1989 Camry V6 - Transmission - No Reverse

[jjchavez]

Hoping someone can help. I have a 1989 V6 Automatic. Installed a salvaged transmission about a year ago. It was running great until about 2 week ago my son said it wasn't shifting right. I drove it and sure enough, between 5 & 15 it was "slipping". Next day no reverse. I dropped the pan, changed the filter, drained torque converter...refilled all and seems to shift smooth in all gears, but still no reverse. There is NO noise at all from the transmission..everything sounds right, but when reversed..nada.

Is it toast, or could it be an adjustment on the front side of the transmission where the gear linkage is to the shifter in the car? I notice there is a small triangular electronic module of some sort that the linkage is tied to.

Any help troubleshooting would be appreciated.

[Doctor J]

First of all how did you drain the torque converter??
the most common cause of no reverse is the failure of overdrive direct clutch.[C0]
to fix it you need to remove the side cover; there is procedure to verify this problem, by installing O/D sprag backwards and then checking if reverse come back.
If so the clutch plates need to be changed.
Another problem is failure of transmission direct clutch, especially if it goes to the third gear at 4000 rpm.This problem calls for complete removal and overhaul.
To make sense of what I wrote, go to www.camrystuff.com, select generation 2 and download the a/t repair manual . Best of luck

[DC 2vzfe dx]

Originally Posted by Doctor J

First of all how did you drain the torque converter??
the most common cause of no reverse is the failure of overdrive direct clutch.[C0]
to fix it you need to remove the side cover; there is procedure to verify this problem, by installing O/D sprag backwards and then checking if reverse come back.
If so the clutch plates need to be changed.
Another problem is failure of transmission direct clutch, especially if it goes to the third gear at 4000 rpm.This problem calls for complete removal and overhaul.
To make sense of what I wrote, go to www.camrystuff.com, select generation 2 and download the a/t repair manual . Best of luck

wow thats what happened to my 2nd tranny i had.. a hose that goes form the radiator to the transmission block blew a leak (idk how??) and drained all the ATF when i was on the freeway.. i noticed when i pulled out and it felt like it was slipping... it shift into 2nd gear around 4.5 rpm and was really loud.. went a few miles before it went out and luckily i got far enough to exit and stall on a bride off the frwy lolz.. then a cop pushed my car to the street... my torque was drained and i think i blew the tranny

[Doctor J]

This hose can leak if someone twisted it with pliers prior to removal [it will not leak right away but in few months]

[jjchavez]

sorry for disapearing...got the flu & son broke arm...that took priority. Actually I didn't drain torque converter..I meant the transaxle. Figured out this weekend that the transaxle is shot. I disconnected the linkage and used a pair of vice-grips to take it through the gears. 1st time through this is what I got:
Reverse - nothing
Neutral - rotation (like it was in 1st)
Drive - Seemed fine
2nd - Seemed Fine
Low - Seemed Fine

When I backed through them all and got back to park I did it again:

Reverse - Terrible grinding noise, then nothing
Everything else the same.

Looking for a used transaxle now.