Hi everyone! very excited to say I found this site. Hard to find gear heads that love Toyota automobiles. That being said Im not completly mechanicley declined lol forgive my misspelling.


But I would like to say this is my first Toyota car and I absolutely love driving it and joined to hopefully keep it running smooth, rebuild it and maybe add some horse power to it.


Anyway my questions right now to start is, when I bought this car which is an 03' camry le 16 valve 2.4 4 cylinder automatic transmission. The fuel gauge never worked the level would ethier go all the way up and immediately drop out or the fuel light just stays on. Ether way it sucked for one just got it and two I had to go by mileage. Anyone know what causes this? and how to fix it cheaply? Last question I have is I ran off the road to avoid an accident last year and I have mesh looking stuff hanging from my exhaust manifold and it the entire exhaust dropped like an inch the hanger on the back is broke. Anyone know how to fix?


Thank you in advance to everyone that read all that!! lol.

 

Most likely your fuel gauge issue is in the fuel tank. The fuel pump assembly typically has a float on it that tells the gauge what to read. Considering the gauge is getting power, I believe that float is the issue. I'm not sure if you can buy just the float or if it comes as a whole fuel pump assembly.
Your exhaust hanger broke off of the exhaust pipe or the hanger mounted onto the body of the car broke? Either one can be welded up at a local muffler shop as long as the metal is good. The mesh stuff is a heat shield that sounds like it did not fair well. It's a good idea to replace as it deflects heat away from the cabin but probably not entirely necessary.

 

Thank you for such a fast reply, I will look into getting a new float. I already am diving head first into tuning up and repairing the car. They really do have a cool design. I like the air intakes configuration and having 16 valves is a plus. I already replaced my pcv valve and changed the oil did notice oil seeping from the valve cover. not a lot but enough to get water in the oil which is why I was overhauling the crankcase and the guts.


You seem to be on a lot of the posts. I really do appreciate the quick response hard to find other minds sometimes. Have you heard of or know a lot about the 2.4 turbocharger built for the scion tc? If I could I would like to work my way up to giving the engine more power on the low end which still is impressive for the amount of cylinders. High end on this car is incredible.


Do you have any suggestions as to what to fix or mod to breathe some youth back into the engine to give it some of its lost horsepower back before I go into rebuilding the whole thing for an engine mod?


Like I said before thank you very much!

 

I'm always happy to help!
As far as making the engine breath better, from the factory is what I think is best. I have never seen any real gains with all those short ram and cold air intakes. I have also never seen any gains with a K&N filter. I really scoured the internet with hopes up find an intake that would give my car a little boost but all I can find is a more aggressive sound. That does not equate to $250-300 in my book.
I have read some stuff about the turbo kit that fits the Tc for our cars and it is not a direct bolt on. I believe the exhaust and engine mounts are slightly different causing some modification to the kit.
If you want some real gains though, it is the way to go. Just be sure to do it right. If you check out the forums on Toyota Nation you will find a lot more info on the kit and what you will need to do to make it work.

 

Hi there and welcome!
We are the supporting vendor of this forum!
Actually an air intake is probably the easiest way to add few HP to your engine and let it breath easier.
Stock replacement K&N filter wouldn't give a power increase, it just improves the filtration a little bit and allows you to clean and reuse it.
However they make a K&N® - 69 Series Typhoon Cold Air Int@ke Kit for 03 camry with 2.4L engine that gives you an estimated horsepower Gain of 6.4 HP - 5600 RPM - that's quite a good improvement in compare to the stock system.
Read more about it here: http://www.carid.com/2003-toyota-cam...es-324602.html

Talking about turbo charger - it is difficult, but not impossible. This is quite a complicated engineering process so it may only be performed by a qualified mechanic. Beside the actual turbocharger you would need other components, that are required to make it work: turbo manifold, intercooler, water and oil lines, new exhaust, ECU and others.

 

Thank you both! I agree about the stock air intakes.