quest continues: gen1 solara (gen4 camry) clunking in reverse sometimes

[fenixus]

hello,

for some time i've been pursuing the noisy problem happening mostly in Reverse at full stop but sometimes also I had that problem in Drive gear at full stop.
i have to admit that i was suspecting many things starting with simple tune up and cleaning TB/IAC through replacing engine mounts down to fixing broken exhaust flex pipe and making sure new brake pads are quiet (even put grease on back of them) ... I still have this problem! Very often when I shift car into Reverse it starts clunking (no shaking/vibrating anymore as RPMs are perfect, just audible noise).

Yesterday I replaced all bottom engine mounts with new OEM parts (front, rear and LH), dog bone was done a month ago. for 1 beautiful day yesterday everything was quiet, car was shifting very smoothly between forward vs reverse in parking lot like never before...
but ... after driving 100 miles that noise came back today and rough shifting between forward vs reverse gears is back again. WTH ?

Did I miss the transmission mount in troubleshooting ? I actually thought LH mount was the tranny, but oh well, seems I'm still newbie at this. I cannot locate OEM part for tranny mount, how is it called then ?

You know, I'm tired a bit with that. been trying to get down to the root cause, after 5 months I have to say, I failed LOL. no shop can tell for sure either. so far I ended up replacing whatever they wanted or what was suggested, but somehow the noisy reverse problem is still there ...

any ideas what else might be causing the clunking noise in reverse ?

[JohnGD]

So when you are on the brakes, say at a parking lot, shifts from P to D, P to R, D to R, or R to D, you hear this clunk? (But mostly D->R or P->R?)

[fenixus]

Originally Posted by JohnGD

So when you are on the brakes, say at a parking lot, shifts from P to D, P to R, D to R, or R to D, you hear this clunk? (But mostly D->R or P->R?)

in short yes and mostly as you noted. however i just went to car with camera and wanted to replicate the sound for documenting and ... i couldn't make it do this
i took it for a run around the block, parked, shut it down for 5 minutes and then after starting it was there when i shifted from P to R (damn i had camera turned off). i then tried again with camera turned on and sound didn't happen, ugggh....

i have to note that when it happens I have brakes applied and as long as i keep them depressed it happens always. once i release brakes, then press them again and shift from P to R it's gone this time. very tricky. rarely happens now, but still, sometimes is back.

[Marcluv]

im about 75% your transmission is about to go. I have a 200 passat with the same problem and the transmission went out 2 months later

[fenixus]

Originally Posted by Marcluv

im about 75% your transmission is about to go. I have a 200 passat with the same problem and the transmission went out 2 months later

jesus, you scaring me ...

I have this problem since like 6-7 months, now is much better after replacing engine mounts (everything was moving excessively)... i hope '00 toyota tranny is different from '00 VW.

dang my car runs great on highways and so on, just annoys me in parking lots ... really can't believe it's about to die soon ... i hope not...

[BlackCamSe]

Originally Posted by Marcluv

im about 75% your transmission is about to go. I have a 200 passat with the same problem and the transmission went out 2 months later

thats because VW trannys suck.....

[slpr1mz]

it might just be a tranny mount... i have a clunk when my motor is cold and goin into reverse... and coming out of reverse... its just one clunk. my front tranny mount is lose and it looks like i have a blown rear motor mount... i thought it was my upper motor mount but i replaced that and its still going lol

[haux]

Originally Posted by fenixus

Did I miss the transmission mount in troubleshooting ? I actually thought LH mount was the tranny, but oh well, seems I'm still newbie at this. I cannot locate OEM part for tranny mount, how is it called then ?

http://i50.tinypic.com/2m2tnhz.jpg

I have a 2000 I4 Camry, but I presume things for your Solara should look about the same. That picture is of the four mounts for my Camry. The bottom left one is the transmission mount. In the picture, it's laying on it's side. If you replaced four mounts recently, I'm sure that's one of them. There are no other engine/transmission mounts. For part numbers, toyodiy.com is handy.

[Hajoca]

Did you re check the torque on the fasteners?

[fenixus]

Originally Posted by slpr1mz

it might just be a tranny mount... i have a clunk when my motor is cold and goin into reverse... and coming out of reverse... its just one clunk. my front tranny mount is lose and it looks like i have a blown rear motor mount... i thought it was my upper motor mount but i replaced that and its still going lol

yeah, i started with the dog bone too (very easy), then noticed there is still problem with excessive engine movement front vs rear (new dog bone fixed jumping up & down).

Originally Posted by haux

http://i50.tinypic.com/2m2tnhz.jpg

I have a 2000 I4 Camry, but I presume things for your Solara should look about the same. That picture is of the four mounts for my Camry. The bottom left one is the transmission mount. In the picture, it's laying on it's side. If you replaced four mounts recently, I'm sure that's one of them. There are no other engine/transmission mounts. For part numbers, toyodiy.com is handy.

yeah, things are pretty much same in solara gen1 chassis as in gen4 camry.
i replaced all four mounts in that picture including LH mount (which is tranny mount, right?)
i took all p/n from toyodiy.com - one of them needed a confirmation from dealer, as number got changed (was different for engine rear one).

all of them are new (dog bone is 1 month old). except for dog bone which i replaced myself, the rest was done at the shop.

Originally Posted by Hajoca

Did you re check the torque on the fasteners?

i didn't check it. possible that the guy who has done repairs (not one of my usual 2 guys whom i trust more or less) didn't check/know the torque specs...

i think i will go back to the shop and simply ask them if they torqued down all bolts to specs.
i can even bring them my 97-01 camry Haynes manual which shows ft-lbs for front and rear mounts, no torque for LH mounting bolts unfortunately.

[JohnGD]

VW actually uses Aisin transmissions in cheaper lines of their cars. Better ones get the ZF Friedrichshafen.

So in a way yes, I agree with BlackCamSe that Aisin transmissions suck. (At least the newer ones like the Aisin U-series.) The older A-series are fine, but a bit on the dirty side.

[JohnGD]

You have new mounts, so those are probably not the problem. Make sure the throttle linkage is properly adjusted, because they affect line pressure.

Get the shop to do a line pressure test. The plug is on the left front of the vehicle near the pan. See if the pressure is in range. If so it's probably internal. Maybe an accumulator that helps to abosorb shocks is not doing a good job any more.

Originally Posted by fenixus

in short yes and mostly as you noted. however i just went to car with camera and wanted to replicate the sound for documenting and ... i couldn't make it do this
i took it for a run around the block, parked, shut it down for 5 minutes and then after starting it was there when i shifted from P to R (damn i had camera turned off). i then tried again with camera turned on and sound didn't happen, ugggh....

i have to note that when it happens I have brakes applied and as long as i keep them depressed it happens always. once i release brakes, then press them again and shift from P to R it's gone this time. very tricky. rarely happens now, but still, sometimes is back.

[fenixus]

how do you check throttle linkage adjustment ? what setting is correct ?

by line pressure test you mean to do it on the transmission line, correct ? how much something like that may cost at the shop ?

does all above mean there is something wrong with tranny itself or some accessory around it ? if so is it fixable at low cost or requires new tranny ? and last thing, if uncured is it fatal in a long run ?

[fenixus]

hey, aren't we missing something ? how about thoroughly checking exhaust pipe for weak points or loose mounts ? something has to make this clunking noise ... hard to believe it would be the tranny itself ... i refuse to accept that

i can still hear a faint noise of burnt (?) exhaust even after fixing flex pipe. it has to be somewhere, it sounds like coming from under the hood almost (like flex pipe).

[JohnGD]

When you shift, even in new cars, you'll feel this slight jolt as you go into D or R. I assume this is a heavy case of that? When its in reverse the line pressure is higher. When the line pressure is harder things also engage harder.

So you're right. This may not be the same jolt/noise in normal shifts into D/R. Maybe have some one standing by the car and listen to the source? But the noise basically is there before/after new mounts, right?

I think you adjusted the throttle linkage before to raise the line pressure. The little metal cable stake should stick out of the rubber boot by about 1mm. You have to make sure the throttle is fully closed. Haynes at Pep Boys should have pictures in it. I'd want the line pressure to be at the upper range than the lower range, but within range.

When engine is off, the automatic throttle opener opens it a little bit. So if you don't make sure it's off, the adjustment will not be correct.

Originally Posted by fenixus

hey, aren't we missing something ? how about thoroughly checking exhaust pipe for weak points or loose mounts ? something has to make this clunking noise ... hard to believe it would be the tranny itself ... i refuse to accept that

i can still hear a faint noise of burnt (?) exhaust even after fixing flex pipe. it has to be somewhere, it sounds like coming from under the hood almost (like flex pipe).