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'93 camry for $100... edit: it's free and it's now mine.

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$100...oh hell yea.

A buddy of mine had a ~96 plymouth breeze. The engine caught fire and toasted the engine bay pretty good. I told him to call one of those "we buy junk vehicles" numbers in the newspaper want ads. he did and they gave him something like $225 for the car, and towed it away from the parking lot where it caught fire days before.

that or make it into a beater...or even better, make your own full size remote control car and take it to a big field or the desert!
 
I had a 89 Camry from 1997 to 2004, went from 77,000 miles to 209,000. You cant stand to LOSE on this, those are still frequently driven cars in the US and will part out for way more than $100 and any junkyard will take it for at LEAST even money. Buy it, take it to a mechanic you trust, or even one you dont, but have it looked at a couple times in that case, and see what they say, if they can fix it for less than $500 then you are doing awesome. $sub $600 for a sub 200k mile camry will be GREAT for a daily driver beater. Thats like 3 months of payments for even a used car at like $200 a month. You make that thing last beyond 3 months even at a high repair cost of $500, you are making out like a bandit.

I sold my 89 to a friend for $450, he put a little time in it and drove it for 9 months before he loaned it to a friend who seized the engine because he didnt put oil in it (the car had a leak). Sadly if the guy had just pulled over and popped a quart in, the car would still be running today and probably have 300,000 miles on it. As it stands at $450 and 9 months, he still had reliable transportation with almost 40mpg highway at $50 a month. You cant go wrong.

If the mechanic says sorry man the engine is shot, it needs a whole new one, ask him if he wants it for $200 and walk away.
 
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Marlin1975 said:
If they are saying timing needs adjustment what that translates into 2 things
1. I tried to put a timing belt on it and messed up
2. The timing belt broke and I put a new one on and it runs like crap.

Either way it usually means bent valves. So be very careful.
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hmm

assuming this is a 4-cyl camry, rockauto says it's a 5SFE, google says it's a non-interference engine

edit: the 6-cyl is non-interference too apparently

another edit: handy guide listing non-interference and interference engines: http://www.gates.com/downloads/download_common.cfm?file=428-1466_web.pdf&folder=brochure
 
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5sfe is non interference. As far as the timing belt goes it either runs or if the belt was installed wrong it runs like such shit that it doesn't run right at all; there is no regularly adjusting the timing belt. He probably means base ignition timing (10deg btc at the distributor with electronic control disabled) or valve shims, those are the two most common long term maintenance items on a high milage engine and both are very easy.
 
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$100? Even if it didn't run, that'd be a bargain, provided you had a truck or something you could tow it with. Cut out the catalytic converter. They're going for $130 here right now. The value of the scrap metal on top of that is more than $100. You can't lose.
 
I'm with exdeath, if you get the timing off 1 tooth it probably won't run at all. There is no adjustment. you slip the belt on with a mark aligned on the crank and a mark aligned or a pin installed on the cam gear. I've done my 98 a couple of times now. It is not the best car to change belts on, but very do-able. The harmonic balancer is the biggest PITA.
 
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SunnyD said:
When I replaced the water pump in my old escort years ago, I had to pull the spark plugs out and set the timing based on cylinder position. The pump was on the timing belt, so it sucked. I did a rough set, got it running and then took it to the shop. They finished it from there.



This is pretty much what I'm thinking. My preference though is to have a car that I can drive to/from work daily. ~10 miles each way.
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I did my water pump on my '94 'Scort as well, there are timing marks on the camshaft and crankshaft. If your gonna buy/maintain older cars at least buy a Chiltons/Hayne's manual, only about $10 and well worth it..
 
Gibson486 said:
do not even put new fluid in. If the tranny has never been serviced, it's relying on that build up on it to get the appropriate friction. Putting new fluid can take that build away.
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That is the #1 most quoted horseshit. Friction modifiers in the trans fluid are responsible for that, not floating metal shavings and burned old fluid.

Even on cars with "lifetime" fluid, you're better of changing it. Audi claims that lifetime nonsense, where as ZF (manufacturer of the transmissions) says replace every 100K

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=520438

If you're worried, use one of those high mile ATFs, I believe the fluid has less friction modifiers and won't let worn clutch packs slip.
 
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halik said:
That is the #1 most quoted horseshit. Friction modifiers in the trans fluid are responsible for that, not floating metal shavings and burned old fluid.

Even on cars with "lifetime" fluid, you're better of changing it. Audi claims that lifetime nonsense, where as ZF (manufacturer of the transmissions) says replace every 100K

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=520438

If you're worried, use one of those high mile ATFs, I believe the fluid has less friction modifiers and won't let worn clutch packs slip.
Click to expand...

I guess it's all about experiences. I drained the fluid through my transmission cooler and replaced it with new fluid (3 qts at a time). Now my tranny is all messed up 🙁 It makes this weird sound like a metal bearing is rubbing against another metal bearing. Sad thing is, the car only has 68K on it 🙁
 
Gibson486 said:
I guess it's all about experiences. I drained the fluid through my transmission cooler and replaced it with new fluid (3 qts at a time). Now my tranny is all messed up 🙁 It makes this weird sound like a metal bearing is rubbing against another metal bearing. Sad thing is, the car only has 68K on it 🙁
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Did you do it the proper way? Car warm, running thru all the gear to get the fluid into the channels and top it off to the proper level.
 
halik said:
Did you do it the proper way? Car warm, running thru all the gear to get the fluid into the channels and top it off to the proper level.
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yup. It's one of those manu-matics though....so you cant go past 2nd gear when the car is stood still.
 
Any bets on what happened to SunnyD?

-Didn't buy it
-Still stranded on side of road after trying to drive home
-Picked up by psychopath while trying to hitchhike after getting stranded on side of road after trying to drive home
-Locked in Camry owner's sex dungeon
 
PottedMeat said:
Any bets on what happened to SunnyD?

-Didn't buy it
-Still stranded on side of road after trying to drive home
-Picked up by psychopath while trying to hitchhike after getting stranded on side of road after trying to drive home
-Locked in Camry owner's sex dungeon
Click to expand...

Oh, I thought I had posted - I won't be picking it up till next paycheck. I'm tapped right now (rent week among other things) and need cash to get tags and insurance on it. I'll probably go take a look later this week though.
 
SunnyD said:
Oh, I thought I had posted - I won't be picking it up till next paycheck. I'm tapped right now (rent week among other things) and need cash to get tags and insurance on it. I'll probably go take a look later this week though.
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you can't pony up $100? maybe you should pick up a bus pass.
if the guy advertised it at all, it's probably already sold.
 
MaxFusion16 said:
you can't pony up $100? maybe you should pick up a bus pass.
if the guy advertised it at all, it's probably already sold.
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It isn't advertised, it's a friend of my wife that mentioned in passing.

And while I can pony up $100, I'd prefer not to at this very moment with a lot going on plus a recent string of nickle&dime expenses that have caught up this last week. The car isn't going anywhere, so I'm taking my time.
 
Heh, my wife informed me yesterday that she was told the car is now "Free to a good home". Red flags just shot up that there's probably more issues to worry about, but hell... it's $100 more I have to fix it up with.
 
jesus christ people, it's a FREE car, just go take it and say thank you.
can't believe you guys are bitching about something that's FREE.
take it straight to a scrap yard if you don't want it and make $200.
 
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