New Tranny needed @ 66 K Miles

[allforaritz]

I have a 1993 Camry LE which my Grandmother and FATHER used to drive, and I received it when it had approximately 55 K miles or so, and I did do a transmission service on it shortely thereafter.

My question is, what do you guys think about the tranny going out with so little miles?

NOTE: I took it to two transmission specialists and they said pretty much the same thing:

1) When going faster on the freeway generally, when the gas pedal is depressed pretty far, the RPM's will either just SHOOT up to 6 K+, or there will be a THUD when it changes gears.
2) I've noticed the car is sluggish now and seems like its lost a lot of power.
3) When I used to go on the freeway at above 60 MPH, and i pressed on the gas to switch lanes or something, the RPM's would go back and forth between 3-4 K RPM's, and I couldn't go any faster unless I let go of the gas.

I'm saddened by the fact that my tranny is about to go out and I Just wanted to get people's opinions. I have 2 quotes for $1300.00 TOTAL for the entire job and just wanna see if anyone else knows a good company near LOS ANGELES.

-Ryan

[allforaritz]

Guess I should add that it's an AUTOMATIC V6

[RAV4EVR]

Hmmmm.. How often was the transmission serviced. It was supposed to have new fluid every 10 to 15k miles and sooner if driven hard.

That is just not it. If the car is on "D" on highway speed. If somebody shoots it down to "2" or downshifts with it a lot... the transmission life is reduced.

I am pretty sure something went wrong somewhere... Not saying anything about your dad or granddad's driving habits but maybe somebody else was trying to get kicks out of the car. I know one guy who killed his transmission early by manually shifting an AUTOMATIC transmission 1-2-3-4-3-2-1... continously.... Sometimes he was trying to ROLL the car from "2"... very bad... very bad... I don't know what happened in your case.

You may want to get on the internet and look for used part websites. They send emails to all salvageyards in their database and you will get reply from who has it. They will ship it to you and have your mechanice put it in for you....

[ecucio]

Have it check for second opinion. It might be just solenoid going bad (speed sensor). That's very rare that will happen to a gen3 unless like what RAV4EVR said. Goodluck!

[marc780]

ALL foritz, i would try a fluid flush first, it might improve the AT operation. You have nothing to lose except about $20 of fluid.

[Ken4]

Check your tranny fluid level whether it is low on fluid. If it's at the correct level, I suspect it's the transmission flushes which caused the problem. They hook up the cooler lines to a machine, add solvent to flush the tranny, and this is where the problem arises, too much sludge dislodges too quickly and ends up choking up the filter screen. You get poor lubrication with choked screens and subsequently tranny failure. Best not to do transmission flush with old cars like your 1993. Just do drain and refill.

[JSM1284]

The problem could be the Tranny Service you did after getting the car. If one was never done prior to that the service can cause more harm than good. I am a service advisor for Enterprise Fleet Services, and our policy is that if a vehicle has gone up to around 60,000 miles without a Trans service ever performed, that service will be denied. It probably would have been in the Transmissions best interest not to have done it.

[allforaritz]

I've had 2 opinions from specialists and they both agree that the tranny should be rebuilt since there is metal in the tranny fluid. I went to valvoline to have the transmission service done, i'm not 100 % sure exactly what I got but it was like $79.99. I saw that my dad also did a service around 45,000 miles for it.

That's weird that doing a transmission service could actually harm a tranny. As for the flushing versus just draining, what do most transmission specialists do when they change your transmission fluid? Do they flush it, or just drain it, drop the pan, and put in new fluid? I have a 04' scion xa so i want to keep her running good for her fiance and avoid anymore trauma.

I don't think it's worth it to even try any transmission services at this point since the fluid isn't low (but it is dirty & has specs of metal in it). My car seems to be lacking power and it's really sluggish when cold as well. Poor gen3 camry Thanks for the info guys & girls..

[-SCWEET1-]

I have an automatic tranny if you want I will sell it for 200 bucks, it still works.

[tacojet]

It sounds like a torque converter problem, not a tranny. I would double check the level of fluid, if the converter is not full, it won't engage the tranny.

[jhbhatia]

who did you tranny service. i only take it to toyota for a reson, our fluids are not what the tranny shop uses. I know it may cost more, but then you can flush it...fyi: if you want to do it outside toyota dealerships, always do a drain and fill by buying your own ATF fluid.

[ToyotaToday]

Originally Posted by allforaritz

I have a 1993 Camry LE which my Grandmother and FATHER used to drive, and I received it when it had approximately 55 K miles or so, and I did do a transmission service on it shortely thereafter.

My question is, what do you guys think about the tranny going out with so little miles?

NOTE: I took it to two transmission specialists and they said pretty much the same thing:

1) When going faster on the freeway generally, when the gas pedal is depressed pretty far, the RPM's will either just SHOOT up to 6 K+, or there will be a THUD when it changes gears.
2) I've noticed the car is sluggish now and seems like its lost a lot of power.
3) When I used to go on the freeway at above 60 MPH, and i pressed on the gas to switch lanes or something, the RPM's would go back and forth between 3-4 K RPM's, and I couldn't go any faster unless I let go of the gas.

I'm saddened by the fact that my tranny is about to go out and I Just wanted to get people's opinions. I have 2 quotes for $1300.00 TOTAL for the entire job and just wanna see if anyone else knows a good company near LOS ANGELES.

-Ryan

Hi

Do you have the full history of this car? Did you grandfather/father own it when it was brand new? 66K miles is very low as far as transmission problems goes. A lot of people don't service their auto tranny (not that I recommend this) for miles and miles (more than 100 km) and have no tranny problems. Any way, do you know how the car was treated before? I'm not saying that your father or grandfather abused the car by any means, but just wondering if a mechanic or something happened to the car out of the ordinary. 66k is very low for tranny problem.

Have you tried changing the fluid first and she what happens? If that doesnt fix it then do step 2, get the tranny repaired or replaced.

[Camry005man]

Before taking the car to have Transmission service, how was the car when you were driving, did you have the same problem?
If you want to have good service, try to use from dealer. They know that car better.

[marc780]

Yes Toytoday and Camry005man...i dont want any other mechanic touching my car, dealer or not, unless there's no alternative - i want to do it myself. Some mechanics know what they are doing but most dont, and i have seen soooo many mistakes and F%$*kups from mechanics.

Whenever i get my car back from a mechanic i always check their work, and 9 times of 10 they either didnt fix it the first time or they screwed something else up. So when it comes to flushing i'd much rather do that too for me own car.
The repair shop usually uses bulk ATF from a 55 gallon drum, with Lord knows how many inches of dirt and water on the bottom. And where does his pump draw the ATF from? The bottom of the drum. So where is the dirt and water going, but into your trans.
And if the car called for TIV fluid (your '93 doesnt), is the mechanic going to use this? Or wil he just use fluid from the aformentioned drum of Universal fluid he has already. Maybe i should make a poll.