a service professional at your dealer inspect if you suspect there may be problems, but beware of false information as provided above.

One more thing- oxygen sensors are not sludge detectors. There is no relationship. If you have a lazy oxygen sensor, your vehicle is either running to rich or too lean, meaning the engine is taking in either too much fuel or too little. In the former case, a rich air/fuel mixture will cause more smoke than normal from the tailpipe for obvious reasons. However, this is in no way related to sludge.

I purchased a 2002 Camry LE, automatic, in Nov 2002, Dec 2002 heard a knocking noise coming from front passenger side. Insulation was put in around glove box. March 2003,noise came back, plus creaking noise by driver's pillar and also passenger's pillar. Creaking noises coming from clock area. Return vehicle, dash removed and insulated. Following day, knocking noise appeared again and the rest of the creaking sounds were back. Return to dealer, sat there for six hours. (ME), they tighten the strut on passenger side. Creaking noise gone for 60 minutes and then it started up again. Also, have tape recording of creaking noise in the same area of the knocking noise on the front side passenger airbag and speaker area. Seeing Toyota Rep on Monday...

Toyota's owners manual for U.S. models says to change the oil every 5000 if you drive on dirt/dusty roads, tow heavy loads, or do frequent stops and starts in below freezing temperatures. All other driving conditions should change oil every 7500 miles. There is no mention of 3750 mile oil changes. Any oil related problems that happen when people are following the manual should be repaired by Toyota. As a matter of fact, if they can't tolerate the oil change intervals in the manual, Toyota should extend the warranty because most problems with infrequent, but regular oil changes is long term damage to the engine, when you are likely out of warranty.

I have a 1999 Toyota Camry, I have the car since it had only 500 miles in 1999, now I have 40,000+ miles.

I have been changing oil and other maintanence on regular schedule.

Now I have a light turned on that say's "check"

its the Malfunctioning indicator lamp*1.

Is this a common problem?

I just bought a 2003 Camry Solara; a day and a half (and 150 miles) after I bought it, the check engine light came on. I immediately took it back to the dealer; they hooked it up to the diagnostic & said the code was an "evaporation code", and that probably one of the kids they have prepping new cars didn't put the gas cap on tight enough. They advised me to always make sure the gas cap was tight, and not to top off the gas tank when filling up. I said thanks, and went on my merry way.

After another 150 miles, the light came back on. Thinking it was still the same issue, I didn't take it back right away. Per the manual, if the light has come on because the gas cap is loose, "several trips" may be required for it to go off. After "several trips" the light was still on, so I decided another trip to the dealer was in order. On the way to the dealer, the engine became really loud, and I had trouble accelerating for a few seconds. This happened again a few miles down the road, just before I got to the dealer. I left the vehicle & after a few hours they called & told me that when they turned the car on, the light wasn't on (I don't believe this for a minute - it was on for a over a week), and asked if I had just gotten gas before bringing it in. I said I had gotten gas the night before; they then proceeded to tell me that the problem with the noise & problem accelerating occurred because I overfilled the gas tank. I responded that I had not, as I had been specifically advised not to. They said they cleaned the charcoal canister & lube tube, and the problem should be resolved. Again, I went on my somewhat merry way.

Another 150 miles... guess what happened - the light came back on. I took the car back in; this time they kept it overnight, and replaced the charcoal canister. I picked it up the next day, and went on my not so merry way. After driving 150 miles... the light did not back on... it took about 190 miles this time.

I am not feeling very merry right now. I'm trying to decide if my next call should be to the service manager at the dealer, or the Toyota Zone office.

I have owned a 1999 Toyota Camry LE which I bought new back in June, 1999. The only problem that I encountered were with the OEM General Tires on the car. Toyota replaced them with Michelins and haven't had a problem since! I have faithfully have followed the Toyota maintenance schedule with one exception. I have the oil changed every 3 months or 3000 miles. (Whatever comes first). I always use an OEM Toyota Oil filter as well as 5W30 oil at the dealership.

It is probably the best Toyota I have ever owned! (I have owned 6 since 1970).

I have a 99 Camry, 4 cylinder and just had the 60,000 mile service done. they found "some water" near the water pump seal and replaced the water pump and also the timing belt with my approval.

A few months later the Engine light came on. Upon checking and tightening the gas cap, the light went off after a few miles.

It came on again a few days later and again after fiddling with the cap some more, the light went off after a few miles.

Now it has come on and will not go away no matter how much fiddling one does with the cap. There is a black o-ring gasket on the gas cap and perhaps that has been shifted or something but I cannot figure out what the problem is.

Water pumps don't leak water, they leak coolant; Secondly, ask any master technician at a *dealership* what they recommend in terms or oil change intervals, and they will more than likely tell you no more than 4 or 5 thousand miles. The owners manual is to remind people with no common sense or knowledge of cars to change their oil. Some people do go 10 and 15 thousand miles, believe it or not. I assume over 90% of the sludge victims, though they will not admit it, are these people.

Continuing the saga of the engine light and the gas cap, I took the car to the dealer and had them look at the system. They found a contaminated carbon cannister to be replaced for $267 part cost and $90 labor!

Apparently even if the gas cap is not tightened enough for one interval between gas fill-ups, the system gets confused and the carbon cannister becomes non-functional.

The new gas tank cap was not needed and the light was intermittent for a while because the signal from the cannister was intermittent until the signal stayed on continuously.

Lesson to be learned is to make sure the gas cap clicks three or four times when you tighten it.

If this is so sensitive and critical a situation, there should be a dashboard light that automatically comes on when the gas cap is not adequately tightened or the pressure in the gas tank is not up to the "normal" pressurized level when the engine starts.

I have a 99 Camry LE with 67,000 miles. Yesterday, the Check-Engine Light was on. Today, my wife took it to the dealership. After inspection, they told her that the oxygen sensor is bad and needs to replace. The cost for replacing the sensor and some cleaning work is $479.00. The breakdown is.

1. Diagnostics $85

2. Oxygen sensor $43

3. Sensor air fuel rati $265

4. Misc cleaned phrottle body valve $42

5. break clean $5.

Total labor is $270 and total part is $170. This is much more expensive than I thought. Does this make sense?

I have a 1999 Toyota Camry with 75,000 miles. The check engine light came on recently and is on all the time. I am going to try disconnecting the battery to reset the computer.

I had never heard about making sure the gas cap was tight. I hope I haven't done damage to the car.

I have recently looked into purchasing a '99 Solara from a friend of mine. This car has about 49k miles and does not get driven aggressively. I took this car out for a test drive and after listening to the awesome JBL sound system, I decided to listen to the car noises. I was extremely disappointed. The rear right wheel seemed to be making some very nasty and very loud pulsating humming noises (worst at 40 mph). This wheel has the full size spare instead of a regular tire in, but I fear that the problem may be in the bearing and not the tire. Has anyone else had this problem?