Sounds like you checked all the right things. T.V. cables do sometimes stick causing shift problems. V.S.S's usually make your speedo skew. T.P.S.'s would make the engine have driveability problems sometimes, and should give you a check engine light. Sounds like you may need a transmission. You can service the trans filter beforehand, but I doubt it would help.

If you take it to a reputable trans shop, they'll give you a better diagnosis than a general shop.

Best

 

Hello !

Thank you for your answer. The transmission is dead you say... That's what I'm afraid of :/

What would be the symptoms of a dead transmission ? I thought that with a dead transmission I just couldn't shift gear, but I believe it's temperature dependent.

What is the "V.S" you are talking about ?


Also, I forgot to bring that my car is surrounded by rats and a few cables have been eaten by them in the past. I've checked some, but this source of damage has unfortunately to be taken into account in the diagnostic :/

 

The 2002 V6 models shared the same transmission found in the 1999-2001 ES300 and RX. The U140E was not known for reliability. I find an unusual amount of these Camry that tends to have a bad transmission. The 4spd V6 is 2002 only, 2003 and newer V6 (2003-2006) IIRC is 5spd U151E which is more reliable but has 'shift flares'....works fine otherwise.

I would drop the pan and inspect the fluid for metal shavings....

 

VSS, vehicle speed sensor; usually sets a code.

 

I don't know how mechanically inclined you are, but I'd swap out the filter and wipe clean the pan and refill with ATF and test from there. That's usually the cheapest. You can inspect what's in the pan and on the magnets and gauge how far gone the transmission may be. Then take it to an ATRA Automatic Transmission Rebuilders Assoc member shop. Some still can be duds, so check references.

http://www.atra.com/shopfinder

It's interesting as the temp warms up you loose the higher gears. u140e have ATF pump problems. Maybe an ATRA shop can do a line pressure test for you. They just remove a bolt for the main line (or other bolts for other pressures) and plug in a pressure gauge. Then take it in for a pressure test. They might tell you that you need a reman transmission, if the transmission has been flaring like that for a while.

Yeah, the U-series transmissions are a real shame. They're no where near as reliable as the older A-series. Even the new 2017 8-speeds are having problems and TSB is already out, sheesh. Toyota should just buy ZF transmissions instead, or even GM Hydramatics would be better.

 

Hi all,

Thank you for your answers, that helps me a lot. I went on the ATRA website, I'll contact one of the mechanics next week.

In the case the transmission is dead, is it possible to fix it or usually people change the entire transmission ? In the last option, does it make sense to change a transmission of a 2002 camry with 145 000 miles ?


Thank you again, have a great weekend !

 

Hard to say. I don't know if it can be rebuild to resolve the weakness in the transmission. It's not bad bad car either way, but depending on the condition of the overall car, this could be a point where you upgrade or fix what you have.

For me if it's just a plain vanilla 2002 LE V6, I'd get something different. Now, if it was say a more uncommon/unique trim, I'd say fix it.

 

Hi all,

I wanted to give you the final episode of this story :

I went to my usual mechanics who checked everything outside of the engine, he didn't find anything wrong (I was happy to see that I've got the same conclusion). So the next step was to change the transmission, he told me $3000... For a $3500 car, there is no point.

Meanwhile I called the closest transmission specialist I've found on the ATRA website that you guys gave me and that was a great experience. The guy was really nice, and he replaced my transmission with a used one for $1500. I just got back the car last Friday and so far so good.

So yes, it was definitely the transmission. The mechanics told me that the pan was full of metal chips.


Voilà ! Thank you again for your help !