cosmichobo

Tangent - Are there any additives (radiator or engine) that will (potentially) seal the gasket (for some time), that WONT also destroy the engine/cooling system in the process???

Thanks Mr Nice Guy :) My father-in-law's latest advice, just buy a reconditioned head, and toss the old one. Which certainly avoids the question of whether the existing head is warped/cracked/etc... I have an... online version of the Factory Service Manual, so last time I just put my iPad in a plastic snaplock bag, and used that as my guide. Worked pretty well.

G'day, So my 2000 2.2L Camry's got a leaky head gasket, according to my mechanic, after 313,000km and overheating due to a dead water pump last month. Trade in/private sale price around $300 - $500... Both my father-in-law and brother-in-law are telling me I should just replace the gasket myself... and/or do a complete engine swap. Now, I'm not totally useless mechanically, having performed what I would ultimately call "simple" repairs on my old Nissan 280zx - replace radiator/hoses/thermostat, power steering pump, alternator, wiper motor re-wire, handbrake cable... But this isn't a simple job...! If my mechanic wanted 2-3 days, then I picture it taking me at least a week's work! We have however bought a new car (2002 Holden Zafira), so I will have the potential to take a few weeks to get the job done... and my f-i-l has offered to loan me his torque wrench etc etc etc... So lay it out for me... What costs am I up for? (head gasket replacement) Just how hard is it? What's the likelihood of breaking a bolt, and needing to drill it out? Thanks everyone, cosmic

G'day, Does the interior dome light work? I ask, because my interior dome light stopped working a while ago... then at a later date, the key fob stopped as well. Repaired the dome light - fob started working! Cheers, cosmic

:( Yeah... If the gasket was ok, the car would have plenty of life left in it... Is why I'm hoping it's still got some potential to the right person...

G'day, I have a 2000 Toyota Camry Conquest 4 cylinder auto air sedan with 313,000km that I'm thinking of selling... Problem is, after recently getting an overheating issue resolved (new radiator, thermostat, water pump), I've now been told there's a minor head gasket leak, with an estimate of $1000 - $2000 to repair (depending if it's just the gasket, or if it needs a new head/etc). I know for the mechanically minded that it's about $100 parts plus a weekend or two of work with a "mate" (assuming it is only the gasket that needs replacing; no other issues with the head), but it's just not something I can do at this point in time. My hope is that the car is potentially still worth something, as working they sell for around $3,000 to $4,000... but the car dealers I spoke to today only offered $300 - $500 (rego + scrap value, even when I didn't mention the gasket issue). Other than the head gasket, the car is in "fair" condition. Interior is pretty good, with just the driver side door trim fabrics needing to be re-glued, will need 2 new tyres soon, shocks are getting worn... But really that's about all. What value would you put on this car - to the right person? Thanks, cosmic

Wow, that's certainly intriguing! Of course, as the dome light dims when the doors are shut, but goes straight off when the key is pressed, it makes sense that it is tied up in the circuitry somehow. Odd then I guess that the light stopped working some time ago, but key fob only recently... I wonder if the fob still works when it is in certain positions (ie off/door/on), but not others... (or just tainted by the gunk on the terminals that were stopping the light from working)

G'day, My 2000 Camry's 1button remote key hasn't been working AT ALL for at least 2-3 months. In the past week, the car has had: Oil & filter change New brake lights New radiator New water pump ...was connected to the diagnostic reader thingy by KMart Auto. ...and - I fixed the interior dome light - hasn't worked for a year+ - just needed the terminals cleaned up. SUDDENLY the key fob works again! What's with that? cheers, cosmic

$670 New radiator (cracked) New thermostat (just cos) New water pump Fluid, clamps, etc 3.5 hrs Labour "My" mechanic looked at the car yesterday and found the crack on the radiator, replaced it, but then found that the water just wasn't moving. I had to take the car back to get home from work, so was going to take it back to them this morning, except after just 5 minutes the temp was into the red, so I rang the mechanic... He came and picked the car up, drove it back, coasting most of the way to avoid overheating. He showed me the pump's impeller - was totally flattened... No wonder it wasn't moving anything! Hopefully at least that is solved... Will take the car back soon for him to give it a proper going-over RE the other points raised by Kmart... But they seemed to think Kmart were rogues too..

Ok - so, did they change the design of spark plug leads JUST to make it that bit harder for back yard mechanics??? Tried pulling the lead off the plug, couldn't get it, didn't want to wreck it, left it alone, no compression test... And I found my compression tester, too! Very frustrated.

G'day thommo, Nah - it's in Waurn Ponds, Geelong. Just opened last week. I said the car was due for a service - so agreed to a minimal service - but mostly needed the cooling system looked at cos of the overheating. So they do the oil and filter (oil does look fresh, and I'd marked the old filter, so think that was replaced too), then tell me - don't have the right gear to test the head gasket... Just reading up myself... I have a compression tester - hadn't thought about that! I'll check the cylinders tomorrow, see what they read... There's certainly no sign of oil in the coolant... I don't know what the oil looked like before the change, but now it's new oil - it looks clear, and we've run the car (to overheating) twice... Maybe it's just the thermostat...

Just back from about a 1/2 hr test drive... and again, for the first 20 minutes, everything was A-ok - the temp wasn't going even to the half way - just under. Then after about 20 min, temp started to creep, then suddenly was up to just touching the bottom of the red zone. Had to rev at 2,000rpm or more to bring the temperature down. Ended up putting the car in "2", so that the revs were forced up to around 3,000rpm (at 60kph), and temp then returned to half way. Given up hope that this was either just "old" coolant, or air pockets... (though I guess there could still be some air in the system, I don't see how it'd be causing these symptoms...)

Today I got the window-brake light working (was just loose), drove 5min to AutoBarn, picked up new bulbs, coolant, and distilled water. Drove home, fixed the blown brake lights, licence plate light, park light. Put car on ramps, drained radiator. Tried to get the drain plug (bolt) on the block, but couldn't move it. Refilled with the distilled water. Ran engine. Let it cool. Emptied, and refilled with distilled. Ran again, cooled, emptied - now pretty much clear fluid coming out. Then put in 3L of 100% concentrate green stuff. Logic being that the system takes 6.2 or 6.9L, so adding 3L to the radiator of 100%, once it mixes with the 3+ litres still in the system, will give me roughly 50% mixture. Ran engine. Let cool. Added 1L distilled water. Ran again. Let cool. Added about another 1L of distilled. System now seems "full", and after sitting in the car for about 15min, no sign of overheating... Going for a test drive after dinner... But also booked the car in to a mechanic who serviced the car last year, so he can check it over, and also check the other list of things the Kmart guy says needs doing...

G'day, LONG STORY SHORT: 2000 4cyl Camry is overheating at idle - and heater also stops blowing warm air at idle. Having to top up radiator regularly, though no sign of a leak - suspect it's simply because it is boiling off. That said - suspect there's not much coolant left, due to amount of water top-ups... and possibly has some air in the system, as I was able to "bleed" some out with front end jacked up/cap off/engine running. Would a flush and fresh coolant potentially solve this problem, or would you suspect something "bigger", such as the thermostat, water pump (replaced in 2011), or head gasket? FULL STORY: Over the past 2-3 years my 2000 4 cylinder Camry Conquest has, on maybe 4 occasions, suddenly started to overheat when idling. On each occasion, it has needed a top-up of about 1 litre - typically just water we've had on hand, as we've been out-and-about. Last week it did it again, except this time it has continued to overheat, despite getting the top-up. Once warmed up, the engine temp will rise to a bit under the red zone when idling, at which point the water in the radiator starts to boil. Rev the engine to 1,000rpm or more, and the temp falls back to normal. After doing some googling, I tried bleeding the system, as it came up as a possible cause, but ultimately it hasn't solved the problem. I took the car to a brand new Kmart Tyre & Auto, asking them to give it a basic service and find out what's wrong with the cooling system, only to have them change the oil/oil filter for $155, and give me a list of other problems they found. They didn't do anything about the radiator, other than to suggest it could be a stuck thermostat, could be the water pump (less likely due to its age), or could be a blown head gasket (though they didn't mention if the oil was cloudy, which surely they should have been looking at when they changed it, given the over heating issue?!). He also mentioned that the reservoir bottle was brittle (also replaced in 2011!), and that the heater hoses are "crunchy". So I'm now in the situation of having a car that's worth maybe $2,500, with up to $4,000 worth of repairs - if the Kmart mechanic wasn't just trying to drum up business (front and rear shocks, wiper heads, brake fluid, air filter, fuel filter, throttle body dirty, transmission fluid, 4 new tyres and alignment, rear bushes, rear tail arm bushes, engine oil leaks front and back, power steering boots split, ball joint dust covers, and all brake lights out). Help?! Going a bit crazy here... My plan at this point is to flush the radiator tomorrow, and put some new coolant in... but am wanting to know the best way to bleed the air out/avoid air getting in. The service manual just says "bleed the system" - doesn't say HOW... Also planning on checking out what I can of the list of problems they have given me, to see if I can identify anything that's not actually true... Have had mechanics try to tell me that work needs to be done before, when there was nothing wrong... Thanks, cosmic PS Oh - re the brake lights... The car has also done this several times - suddenly it blows all the tail lights at once... I KNOW they were working on Tuesday this week, as I replaced the "strip" light (rear window) last weekend, and had my wife check it on Tuesday. Not sure why this happens...

Yes, the Camry bores me in comparison to my old car... It's relatively boxy, no real sweeping lines, standard door handles, conventional headlights... More than that, as noted, and opening up the colour to any, and you can easily count a few dozen 2000's Camry's on any given day when driving around any part of the country... Regarding driving a barge around corners at speed, yes, that could be fun... but driving a Zed with macpherson struts around a corner at normal speed feels fun...