3rd & 4th Generation (1992–1996 & 1997–2001)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1992-1996 & 1997-2001
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This evening I was accelerating onto the expressway and my car shifted normally from 1st to 2nd then didn't shift after that. Now it only shifts from 1st to 2nd. I've also lost reverse, park, 2, and L but not neutral or drive.
The shift quality just prior to this had been terrible, sometimes it would slip and sometimes it would bang into gear (mostly 3rd to 4th).
I'm taking it to Aamco on Thursday, but I'd like to see what you guys have to say about it.
This evening I was accelerating onto the expressway and my car shifted normally from 1st to 2nd then didn't shift after that. Now it only shifts from 1st to 2nd. I've also lost reverse, park, 2, and L but not neutral or drive.
The shift quality just prior to this had been terrible, sometimes it would slip and sometimes it would bang into gear (mostly 3rd to 4th).
I'm taking it to Aamco on Thursday, but I'd like to see what you guys have to say about it.
I would if I could! I'm really hoping this is all just something electrical and easy to repair. If it costs anything over $1K I can't afford to fix it.
Well it'll take that long to rebuild, because they have other work. So I don't think it's going to charge you 8 hrs x 5 days kind of money. But I'm sure they'll have to do a diagnostic run before telling you exactly what you need, right? Have you considered letting them do that?
The quickest is to swap in a reman transmission, but that's out of the price target for now. It'll be about $2000 + labor. Typical 3-yr/100K mile warranty. This should be a one-day thing.
The slowest is to rebuild the one they pulled out of the car, if it's in rebuildable condition, like you said. They should give you at least a 1 year warranty.
The fastest and cheapest is to install a salvage yard pull. Usually 3-4 month, 3000 mile "warranty" from the junk yard. Labor extra, each time . Reputable shops probably won't do these but I heard some chain stores do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnoFox4
The only shop within 25 miles of me is the following:
For typical cars with GM Dexron III type ATF I agree with that. In fact, 10-15K miles with filter and pan drop is what I'd tell my friends. And I'd prefer to use at least a Castrol Import Multi-vehicle ATF or Walmart SuperTech Mercon-V (suitable for D-III). These are friction modified and highly shear stable ATFs. However, Walmart $9/gallon D-III dino fluid is fine too. Or go fully synthetic like Mobil-1 or many other boutique ATFs like Red Line, Amsoil, Royal Purple, etc.
For new GM Dexron VI applications I personally would go no more than 24-30K miles for severe service. (This is a 100K mile normal service fluid. Quite decent for an ATF, really.)
Yes, most car companies tell you it's "lifetime" fill these days. But "lifetime" according to a manufacturer is quite different from some owners. I assure you that.
BTW, the D-III has an expected normal service life of about 50-60K miles. So you actually see many recommendations of normal service changes at about 24-30K miles. Severe service therefore is about 12-15K miles.
Toyota would be wrong if they don't specify a shorter interval than the ATF's design life.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnoFox4
That and they say that you should change your trans fluid every 15K with heavy use. Toyota doesn't even recommend that in the maintenance journal.
[...]
Toyota would be wrong if they don't specify a shorter interval than the ATF's design life.
I can't seem to find the maintenance PDF file, but I do remember schedule A (severe conditions) that the transmission fluid should be changed every 30K, and for schedule B they recommended a 60K interval.
Regardless, mine had been properly cared for until 140K miles when my sister had the car, she never touched anything under the hood except oil. I bought the car at 191K and had the fluid changed twice but not the filter as that would've cost too much for me at the time, currently useless in my garage at 198,576 miles. SO close to that 200K mark it makes me want to cry.
30/60Kmiles is pushing it for the Aisin A series transmissions. These are dirty transmissions without a decent filtration system.
If that's a A540 transmission then one of the problem could have been boost valve wear. These transmissions don't have a decent filtration system, and the normal debris caused accelerated wear of the boost valve. This lowered ATF line pressure and the wear and tear of the clutches increased.
If you can shift between 1 and 2, I would think that L and 2 (shifter positions) should work too. The difference is the additional application of a brake band in L/2. So maybe debris is interfering with the normal workings of the valve body.
If the boost valve has wear, then they need to put in a steel sleeve. I guess they may or may not need to take a line pressure reading before tearing into things.
If they were to find large amount of "normal" wear debris in the pan, then who knows, would exchanging out all the old fluid plus maybe a valve body cleaning/re-gasket solve the problem? Don't know.
I certainly would be interested in what's on the bottom of the ATF pan.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnoFox4
I can't seem to find the maintenance PDF file, but I do remember schedule A (severe conditions) that the transmission fluid should be changed every 30K, and for schedule B they recommended a 60K interval.
Regardless, mine had been properly cared for until 140K miles when my sister had the car, she never touched anything under the hood except oil. I bought the car at 191K and had the fluid changed twice but not the filter as that
would've cost too much for me at the time, currently useless in my garage at 198,576 miles. SO close to that 200K mark it makes me want to cry.
30/60Kmiles is pushing it for the Aisin A series transmissions. These are dirty transmissions without a decent filtration system.
If that's a A540 transmission then one of the problem could have been boost valve wear. These transmissions don't have a decent filtration system, and the normal debris caused accelerated wear of the boost valve. This lowered ATF line pressure and the wear and tear of the clutches increased.
If you can shift between 1 and 2, I would think that L and 2 (shifter positions) should work too. The difference is the additional application of a brake band in L/2. So maybe debris is interfering with the normal workings of the valve body.
If the boost valve has wear, then they need to put in a steel sleeve. I guess they may or may not need to take a line pressure reading before tearing into things.
If they were to find large amount of "normal" wear debris in the pan, then who knows, would exchanging out all the old fluid plus maybe a valve body cleaning/re-gasket solve the problem? Don't know.
I certainly would be interested in what's on the bottom of the ATF pan.
It's a A541E trans, it had been shifting badly for a while.. but I think that's because the bands were overly worn almost 200K miles will do that I guess.
It would jerk when changing from 1st to 2nd, clunk going into reverse, and hesitate at WOT. The other shifts could hardly be called smooth either.
I changed the position of the cable that leads from the throttle body to the valve body so that it increases the line pressure. It didn't help with the smoothness but the shifts were slightly quicker.
Also, the TCC solenoid has been bad since 120K miles. The car's lock-up intermittently worked, it would work perfectly every once and a while, sorta lock-up every once and while.. but most of the time it didn't even try.
When I tried Park, I heard a soft click then let off the footbrake and the car proceeded to roll backwards 8ft.
Reverse, no noise, rolls freely.
Neutral, no noise, rolls freely.
Drive, thunks, idle lowers then rises again, accelerates normally in 1st gear and BANGS into second gear.
2, no noise, rolls freely.
L, no noise, rolls freely.
When I take the car in, I'll ask them what they find in the pan.
Bump for ya, suck to hear that buddy! There is a member, trd4life, selling used 5 speed manual transmissions on here for 500$ if remember correctly. You might want to contact him? I also have somebody local you might want to contact, I'll PM you about it thought
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1995 Toyota Camry V6 LE-6M1 250K Miles, Fun Car
1997 Acura RL-Gone
2007 Acura RL SH-AWD, Technology Package, Opulent Blue Pearl- Fun Car/Daily Driver
just to toss some numbers around, when i paid someone to rebuild the automatic transmission on my 1993 grand am, i paid about $1300. i took about 2 days to get the vehicle back. they did offer a 1 year unlimited mileage warranty.
So I had to try to pull my car in the garage today, I started it in neutral, released the parking brake, then realized I had forgotten to move a box out of the garage.
I absent mindedly put the car in park and got out, the car stayed put, then began moving forward on an incline.
I can drive my Camry with the shifter in Park, I took a spin around the block. Though this time I only had 1st gear.
What sort of linkage is there between the shifter and the transmission?
Do the shift indicator lights in the instrument cluster light up correctly? And that you can start only in P and N? If so the neutral safety switch is probably adjusted correctly.
Well my guess is some problems with the mechanical linkage to the valve body and/or ATF routing in the valve body.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnoFox4
So I had to try to pull my car in the garage today, I started it in neutral, released the parking brake, then realized I had forgotten to move a box out of the garage.
I absent mindedly put the car in park and got out, the car stayed put, then began moving forward on an incline.
I can drive my Camry with the shifter in Park, I took a spin around the block. Though this time I only had 1st gear.
What sort of linkage is there between the shifter and the transmission?
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. Reputable shops probably won't do these but I heard some chain stores do. 
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