88 camry trouble, help

[grundan]

stock camry
auto. trans
4 cyl.
new cv axles <20k miles

car had been making some rattling noise which kinda sounded like maybe the cat. or exhaust.
son started car, he said made a terrible grinding and clanking.
car will not move in any forward or reverse gear.
you can hear whatever is broke trying to spin with the engine, kinda hard to explain a noise.
i am guessing torque convertor? any ideas would help.
i have a haynes manual somewhere at home i will try and dig up tonite.

[Doctor J]

Let's put symptoms in order:

Rattle-grinding noise present while engine rotating with starter , with engine running in park or neutral , car has no gears,
The problem most likely the transmission input shaft or turbine wheel inside the torque converter.
in any case tranny must to come out for inspection

[grundan]

the engine sounds fine as it starts but as soon as it fires the noise begins.
noise is present in all shifter positions. PRND21

one thing I just thought of, the car was making some rattling noise before with the engine running, when shifted from P to Reverse it would really amplify the noise/problem

Originally Posted by Doctor J

Let's put symptoms in order:


Rattle-grinding noise present while engine rotating with starter , with engine running in park or neutral , car has no gears,
The problem most likely the transmission input shaft or turbine wheel inside the torque converter.
in any case tranny must to come out for inspection

[Doctor J]

Sounds to me like TC turbine/ input shaft splines;
Few months ago I worked on TC noise problem which turned out to be broken splines on the front pump stator support shaft.
if noise is like more knocking one which is RPM sensitive can indicate broken front pump;in theory it can be broken to the point that it cannot pump the fluid, so no pressure is created to apply the clutches and as aresult the car won't move. in any case the transmission has to come out for diagnosis and repair or replacement.

[grundan]

thanks, looks like we got a project at hand. i wonder if any of those parts are still available or do you have to buy a new/used tranny?

now i have got to dig up that haynes manual so i can get this tranny out.

[Doctor J]

The front pump assembly is the same from 87 to 2000 year model.
the torque converter can be purchased from Transteam for about 90 + core not sure about the front shaft.
^the total amount of work depends of the teardown and inspection.