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Inside+Out
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| The 1999 Toyota Camry |
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| Updated |
Jun 10, 2004 22:51:16 |
| Rating |
 122 ( -18 -14.75% ) |
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Description:
Inside+Out: The 1999 Toyota
Camry
driving controls
Mysterious Dashboard Lights
The seated person and the
giant balloon &150; This is the dreaded air bag light: AKA Supplemental
Restraint System. Now, the first thing to understand is that the SRS light should come on
for a few moments every time you start the car. The light is basically telling you that
the air bags are waking up and preparing for duty. When the light goes off, it means that
roll call has been completed and all of the air bags&146; sensors and components are
present and accounted for &150; and they&146;re armed and ready. If the light
doesn&146;t come on, stays on, or flickers continuously, then one of the sensors or
components is not responding properly. A continuously glowing or flickering SRS light does
not mean that the air bag will deploy at any moment, but it does mean the system needs to
be checked by your Accredited Autobytel.com Dealer. Despite some bad publicity, air bags
are extremely helpful allies in a frontal crash, so you want to have an absent, constantly
glowing or flickering SRS light checked as soon as possible.
ABS &150; ABS
stands for Anti-Lock Braking System, and each time you start your Camry, the ABS light
will come on for a moment and let you know that all is well in the emergency braking
department. In other words, should you hit the brakes too hard while rounding a curve or
driving on slick pavement, the ABS will be ready to intervene and distribute braking power
more gently so the tires don&146;t skid. If the light stays on, then the ABS is
experiencing a malfunction and the Camry is trying to tell you that the ABS might not be
able to lend a hand in an emergency. The Camry will still stop fine in normal conditions,
but it&146;s definitely time to see your Accredited Autobytel.com Dealer. Also, the ABS
light should not be confused with the regular red BRAKE light (your Camry may
alternatively have a red light with a circle and an exclamation point (!) in the center).
If the red brake light comes on (after you have released the parking brake, that is), then
there could be a problem in the car&146;s regular braking system, and that could lead to
a loss of normal stopping power. Both the ABS and BRAKE lights are too important to be
ignored. (ABS is an option on the Camry CE and LE 4-cylinder, and it&146;s standard on
the LE V-6 and XLE models)
The slip indicator
(the rear outline of a car with squiggly lines behind it)
If you have a Camry V-6 you may also
have traction control. If so, this light will come on when the car hits a slick spot and
the system starts working to keep the car on course. The light serves as a reminder that
the pavement you&146;re traveling on is slippery and the traction control is cutting
engine power to keep the car from losing its grip on the pavement. The slip indicator
light can serve as a good warning that it&146;s time to slow down because the tires
don&146;t have the hold on the road that they need for safe travel. If the tires are
slipping while you try to accelerate, they might also slide when you try to turn or stop.
If a TRAC OFF light appears on the dash, you have either manually turned the system off
with the switch, or the system is experiencing a malfunction and needs to be checked. In
either case, a slip indicator light or TRAC OFF light should get your fullest attention.
Check Engine
(the outline of an engine with the word CHECK underneath it)
Don&146;t be alarmed if you&146;re
confronted by a glowing yellow light on the instrument panel that sternly commands you to
"CHECK ENGINE". Now, if you&146;re not a mechanic in a white shop coat, looking
under the hood isn&146;t going to reveal much. What you can do is start by checking to
see if your fuel cap is tightly screwed down. A loose gas cap will release nasty fumes
into the atmosphere, and the Camry&146;s strict emission control system won&146;t have
any part of this. In truth, the light should really say "Check Gas Cap". But
let&146;s not take this too lightly. After tightening the gas cap, you should restart the
engine to see if the light turns off after a moment. If not, the likelihood of a major
malfunction is still remote. No need to panic. Rather, the Camry&146;s extremely vigilant
emission control system has probably detected a lazy spark plug that didn&146;t fire on
cue, or an over-ambitious fuel injector that may be pumping too much gas into the engine.
Some times it just takes a short drive and a restarting of the engine to clear things up.
If the light remains on after a bit of driving and a few restarts, it&146;s time to make
an appointment to see your Accredited Autobytel.com Dealer. Although your Camry may be
running fine, the problem that set off the check engine light could cause trouble down the
road. The good news is that your Camry will actually remember the specific malfunction and
then report the misbehaving component to the technician when you go in for a check. Your
Autobytel.com Dealer has a diagnostic tool that will interrogate the engine so thoroughly
it can even find intermittent problems that aren&146;t acting up when the car&146;s in
the service bay. |
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