1998 camry, tranny slipping possibly?

[1998cam]

I've only noticed the signs today for the first time. It just seems like at stop lights when i push the gas SOMETIMES, only about 4 times today, the engine would rev slightly and the car wouldn't move a whole lot and then you could feel it start going. It wasn't like a hard kick or anything, the car would just start moving more quickly. It has 203,000 miles with pretty much everything all original. I know there are few other suspects such as fluid and stuff like that that i need to think about too but i've never dealt with this before so i'm not really sure what i should do. Is it something that i should take to the shop to have them look at or can someone with a little know how do it just fine? Thank you for your help in advance.

I am the 2nd owner and the 1st owner was a man with kids so i'm doubting he really raced it but you never know. I haven't been ridiculously easy on the car but i wouldn't say i race it around everywhere either. Especially recently i have been easy on my car trying to get good gas mileage in the winter.

[1998cam]

I figured even though no one responded i would update this thread in case anyone did a search and had a similar problem. I took it to the shop and they said my transmission was fine and actually the car was throwing up a code for the EGR when hooked up to the diagnostic test (my check engine light has been on for 50k miles so i didn't think anything of it being on while i was having problems). They also suggested a draining the tranny fluid and filter replacement which i plan to do after they find out for sure what they problem is. They didn't want to go ahead and replace the EGR without knowing for sure what it was so they are currently running more tests to check. I will update again after they correct the problem and i empty the tranny pan and change the filter and report whether the problem was fixed or not.

It basically was not shifting very smoothly, mostly in 1st gear after stop lights. Hopefully this helps anyone else having a similar problem.

[denysimo]

Hey 1998cam,

I'm kind of in the same boat as you. My 1992 Camry has been acting up intermittently for the past year and I still can't pinpoint the problems
1. Problem is when I'm cruising on the highway on fourth gear of course at about 70mph, I noticed when the tranny warms up, the RPM suddenly climbs from 2300@70mph to 2600@70mph. It would actually stay on a higher rpm until I get to my destination. This would usually happen 2-3 times a week.
2. Another problem(which is also intermittent but happened this morning) I have is when I'm cruising at highway speeds at fourth, then I get out of the highway to a full stop. Brakes on, then the light turns green, I press on the gas. NOt much happens, you rev the engine which sounds fine and the car does start going but it really seems like that the tranny is stuck on fouth gear or from what you describe it as slipping. I managed to fully stop again. Played around with the automatic shifter cycling it from P to 1 and back. I selected D and it was still not catching. So then I cycled it again and put it to 1. Bingo the car runs normally then I did shift manually up to D. But everything was normal again.

I did have the car tranny flushed 6 month ago but I found it didn't really do much of anything.
I did check the fluid this morning, it was fine.
I also had time to clean all the electrical plugs that go on to the tranny.
I'm thinking about taking the center console apart to expose the shifter. We drink coffee in the car and have had many coffee spills around the shifter, so I suspect a gummy coffee goo has interfered with the shifter's electrical.
O.k. This is getting long and good luck!
And if anyone else has had or has fixed this problems mentioned, please! We wanna hear from you.

[1998cam]

I don't really seem to have any problems shifting at higher gears really, just 1st from what i can tell.

I heard back from the guy, he said they think they have it down to the vacuum switching valve? they said the lines leading up to it seem good but when they test it, it is reading way off. He said it was supposed to be i think something like 5 or 6 ohms and it was actually reading some ridiculous number like 540 ohms? hopefully they were measuring it correctly. I have read numerous forums today so i can't locate where i remember seeing that as being someones problem but hopefully it fixes my problem just the same.

Good luck!

[denysimo]

I've recall reading a tranny troubleshooting guide for the camry. It was checking the solenoids inside the tranny itself. Never dug deeper as I have too many projects on the go. I have annoying ebay engine mounts that I have to change also.

[1998cam]

Turns out it was the spark plugs. Went to oreillys probably 15k miles back and bought spark plugs. They suggested double platinum. I took it to aamco and they called oreilly to see what the correct ones were and they said just platinum plugs...i wish i had a receipt so i could go into oreillys and make them pay for all my troubles for suggesting the wrong plugs

[lenjack]

Along with the "Qwik-Lube" joints, Aamco is another place not to take your car.