1990 Transmission

[brad28304]

I have a 1990 lexus ES250 with an automatic transmission with 109k miles. The other day all of a sudden my transmission started to act up (At least I think it was the transmission). I could hear a squealing sound and when I would give it gas you can hear the engine rev up but the car would not get power right away. I checked the transmission fluid and it was brown. Is my transmission fried? Is there anything else I can check or do?

[HomeGrown]

Brown tranny fluid is bad. Does the fluid smell burned?

[brad28304]

yes, also as soon as I notied all the weird stuff going on I pretty much stopped the car. I didnt go to far, just out the driveway.

[TBayToyotaBoy]

Originally Posted by brad28304

yes, also as soon as I notied all the weird stuff going on I pretty much stopped the car. I didnt go to far, just out the driveway.

Just drain and flush all that bad tranny fluid, and hope it hasn't caused any failure in the slushbox...now might be a perfect time to put a 5-speed in there!

[brad28304]

Whats the best way to drain the entire transmission? Taking off the plug does not get it all does it?
What would it take to convert my car into a 5 speed?

[toyomoho]

Draining the fluid gets most of it. Suggest just doing a few drain and refills over a shorter time as this is much easier (and cheaper) to do.

Do a Camry history search on a 5-speed conversion as this has come up before.

[HomeGrown]

No, there will always be fluid in the torque converter that doesn't get drained. I asked them at the Toyota dealership if they drained the TQ as part of the tranny service, and they don't. With damaged fluid though, it would be good to do a couple drain & flushes as toyomoho pointed out.

[Tommy]

changing your fluid isnt likely to do diddly. time to go transmission shopping.

[monito]

if u want to use the car for a few more miles...DO NOT FLUSH THE TRANNY!!!! just drain and refill

[brad28304]

This is not going to be a cheap fix. And this doesnt seem like something I can do in the driveway.

[TBayToyotaBoy]

Ah heck, it doesn't have to be pricey. How confident are you? Go to a u-pull-it wrecking yard like the one where I work and pay $100 or less for a used tranny. Just smell the fluid before you choose the tranny to buy. You can do it in your driveway, you'll just need two or three good floor jacks, jackstands, a socket/driver set, and a Haynes/Chilton manual. You might need two days, only one if you know what you're doing.

[brad28304]

I dont know if I can get the car high enough to get the transmission out from the bottom.

[Tommy]

yea you can. its not that hard to get the front end hella high.

Jack up the car, place jack stands in, pull the jack out and put it on some boards or something to lift it up higher, jack it up some more and raise the stands again. replacing a tranny is an easy weekend project, doesnt even take that much skill, just a lot of strength cause that sob is heavy. Hardest part is usually getting the bolts off the flexplate

grab a haynes or d/l the factory service manual from the sticky in the camry general section of TN.

[HomeGrown]

Originally Posted by monito

if u want to use the car for a few more miles...DO NOT FLUSH THE TRANNY!!!! just drain and refill

Why not flush?

[Tommy]

theory goes that if the transmission is on its way out, putting fresh fluid in will kill it sooner. there's enough gunk in the fluid, it will give it enough grip to last a little longer, or something like that.

im actually a believer of that though, as it happened to me. trans was working fine, i decided it was due for a flush, 5k miles later i was replacing a transmission.

flush isnt going to do crap to this guys trans though, if its slipping so much that it wont move, its toast.