I take care of my 85 year old neighbors 91 camry for her, it has about 122,000 miles on it and still runs good, but I just checked it out because she complained that it ran 'bad' going up hills when cold-I drove it, and it does, so I removed the distributor cap and it has oil inside it-I think I need to remove the distributor, it must have some sort of seal that is bad. I have wasted money on an Alldata subscription, but I let it expire since it was basically worthless- Is there a field service manual that anyone has they want to sell? I have been taking care of it for about 10 years and have done suspension stuff, and a timing belt and the usual routine maintenance plus battling the body rot that seem to me is normal judging from the older Camry's I've seen. Any help or information would be appreciated-thanks.

 

I checked several sources. Toyota does not break down the distributor to the point of replacing the seal. This could be the reason Alldata had nothing. Doubt if any service manual is going to have this info unless something like a third party distributor rebuild. Both Haynes and Toyota manuals do not have this info.

There is a seal around the distributor shaft. Owners have taken the distributor apart and replaced it.

As I recall the pin holding the drive gear to the shaft is removed, the gear pulled off. The shaft slides out from the top.

This is a reasonable common fix but never done the job on this make of car myself.

Might check out Toyotanation, for sure have read posts at the site about doing this job on a 5S-FE engine (your engine would be about the same design) and recall maybe even photos.

Posters were reporting someone on Ebay was selling repair kits that included this seal and maybe instructions (can remember about the instructions)

Thus you'll need to look beyond the typical repair manuals to those folks who have done the job.

An internet search may turn up posts.

Again this is a common issue, common enough that someone was offering third party repair kits.

I think if you dig some more you will find the answers you need.

 

I will check out Toyotanation and Ebay to see if I can nail this down. There is a 'yota dealer nearby, and I figured worst case I could go there and speak with someone in parts/service to get an idea of how to cure this, but I am saving that for last resort. Thanks for your help.

 

The link below is for a rebuild on a MR2. This uses a 5SFE engine, same design as yours but more displacement. Should give you an idea of what is involved.

http://www.mr2.com/forums/mk-2-mr2-s...-photolog.html