1999 Camry V6 Wagon

[Ozzcaddy]

I took possession of this 1999 Camry V6 Auto Wagon, and I'm sure I will find some things that will need attention that I did not pick up during the test drive and inspection. I have 2 questions to ask at the moment and if someone might be able to answer.

1. When the interior light switch is in the 'Door' position, when any door is opened the light comes on as it should. However, when the door is closed, the light remains on, not go out. At first I thought it might be a delay, but it remains on. Could the problem be a fuse, relay, actual light switch or any one of the door switches?

2. As it is a wagon and has one wiper on the back window, I was trying to find the washer bottle for it. I checked the manual and the only thing mentioned is the washer bottle in the engine bay. Does this washer bottle supply water to both the windscreen and back window?

[Buff Hamster]

2. The water for both front and back windows are from the same bottle. So the 1 in the engine bay is for both front and back.

[eviltwin]

1 - will be one of the door triggers situated in the door jam faulty

2 - as Hamster says the engine bay reservior is for both front and rear washers and will act off a relay that controls which water lines the fluid goes through in accordance to the button your pushing weather it be front or rear wiper washer

[Ozzcaddy]

Thanks for the information, much appreciated.

[eviltwin]

More than welcome

[Ozzcaddy]

I thought it would be easy to keep any future questions under the same topic as they will relate to the same Camry.

Checking the coolant, with the sunlight shining behind, I can see the colour of the coolant is a red colour when looking through the side tube of the coolant bottle. When I look in the coolant bottle or with the radiator cap off, the colour looks very dark, but not a red colour. Is this normal?

I'm guessing this is the Toyota brand coolant.

Also, can you tell the difference between the red "concentrated coolant" and the "pre-mix 50/50 coolant"? They say these 2 different types of coolant should not be mixed together.

Edited August 8, 2010 by Ozzcaddy

[Buff Hamster]

I thought it would be easy to keep any future questions under the same topic as they will relate to the same Camry.

Checking the coolant, with the sunlight shining behind, I can see the colour of the coolant is a red colour when looking through the side tube of the coolant bottle. When I look in the coolant bottle or with the radiator cap off, the colour looks very dark, but not a red colour. Is this normal?

I'm guessing this is the Toyota brand coolant.

Also, can you tell the difference between the red "concentrated coolant" and the "pre-mix 50/50 coolant"? They say these 2 different types of coolant should not be mixed together.

There's 2 types of coolant but to keep it simple and not go into scientific detail let's call it RED and GREEN. The colours of the actual coolants. Green is the coolant designed for old cars and red is designed for new cars. NEVER mix red and green together.

"concentrated collant" as it says is concentrated coolant that needs to be diluted with distilled water. Do no use tap water. 50% concentration is the recommended amount to dilute. "Pre-mixed" is already diluted for you so the job is easier to do but concentrations maybe differ. Just pour and off you go. You can tell how concentrated the coolant is by looking at it. The darker the coolant the more concentrated it is.

You can either buy the Toyota long life coolant or buy any red long life coolant. I plan to use Nulon Red long life concentrated coolant when i need to change my coolant. The Toyota and Nulon will do the same job but it's much cheaper with Nulon coolant when you work it out.

As for the question of seeing it darker and lighter at different spots, 2 things are possible.

1. You are looking through more coolant at some areas which give the darker colour because of depth or

2. Time to change the coolant. When was the last time you changed the coolant? Km and time wise.

[Ozzcaddy]

I thought it would be easy to keep any future questions under the same topic as they will relate to the same Camry.

Checking the coolant, with the sunlight shining behind, I can see the colour of the coolant is a red colour when looking through the side tube of the coolant bottle. When I look in the coolant bottle or with the radiator cap off, the colour looks very dark, but not a red colour. Is this normal?

I'm guessing this is the Toyota brand coolant.

Also, can you tell the difference between the red "concentrated coolant" and the "pre-mix 50/50 coolant"? They say these 2 different types of coolant should not be mixed together.

There's 2 types of coolant but to keep it simple and not go into scientific detail let's call it RED and GREEN. The colours of the actual coolants. Green is the coolant designed for old cars and red is designed for new cars. NEVER mix red and green together.

"concentrated collant" as it says is concentrated coolant that needs to be diluted with distilled water. Do no use tap water. 50% concentration is the recommended amount to dilute. "Pre-mixed" is already diluted for you so the job is easier to do but concentrations maybe differ. Just pour and off you go. You can tell how concentrated the coolant is by looking at it. The darker the coolant the more concentrated it is.

You can either buy the Toyota long life coolant or buy any red long life coolant. I plan to use Nulon Red long life concentrated coolant when i need to change my coolant. The Toyota and Nulon will do the same job but it's much cheaper with Nulon coolant when you work it out.

As for the question of seeing it darker and lighter at different spots, 2 things are possible.

1. You are looking through more coolant at some areas which give the darker colour because of depth or

2. Time to change the coolant. When was the last time you changed the coolant? Km and time wise.

(2) As I only just bought the car last week and it did not have service log book only the car manual, I can't tell when it may have been changed. It has done 110,000 K's, so I don't know when it should have been changed previously, or what service is done at 100,000. I used the Nulon Green Longlife in my previous car.

[Ozzcaddy]

1 - will be one of the door triggers situated in the door jam faulty

2 - as Hamster says the engine bay reservior is for both front and rear washers and will act off a relay that controls which water lines the fluid goes through in accordance to the button your pushing weather it be front or rear wiper washer

I replaced the door trigger and nothing changed, interior light remained on after doors were all closed.

Today the remote control began not working, so I called in to City Toyota at Alexandria to enquire about a new remote. After speaking to Spare Parts person, sitting at a desk the size of a coffee table, told me the remote would be $45, then I had to see the service reception to find out the cost of programimg the remote. That would be $79.50 and would take 90 minutes. So $124.50 to replace the remote control.

After leaving Toyota like a stun mullet, I went to my auto electrician to ask them about the remote. $53.35 all up which included programing the remote which took less then 30 seconds. Anyway, I asked them about the door swtich and interior light staying on. He was confused as the door warning light on the dash goes out when the door is closed, but not the interior light. It might take 5 minutes to find the fault or a couple of hours. It's not important to be done straight away. But I learnt a lessen today, to stay away from Toyota.

[STYLSH]

The Gen4 uses red coolant from factory.

The door light: Try taking the light out and putting it back in. If the light bulb shorts to the top of the panel, then it will stay on. The door on position is the middle btw, just in case :P

[addy287]

It tells you how to programme the remote in the user manual. From memory you have to turn the key from OFF to ON three times within 10seconds then the security light on the speedo should stay on then simply press the button of the new remote and hey presto.

I have no idea why toyota would charge you that much money for something like that, i would be speaking to the manager about the issue, but its up to you.

[Ozzcaddy]

The Gen4 uses red coolant from factory.

The door light: Try taking the light out and putting it back in. If the light bulb shorts to the top of the panel, then it will stay on. The door on position is the middle btw, just in case :P

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try R&R the light bulb.

My interior light switch goes in order of (ON - OFF - DOOR).

[Ozzcaddy]

It tells you how to programme the remote in the user manual. From memory you have to turn the key from OFF to ON three times within 10seconds then the security light on the speedo should stay on then simply press the button of the new remote and hey presto.

I have no idea why toyota would charge you that much money for something like that, i would be speaking to the manager about the issue, but its up to you.

I know the user manual had that information, as I mucked around with the beep on/off of the door locking system. I was there at the Auto Electrician, so may as well have them do it.

I won't be going back to Toyota, well at least that Dealer. From the short time I was there, it was like walking into a hotel lounge, with lounge chairs and sofa, coffee making facilities and a few extra stuff that I can't remember off hand. Someone has to pay for it, and it's the customer.

[rad000]

a while back on my 1998 vienta the interior light would come on during some cornering and it confused me for ages, then one night my alarm went off during the middle of the night as the car thought a door was open. i figured the door wasn't making proper contact with the switch, so i bought some of those sticky furniture rubber stoppers to stop chair legs etc scraping the floor. I stuck one on the door where it makes contact with the switch, and about 2 years later it's never happened again and the same stopper is still stuck there and hasn't fallen off yet! no idea if this is your problem but it might help you or someone else haha.

[Ozzcaddy]

I think from the exercise of the interior light staying on after the doors are closed, it pays to read the Owners Manual, which I have basically only done tonight. I have copied the wording that relates to my problem from the Owners Manual:

When any door is opened or the security alarm system is disarmed using the remote control or the door key lock switches, the interior light will turn on. The light will remain on until all the doors are closed at which time it will maintain maximum brightness for 10 seconds and gradually extinguish over a further 5 seconds. If the ignition key is turned to "ON" during this time, the light will extinguish immediately.

The interior light will illuminate after turning the ignition "OFF" and removing the ignition key.

The interior light will turn off automatcially if it remains on for more than 30 minutes and the interior light switch is in the "DOOR" position.

I shall try all of the above tomorrow.

[Ozzcaddy]

I think from the exercise of the interior light staying on after the doors are closed, it pays to read the Owners Manual, which I have basically only done tonight. I have copied the wording that relates to my problem from the Owners Manual:

When any door is opened or the security alarm system is disarmed using the remote control or the door key lock switches, the interior light will turn on. The light will remain on until all the doors are closed at which time it will maintain maximum brightness for 10 seconds and gradually extinguish over a further 5 seconds. If the ignition key is turned to "ON" during this time, the light will extinguish immediately.

The interior light will illuminate after turning the ignition "OFF" and removing the ignition key.

The interior light will turn off automatcially if it remains on for more than 30 minutes and the interior light switch is in the "DOOR" position.

I shall try all of the above tomorrow.

Whallah!! It does everything the Owner Manual says above. I shall sit down and do more reading of the Manual before posting any questions.

Thanks for everyones help.