1990 Camry Manual Transmission Fluid Question - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

fr0th · 08-21-2011, 11:19 AM

Hi All!

I've got a 1990 Camry 5-speed manual. The transmission grinds when shifting from 1st to 2nd, or downshifting from 3rd to 2nd. I can always get it in gear, but not without a horrific noise.

The grinding only occurs when it's hot outside, or after the engine has been running for awhile. To avoid grinding during these situations, I can clutch MUCH longer, and let the RPM's drop to basically idle before shifting; Or I can double-clutch.

Since the grinding was related directly to temperature, I thought that maybe the fluid was old and the viscosity had broken down and had become very thin, especially when it's hot. So, about 1 month ago I tried replacing the transmission fluid with 1/2 Dex/MERC ATF and 1/2 Lucas Transmission Fix. I've had no noticeable improvement.

I'm wondering if putting something higher viscosity, like 90w gear oil, into the transmission would be another solution. Or, if that's a bad idea because the 1990 Camry can only run ATF. Is there a possibility of damaging the transmission by trying this?

Thoughts?

Thanks!

'88 All-Trac · 08-21-2011, 12:08 PM

I flush/fill my Gen 2 Camrys with straight gear oil. Shut them up and dragged a hell of a lot more life out of my 2nd gear synchro. Used to be you couldn't get the 2wd into second gear at all, now it'll shift like a new trans.

I don't know if this is bad or good for the trans- seeing as every other manual trans I've ever serviced used straight-up gear oil, I'm not sure what would make these any different.

I run Royal Purple fluids whatever they are, save for engine oil. RP is expensive but damned good stuff.

fr0th · 08-21-2011, 01:45 PM

Thanks for the super quick reply, 88'! I'm definitely going to try this!

Is this Royal Purple 70W90 the stuff you've used??

Amazon

'88 All-Trac · 08-22-2011, 12:41 AM

I usually use 75w85, but that is only as a substitute for the 75w90 that the differentials in my Geo call for. I have a tough time finding 70w90 locally, but it is really the ideal fluid.

white90dx · 08-22-2011, 11:20 AM

It will definitely be fine to switch over to a more 'standard' manual transmission fluid.

I would suggest a standard (non-synthetic!) GL4 fluid. No need to step up to a GL5 fluid (most gear oils) because there are no hypoid gears in the trans (FWD, that is). Whatever you do, make sure the fluid is designed to work with synchros - you actually want a bit of friction for them to work. Also, you don't want the fluid to be caustic to the yellow metals used in synchros (some GL5 fluids are - make sure it says 'safe for synchros' on the bottle).

-Charlie