₦airaland Forum

3ace: Please, mail me your number or state it here. I will contact you shortly. I hope you're in Lagos. aladdeen2000@yahoo.com

I'm in need of the digital pPessure Guage please, how do I get it?

mayor2013: Avoid a trial by error . Go for a comprehensive scanning for a 2007 camry it should be a drive by wire. Run a scan first and return here by posting scan result, Then we wld take the next step based on the scan results. Even though your check light is not on go ahead and run a scan

Mayor can you recommend anywhere in Lagos where I can run a comprehensive scan of such?

And please can you explain what is meant by "drive by wire"?

Recently I noticed this phenomenon, when I'm driving and I come to a temporary stop, say a traffic light with the gear on 'D' and my leg on the break with AC on, I notice that the rpm drops to about 500rpm and at this point the car will begin to vibrate until I accelerate before the vibration will stop. If I stop again with the gear in 'Drive' the same thing happens until I accelerate again. One thing I realise is that this vibration always occurs when the rpm drops to around 500rpm. And yesterday I noticed the "Check Engine" Light is on.

I believe there's a problem somewhere. This is a new engine that I just bought. Is this a very ominous sign? Is it a sign that the engine is bad? What could be responsible for this very low idle rpm to the extent that car will be vibrating?

I called my mechanic and he said I should bring the car for them to use a machine to increase the idle speed. But usually before I allow mechanics to touch my vehicle I like to seek expert opinions from Nairaland first.

Please house what could be wrong with my car. This morning I mistakenly disconnected the negative terminal off my battery, so now the "check engine" light has gone off. Can I still scan the car even with the light off?


Lest I forget, the car is a 2007 Toyota Camry 4 cylinder Automatic Transmission.

Experts should come to my aid please.

God Bless.

I had my wheel balancing done using a digital wheel balancer at a Total Service Station. Now the steering vibrations have subsided.

Please is it possible to scan a car even when the "check engine" light is not on?

Pictures and Location pls.

tumababa: i sell toyota recommended filter. not mobil1 filter. you need to be sure the part number of the filter is exactly what u need for your toyota

There's a special filter sold along with mobil-1 oil called "Mobil 1 Extended Performance Filter", Na dat one I dey ask.

tumababa: Next month

@Tumababa do you also sell the mobil 1 recommended filter?

tsiriman: My 2008 honda accord was suffering from the same problem as your camry, that was even after I had bought brand new Michelin Primacy 3 tires and balanced the wheels after fitting the new tires. The car was still vibrating when ever I reach 100-120km/hr.

So I decided to go and do the balancing at another place in warff road Kaduna, lo and behold a dent was identified on the inner part of my rear alloy wheel after it had been removed. The outter part was perfect so you'd never suspect the dent at the other side.
They then removed my tire and TMPS sensor then took the alloy to panteka in kaduna and straightened then balanced it, they then inspected the other alloy wheels and confirmed them Ok then they balanced them in the shop.
After that it I could reach up to 140-150km/hr without feeling any vibration.

Guy if you have new tires then check the alloy or rims them self, one or more could be bent due to impact or something else, but if all Ok then you might want to look at some other parts.

@Tsiriman pls can you give the exact address where you did the job at Kaduna, I will be in Kaduna this weekend for an assignment. Will be waiting please. Thanks.

pannyman: Thanks guys for your contributions. I had another wheel balancing and alignment done today. The guy who did the job really knows his stuff. He even opened up my steering wheel and made some adjustments. Did a test run and all was well. No more shaking. Problem solved.

@Pannyman pls where did u have your balancing done?

toba: Poster listen.When u experience such,first check tyre balancing at a good balancers shop not petrol station balancer.A very good balancer will tell u if ur tyrod,ball joint,upper or lower arms are bad.Im talking from what i experienced in May.A balancer fixed it for.It has nothing to do with shaft ok.More free advice if u need it

@Toba where did you do your balancing. This problem is presently happening to my car. Whenever I exceed 100km/hr my steering starts to vibrate. Initially I thought it was my tyres so I bought four brand new tyres yesterday, but today again while I was travelling, the problem persists at above 100km/hr. I really don't know what could be responsible for this.

All experts in the house should please come to my aid.
My car is a 2007 Toyota Camry.

Hard Luck bro!
Hope your car is insured?
Most insurance companies add trackers to the car.

Please where can I get my car scanned in Ibadan?

The light says "Check Engine", but why is it that when there is a critical problem with the Engine itself like Engine Failure (Knocked Engine), This light will never come on? Is this not a paradox?

autofixng: With a check engine light on, the best you can do is to run a scan to know what exactly is wrong.
Do not allow guess work on your vehicle and also don't let your mechanical tells you the light is normal as your car still move.

How do you scan the vehicle?
What are the required tools needed?

jpphilips: Guy are you for real? Distilled water is condensed water, your Nigerian tap water and borehole does not undergo any process that remove partly dissolved salts like calcium / magnesium carbonates, hence these salts will deposit in the radiator.
There are three ways you can get distilled water, either you buy from chemical shop, or you boil water with a pot and replace the lid with a collector, as it evaporates, it will distill in the collector you have provided or you can put a hose to the drain of your house AC and secure the lid to prevent impurities.

Lol....are you minding the man? Even an SS3 science student cannot say such. To get distilled water back in high school there is this process we do called 'Fractional Distillation' using a condenser called 'Leibig Condenser' whereby distilled water is collected from cooled vapour after water reaches its boiling point.

Another method to get distilled water is to gradually collect it from your car AC drain underneath your car.

silvoice: peww! guy u a are a million percent right. i jerked d car, went under, the inner exhust ruber was weak. i used wire to tie it that's all. d sound disapear. d auto engineer came, saw what i did and said is ok but maintained that my shock is weak. i laughed and gave him t fare back to his workshop. driving back home was sweet and soundless. thanks to u all, especially gazzuzz, etc

I'm happy your problem is solved.
One day this roadside artisans will kill our cars. Common things occur commonly. When anything goes wrong with your car they are always quick to jump at some crazy high fallooting conclusion. Let's devote more time to DIY and consult nairaland more often before leaving our cars to the mercy of those jokers.

Emerson28: Good day N'landers, pls I need an urgent help on my toyota camry 96 engine. Firstly I don't know what happen, the engine got knocked after servicing it a month before. I was driving it when I heard a loud noise from d bunnet, I called my Mech n he make me realize that the engine is knocked. Pls what would have been the cause and kindly advise me, am I to buy a "full engine or half engine".
And what's the price of the Engine both the full one and the half one. Thanks

Call 0803 360 6425 - Desmond.
He deals in all kinds of Japanese Toyota Engines.

presidentpikin: Actually my engine didn't knocked but this is the culprit of my engine
- White smoke each time am drivinhg my car
- Each time I travelled a long distance,oil shortage
- Rough idling and until recently black smoke and unable to drive up to 80 km/hr.
I started exeprience this when I washed the engine of my car followed by overheating of the engine. Before this time the car was in good condition

Lesson: Never wash your engine with water....clean it yourself with a wet cloth and detergent.

uboma: Did you read my post very well? Did you see the clause I used (if you can get a competent mechanic...)?

No naija mechanic has such level of competence except learned technicians and certified Automotive Engineers.

How I wish 'Siena' can open an 'Auto Fix' shop in some major cities across Nigeria, all our Auto problems will be solved

uboma: If you can get a competent mechanic, it will better to rebuild your engine instead of buying the so called belgium engines that we can't trace their history...

80% of engineers here on nairaland will disagree with you on this. To rebuild the engine seems the best option really but that crankshaft assembly is such a finely tuned system that even a thousandth of error will become noticeable. The bearing clearances are measured to the last fractions and must conform to factory standards to function efficiently. How many of our roadside mechanics have these advanced equipment to do these measurements? This is why it is best to just replace your engine once it fails.

I tried this rebuild option when my engine knocked but it was just a waste of time and energy because the problem still persisted and at the end of the day I replaced the engine.

uboma: I beg to differ. There's no good mechanic so far here in Nigeria that can test if a previously used engine is sound. I'm talking from experience. Sometime this year, I took my Bimmer to my mechanic for the regular oil change and saw a man with my kind of Bimmer who wanted to replace his engine. My mechanic and him had so far gotten 2 engines which weren't too sound after mounting them. It was the third one that clicked.

So my brother, all na wash. Our trial and error mechanics here will assure that they can get a good engine but they can never be 70% accurate. Instead if you get a good engine, just consider yourself LUCKY.

How do you know an engine that is not sound? Just curious

GAZZUZZ: Some of them look like trash and make more sence than what you have, oil spill on an engine does not make it a rubish, you need a technical eye to look at an engine, please go with a "trusted" friend or mechanic.

Its not what the engine looks like physically that determines its efficiency. Go with a good mechanic, they know how to test a sound engine.

GAZZUZZ: Lomomike this engine thread will be useful.

Op a complete engine is better than a half one, Is it a 4cylinder engine? If it is then its a 3s-fe 2nd generation it should be about 60-80k depends on how you bargain. Go with a mechanic to help you check the engine out.

We are discussing engines on this thread: https://www.nairaland.com/1852019/urgent-engine...please

@Gazzuzz I think you should create the threead

timsobj: Get your mechanic to inspect the engine very well since the noise came suddenly after oil change. Sometimes a piece mental could have gone in along with your lub. After proper investigation you can add green engine revolution. Start the car do not rev allow it to run for 5 -10 minutes. Listen to engine sound carefully & note your observations & revert. Good luck.

Thanks. But the car engine has been replaced already.
By the way, what is 'green engine revolution'?

uboma: Yes please, lets create another thread so we don't derail this one.

The thread is not been derailed....I think along the line we have sorted the Op's issues. Any other useful tips can be chipped in, the op can also pick some useful tips from these discussions.

lomomike: True, but one can check for certified used engines from accident cars online and its more cheaper, they have their mileage posted (as is the case with ebay listings) plus they are given warranty which I feel is better than the ones sold here which are like unknown.

Usually there is a VIN plate on both engine and transmission of every vehicle. This plate is rivetted to the engine and transmission with the vehicle VIN neatly engraved on it. But trust our igbo brothers, they are so careful to ensure removal of that VIN plate before selling to you all in a bid to eliminate any possible chance of tracing the engine history.

I guess the reason the VIN is being typed on a separate plate before attaching to the engine and tranny is because both the engine and transmission are manufactured separately in bulks and later loaded onto the vehicles and it is after the engine has been mounted onto a particular vehicle that it gets the VIN of that vehicle.

shegzee43: please house, what will it cost get a full Honda Accord- bulldog engine?

Call that number I just put up. He has all your answers concerning engine and trannys.

Thanks everyone that honoured this thread.

I eventually replaced the engine. I instructed that all other peripherals like Alternator, Fuel Injector, Spark Plugs, AC Condenser etc be left in-situ in my car. So the engine was coupled in, It took a whole day to get the job done. But it was eventually done. When we started the car it started well at the first attempt. It has not given any issues since then. And the acceleration has been perfect. My only uncertainty is that I don't know how many miles have gone on the new engine. I tried looking for the engine 'casting/block' number but didn't see it. It's just the serial number that was clearly visible.

But since the engine is working well, I will just ensure timely oil change to keep the engine in a premium working condition. I'm still looking at where I can get Mobil 1 5w-20 here in Lagos, but if I don't get I guess I'll stick with semi-synthetics with 30% synthetic blend for now.

lomomike: If not for price of new engine and freight cost, handling and time of delivery and status of delivered goods (whether they will be mishandled or even get missing in transit), I'd prefer to advise anyone to shop for brand new engine, tranny and other parts online and ship them in. But logistic and expenses might be crazy.

The price of a brand new engine too is crazy abroad. When I checked online for the price of a brand new 2AZ, it was averaged between $5,500 - $6500(Excluding Freight and Customs). Now that is the price of some American used vehicles!

presidentpikin: Thank you Sir pls you can send me tthe number

0803 360 6425 - Desmond.

Your 1MZ engine is 80k. The VVT-i is 140k but if your car did not come with VVT-i I will not advise you change it to VVT-i since the car ECU has been programmed to work with the ordinary 1MZ, it's like saying you want to convert your car from a 4-cylinder to a V6.
My view though, till we hear from the experts.