Trans Hesitates from 1st to 2nd Gear

[Deadly Sushi]

Its slippin I think. It holds a bit from 1st to 2nd gear.
What can I DO MAN!!!??? (cheaply)

Also do these things have struts at all 4 corners?

[fenixus]

use search button. check FAQ.

[Deadly Sushi]

Originally Posted by fenixus

use search button. check FAQ.

For the love of god!! I did! I turning up crap that I didnt need
Im NOT trying to be a PITA but I didnt see what I needed. This isnt the first time. I ALWAYS go to the seach feature.

[fenixus]

Originally Posted by Deadly Sushi

For the love of god!! I did! I turning up crap that I didnt need
Im NOT trying to be a PITA but I didnt see what I needed. This isnt the first time. I ALWAYS go to the seach feature.

ok, will give you a hand then, try those:

transmission:
DIY: 5S-FE Transmission Fluid & Strainer Replacement Procedure

steering:
Old Recall notice for Loose Nut! READ

bulbs (not a hit, but close):
DIY: Gen 3 "D" Bulb replacement

and yes you have struts in all 4 corners

[LynchburgCSI]

Originally Posted by Deadly Sushi

Its slippin I think. It holds a bit from 1st to 2nd gear.
What can I DO MAN!!!??? (cheaply)
Describe the conditions under which this happens. Are you in D?

Also do these things have struts at all 4 corners?
Yes. McPherson setup. 4 springs, 4 struts.

ANNNNNND...... the stering is a bit loose. Sorta..... not tight. Is that NORMAL for a 96?
Realize that the camry is a family sedan, not a sports car. Is there excessive play, or is it responsive? Loose doesn't really describe it.

LASTLY..... how do I replace ALLLLLL the lights in the climate control thing?
Search. "Climate control lights" or "LED climate control"

(Am I asking you too many questions)
Maybe.

[Deadly Sushi]

OK.... sorry. I should have described the trans problem better.

THATS the one Im worried about.

It happened especially when she is cold. When accelerating.... going from 1st to 2nd gear. The 1st gear seems to stick until higher RPMs. THENNN... it shifts somewhat hard into 2nd gear. Not smooth at all. You can feel the car engage into 2nd somewhat hard. Sorta of a hessitation going into 2nd that interfers with acceleration.

The trans fluid is a brownish-red and I fear it has NEVER been changed!

Will changing the filter and fluid make things WORSE?????

Is there anything I can do cheaply besides a fluid and filter change?
The engine is fine. The car is in graet shape besides the darn trans.

[fenixus]

get the ATF fluid changed AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. follow the DIY I linked. you can't make things worse by changing fluid to a fresh one unless it's already too late for anything. consider flushing the old fluid out either via a cooler line (described in that DIY) or using a machine in a local car shop, so called power flush (which is a safer and quicker method, but it's more expensive).

the cold tranny hesitation you describe MIGHT happen because of ECM programming which can hold car in higher RPM (lower gears) longer in order to make it warm up faster. however it should not do it while car is warmed up.

harsh shifting might be either old ATF (so go ahead and change it first, replacing strainer is always a good idea if it hasn't been done ever) and also consider checking the engine/tranny mounts. if mounts go bad, they will make shifting gears harsh almost always, especially on downshift.

[Deadly Sushi]

Originally Posted by fenixus

get the ATF fluid changed AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. follow the DIY I linked. you can't make things worse by changing fluid to a fresh one unless it's already too late for anything.

the cold tranny hesitation you describe MIGHT happen because of ECM programming which can hold car in higher RPM (lwoer gears) longer in order to make it warm up faster. however it should not do it while car is warmed up.

harsh shifting might be either old ATF (so go ahead and change it first, replacing strainer is always a good idea if it hasn't been one ever) and also consider checking the engine/tranny mounts. if mounts go bad, they will make shifting gears harsh almost always, especially on downshift.

Thank you VERY much! I shall change it ASAP. Is there not a trans fluid filter?
ALSO... would you recommend a FLUSH.... or a CHANGE?

[fenixus]

Originally Posted by Deadly Sushi

Thank you VERY much! I shall change it ASAP. Is there not a trans fluid filter?
ALSO... would you recommend a FLUSH.... or a CHANGE?

honestly, if it has not been ever touched then I would recommend a power flush with a machine. it's the safest thing you can do, but it will cost you. Toyota dealer can charge you up to $200 for that.

least you can do is drain & refill the fluid a few times in short intervals (every weekend for a month or so). I would do that even before touching the pan, so you already have some new fluid in the torque converter before you move further.

there is a filter/strainer in transmission. you would need to drain it, unbolt the pan (15 bolts on 4cylinder engine version) and clean it up. there will be lots of sediment/crap in pan, on magnets (2 of them on 4cylinder version) and replace the strainer (3 bolts, one is longer than the others make sure you put them back in right).

I would recommend getting an OEM tranny pan gasket and strainer parts from dealer (online is cheapest) as I actually do not trust much in aftermarket parts regarding Toyota engines and transmissions.

let me know if you need help with part numbers and online dealer part providers out there, can help with that too.

[Deadly Sushi]

Originally Posted by fenixus

honestly, if it has not been ever touched then I would recommend a power flush with a machine. it's the safest thing you can do, but it will cost you. Toyota dealer can charge you up to $200 for that.

least you can do is drain & refill the fluid a few times in short intervals (every weekend for a month or so). I would do that even before touching the pan, so you already have some new fluid in the torque converter before you move further.

there is a filter/strainer in transmission. you would need to drain it, unbolt the pan (15 bolts on 4cylinder engine version) and clean it up. there will be lots of sediment/crap in pan, on magnets (2 of them on 4cylinder version) and replace the strainer (3 bolts, one is longer than the others make sure you put them back in right).

I would recommend getting an OEM tranny pan gasket and strainer parts from dealer (online is cheapest) as I actually do not trust much in aftermarket parts regarding Toyota engines and transmissions.

let me know if you need help with part numbers and online dealer part providers out there, can help with that too.

Sooooooo.... youre saying that a FLUSH will do a better job? And they will take care of dropping the pan, cleaning the magnets and replacing the fluid gasket? All for $200?

I should probably do THAT then if they do ALL of that.

[fenixus]

Originally Posted by Deadly Sushi

Sooooooo.... youre saying that a FLUSH will do a better job? And they will take care of dropping the pan, cleaning the magnets and replacing the fluid gasket? All for $200?

I should probably do THAT then if they do ALL of that.

power flush is the safest method (not cheapest), but they will not touch the pan and strainer they will just replace the whole fluid inside the transmission by attaching a machine to cooler lines which will take care of sucking old fluid out and putting a fresh fluid in. they use 12qts of new ATF for that purpose.

you can try a cheaper way (with own better fluid, like synthetic blend or fully synthetic fluid instead of generic Dexron-III dealers use), but results vary from person to person when doing a cooler line flush in your own back yard or drive way (not a power flush).

pan dropping (and cleaning) and strainer replacement would still need to be done separately if you want to go that extra mile.

[Deadly Sushi]

Originally Posted by fenixus

power flush is the safest method (not cheapest), but they will not touch the pan and strainer they will just replace the whole fluid inside the transmission by attaching a machine to cooler lines which will take care of sucking old fluid out and putting a fresh fluid in. they use 12qts of new ATF for that purpose.

you can try a cheaper way (with own better fluid, like synthetic blend or fully synthetic fluid instead of generic Dexron-III dealers use), but results vary from person to person when doing a cooler line flush in your own back yard or drive way (not a power flush).

pan dropping (and cleaning) and strainer replacement would still need to be done separately if you want to go that extra mile.

Im thinking I should take this to my local garage then. MAYBE

OK man..... whats better?
Dealer fluid flush?
ORRRRR
Dropping the pan.... cleaning the pan and magnets along with changing the fluid?

I want this thing driving like NEW!

[fenixus]

then you should do BOTH

first the power flush at local garage using some decent fluid, preferably the synthetic blend.

then dropping the pan, cleaning stuff and putting a new OEM strainer in it along with new pan gasket and refill with a decent fluid

that's what I did on my 2.2L and can't complain on transmission anymore (power flushed at dealer 10k miles ago). my only problem is related to a stiff shifter, but it was there since day one, only getting worse with every 10k miles on it hehe. will look into it in Spring.

on V6 I did same, just skipped the fluid flush now as it was power flushed at dealer 30k miles ago (prev owner) and all behaves great. new fluid and strainer can't hurt the car. ... unless it's already too late for any maintenance on transmission...

[ajkalian]

Originally Posted by Deadly Sushi

Im thinking I should take this to my local garage then. MAYBE

OK man..... whats better?
Dealer fluid flush?
ORRRRR
Dropping the pan.... cleaning the pan and magnets along with changing the fluid?

I want this thing driving like NEW!

No guarantee that any of this will get you driving like new, sorry.

But regular maintenance will extend the useful life of the transmission, nothing more.

Drop the pan and clean out the crud in the bottom of the pan. Mine had 1/8" of fine black gunk in the bottom of the pan. No amount of flushing is going to get that crud out. I also replaced the el-cheapo deluxe magnets with the three 1/2" neodymium magnets. While you have the pan off make sure that the drain plug will come loose. It's better to find out it's frozen with the transmission pan on the bench, compared to trying to get it loose laying on your back. I'd also get a new metal gasket for the drain plug. I also like to re-magnetize the drain plug by rubbing it with magnets pulled from an old hard drive. But that's pretty much voodo, but I think it helps.

You can get a strainer kit and gasket from Autozone for under $20.00. Then after you get it all back together. Do a Drain and Fill a couple of times and then plan on changing the fluid every 15,000 miles or so from now on. The strainer and gasket looks like this for my 2000 1MZ-FE. Yours might be different.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par...er=143886_0_0_


I also like to suck out the power steering fluid with a turkey baster and fill up the reservoir with fresh fluid when you change the transmission fluid.

You can also add an in-line filter to get any crud that is left floating around in the transmission. But I haven't done that yet.

.

[fenixus]

Originally Posted by ajkalian

You can also add an in-line filter to get any crud that is left floating around in the transmission. But I haven't done that yet.

.

it's very easy on 2.2L 5s-fe setup because of lots of working space. just get new transmission oil cooler hoses (4-5ft should suffice) from NAPA and cut them to proper lengths. I did it on my i4 solara a while ago, was very easy with NAPA 6 gear worm clamps (original hose clamps are to big to be used on NAPA hoses) and Magnefine filter from ebay ( click here).

I haven't done it on 1mz-fe yet as the working space is tight and can't really do anything before I remove the rad fans, it's tight around there.
Planning to put Magenfine ATF filter on my V6 in Spring