3rd & 4th Generation (1992–1996 & 1997–2001)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1992-1996 & 1997-2001
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UPDATE 2: So today, I brought the car to the transmission guy to deal with the transmission kicking. He test drove it around the block (by himself) and after he came back, the front engine mount is completely torn, esp. visible if you throttle the engine a bit. It is difficult for me to establish when the mount was torn, as the transmission was kicking all along.
Here's a video I shot 3 days ago on a cold start, shifting gears from R to N to D and back. Let me know what you think.
TL;DR: Transmission is kicking while changing gears after rebuilding. What could be the cause?
Hello everyone. I have a 1999 Camry LE 2.2L 4cyl Automatic, which I take good care off. Bought it used at about 65k miles in '05. I've been a long-time lurker on this forum, and now decided to register and try and get some help with my issue.
My transmission (A140E) started slipping very obviously at just under 96k (95,994) miles. Well, it was obvious a rebuilt was needed, so I shelled out $1400 to have it done.
It has been a few months since, and the transmission is not slipping. HOWEVER, it tends to "kick" while shifting gears. This is especially noticeable when parking and switching from D to R: it kicks so much that the whole car shakes. Sometimes, I feel 1-2 gear change kick a bit as well (not as much as D-R/R-D though).
I went back to my mechanic. At first, he told me my Engine mounts were torn. Replaced them, but had practically no effect on the "kicking". Sent it over to the transmission shop, and they did "something", but the transmission is still kicking.
What do you think could be the problem here? So that when I take it in again I can ask better questions. Thank you all.
UPDATE 1: I've been monitoring the issue carefully for some time, and it seems like when the transmission (not just the engine) gets warmed up, the "kicking" almost goes away. Same thing for gear changes - 1 to 2 kicks when cold, but acts fine when the transmission gets warm. Furthermore the oil level is still about 1" above the HOT-HIGH mark when the transmission is warm, measurement taken with engine ON at PARK.
Any thoughts on this?
my money would have been on bad engine mounts as well. next time you are at your car - open the hood, hop in the driver's seat and turn on your car. take a mental note of how much the engine moves when you turn on the car. (actually watch it as you do so.) now shift between P & D and D & R. there should only be a little movement, barely even noticeable if i remember correctly what mine looks like.
if the motor moves a significant amount, there is still a bad mount(s). if it doesnt move and you still feel a hard shift, it could be something internal (but i doubt it). im wondering if the mechanic replaced all of the mounts or only the very easy to replace torque mount.
if the mounts are bad and he only replaced this torque mount, it could help smooth out the shift (and quickly send away an upset customer to move on to other paying jobs), but will get bad very quickly as the other bad mounts will cause increased stress and wear on this new mount.
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my money would have been on bad engine mounts as well. next time you are at your car - open the hood, hop in the driver's seat and turn on your car. take a mental note of how much the engine moves when you turn on the car. (actually watch it as you do so.) now shift between P & D and D & R. there should only be a little movement, barely even noticeable if i remember correctly what mine looks like.
if the motor moves a significant amount, there is still a bad mount(s). if it doesnt move and you still feel a hard shift, it could be something internal (but i doubt it). im wondering if the mechanic replaced all of the mounts or only the very easy to replace torque mount.
if the mounts are bad and he only replaced this torque mount, it could help smooth out the shift (and quickly send away an upset customer to move on to other paying jobs), but will get bad very quickly as the other bad mounts will cause increased stress and wear on this new mount.
Thanks for your reply.
I checked, and he did replace both front (radiator) and rear engine mounts. They look obviously new. He said front one is solid, and rear one is hydraulic, just like they're supposed to be from the factory (not sure if this is true, but that's what he said).
Before the mount replacement, the engine was moving quite a bit, like an inch or two in either direction. I haven't checked after the mounts had been replaced.
as chris said, i forgot there is also a transmission mount down there too. seriously, a shifting engine and transmission will cause you to feel a shift much more than you are suppose to.
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I would suspect the torque rod first, as thats the only link on the top holding it from rocking back and forth as you're probably noticing. That's easy to check. Looks for cracks or missing pieces.
Check the torque rod on the top. Also check the transmission mount.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ghettosled
check it.
as chris said, i forgot there is also a transmission mount down there too. seriously, a shifting engine and transmission will cause you to feel a shift much more than you are suppose to.
Well, my mechanic did look at the transmission mount, and said it doesn't need replacement (otherwise I'm sure he'd love to make money on that, too). I did a visual inspection of the torque mount AND the transmission mount, and I see nothing wrong with either.
Mind you, these problems started AFTER the transmission was rebuilt.
ONE MORE THING: I checked the transmission oil lever, and it is way, way too high. It has both cold and hot marks, and the level is a good 2-3 inches above the cold marks, and even higher when hot. This is on a leveled driveway. I'm starting to wonder if this could have something to do with it?
Double check the torque on the front on rear mounts...one time I had the rear mount a little loose (forgot to torque it!) and the nut vibrated loose and disappeared on the highway and the engine was rocking pretty bad. The transmission mount has 5 nuts total to check, 3 on the trans, 2 on the subframe.
If all else fails, bring it back and say fix it. The oil level being too high after a rebuild is a little scary though...definitely call and ask about that...
How about the Throttle Valve Cable nut location? While replacing tranny after the rebuild someone may not have set the TV cable to factory specs.
I had adjusted the TV cable nut all the way out and used to get these KICKing from the car while moving to D and R.
Once set to factory specs things returned to normal.
__________________ 1995 Camry DX L4 178,6XX miles and counting each mile.... acquired 05/25/2007 at 129K miles
2004 Mazda6 I4 5-Speed Manual 115,500 miles acquired 01/21/2011 at 109,XXX miles
ONE MORE THING: I checked the transmission oil lever, and it is way, way too high. It has both cold and hot marks, and the level is a good 2-3 inches above the cold marks, and even higher when hot. This is on a leveled driveway. I'm starting to wonder if this could have something to do with it?
Did you check that with the engine running or off? ATF have to be checked with the engine idling after shifting through all the gears.
Did you check that with the engine running or off? ATF have to be checked with the engine idling after shifting through all the gears.
Yes, I actually just did check it both ways. With Engine off, it is way high, like I said. After running the engine and shifting gears a few times, it is now same or maybe slightly lower, but still about 2 inches above the Hot High mark. The dipstick has both cold and hot markings. Weird.
Engine Torque Rod: it is a bit worn with a crack or two, but still functioning and not torn. The engine moving from D to R almost pushes against the walls of the torque rod. Overall, I doubt torque rod is to blame here.
Same for the transmission mount: it is a bit torn in the middle, but there does not seem to be any movement there.
The bolts on all mounts are nice and tight.
I think I'll just drop off the car back at my mechanic's after Easter, and tell him to fix it.
Yes, I actually just did check it both ways. With Engine off, it is way high, like I said. After running the engine and shifting gears a few times, it is now same or maybe slightly lower, but still about 2 inches above the Hot High mark. The dipstick has both cold and hot markings. Weird.
The cold marking is when the enigne is warm but not driven. The hot is when the engine is warm and the car is driven a few miles. Yea, I would have the tech check it and drain a bit of ATF out if there too much.
Also, check the bolts on the motor mounts and torque rod. I had a similar problem when shifting from R-D and D-R. Turns out to be a loose bolt on the torque rod and engine block. Tighten it and no more clunk.
Engine Torque Rod: it is a bit worn with a crack or two, but still functioning and not torn. The engine moving from D to R almost pushes against the walls of the torque rod. Overall, I doubt torque rod is to blame here.
Same for the transmission mount: it is a bit torn in the middle, but there does not seem to be any movement there.
The bolts on all mounts are nice and tight.
I think I'll just drop off the car back at my mechanic's after Easter, and tell him to fix it.
what do you mean "pushes against the walls of the torque rod"? the bolt through the center should only move very little. assuming the bolt is almost touching the metal of the sides, it sounds like its it really bad shape.
mounts are difficult to just visually inspect. grab and pry bar and pry on it. if its good, you shouldnt be able to move it. if its cracked, it could be cracked all the way though.
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what do you mean "pushes against the walls of the torque rod"? the bolt through the center should only move very little. assuming the bolt is almost touching the metal of the sides, it sounds like its it really bad shape.
mounts are difficult to just visually inspect. grab and pry bar and pry on it. if its good, you shouldnt be able to move it. if its cracked, it could be cracked all the way though.
The side of it that mounts to the body is all solid, yes, but the engine part looks like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/97-01...Q5fAccessories
So it seems like it was designed to allow some wall-to-wall movement of the rubber piece with the bolt within the metal circle, and that what mine does. The are a few small cracks in the rubber, but it is NOT torn.
UPDATE: I've been monitoring the issue carefully for some time, and it seems like when the transmission (not just the engine) gets warmed up, the "kicking" almost goes away. Same thing for gear changes - 1 to 2 kicks when cold, but acts fine when the transmission gets warm. Furthermore the oil level is still about 1" above the HOT-HIGH mark when the transmission is warm, measurement taken with engine ON at PARK.
Any thoughts on this?
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1999 Camry Transmission Problems After Rebuild
Well, it was obvious a rebuilt was needed, so I shelled out $1400 to have it done.
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