A140E: Crazy tranny (last leg?) - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

CrawlingEye · 10-10-2005, 08:15 PM

Ok, about 2 days ago my car started acting very peculiar.
What's happening is that when I start from a stop, it revs freely (while in drive, low or 2nd) and essentially just stalls even past stall point (2500rpm), and around 3k the car will start shuddering. If I quickly give it gas, it'll stop stalling right away and drive fine. I've checked the tranny fluid and drained/refilled it, I've checked my throttle valve cable and it looks perfect. For good measure, to rule out ignition, I retimed the car back to stock timing and installed stock gap/heat range plugs.

The weird thing of it all is that this problem ONLY happens in d/2/l, in reverse the car is perfectly fine with no such problem.

Any offending part I've been able to think of has been shut down by the fact that reverse works 100%. I'm assuming this is a transmission issue. Anyone have any ideas?

I plan on doing a 5spd swap soon, but lack the funds or time to do it right now.

AutoBox · 10-10-2005, 08:48 PM

sorry but it sounds to me like your transmission is failing. reving freely in drive <--slipping as well as shuddering are signs of a worn transmission. slipping occurs when the hydraulic clutches (auto trannies have many clutch plates) are not engaging due to wear in the transmission. you'll be able to get some more miles out of it if you take it easy. if i were you id swap in that 5speed asap, wouldn't want to see you get stranded somewhere.

CrawlingEye · 10-10-2005, 08:58 PM

Autobox, I'm afraid the same is the case. The only thing making me think it isn't clutch plates or anything is the fact that it engages perfectly in reverse and will reverse with gas applied completely fine.

The issue with 'taking it easy' on it is the fact that it won't move unless I give it gas from a stop, otherwise it'll just stall throughout the rpm range.

Gary_602Z · 10-10-2005, 09:02 PM

I believe there are separate clutches for reverse. Take it to a GOOD tranny shop and get it checked out if you are not sure.

Gary

AutoBox · 10-10-2005, 09:17 PM

apologies for jumping for conclusions i still think its your tranny though

it could be the planetary gearset in the tranny or the internal bands that wrap the geartrain theres no way to pinpoint what is causing it without disassembly

btw..
you car is 12+ years no offence at all ! parts eventually wear out/break/fail
how many miles on your car?(for reference)
do you push it alot...WOT or hold gears; shift it manually
having it looked at by a mechanic is a good idea

CrawlingEye · 10-11-2005, 02:25 AM

The age isn't what's giving me cause for concern. I've given it a regular tranny flushing schedule since I've owned it and have even had it flushed early when the fluid started looking a little funky.

The reverse gear may have a different clutches, which would explain it.
I'll take it to my preferred garage shortly, but if it's something simple that I'm able to fix (without getting into the internals of the tranny) I'd rather do it myself.

CrawlingEye · 10-11-2005, 03:16 PM

Ok, update is this: Tranny's on its way out. Either a piston isn't sealing which isn't providing enough pressure or the clutch pack itself for 1st is wearing down.

The garage said to try a can of tranny additive that will soften seals, so if it is a piston it'll buy me some time. Right now, I'm looking at at least 1g to have it fixed.
I'm thinking the 5spd swap may be looking more appealing, but I think my father's trying to pull me to cut my losses and get a new car. Unless I can pickup a another Camry (manual) or whatever, I think I'm going to just try to do the 5spd swap.