AUTO transmission problem - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

DavePont · 03-23-2005, 07:02 PM

Hi guys! I've had this problem which requires a lot of words to explain, and since my english is not that good (french as born language, but don't flame me I'm from Quebec :P), I couldn't find the exact words to run an efficient search (I've tried all I could, but found nothing similar)...

So here it is: I have an automatic gen3 92' Camry LE (just hit 70,000 *KM*). Recently I've noticed more and more problems that seem to be related with the transmission.

First, when I park on a place that isn't flat (bended?) and I don't lift up the handbrake, the car rolls a bit until it stops because of the tranny. Every car does that. Only for mine it moves about a feet! (1/5 of a wheel-turn I guess) And when the transmission stops it, it makes a CLUNK sound which doesn't seem to be too good for the tranny... I've got my lesson and decided not to make it suffer too much, so I put handbrake most of the time.

Secondly, when I drive on R to get out of my parking place, and then shift back to D (and I always do it when the car is completely stopped, not moving at all) after half a second I hear a big smash (don't know how to describe this sound, lets say phonetic "PRRR") in the engine and the car seems shaken by the same thing that produced the noise. Don't know if this one is clear enough...

Third, when I'm on the highway and completely release my foot from the acceleration pedal, after half a second the car is shaken by the same kind of CLUNK I get when I change from R to D or D to R... It also does it when I put my feet back on the pedal.

So there is definately something wrong with the transmission, and I was wondering what the problem could be (and perhaps estimate how much the repair is going to cost me if the problem is a very bad one...)

Thanks for your help, I know some of you guys know a lot or have experienced a lot of things with Camrys, and I appreciate you taking time to share this knowledge with an unexperienced 18 years old new Camry owner :P

87Camry5Speed · 03-23-2005, 07:24 PM

My guess is that your dogbome mount and your front mount have died. While the powertrain should move a little when you're changing gears, or even accelerating, when they wear out completely they don't do their job all that well.

If I'm not mistaken gen3 Camrys run four engine mounts- the trans mount (look where the transmission is mounted to the front subframe, its pretty easy to spot), the front mount (also easy to spot), the dogbome mount (look up by the valve cover on the passenger side, it literally looks like a dogbone), and the rear mount (kinda hidden). All but the front mount have rubber insulators, when they crack and break up they don't absorb the impact of the powertrain like they should and it shakes like you describe.

What I'm gettting at is the problem may be bad mounts, not a bad trans. I assume the car runs out fine, the trans doesnt slip or anything?

What you describe when you're parking on an incline is the park pawl catching. It's a little metal piece that locks (I forget either the input or the output) shaft of your trans so that the car won't roll. It's a small piece and it is highly stressed to be holding back 3000 lbs of Camry, so keep doing what you're doing by using the handbrake to park. Remember- it's cheaper to fix the brakes than to rebuild a trans!

Steve

DavePont · 03-24-2005, 02:33 PM

yeah well this morning I pulled out of my entrance going on Reverse, and when I changed to Drive, the car went BANG like never before, and would feel like on Neutral on any "gear" (dont know how you call PRND2L)... I guess I blew up the transmission, the car is ****ed up for sure, and it's at the garage now... So sad I only asked about this yesterday, maybe I could have solved the problem before, or at least prevent it, before the car quit working in my hands this morning....... Gonna cost me a few thousands to rebuild this I guess

Still any ideas on what might be broken?

***zoni*** · 03-24-2005, 04:55 PM

i suggest you take the car to Ben Furlotte in Montreal. He will fit it for a gooood price and he knows camrys better than any mechanic you will find. i lost my phone so i cant give you his number and he isnt online right now, but he is on MSN usually under the name camryxlev6@hotmail.com and you can email him at that address too. if i see him online i can get his number for you then. you can PM me your number to give to him too if you want.

***zoni*** · 03-24-2005, 05:32 PM

i PMed you with Ben's number. give him a call it will save you hundreds of dollars and he knows the car better than anyone.

Gen3cruiser · 03-24-2005, 07:13 PM

Your transmissions check balls are worn out, or have blown through the wall.

Doesn't really effect anything, just makes your car jerk hard. It's a comman problem.

DavePont · 03-25-2005, 09:31 PM

Thanks for your help guys!

Now there's no more problem with the transmission cause there is no more transmission at all...

If it's only a little part of it that's broken I'm fine but if it's the whole thing I'm in deep with a little $2000+ bill to pay!

alxch1n16 · 03-26-2005, 12:31 AM

je suis désolé pour entendre cela, mais, c'est mieux que le moteur et le trans. être mauvais

***zoni*** · 03-26-2005, 12:50 AM

dont pay 2 grand for anything... ben will put a new tranny in for like 6-800 if you call him.

Jzs147-RR · 03-26-2005, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavePont

Thanks for your help guys!

Now there's no more problem with the transmission cause there is no more transmission at all...

If it's only a little part of it that's broken I'm fine but if it's the whole thing I'm in deep with a little $2000+ bill to pay!

I could fix that for not very expensive since you are in my area so get back to me by hotmail of phone me i think Zoni sent you my phone number ..