QuestionI have a well-maintained 4-speed automatic 1996 Camry DX with 210,000 miles on it. Until a few months ago it was running great, but has now developed a few problems. Here's the one that is bothering me the most:
There is a "frapping" sound (for lack of a better word) coming from somewhere under the hood when the car is accelerating. I've had a few friends try to figure out what this might be and they all have different conclusions (i.e. valve tap, bad oil, bad fuel, etc.). This sound is loudest and slowest when I first step on the gas pedal, but gets faster and then goes away or becomes unnoticeable as I give it more gas. As soon as I take my foot off of the gas, the sound slows down and goes away very quickly (in less than a second). The sound cannot be heard when idling or at any time other than when the car is accelerating.
Some additional details about the car that may or may not help are:
- The check engine light came on a few months prior to the car making the aforementioned sounds. As soon as the light came on I took the car to my mechanic who found that the code was for insufficient air flow through the EGR valve. Replacing the EGR valve did not make the light go off, so the mechanic determined that the sensor might be bad. Hence, the check engine light stays on.
- The car shakes between 50 and 60 MPH ONLY when accelerating. I had the tires balanced and the dog-bone motor mount replaced, but the shaking was only minimally reduced.
- There are very slow oil leaks in rear and main seals. By slow I mean that I might have to add a quart every 3,000 miles. These leaks were found about 6 or 7 months ago.
- Using higher octane gas does not help.
- The mileage on this car is almost 100% highway (~100 miles a day) and will continue to be for the rest of its life.
I guess my first question is: Can you shed any light on what you believe might be causing the "frapping" sounds? Second, what do you believe would be causing the shaking when accelerating between 50 and 60 MPH? Lastly, given the problems that I've described above (shakes, oil leak, "frapping") and the mileage, is this car worth fixing (in your opinion)? This has been a great car and I'd hate to sell/trade it if it will run another 25K miles with under $1000 of work. Then again, I'd hate to put $1000 into it and have it die on me in a month or two.
Any help or advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.
AnswerI'll answer the easy questions first.
Almost all of the time an EGR malfunction is caused by the EGR modulator valve or the vacuum switching valve, replacing both of these should cure the check engine light.
I'm assuming this is a 4 cyl. engine.
The vibration at higher speeds when accelerating is mostly caused by worn inner C.V. joints, this may mean that one or both of the front drive axles have to be replaced. it is not caused by out of balance tires, if it was the vibration would be there at that speed even if the transmission was in neutral.
The engine noise could be either a water pump or timing belt failure, it's hard for me to say without hearing the noise, if you take care of these problem it should last at least another 60,000 miles with normal maintenance.
