Unusual problem with engine idle and trans

[alkon]

I drive a 91 Camry LE with 190 k miles. It has been a reliable car and will own it forever. Recently, however, I have been having rough idling. I continued to drive it a bit until I could give it a good look to find the problem. A few days after the problem started, I began to have problems with my automatic trans. It wouldn't move in Drive, or 2. I would have to shift all the way to L inorder for it to move. When I moved the shifter back into the drive range it seemed to continue to drive. It was almost as if I needed to get it into L before the system could operate. Could there be a relationship between my idling problems and the trans?? I'd appreciate a few ideas.

Al

[Doctor J]

Is it 4 cylinder?
Is there norm/pwr button near the hand brake?
Are the rpms going up but car does not move or the engine is lacking power (feels "overloaded")in drive position?

[Kingdom934]

Does it seem that both the 'D' and '2' is starting out in a higher gear besides first gear, hence a lot of reving but no acceleration or very slow acceleration w/ lot of gas applied?

[toyomoho]

Does the car move OK in reverse?

[alkon]

To answer a few of the replies to my original question regarding my problem with my trans, here are some of my findings:

1. there is no norm/pwr button near the handbrake. The car has a 6 cylinder engine.

2. once I get the engine in drive or reverse, it does not rev up excessively before moving.

I double checked the problem this morning and the problems is this.... When shifting from the park position (P), I have to get it into drive (D) before it moves into reverse. It moves forward after I get it into L. I looked into my shop manual and it would seem that this could be a shifter adjustment. While I am going with this theory, I don't understand what would cause this adjustment to go off so much without touching this unit. I would appreciate any thoughts.

[monito]

^are you sure there's no Power button? Your original thread says you have a '91 V6 LE. I would think all the LE models had the power button...

I could be wrong. it's to the right of the hand brake right below the "PUSH DOWN Lever Release" light

[tkevin07]

might be ur tranny fluid being low or ur tranny fluid is dirty, try that and check the spark plugs and wires, might be a little misfire

[ChevelleSSLS6]

mine idles at 1500rpm, wierdness... I think maybe a vac leak after running a can of fi cleaner (seafoam) through it. It doesn't surge at idle, but it feels like a miss cruising around town. Accelerating, the car has the balls of a 4 year old girl, but it runs smoother than coasting in gear/real light throttle just to maintain speed.

[alkon]

I checked out the location by the handbrake and I did find the power button. I pushed it in and it made no difference in my shifting performance. In other words, it acted exactly the same. I checked the trans fluid level and found that it was at a good level. The color of the fluid was slightly off, but not bad. I drained and replaced the oil from the reservoir. I realize that this is only a portion of the total fluid, but I thought it would do some good to change it and it gave me a better look at its condition.


TKevin07 suggested that I might suggested plugs and wires for a possible misfire. How would misfire affect the trans, or, does this refer to my earlier concern about idling?

Thanks, Al

[atobe]

your shifter linkage got lose ?

[Kep]

OK, I don't know the answer to this and it may be a dumb question. However, you mentioned rough idling. Are there any vacuum lines that supply the transmission? If you had a vacuum leak that affected the engine idle might it not also affect the transmission?

I take it from your post that, other than a rough idle, the engine is running normally when the car is trying to start moving, not racing or lugging.

Kep