[arrutled]

soooo my camry needs to have the heat working before winter starts up here in mass! its blowing air, just not hot air. I wanna do the work myself cause the car is worth a whoppin 2 grand. what should I be looking at to fix? thermostat? anyone with automotive knowledge got any clue and wanna give some advice?

[Lester]

It could be a number of things, thermostat, heater core could be plugged, it could be a temp sensor, it could be a control valve. To isolate things, you need to have a service manual for the car.

Diagnosing problems like this involves checking temperatures at various places, testing when valves open or close, checking to see if the hot water is flowing through the heater core. These places are quite often hard to get at.

The best thing to do is to take it right into a Toyota dealer and have them tell you what needs fixing, but don't give them the signature to fix it until you get the quote. Then you can decide what to do.

[adrean8j]

last time I had this problem back in '99 it was a heater core problem, but it could be any of the things that Lester mentioned.

[arrutled]

thanks!!! ill go see whats wrong with it, get a quote and then find out if i can do the work myself. if not ill be bundling up!

[ptack]

Hey, I'm sure you can get an electric blanket that plugs into the lighter.

[arrutled]

not a bad idea! I am guessing that my heater core is plugged, the part would cost me 110$ I could probably do the work myself, given enough time. I am assuming that it is plugged because I do not have a bad smell or smoke coming from the dash that comes from a leak. So I am assuming the core is plugged preventing engine coolant from flowing through there not heating the air. Or is this wrong? Is the heater core on a closed loop with the radiator? if it is then wouldnt my car be overheating? which its not. I am just trying to narrow down the possibilities here. If i took it to toyota would they make me pay to have the problem diagnosed?

[Lester]

What year is your Camry? An independant Japanese repair shop might be another option. It could be heater core - it could also be a valve or a bad temp sensor.

[arrutled]

its a 1993. I will try to find a independent repair shop. Its tough since I just moved to a new place, I dont know all the mom and pop places yet.

[Lester]

When you see other older Toyota owners parking their cars, ask them where they get their cars serviced. You might find a semi retired guy working out of his backyard garage who's rate is $50 less that the dealer.