cold weather camry question.

[Spitfire]

So i have texted Chris as well as ken on this but im still throwing blanks

every year around this time "winter" my car enjoys shifting into 4th wayyyy late. I will start car (say after work or early in the morning) let it sit for 5min then drive off. all gears are fine but it holds third for way to long (idk if the car has to fully warm up for it to shift or what) and i know its an old car it needs longer to warm but i would think 5min of sittin atleast would do it. most of my driving involves highways.

for example

i will start my car when i get off work late at night let it sit for 5-7min then drive off. it wont shift into 4th until about 5 to 7 miles down the road. this morning i took a girl home from my house and it didnt hit fourth until i was right near her house which is about 10 miles down the road.

I will check fluids and all today but should i be worried? I know i dont post much help me threads but im just worried a little. i need this tranny to atleast continue running until summer time when i do my swap i have planned. (secrets ) is it a bed wire in the "clutch pack, or syncro" lol just curious as to WTF lol. so im hoping that some of the good knowledge members can help me like mister perk or a few of the sort.

until then i guess ill just let my car warm up longer

Chris

[csaxon]

It's normal every year when the cold weather arrives. The trans won't shift to O/D until the coolant temp goes above 140F and the O/D trans fluid pressure switch is activated. Drive the car to warm up both.

[Spitfire]

yeah i knew that much. its just this year its taking alot longer then years past and its been way colder in the past.

[arabianobsession]

Every year your car gets a little bit older and parts get a little bit older. I mean, when humans get older it takes them a bit longer to do things too.

[larocque44]

have the same problem. Warm it up every morning and before leaving work for 15mins or it takes awhile to shift. changed ATF to high mileage and it helped. maybe 3/4km for it to shift from bone cold into O/D

[Spitfire]

very true. but less you forget i am super human i dont see age lol yeah i guess its nothing to worry about. i told ken and chris that i would post up just in case..

yeah i just did a tranny flush the other week so i might just drain it again and do some high milage as you said

[Chris Crash]

Check your drizzler.

[LynchburgCSI]

I forgot about the fact that the computer delays shifting into O/D when the engine is cold. Heh. But yes... I'd switch over to all high mileage fluids.

[Mike Gerber]

Excuse what may seem like a silly question, but is the car taking a lot longer to warm up than last year, or is the temperature gage not even reaching to near the half way point? This could be as simple as a thermostat that is stuck open. This would cause the car itself to take a longer time to reach the temperature where the computer allows the trans to shift in to overdrive (4th gear). Have you noticed the temperature on the gage as being normal?

Just an additional thought here.

Mike

[Spitfire]

^ both

edit: how do i check about that? cause i never see the car read normal during winter. during summer its fine.

[fenixus]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

^ both

edit: how do i check about that? cause i never see the car read normal during winter. during summer its fine.

sound like thermostat stuck open if your car never reaches normal operating temp (per dash gauge) in Winter.

mine opens and closes, but it seems to open up fully much earlier than supposed to (makes warm up very long too). in the end car gets to normal operating temperature, but it takes like 15 minutes.

[JohnGD]

You have to remove the thermostat and warm it up in a pot of water. But for something like this it's usually replaced without asking. It's the labor getting to the part. Of course, Toyota might just give you a defective thermostat. It happens sometimes.

Originally Posted by Spitfire

^ both

edit: how do i check about that? cause i never see the car read normal during winter. during summer its fine.

[Spitfire]

how much do they run? I was told by someone those things should get replaced every few years

EDIT: K i found price usually around 15 to 20 from advanced. which works cause one of my best friends works for them muahhaha. also i found a thread on how to install. so imma give this a whirl and see if it fixes my issues. plus that way ill do a coolant flush as well. and also drain the auto tranny fluid and replace with high milage

[EEngineer]

5speed swap would solve the problem permanently

[Spitfire]

^^ soon enough.... its part of my build.. shhhhhh gezz >.<