Randy Wildebrandt

I have an '02 LE with keyless entry. There are two remotes. Both remotes seem to work fine most of the time. They will work from a reasonable distance and will control locking and unlocking exactly as they are described to work. But sometimes both remotes stop working. Neither the lock or unlock function will work. The car does not respond with a beep or a light flash. It doesn't matter how close the remote is to the car. And it doesn't matter which remote is used. I've replaced the batteries in both remotes and reprogrammed them. No luck. When they stop working they both stop working. Which makes me think the issue isn't with the remote. But perhaps the system itself has some sort of interlock that we are not aware of. Like an amount of time that must elapse between button pushes, etc. Anyway, any advice would be appreciated.

I have a 02 LE. I need to replace the lock actuator in the driver's side rear door. My service manual doesn't cover this particular repair. I'm assuming I need to remove the inside door trim first. Are there any gotcha's to removing that trim? After I get that off, will it be fairly obvious as to what is needed to replace the actuator and its associated cables? Thanks for any advice!

Well, I got my two remotes and followed the instructions for programming at this site: 2002 Camry Remote Programming Instructions They worked fine. Saved myself a nice piece of change!

I got the programming instructions from the seller on ebay. They are pretty unusual. But if they work that will be fine.

Wow, thanks for the info. That is my car. It has all that equipment. I called Toyota parts to see about getting a new remote. They said I would need to bring it into service to confirm that it had keyless and to figure out what remote to use. So then I talked to service. He said that all 02 Camry LE's with power locks had a factory keyless entry system. He was puzzled why parts couldn't figure out what remote to use so he called them. When he came back to me he said I would need to bring it in for analysis, that the remotes would likely be hundreds of dollars, and there would be a $50 programming charge. He then referred me to a place in town that does remote entry/start and said he had used them before. So I went there. They confirmed the car had factory keyless. But they could only add a new system to the car. They couldn't provide me with new remotes. So I came home. Then I looked through the owner's manual and the manual actually gives the part number - GQ43VT14T. So I checked on ebay and found a couple of very inexpensive ones that are supposed to come with programming instructions. If all that works out I should end up saving at least $125. For some reason, I don't think the original owner used the remotes. I say that because I've noticed that the driver's door lock seems very worn. Plus there are a lot of paint scrapes around the lock. Making me think the car was always unlocked manually. Thanks again for the help!

I looked under the driver seat as you suggested. There was nothing obvious there. (Like a loose electronics box). I also looked around and felt around under the dash. Again, I didn't see anything that resembled what was in our other car. My guess is it doesn't have keyless. I had seen a service order from the original owner from about 9 months after she bought the car. One of the things she asked about was a replacement battery for the transmitter. It was a 2032 battery. Anyway, the VIN is 4t1be30k12u576605 . If it isn't too hard I wouldn't mind seeing all the features the car has. Thanks again!

We just bought a '02 Camry LE. I have a suspicion that the car might have had a Toyota Keyless Entry system on it. But we didn't get any key fobs with the car. I was wondering if there might be some place on the car where I could look to see the Keyless Entry system. We had an aftermarket system put on one of our other cars. That resulted in a small electronics box getting placed under the dash. But I suspect a factory or dealer installed system might well look different. Thanks for any tips!

I have a '94 XLE. It has developed a rattle behind the instrument panel. I have a Haynes service manual for the car. The manual shows two steps for removing the panel. 1. Remove the 4 screws that hold the panel. 2. Rotate the cluster away and disconnect the electrical connectors. There is another section for removing the instrument cluster bezel. That shows removing 4 screws and 4 clips. I've got a couple of questions. 1. Do these steps seem pretty complete? I don't want to break anything because I have failed to remove a fastener. This car is in great shape. 2. Any ideas on what might be rattling? The noise seems to come from behind the tachometer. All the gauges are working normally. Thanks for any help!

I rented a 2008 XLS from our local Toyota dealer for my wife to take on a little trip. This is really a nice car. But they didn't leave the Owners Manual in the glove box. So I wanted to see if someone could help me with something. The rear view mirror has a number of buttons on it and two lights. I figured out that the far right button turns the compass on and off. But the other ones aren't as obvious. Could someone clue us in as to what those other buttons and lights do on the XLS? Thanks!

I have a '94 XLE that we have owned for 12 years. This summer it developed a whining noise that seems to be coming from the area of the fan behind the radiator. This car has a hydraulic cooling fan. As I've looked into the problem I've come up with some question about this fan. Here goes: Is the fan supposed to run when the car is first started and is still cold? (Mine does). Is the fan variable speed or does it have a few preset speeds? (I'd say mine is variable). Should the fan be able to run at 'high' speed even when the car is idling? (Seems to me it should since there should be plenty of hydraulic fluid pressure). What sensor inputs are used to control the operation of the fan? Is the sensor for the temperature gauge at the same place as a control point for the fan? (My car never overheats. The temp gauge never goes past 1/2 way). Was there some particular reason why this technology was used? (My understanding is that the hydraulic fan was only used for 2 years). Thanks for any help!

The consensus is that the whine is coming from the radiator fan. My regular car repair place believes the noise is just the air going through the radiator and fan. The Toyota dealer believes the noise is normal. I'm a little skeptical of both positions. I believe the whine is coming from the hydraulic fan motor itself. If the noise was 'normal' we would have heard it long ago. And my wife, who has never commented on any car noise in 30 years, has commented about this one multiple times. So it is definitely a noise that was not there before this year. And I don't think it is just the wind noise. Primarily because the noise is very dependent on temperature. The sound is worse when the outside temperature is higher. Well, I'd be interested in any thoughts about this hydraulic fan motor.

Yep, well we are in the middle of a big heat wave here so it is easier to duplicate the problem. Maybe what I should try is to get the noise started. Then loosen up the accessory belt. If it goes away then it seems likely it is deeper in the motor or transmission.

Hmmm. I didn't realize y'all meant the timing belt. I thought it was the auxiliary belt that drives the A/C, alternator, etc. The timing belt and water pump were just replaced less than 5,000 miles ago. I didn't have the whine before that. But then again it was replaced in the winter. The problem definitely gets worse with higher outside temperatures. I wonder if something like a stethoscope might be of use to diagnose a timing belt problem? Thanks!

The belts all seem to be fine. I don't think it is a wheel because the whine occurs if the car is stopped as well as if the car is moving. And the whine increases/decreases with the engine speed. The transmission seems to be shifting the same to me. Plus, like I said above, the whine continues regardless of if the car is moving, stopped, in Drive, Park, Neutral or Reverse. Thanks for the thoughts!

I have a '94 Camry XLE V6. It has recently developed a 'whine'. The whine seems to be coming from the engine compartment on the passenger side. I'm having trouble isolating where the whine is coming from. I hope someone can give me some advice. Here are the details: 94 Camry XLE V6 Automatic 192,000 miles Car is in excellent condition. very well maintained The whine is intermittent. Here are the conditions that cause the whine. The car must be thoroughly warmed up. The car is stopped for a fairly long time. Like at a very long stop light. When I pull away the whine can be heard. The whine seems to be in sync with engine speed. The whine will go away fairly quickly. Perhaps in a block or two. Turning the wheel left or right does not affect the whine. Turning the A/C off or the entire HVAC off does not change the whine. Putting the car in Neutral or Park does not change the whine. I believe that the hotter the day the quicker the whine will appear and the longer it will last. The car does not use any oil - engine or transmission. There are no fluid leaks. The power steering pump was replaced about 7 years ago. The last significant maintenance was replacing the timing belt and water pump. The whine started after that. But not immediately after. The whine is not subtle. My wife, who is pretty insensitive to this sort of thing, even mentioned it. She said it sounded like a siren. By the time I stop the car, open the hood and start to look around the whine has stopped. The whine does seem to be getting worse. If anyone has some ideas of what this could be and how I could confirm it that would be great. Or if someone has some ideas on how I can try to rule some things out or in that would help too. This has been a great car for us. But it is basically my wife's car. And I'm starting to get uncomfortable with her driving it with this unexplained issue. Thanks for any help!

I tried the DeOxit on the mast. But the problem was really in the motor itself. So I replaced the entire assembly. Pretty easy to swap it out. And everything works fine now.

Here is the situation: We bought our used 94 XLE in 95. The XLE comes with electric door locks. When we first got the car we always used the switch in the door to lock the doors. And we used the key to unlock the doors. Shortly after we bought the car I had remote locks and a remote starter installed on the car. From then on (almost 10 years) we've used the remote to lock and unlock the doors. A little while ago I noticed that my key sometimes needed a little jiggling in the ignition before it would turn. I went to our dealer and they cut me a new key (not a duplicate of the key I had, but a new key). That worked fine in the ignition. I then thought it might be a good idea to check the keys in the other locks. What I found is that my old key. my new key, and my wife's key will unlock the door locks from both the driver and passenger side. But I can't get any key to lock the doors. I've tried lubricating the locks. No help. What's even stranger is that the keys don't feel like they are 'close' to working. Instead when I turn the key to the lock position it feels like the lock is completely blocked. Now it occurs to me that it is possible that we never used the keys to lock the doors. And it also occurs to me that perhaps there is some sort of interlock switch that I need to reset in order to allow the key to work. But any suggestions are welcome!

I have a 94 XLE. This car has an electric antenna. I'm getting a squealing noise when the antenna goes up. The noise come from the area of the antenna. I've replaced the antenna mast. The old mast looked ok. The new mast seemed to work for a while. Then it started to squeal as well. I suspect I need to take the motor out to see if something has gotten in it. But I wanted to check here first to see if anyone had any other ideas. Or if not, if there were any things I should be careful of when removing the motor. I believe that motor is a pretty expensive item to replace so I don't want to make my problem any worse. Thanks for any help!

Thanks a lot for the pictures. I sure would have broken that bezel if I would have continued prying!

I have a 1994 Camry XLE. After many years of faithful service the driver's side outside door handle broke. I bought a replacement. I have a Haynes repair manual for my car. According to the manual one of the first steps is to remove the inner door handle bezel. The manual includes a picture showing a small screw driver being used under the front of the bezel while the rear of the bezel is gripped by hand. The picture shows the handle itself being pulled away from the bezel. I tried using an upholstery clip tool to get behind the bezel. I can get behind it. But it certainly doesn't feel like it is going to come off easily. Before I break the inner bezel I thought I'd better check to see if there were any tricks to removing this part that my repair manual might have overlooked. Any thoughts would be appreciatted.