Stranded- need help, S.O.S.

[Kens 97 Corolla]

Hi. My girlfriend and her two kids just called from Virginia (we live in Toronto). Her 97 Corolla automatic has the tranny slipping on the highway. She says at about 100 km, the engine revs up but the car won't go faster. She says the fluid level is ok and not black. (I changed it a month ago). The engine temp is normal so that's not the problem.

Question: Since she's stranded and it's Sunday tomorrow, will it do MORE harm to keep moving but just take it easy?

Any suggestions?

Thanks for any help !!

...Ken

[REN69]

hmm... is it a 3spd with overdrive or just a 3spd?? if its got overdrive, I'm not sure if the Corolla has an OD button or if its got a D and OD on the shifter, if so tell her to drive only on 3 speeds (D instead of OD) and see what happens.. the RPMs might be high but at least she'll probably be able to drive it.

[Kens 97 Corolla]

Thanks. I'm not sure, but I don't think it has O.D. She bought the car about 6 months ago (97 Corolla) and I recently discovered the tranny fluid was VERY dirty. No bad smell, just dirty. I pulled the pan and did the filter about a month ago. The pan had some sludge and the magnets had very little fine fuzz on them. It's been fine since then but she just drove to Florida for a holiday and was half way home when this happened.

I'm hoping it's just a chunk of crud from the previous neglect that has worked loose and blocked, or stuck a valve or something. She just drove another 1/2 hour at 70 km to the next town to spend the night and she said she had no problems at that speed. I suggested she drive again tomorrow (sunday) and stop at the first big town and try to find a place that can do a tranny flush.

Any other thoughts? She has confirmed the fluid level is good, and just a little brown/pink with no smell. I even had her put it in neutral and try pushing the car to make sure it wasn't a brake or wheel bearing locking up. She said it rolls just fine so it's a tranny issue for sure.

Thanks for any suggestions. She's calling constantly so I can pass on suggestions.
Fingers Crossed, ....Ken

[Kens 97 Corolla]

Just another thought, if she can't find a shop open, would it be a good/bad idea to add some Lucas additive to maybe help? It would technicallly be overfull because it's at the "Full-Hot" mark now. (when hot and running in Park) Would 1/2 a pint hurt/help, or just be a waste of money?

The poor girl has to work monday and has two kids to deal with through all of this. She's at least 11 hours from home still.

Thanks again.

[rated_w]

is she using I-95 home? ... I'm glad that she's not on the 75 cause there is a lot of hilly terrain.. I don't know much about transmission myself.. just want to say that I hope she gets home safely!

[Tommy]

wow, thats tough...Lucas trans stuff does ok, not great but ok, it might help a bit, you can have her pull one of the transmission cooler lines off and crank the engine, that will pump some of the fluid out, so you can add that.

I would recommend she gets some SeaFoam Transtune in there too, that stuff cleaned out my tranny and cured its slipping problem, but it was only slipping in 1st-2nd.

I wish her luck, that really sucks to be SOO far from home and broken down.

[Tommy]

trick will be finding a parts store open on a sunday, finding a shop open probably wont happen, expecially since she's in Virginia. See if she can finda Pep Boys, its a parts and service repair chain in this area, should be something like that near her. They are open 7days a week, and could probably get her in and out quick. I dont know what the canadian equivlent is. That or find a Super Wal-Mart, they have auto service center, its not great, but its better than nothing, and i think they'll probably do it, or she can find someone there that will.

[Kens 97 Corolla]

Thanks guys. I'll get her to look for a Pep Boys. I know she wont be able to drain any fluid herself (no tools, etc) so will it hurt to add some treatment if it slightly overfills it?

I'll let you know how it ends up.
Cheers, ..Ken

[Flashmn]

I dont think you should drive around with treatment chemicals in the tranny.

[Kens 97 Corolla]

She MADE it !!! I just got a call from her at home. Ah man, what a relief. I had suggested she drive again and slowly get up to the speed where the tricks began and try a few things like wiggling the shifter. Well apparently, the problem never returned which makes me believe my second theory that some crud from the cars previous neglect broke loose and plugged/stuck a valve in there.

Anyways, it's getting another fluid change asap and hopefully all should be fine. THANKS again for all the help!

....Ken

[rated_w]

glad to hear she made it home safely

[REN69]

That's why I love my Corollas, specially my 89 GTS.. 4 years of commuting 150kms a day and it never left me stranded, this car beat his ass for me and never failed me. My 90 has to prove itself still.

[Dicipleofthelie]

My POS 86 corolla sedan has never stranded me either, even when the clutch was completely gone, it still got me home, course once it was at home i coulded move it

[Kens 97 Corolla]

Thanks again for all the help and kind wishes. I gave Helen the link to this thread so she could check it out.

We both appreciate yout help.

[Tommy]

Seriously, when you have it flushed, run some SeaFoam TransTune in there for a day or two, that stuff works like draino.