2000 Toyota Camry Camry 2000, manual, 161K, MPG drops drama

NAVI4U

MEMBER
2000 TOYOTA CAMRY
4 CYL
2WD
MANUAL
161,000 MILES

I have a Camry 2000, 4 cyl, and 161000 miles on it. This car is having history of problems in last six months. First engine was choking; I replaced the spark plugs with the NGK form Auto Zone. That worked. Two months later I had oil change and I found car is splashing engine oil inside the compartment. I tried couple of mechanics and got the quote for 750-1000 to repair the problem which includes timing belt, water pump, and some seals. That is first time I lost the MPG drastically. Then I found an auto repair who said that the only problem is with the oil ring and he fixed the problem for 70 bucks. After that my MPG is improved a little but not much. I asked him check for the MPG drop. He checked the air filter, spark plugs, and hoses. He could not find anything wrong. Do you have any idea what could be wrong? I have been reading a lot about distributor cap replacement. But I am not sure if Camry 2000 needs one. Because I am unable to find the part in the market.

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009 AT 9:19 AM

4 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Hi navi4u,

Thank you for the donation.

Your vehicle is not equipped with a distrubutor so there is no rotor.

Did you test the clutch for slipping?
Was anything done prior to this happening?
Vehicle was checked so that means the Check Engine Lamp did not show while driving?
Was the ignition timing checked, non-ajustable but if out of spec might mean a timing belt problem.
Any significant power losses of the engine performance?
Has the timing belt been replaced?

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Wednesday, February 4th, 2009 AT 3:49 PM

NAVI4U

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Did you test the clutch for slipping? -
I tried to test the clutch. In second gear, the rev went up when I released the clutch quickly and it took little time get to normal spped. So it seems like clutch is slipping.
Was anything done prior to this happening?
- None
Vehicle was checked so that means the Check Engine Lamp did not show while driving?
- No check engine light
Was the ignition timing checked, non-ajustable but if out of spec might mean a timing belt problem.
- Never checked
Any significant power losses of the engine performance?
- Not significant but little.
Has the timing belt been replaced?
- But I never got it replaced in last 60K.

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Thursday, February 5th, 2009 AT 8:18 PM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Hi,

We can rule out most of the others based on your reply.

If the clutch is slipping, it would increase the fuel consumption. Using 2nd gear would not be very accurate and I would suggest using 4th speed for clutch slip test at about 30 mph. Do another test to confirm if the clutchis slipping.

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Friday, February 6th, 2009 AT 8:15 AM

NAVI4U