FSM for 1996 Camry (and opinions in general)?

[Miescha]

If anyone has an electronic copy of the FSM for a '96 Toyota Camry, I'd love to get a copy. I'm planning on ordering the hard copy Monday, but I know it will take a while and I'd like to start looking at a few things as quickly as possible.

Background: My friend and nieghbor is selling his daughter's '96 Camry with ~85k miles. I drove the thing today and it seems to run great. The only things they know of and I could spot (other than the dirty engine are:

1. Radio antenna not working correctly (goes up a little bit when radio is turned on, but never all the way up and will not go down).
2. Has leak somewhere in AC system - I kow that I charged it for him the last two summers and it lasted all summer, but needed charging again the following summer. I guess I could try one of the newer charging kits that have some type of leak-stop additive.
3. 'D' light is out on the guage cluster (looks like the same cluster as in my '96 FZJ80 - so probably same fix). Also, indicator on the center shifter is out - not sure how to fix that one, but not a big deal either.

I think he'll give it to me for my daughter to drive this summer for somewhere between $2-3k and it will be a lot cheaper on gas than letting her take my cruiser from St. Louis to northern Minnesota for the summer.

Really, most of the interior looks just like my cruiser (and is in better shape given the cloth seats look brand new and it has little wear since it sits in the driveway while there daughter is away at college the past four years). It has the 4 cylinder engine which I feel is a plus from a gas-usage standpoint. My nieghbor is nowhere as anal as I am (or any cruiser-head) when it comes to maintenance, but they take it to the dealer for everything and pretty much do whatever the dealer says needs to be done.

Given the price and low mileage, I figure I can't go wrong - especially since I know everything that the car has needed in the past several years as I've fixed anything that I could and I've been asked first about fixing the things that were over my head (which was only the AC leak - which I fixed by charging the system, but I couldn't find or fix the actual leak).

My daughter leaves on the 9th to head north and I figure I can buy the thing next week and baseline all the fluids and charge the AC before she goes. Depending on what CDAN has in stock, I can probably also fix the 'D' light and the antenna. Tires are fine with about 60-70% tread and belts and hoses look good enough to last the summer also. I'll check rotors and pads once I get it on the lift, but I'm guessing they are not in need of immediate replacement.

Anyway, I'd love it if someone has the FSM for this vehicle (I considered downloading it when I had the $10 24-hour membership through NaterGator given how many questions they've asked me in the recent years, but I didn't for some reason).

Any opinions (regarding the vehicle) are appreciated.

 

[woody]

my dad had a 1994 Camry....sold it last year with 175k on it, still drove excellent....he also had a 1985 Camry before that, and loved it...

now has a new Avalon..

IMO, great car

 

[WarDamnEagle]

I just bought a couple of Toyota FSM's off ebay relatively cheap. You might check there first.

 

[cruiser88]

I just bought a couple of Toyota FSM's off ebay relatively cheap. You might check there first.

x2

And I have a 94 and it is GREAT with 192 k on it

 

[Wile E Coyote]

I've never looked for anything other than FJ60 manuals here, but give er a whirl:
Master Portal - forums.bauchan.org/Downloads

 

[KLF]

Those cars are incredibly reliable, second only to the Corolla, but a much nicer ride. Sounds like a heck of a deal to me!

 

[informationjunky]

my mother has a 95 wagon with 300k+ miles. Only issue I know that she has had has been the door handle breaking.

 

[Miescha]

Well, I never did find an FSM and my daughter just pulled out of the driveway this morning for the trip to Northern Minnesota. I did buy the cheapo Haynes manual at Autozone just for reference, but it really wasn't too helpful beyond the basics and what was available here on mud (the '96 Camry is VERY similiar in many aspects to my cruiser regarding the use of basic parts).

In the end, I paid $2,500 for the Camry with 74,500 miles on it (my original post was wrong to my advantage). The tires on it only have 2,200 miles on them so they should last a while. The pads and rotors were done at the same time, so I'm also good there. And the battery was replaced at the same time. All were done at a local franchise ("Dobbs") so not OEM, but fine for these parts and this vehicle I guess (I took it to them this weekend before changing the license plate and they balanced and rotated the tires for free under the installation warranty ).

Over the weekend I did the following:

1. replaced 'D' light bulb in dash (and cleaned everything while in there).
2. replaced back-lighting bulb in center shift console (lights up the shifter console at night so you can see the gear indicator).
3. sucked old brake fluid out of resevoir and refilled with synthetic stuff (didn't have time to bleed the system as I would have liked - mostly b/c I couldn't just slide under as I can with the cruiser so I would need to lift it and I just didn't have the time - anyway, the brakes were done 2,200 miles ago and the things stops WAY better than my cruiser).
4. sucked out old power steering fluid from resevoir and replaced with synthetic stuff (couldn't find procedure for flushing, but I'm guessing same as with my cruiser so I'll hit that when the car returns later in the summer).
5. drained and refilled engine and transmission oil with synthetic.
6. new OEM air and oil filter.
7. new OEM pcv and grommet.
8. new OEM plugs, wires, rotor, and cap.
9. recharged A/C system with 32oz of R-134 (so cold now I have to turn it to low fan speed and about 3/4 on the cold side of the temp to keep from freezing once the interior is cooled down!).
10. flushed the radiator, block and heater core and refilled with prestone green stuff (dealer was closed on Sunday so no Toyota red) and distilled water. Also cleaned out overflow tank and filled with same mix.
11. replaced both accessory drive belts with new OEM belts.
12. removed the old broken antenna mast and replaced with new OEM mast and added fresh white lithium grease while I had the antenna motor out and apart.
13. finally, spent a TON of time detailing the car as it was pretty dirty from sitting for so long. This included removing the cowl over the fresh air intake and cleaning out the screens and the weather strip and then replacing (it was full of tree debris from sitting so much). The paint looks new except for the front/rear bumpers which look slightly lighter in color. I thought maybe they were repaired from an accident of some kind, but the carfax is clean and every other tan Camry I found online with this color combination had the same problem, so I'm thinking it must just be the result of the bumpers fading differently than the rest of the car (or they started out that way).

When the car comes back at the end of the summer, I'll probably replace the radiator even though it looked good inside b/c there was some 'gunk' that came out in the flush and several of the seams look questionable. The overflow bottle is also brittle and has a small hole in the top corner, so that will get replaced too.

I'll also do the timing belt as I don't have any record of it being done at 60k as Toyota recommends. While I'm there, I'll get the valve cover gasket, plug sleeves (equivalent), water pump, thermostat, idler bearing, oil pump seal, and whatever else I find while in there.

CDan tells me the parts for the timing belt "project" are right at $300. I spent $200 already on the stuff listed above and another $150 in fluid/freon/misc so that brings my $2,500 Camry to $3,150 and still a good deal.

If I replace the radiator I'm told it will be around $110 for aftermarket with lifetime warranty or $650 for OEM (yikes!). I can't imagine why the OEM would be worth that much more, so I'll probably just go with aftermarket. Both front axle boots are also slightly torn but I can't hear or feel anything so I decided to let that wait until later also (and I just didn't have any time). I'm told the front axles are about $110. So even once I add the additional cost of the radiator and axles, and whatever additional items might come up in the process, I think I'm still doing fine. Of course, I did all the work myself so having to pay a shop to do it might have thrown me into the not-such-a-good-bargain side of things, I don't really know.

Thanks again for the help and comments!

 

[ToyotaDon]

You may want to check with CDan about that radiator. Toyota started sourcing radiators from a different country, and was able to lower the price considerably. I'm not sure about the '96, but my '99 was about $200-250 list price.
Some aftermarkets can be more generic with hose placement, extra connections, etc.

 

[KLF]

...so that brings my $2,500 Camry to $3,150 and still a good deal.

IMO that is a SMOKIN good deal.

I had to put a radiator in my daughter's '93 Corolla a few weeks ago so I went to radiators.com. A little over $100, delivered to my door the next morning. Fit perfectly, although the cap in the box was a total POS, I tossed it.