hi all,

last weekend i picked up a 95 camry 4 cylinder. it has 150k miles. on the test drive it seemed to be fine. since then, in the mornings it doesn't want to shift to overdrive for the first mile. after it finally shifts into overdrive it's fine. it does also shift kind of hard when it's gearing down or up. not all the time though. it also seems to do it when the torque converter locks in and out. but again, it doesn't do it all the time. just now and again. so what's the consensus? the solenoids?

other than that the car just has minor things that need to be addressed. there is an exhaust leak. i think it's the flex pipe. i haven't crawled under the car to verify though. the upper timing belt cover is missing. the previous owner had the timing belt replaced not too long ago. i guess they forgot to install it. i went by pull a part, but they didn't have any.

the shocks are also worn out. if the transmission is going to last, i'll put shocks on the car. that'll be later.

i guess the only other thing i'm concerned about, are the catalytic converters on these cars bad to stop up? the car seems a little bit underpowered. but i'm not sure if it's the car, or my butt dyno. i'm used to driving a smaller car with a bigger engine.

thanks,
frankie

 

Congrats on you new purchase. Welcome to CF!

The computer locks the OD out until the coolant get hot. You are experiencing normal lockout when in the morning before the coolant is hot.

As to shifting issues. Check the fluid condition, it should be red in color, not dark or black. If dark or black suggest changing it all. There are posts at this forum or do an internet search on DIY changing of all the fluid. Just changing the trans pan will only get 1/3 of the fluid. Changing all the fluid can improve shifting.

The bad flex pipe can be cut out and replaced with aftermarket. An autoparts store should have these or can order one. They come in various diameters thus measure your pipe size. The pipe can be welded on or find a pipe design that slides on and uses clamps. This a common issue.

The timing cover is there to keep out dirt, etc. The dealer may have one but it will not be cheap. These engines are extremely common, look for a junk engine and pull one off. They were used from 1993 to 2001.

The 4 cylinder engine will seem underpowered under some conditions and with 150K miles will be producing less power. Unless the engine is running bad would deem this normal. The engine is well built, gets good MPG, etc.

Is this a California car with 2 converters, one just off the exhaust manifold? If they are the original converters they typically don't have problems. If you think the converters are plugged read up on using a vacuum gauge to check manifold pressure.

 

well i spent all day sunday working on the car. got the tranny filter changed and did drain and fill. yeah i know it doesn't get it all out. i'll do a drain and fill over the next several oil changes and that should thin it out pretty good.

got the flex pipe changed. took forever to get teh bolts off the 2nd cat. (yeah i think it's a CA model.) my welding skills are lacking pretty hard, but at least it didn't leak.

now for the bad thing. today on the way to work, the car died. it bucked a couple of times and i thought "crap! the tranny's taking a dump." but it wasn't. the engine was causing the bucking. anyways it cut off and i couldn't get it to crank back. called roadside assistance to haul it home, i took the other car to work.

got home and started trying to troubleshoot the problem. took the banjo bolt off the top of the fuel filter. there was no pressure. turned the key on, still nothing. started doing some research, and found about the fp and b+ voltage pins in the diagnostic port. after i jumpered it i got some fuel spray out the top of the filter. (though it didn't look like it was spraying as hard as it should have.) anyways, i can hear the fuel pump pumping while it's jumpered. it still wouldn't crank though. ran out of day light. can't get it in the garage. i'll try again tomorrow.

anyone have any ideas?

 

Check for ign spark at the plug wires.

The fuel pump will not run unless the engine is cranking over or running (or you jump it).

Fuel pressure should be 38-44 psi.

 

but shouldn't the fuel pump come on for a few seconds when the switch is turned to the on position? also, does the fuel pump not come on when the cas is being turned? or is that were you were going with it? i'm going to jumper it again and check how much fuel pressure does build up. and go from there. i've just never seen an ignition problem catastrophically fail without giving warning signs first. <shrug>

 

The pump would run if the ign key is in Start position (starter motor turning over) or the engine was running. Turning the ign key to On will not operate the pump.

The jumper system bypasses the above relay system allowing the pump to run when the ign key is turned to On.

Checking the ign system is just SOP, yes it may be something else but never know.

 

i didn't get to work on the car yesterday. today i took the distributor cap off to see if it was filled with oil. (remember i'm a nissan man.) the older altima's were bad for the oring to leak oil into the distributor. anyways, this wasn't the case. while i i had it off i scraped the build up off the contacts under the cap. put it back on and the car cranked up. i wish i had tried to crank it before doing that. and i knew that couldn't be the fix. so anyways, i drove it down the dead end road i live near. a mile down the road it bucks and cuts off again. this time it cranked back up and as long as i kept it rev'd up, it would run. as soon as i put it in gear it would die. i'm leaning more towards the fuel filter at this point. it doesn't make sense though. when i took the banjo fitting off the top fuel came out. when i jumpered the fuel system, it should have overcame the clogged filter enough to run the other night. i dunno. when i get it back home, i'll take the filter off and see if it's stopped up.

 

just to follow up in case others have the same problem. the coil in the distributor was bad. car has been running fine for a while now. i did a couple of drain and fills on the tranny fluid and it's shifting better.

now the last thing to hunt down, why the electric fans stay on all the time. hopefully it's something simple. i'm hoping it's switch on the bottom of the radiator.

 

Thanks for the follow up post.

The can type fuel filter seldom plugs up.

The fan circuit works the opposite as one might think. The temp switch on the bottom of the radiator is closed when the coolant is less then 194F. When the temps rises above this it opens and turns the fans on via relays.

If the electrical harness plug to the switch gets pulled off, or there is a open wiring condition in the circuit the fans can come on.

Suppose could be a stuck fan relay, there are 3. The main one is Fan Relay No 1. Fan Relay No 3 is used with the AC system to turn the fan on with the compressor. Fan Relay No 2 is used with the the high/low speed fan operation. The fans can runs in series or parallel to vary RPM.

Check the switch and harness first.