5th & 6th Generation (2002-2006 & 2007-2011)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 2002-2006 & 2007-2011
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Hello TN, I have recently bought a Toyota Camry V6 3.5L with 50,000 miles on it from the dealer. I was wondering if its normal for the car to shift hard or oddly from 1st to 2nd gear? Will this side-effect shorten the life of my transmission? I will be taking it to the deal in a week and have them FLUSH the transmission and refill with WS-ATF fluid, is this also a good idea?
Thanks
It is normal if you are in a colder climate. Mine started doing that when it got less than 45ish degrees out. So after checking on here and around the web that it is normal. Basically it tries to hold the gear long to make the engine run faster to warm up quicker. I have noticed on warmer days that it stops doing it so I do believe that it is in the programing.
As for the flush, it couldn't hurt IMO. They say that the fluid is lifetime but I don't believe it. I plan to get mine flushed this spring.
It is normal if you are in a colder climate. Mine started doing that when it got less than 45ish degrees out. So after checking on here and around the web that it is normal. Basically it tries to hold the gear long to make the engine run faster to warm up quicker. I have noticed on warmer days that it stops doing it so I do believe that it is in the programing.
As for the flush, it couldn't hurt IMO. They say that the fluid is lifetime but I don't believe it. I plan to get mine flushed this spring.
But the car does this when its at operating temperature......I hope its not going out.
Can't say I have had any problems once it is warmed up. It does shift harder while it is warming up though.
When you get your fluid changed ask the mechanic how it looked. The fluid will show if it has been abused or not. Hopefully it will shift smoother once you have that done.
Replacing the fluid would be a good idea at 50K miles (or earlier). I'd first consider dropping the pan and replacing the filter. The pan is wiped clean and inspected too at the same time.
If you can do your own work with the help of a mechanically inclined friend then you'll have a good look at the condition (pan debris, color of ATF) of the transmission. You can use fully synthetic Valvoline MaxLife if you do your own work. It's suitable for WS as well.
I don't know if the U660E ever received software updates or if that will even help. That transmission had problems right out of the factory.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jackjackattack94
Hello TN, I have recently bought a Toyota Camry V6 3.5L with 50,000 miles on it from the dealer. I was wondering if its normal for the car to shift hard or oddly from 1st to 2nd gear? Will this side-effect shorten the life of my transmission? I will be taking it to the deal in a week and have them FLUSH the transmission and refill with WS-ATF fluid, is this also a good idea?
Thanks
The Following User Says Thank You to JohnGD For This Useful Post:
Replacing the fluid would be a good idea at 50K miles (or earlier). I'd first consider dropping the pan and replacing the filter. The pan is wiped clean and inspected too at the same time.
If you can do your own work with the help of a mechanically inclined friend then you'll have a good look at the condition (pan debris, color of ATF) of the transmission. You can use fully synthetic Valvoline MaxLife if you do your own work. It's suitable for WS as well.
I don't know if the U660E ever received software updates or if that will even help. That transmission had problems right out of the factory.
Thanks, I am afraid to work on the car, so I will just have the mechanic at they Toyota Dealer flush/change the fluid and give me suggestions about the 1st 2nd gear issue and see if there was a recall or some kind of fix for it. I would work on all of the car except for the transmission, I have really screwed up transmissions on my other vehicles because I work on them, that's why. Thanks, again!
So I took it to the Toyota dealer and had them look at it. The mechanic there drove it around and said it had a shift flare and reprogrammed my transmission control unit. And it worked fine until yesterday, now when you go up hills it has a problem down shifting. When it down shifts it lags, for example the car will shift from 4 to 3 gear but when it does there is about a 1 to 2 second delay where the car feels like it is in neutral, then when it shifts to 3rd gear it jerks, hard. So I am taking it back and this time I am going to put my foot down and make them replace the transmission because if it is having those problems now its going to have them later. Thank goodness I bought it while it still had a warranty.
Last edited by jackjackattack94; 03-13-2011 at 12:07 PM.
Ok TN a new transmission issue, I live on a hill and i will coast down hill backwards in neutral instead of reverse. And when I first did it the car freaked out! I started to roll in neutral backwards and then the car jerked and the engine rpms revved up, i looked at the shifter and it said neutral. So i drove back up and tryed it again it did it again! PLEASE PLEASE GIVE ME SOME INSIGHT!
How far of a distance did you roll down hill i Neutral? What RPM did it jump to?
I don't know much about automatic transmission but there's some rule about that, even though it's on neutral. It's probably revving up to match the speed it's going and push the fluid through so you don't burn up your tranny. It's a guess.
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So I took it to the Toyota dealer and had them look at it. The mechanic there drove it around and said it had a shift flare and reprogrammed my transmission control unit. And it worked fine until yesterday, now when you go up hills it has a problem down shifting. When it down shifts it lags, for example the car will shift from 4 to 3 gear but when it does there is about a 1 to 2 second delay where the car feels like it is in neutral, then when it shifts to 3rd gear it jerks, hard. So I am taking it back and this time I am going to put my foot down and make them replace the transmission because if it is having those problems now its going to have them later. Thank goodness I bought it while it still had a warranty.
Had the same V6 model Camry and I had identical complaints. Went through a similar process with the dealer reprogramming the tranny numerous times, but could never rectify the problem. Never had this problem with my 3 previous 4 cylinder Camry's. I finally just learned to live with it as a characteristic of the V6 transmission... which shifted hard, lagged, and hunted for the correct gear for over 100,000 miles. Just bought a brand new Camry 4 cylinder, and the transmission shifts flawlessly.
Had the same V6 model Camry and I had identical complaints. Went through a similar process with the dealer reprogramming the tranny numerous times, but could never rectify the problem. Never had this problem with my 3 previous 4 cylinder Camry's. I finally just learned to live with it as a characteristic of the V6 transmission... which shifted hard, lagged, and hunted for the correct gear for over 100,000 miles. Just bought a brand new Camry 4 cylinder, and the transmission shifts flawlessly.
How far of a distance did you roll down hill i Neutral? What RPM did it jump to?
I don't know much about automatic transmission but there's some rule about that, even though it's on neutral. It's probably revving up to match the speed it's going and push the fluid through so you don't burn up your tranny. It's a guess.
It jump up to about 1900 to 2000 rpm and it happens after about 100 feet of rolling backwards, what i don't understand is why it doesn't do that rolling forward?
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