2000 Camry tranny question - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

rockhounder · 02-10-2009, 11:25 AM

Hello!I have a 2000 Camry LE 4 cylinder with automatic tranny.It had 114,000 miles on it when I purchased it in early March of 2008 and it presently has about 124,000 miles on it.When I first purchased it I noticed that there was a very slight hesitation first thing in the morning when I started it up and shifted it into reverse.I am talking barely noticeable as in MAYBE a half second longer than I would expect before I would feel the normal engagement of reverse.When I would then back the car out of the garage it would feel sluggish(slipping?) for maybe 5 feet in reverse before it began moving perfectly normally.It had absolutely no problems when I would shift it into drive or first.The fluid level was fine and it had no bad smell to it,although it was slightly discolored.I drained the pan several times and refilled the tranny and then I changed the filter and cleaned out the pan.There were no signs of trouble on the magnets or in the pan bottom.This had no effect on the reverse engagement,so I just decided to live with it.Now I have noticed that only on days when the temperature is below about 18 or so degrees that the tranny is slow to engage into first gear and it slips in first gear for maybe 25 feet or so.It then catches and shifts perfectly normally until the next colder than 18 degree morning.The reverse problem is always there,even in the August heat.The drive/first problem is only there on those really cold mornings.This morning it was about 25 degrees and there was no hint of a problem in first/drive.Even on those really cold days,if I drive 50 feet and then stop the tranny works fine.It is only when I first start it moving.The reverse problem is also only there on first engagement and then it is gone until the next morning.Even if the car cools down for 10 hours the problem with reverse only happens first thing when the car is started.Does anybody have any theories?The fluid level is petfect hot and cold and it is what the manual calls for,Dex 3.
Thanks,rockhounder

bigbird · 02-10-2009, 03:58 PM

any leaks? could be a problem with the torque converter. IIRC its supposed to lock up in reverse so it may not be locking properly.

rockhounder · 02-12-2009, 12:23 PM

Hi Bigbird!There are no leaks now and there were none back when I did the filter change.The fluid level has been constant and perfect.I would think that if there was any problem with the torque converter not locking it would hurt my fuel economy and the car is getting around 34mpg on the highway and over 30mpg around town.