Sometimes you have to work right through the rain to get stuff done.
We replaced the headlights with new ones from eBay Motors.
The 1MZ engine has a history of issues with oiling and sludge buildup. Ours was no exception. This was causing intermittent oil pressure issues. Luckily, we addressed it before long-term harm occurred.
To feed our Moroso Accumulator, we used a one-hole sandwich adapter behind the oil filter.
There’s something kind of wrong about a Camry with an oil accumulator—but it feels so right.
While we were under there, we also replaced both primary oxygen sensors.
We spent about five hours this weekend getting a few things sorted out on our new-to-us Camry. An intermittent nonworking driver’s side power window and a flickering oil pressure light were two pretty clear signs that there was some maintenance to be done. Luckily, the Camry is easy to work on and parts for it are very inexpensive.
Here’s our work list thus far:
1) We sourced a new window regulator ($100 on eBay Motors) to fix intermittent nonworking one.
2) While not a performance upgrade, new headlights ($60/pair) were a cheap way to replace yellowed ones.
3) We cleaned out the oil pan and oil pump pickup tube ($10 for new gasket) to stop the oil light from flickering. It was really crudded up, but now it’s pretty clean.
4) We added a Moroso oil accumulator to keep 1MZ happy in the future (set us back $300 with the sandwich adapter) and filled the engine with a fresh load of sythetic oil ($50).
5) A pair of new oxygen sensors took care of a Check Engine light that turned on shortly after we purchased the car.
Next up, we’ll start work on actually improving the car’s performance for track use. We’re a lot more comfortable, however, doing our baseline testing knowing the engine won’t blow up due to oil starvation.
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I hope my oil pickup doesn't look like yours, I've been fanatical about changing the oil regularly. You guys inspired me to get new headlights too. $25 each from Rock Auto. I had the heater go on one O2 sensor under the car. 135K miles. The Accumulator looks good there.
So what's this I hear about the engine blowing up?
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