[03MatrixAloha]

I have dropped the Orig. tranny and the plan was to replace it with a tranny from a 99 Corolla. After removing the pan on the orig. tranny I noticed some metal shavings and I also noticed that the one edge of the notch on the clutch cylinder had been bent so it did see some trauma when the engine seized up. I thought all trannys were compatible between the Matrix & Corolla but while removing the 99 Corolla tranny from it's engine compartment the first thing I noticed is that this tranny had two cables going to he throttle body which I believe the extra cable is OD or cruise control feature. I dropped the pans and compared each tranny next one another to traced the extra cable going into Corolla to find it going to another throttle type pully inside the tranny. When looking at the matrix tranny, i see that this cable has been replace by a solenoid and that the Matrix has three green colored solenoids on the left side while the corolla only has two black colored on the left. Wondering if the corolla tranny with work and weather after bending the notch back into shape from the clutch cylinder would be a good idea to try and use or not. Or just try to but original tranny back in with orig. clutch cylinder because although the orig. tranny did not engage with the corolla engine, we did use the clutch cylinder from the corolla with the Matrix tranny during that one and only attempt so far to try and make this really nice Matrix go again. Any help would be great and I would be willing to speak on phone is possible as today is the last day I have to fix it where it is at. I attached the pics of the matrix and the corrola trans so it might make more sense. Thanks you for taking the time to read this and any information would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[1989SupraT]

Does it look like the engine from the 99 Corolla mates to the 03 matrix transmission? Hard to tell fr those pictures, on these cases where the motor is ruined, sounds like it would be easier to replace the engine and tranny as a whole, and it is when you get both from the same model and year, but if you are mixing and matching the transmission will be the main issue here. As long as the engine is the same series 1ZZ or 2ZZ (which you didn't specify, so I will assume 1ZZ) the motor might be slightly different, as in different sensors, wiring, etc but the top end and bottom end should be the same, so you should be able to swap whatever might be different on the 99 Corolla engine from the matrix engine.

The idea here is for you to make the 99 Corolla motor resemble the Matrix engine down to every sensor, wiring, etc. The Transmission computer (if automatic), is probably different (wiring, plug, settings, etc). Between all the years. This is why you have to try and get same year and same options.

Good luck man, maybe look at it with a fresh pair of eyes (a mechanically inclined friend or just a mechanic).

Good luck keep us posted.