99 Camry maintenance help

Kinja'd!!! "smobgirl" (smobgirl)
11/22/2015 at 21:26 • Filed to: None

Kinja'd!!!2 Kinja'd!!! 11

Ughhhhhh I hate kinja right now. Let’s try this post again (third time’s the charm, right? )

So, for Christmas, I’m going to help my mom with the shop-recommended maintenance items for her 99 Camry (V6). Most of it looks like simple stuff and I think we’ll be ok despite the fact that I haven’t touched a wrench since high school and always had my Dad’s supervision then. They’re divorced now and it’s not friendly so I don’t dare ask for help/advice there. But I have a few questions for Oppo, if you’ll humor me for a second.

First of all, the shop is recommending spark plugs. I’m figuring she can probably go quite a bit longer on what she has (though I’ll check her maintenance records) but she probably won’t want to pay the shop their estimated $280 when they’re getting more desperate, so we might as well take care of them. Unless Oppo says otherwise. She’s not likely to tackle them on her own if I’m not around, and I probably won’t be in town long enough to do car stuff for another year (or 8-10K miles of driving for her). So...spark plugs should stay on the list, right?

More expensive question. Her check engine light is on, code P1133. Appears to match to a bank 1 sensor 1 air/fuel sensor. She had bank 2 sensor 1 replaced about 20,000 miles ago. This looks like something easy to replace and I’ll just get the matching part from the one she had done, but is there anything else we ought to check or troubleshoot here? Looks like the sensor is half off on Amazon so we’re only out $90 if that doesn’t clear the code. Also, she doesn’t need the light off to pass inspection - she’s not too concerned about this but since it looks simple I added it to the list.

Thanks for your help! I can't add any pretty pics (or Camry pics) without the post self-destructing but feel free to imagine your favorite car as an illustration.


DISCUSSION (11)


Kinja'd!!! Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > smobgirl
11/22/2015 at 21:36

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Transverse V6’s are the devil, Bobby Boucher!

Kinja'd!!!

But plugs should be easy enough, just might require you to have an arm with more degrees of freedom than natural.


Kinja'd!!! Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > smobgirl
11/22/2015 at 22:07

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Spark plugs on a transverse v6? *hisses* It burns!


Kinja'd!!! smobgirl > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
11/22/2015 at 22:10

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Hah. Yeah, my spark plug experience is all late 70s/early 80s Cadillacs. I’m still not entirely sure she’s sold on doing them now but we’ll see. Right now she’s playing the, “oh, you don’t need to do any of it, I’ll take care of it later” card, but she can't really afford to pay someone else to do it either.


Kinja'd!!! smobgirl > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
11/22/2015 at 22:18

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Yeah, we’ll see. This mechanic has a history of recommending things at much more frequent intervals than really necessary so I'm going to check her records.


Kinja'd!!! Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > smobgirl
11/22/2015 at 22:25

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Sounds like you need a new mechanic.


Kinja'd!!! EL_ULY > smobgirl
11/22/2015 at 22:26

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Firing screws (plugs) price seems right. As for the B1S1 O2 sensor which is right up front, pending you have the right tools, can be done rather easily.


Kinja'd!!! smobgirl > EL_ULY
11/22/2015 at 22:32

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Yeah that looks simple. Glad she found the paperwork for the last one though. She mis-remembers things, and figuring out that she had a CA-spec car and what sensor had already been replaced was like pulling teeth.


Kinja'd!!! smobgirl > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
11/22/2015 at 22:37

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i guess he’s pretty fair about state inspections, and they have a bit of leeway there (VA). You win some, you lose some.


Kinja'd!!! XJDano > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
11/22/2015 at 22:50

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But plugs...


Kinja'd!!! Becks118 > XJDano
11/23/2015 at 07:50

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I read that the same way.


Kinja'd!!! d15b > smobgirl
11/23/2015 at 11:47

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That is nice that you’re helping out your mum. /karmapoints