Hiro

Sorry to be such a noob, but where is the timing cover in this model camry? The timing cover is the plastic cover that goes over the cam gears and timing belt, it's on the end of the head and block at the opposite end of the engine to the gearbox......so, if my memory of the 5SFE serves me correctly, it should be on the left hand side (if you're standing in front of the car and looking under the bonnet) of the engine.

Could be any number of flogged-out bushes in the front suspension too. Don't be so quick to assume it's the shocks. Easiest way to test for stuffed shocks is to press down on each corner of the car one at a time and let go and see how it rebounds. If the car settles within one bounce, then the shocks are fine. If it bobbles up and down a few times (as if there was no shocks, just springs), then the shocks are stuffed.

If the belt has been changed by a dealer or decent mechanic they usually put a sticker on the timing cover saying when the belt was changed (date and kms) and when the next belt change is due. Normally they get changed every 100,000km or so, so unless you're around a x00,000 mark (ie 100, 200, 300 etc) the timing belt won't be an issue. It is a big job though, fair bit of labour and often best to change water pump and crank seals at the same time too.

3s-GE engine is ok but if you got the extra coin dump an SR-20 in the chassi can handle it and it's a lot better engine :D prob can't say that though as it isn't a toyota engine oh well!!! First time I've ever seen an SR20 mentioned as an engine for a ST162. And saying it's a lot better engine is a load of crap, the 3SGE is extremely capable and well supported by aftermarket component manufacturers. Sure, the first-gen engine found in the 162 ain't flash, but neither is an old SR20DE. Both became a lot better with age, although logic should dictate that you stick with the 3S as everything just bolts in. SR20 conversion is pointless as it raises sooo many issues to be dealt with (completely custom mounts, wiring, intake, exhaust, gearbox etc) for no real gain over a proper 3SGE.

First ones definitely, in my opinion all wheels should have some kind of lip on them. Flat-faced wheels with no lip look like hubcaps half the time, or like they stick out past the tyre if you're running a low sidewall profile. Also, imagine what happens to the Diablos the first time you scrape the gutter.....

Distance to empty can be misleading, generally most cars will fuel-starve (ie DIE) when going around corners/roundabouts/up hills with up to 5L left in the tank - does distance to empty take this into account? And how do you know that the car came with a FULL tank of petrol? The gauge said so? Remember that needle fuel gauges are horribly inaccurate, and often inconsistent. I've dreamt of an invention that measures the consumption of petrol by comparing flow rate into and out of the fuel rail, and doing a bit of magic to then calculate fuel consumption and distance/litres to empty. Should be fairly simple if you know the signals from the ECU and a bit of electronics, but I can't be ****d making it :P

there's also drain plugs on the radiator and engine block for exactly that. no need to remove hoses. however, just using plain tap water is one thing that can contribute to corrosion in your engine. If you have crappy tap water (ie really hard or really soft, both affect performance either through corrosion or calcification), maybe. If you leave coolant in the engine long enough without flushing it so that tap water becomes a corrosion factor though, you're an idiot. Flush your coolant every fourth oil change or so (20-40,000km), it's not that expensive ($20 for coolant, tap water is essentially free) and it'll be fine. Coolants these days has corrosion inhibitors in it anyway. And half the time the drain plugs on the engine block are either really hard to get to, or pour onto something vital, or both in the case of a 4AGE. Up next to the oil filter, which means UNDER the distributor, UNDER the exhaust manifold, and directly ABOVE the air-con compressor. So you rip your hand open just trying to reach the bloody thing, and then when you finally get it open it dumps 5L of lovely coolant straight onto the air-con compressor, which in my books isn't a good thing. 4A/7AFEs are only slightly better, they have more room since the distributor is at the end of the head, but the air-con compressor is still in the same spot.....

If there's no chassis damage, possibly just buy an old clunker/rust-bucket with the right parts and swap them over? Should be able to get an RA65 that's been rear-ended or something relatively cheap

Flushing the cooling system yourself is no hard task, all you need is a hose. Just stick it in the top radiator hose, disconnect the bottom radiator hose (depending on the system and it's location you might need to remove the thermostat too, so you get full circulation), open the heater tap as well, and just flush until the water coming out turns clear. When you do this, always use concentrated coolant to fill it back up, so you can account for the water still in the block and heater core. Pre-mix coolant is really only useful for topping up.

Looking at that, the council rangers still have limited powers. They can only bust you under SECTION 14, 15, 17 & 17A according to "Summary of offences " :) I hope they dont bring this into work! Keep me posted mate! Note that it's only "offensive" noise that the Council can enforce, not loud. So if your car has a fart-cannon, or one of those stupid Dukes Of Hazzard horns (I hear those 2-3 times a day as the Munch Xpress van comes around work)

Not sure what you mean? Are some Corollas imported? Is the 2000 TOYOTA COROLLA ASCENT imported? Apologies for this dumb question. I meant what country are you in, as your Location field in your profile is empty. Corolla models vary all around the world, so what we say about a locally sold AE112 could be completely irrelevant for one sold in Romania, for instance. Since we now know that you're in Australia, it simplifies things. As a guide, all Corollas up until the AE112 (ie KE10-AE102) were made in Australia. From the AE112 to the ZRE152 (current model), they are imported, either from Japan or South Africa, depending on the model.

Then he would have said Sportivo, not Levin.

Might help if you said something more specifc than "late 90s" AE102? AE112? ZZE112? ZZE122? Depends on the country too

Unlikely the two events are connected. Most likely they were writing down details of a illegally parked car, and just looked up at your car to see what was going on.

Yep, single piece of pipe with a single bend in it where the pipe hits the guard. There's a hole in the guard there where the stock resonator sits, basically you remove everything upstream of the airbox (airbox inclusive) and replace it with that single pipe and a pod. To make sure the pod gets airflow, you can take out one of the bolts holding the splashguard in, that way it acts as a kinda scoop underneath the front bumper.

If you want to do it properly, do it like this, with the pod in the guard: And before anyone says anything, yes the battery is still held down by cable-ties :P However, I see you have an auto. In which case, don't bother. The autos are such slugs that they'll still be slow no matter what you do to them

If it's not connected it's not the end of the world, but for the long-term performance of the engine and the consumption of petrol, it should be connected properly. My 4AGE AE82 doesn't actually HAVE an air temp sensor (got a red/blacktop engine but bluetop airbox, so both factory locations are gone), and it still runs fine.

If it's a MAP car then the sensor in the airbox will most likely be the intake air temperature sensor. Not essential to have it plugged into the intake, but if you don't it'll read hot engine bay air as opposed to cool intake air (because you're going to do it properly and run a CAI setup with the pod isolated from the engine bay, aren't you). Just drill a hole the right size in the new intake piping and plug the sensor + bung in there.

And same stud pattern as Cressidas, Crowns etc have had for the last 15-20 years. Toyota don't much around much with their stud patterns these days, I've seen BA XR6 wheels fit perfectly on a Crown Custom wagon

The fact he said "beautiful" told me straight away he was referring to the AE111, not the 112 :P

I've seen Hiaces going around with Territory steel wheels, which would tend to confirm the 5x114.3 PCD, which is incidentally shared with basically every 5-stud Toyota now.

Ummm... dunno where you got that idea from, but that's not how it works. Security codes are optional in Fujitsu Ten headunits, i.e. when a dealership delivers a new Toyota, they should advise the customer that they have the option of setting their own unique security code. If the code is forgotten, then it must be decoded by a Toyota service workshop or Fujitsu/Eclipse repairer. Maybe some dealers put a code in as standard to add that extra bit of security, which the user can customise later down the track if they want. Kinda like a default password or PIN for a bank account or the like. Not everyone changes the code later-on, which is why it can be worthwhile trying the VIN trick - doesn't work every time, but no harm in trying (as long as you don't try too many times and lock the unit)

There are several symptoms of a BHG, and not all of them have to present. Oil leaks, coolant leaks, oil consumption, coolant consumption, oil in the coolant, coolant in the water, loss of compression, etc etc. Most can be independent of each other, although it is common for several to present at once.

22RE from an RT142 Corona is an easy replacement, as you can switch everything over from the 142.....does require EFI conversion though obviously. If you want to splurge a bit more, go a 1GGTE from a Soarer or Supra, fairly easy to find and has been done a thousand times before. 3TGTEs are getting rare and old, with parts (like distributor cap) that cost a motza to replace. Personally I'd avoid them.

I'm now a draftsman/design engineer working on LHDs (Load Haul Dump) vehicles for coal mines.