I guess I killed my A/T... - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Mach III · 10-21-2010, 02:49 AM

I got a Camry -98 2.2 with an automatic transmission.
And I was on a trip a long way from home when the waterpump suddenly seized and the timingbelt broke. I called a friend of mine to come and help me, and he towed my car home, with the front wheels on the ground, over a distance of many, many miles and in pretty high speeds.

This is my first car ever with A/T, I just bought it this summer, and you may call me stupid but I really wasn't aware of the limitation of towing a car with A/T until I come home and another friend of mine almost pulled his hair out of his head when he heard about the trip.
Anyway; I have now installed new timingbelt and waterpump, and I have started the car an driven it about a mile and havn't noticed anything speciall with the A/T so far. But I really don't know what to expect either, I guess it will break down soon due to damaged bearings or friction plates? So, before I drive anything further; there is nothing I can do to prevent an upcoming disaster? A complete oilchange/flushing will not do anything in this case?

Mach III

Pvt-Public · 10-21-2010, 04:17 AM

Not yet, but you will kill your ATM when you need to fix your A/T.

Mach III · 10-21-2010, 05:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pvt-Public

Not yet, but you will kill your ATM when you need to fix your A/T.

Sorry if I have mixed-up the terms a little bit here, but english is not my main language...

With ATM I ment "automatic transmission", I have corrected it in the posting now...

Mach III

Chris Crash · 10-21-2010, 09:37 AM

If it's driving fine...I guess it's alright. You'd probably notice immediate problems.

Try draining the trans pan and see what comes out. If chunks come out...yeah you're screwed.

***fenixus*** · 10-21-2010, 10:28 AM

yeah, just drain and refill the transmission. as Chris said, if it drives fine and fluid comes out good, then you OK, if not ... oh well, post back and the collective will see

Mach III · 10-21-2010, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenixus

yeah, just drain and refill the transmission. as Chris said, if it drives fine and fluid comes out good, then you OK, if not ... oh well, post back and the collective will see

Ok, there's still a little hope then...

Should I remove the pan and clean the magnets and strainer and then do a full flush or just take an ordinary oil-change?

Mach III

***fenixus*** · 10-21-2010, 10:46 AM

I would just do a quick drain and refill for starters to see how the fluid looks like, etc. and drive it to feel how it shifts.

You could always drain it again after like a week of driving and then drop a pan to clean it and change the strainer. this way you will get most of fluid replaced in torque converter without actually DIY flushing it via cooler line (it can create some problems with getting the fluid to correct level after that).

peshwa · 10-21-2010, 10:51 AM

Fenixus and Chris are right on money! Most likely your AT is fine. Drive and enjoy.
Take out the ghosts from your mind. Study the stuff on TN. Take good observations about your car and its issues and post back on TN.
Guys here will certainly help if you give them right information.

csaxon · 10-21-2010, 12:34 PM

Your transmission has a pressure relief vent hole. If you don't see fluid dripping then your probably OK.

Mach III · 10-21-2010, 01:40 PM

Thank you all very much for your suggestions, I will investigate more tomorrow then!

It seems that you are most worried about damaged friction-disks that will clogg up in the A/T, and not the bearings then.
But right now it's evening up here in Norway, and it's snowing, the earliest winter in 37 years they told on the news. So I ain't temted to crawl under the car to drain the oil just now...

But I will report back to you here when I know anything more about the condition to my Camry's A/T.

Mach III

Mach III · 10-26-2010, 02:41 AM

Ok, first update: I drained the oil and took a good look at it, and I could not find any desposits in it at all. The color of the oil is brown with a tint of red, don't now if this is due to old oil or overheating, or maybe it even was brown when it was new? Is all A/T oils normally red, or?
Anyway; I filled up the A/T with new oil and took some short trips in the neighbourhood. I didn't notice any suspicious sounds or behaviour, so yesterday I took the car for a trip over a 100km(about 60 miles) and it still seems good.
So this far it looks very promising, but I'm still worried that I can have damaged some bearings that may show up at a later time.
After all the towing distance was about 250km(155 miles) in an average speed of 80km/h(50mp/h), so everybody tells me that the A/T could not survive this...
I will be back later and report after some more milage.

Mach III

71Corolla · 10-26-2010, 03:16 AM

Transmission fluid turns brown (and eventually black) over time, this is normal. It's not good to leave it in there to the point where it is discolouring, but it's very common. I've seen tranny fluid nearly black and smelled horrible. It's normally like a ruby red but a little bit darker.

If you don't hear any unusual noises and the transmission seems to work fine, then I doubt you'll have any problems down the road.