[alchu]

Guys, if your car hasn't been properly maintained, be wary of doing the AT filter/fluid change. I think I just learned why:

As some of you guys know, I've been working on my gf's camry. it's a '94 5fse with 140k miles. She's the third owner.

Not knowing how the car's been maintained, I did a full tune up - spark plugs, wires, distrib cap and rotor, air, fuel filters. The radiator on her car looked like it was about ready to go, so I bought a new radiator from radiatorbarn.com and installed it, along with a new t-stat.

I also replaced her front struts and motor mounts.

The last thing to do was a transmission fluid/filter change. Her tranny seemed to be slipping a little bit going into first gear. I didn't want to do a power flush, so I ended up cleaning the pan/filter, and then drained/refilled the fluid several times (driving the car in between) to simulate my own flush.

the car still seemed to slip, so I was planning to take it in for a mechanic to take a look.

I drove it to her place, went inside for an hour. when it was time to leave, the car wouldn't get into gear. It'll reverse, but not go into first gear at all.

[email protected]!$

Did some research this morning... this is what I found:


***************************************************
"If your vehicle has high mileage (> 80,000 miles) and the transmission has not been maintained, I would not recommend replacing the fluid and filter. The fluid that has been in the transmission all this time has become dirty and gritty. This gritty fluid is actually providing needed friction for the worn internal parts of the transmission. Changing the fluid and replacing the filter would remove this friction that the internal transmission parts have become dependent on. If you have not been regularly maintaining the transmission throughout the life of the car, you might actually be doing more harm than good if you replace the transmission fluid at this point. For example, putting new clean slick transmission fluid in an older high mileage vehicle could cause the transmission to slip.

If you are not experiencing a problem, have over 80,000 miles on your car, and have not kept up regular maintenance on the transmission, my advice would be to leave the transmission fluid and filter alone. If you are experiencing a transmission problem like those listed above, seek the advice of a qualified transmission shop before allowing your regular mechanic to service the transmission.

I learned about this problem several years ago...the hard way. We had two cars in our shop with these "minor" transmission symptoms that I have listed above, and both of them had to be towed out to the transmission shop after servicing. The old fluid was gritty due to metal shavings caused by normal internal wear and tear on the transmission clutches and was acting like liquid sandpaper. This "sandpaper" was producing the friction needed for the transmission to pull itself. When we changed the filter and replaced the old fluid with new fluid, the clutches inside the transmission had nothing to grab on to. Sometimes even the best of us learn lessons the hard (and expensive) way."

 

[zoni]

i have a spare 5sfe tranny, want it?

you will have to drive an hour and a half to CT to get it though...

and you'd have to pay me a little... the cheapest trannys on car-part.com are around 200 bucks, so how about 150 and you can have it...its got like 110k on it from a 94 5sfe. it shifts well. i took it out when i did my engine swap in the winter.

the only thing is... its missing the speed sensor, so you will have to snatch that off of the old blown tranny... not a big deal, its like 3 screws i think. or if you dont have the old tranny, i could find one for you...

 

[guapoman2000]

Guys, if your car hasn't been properly maintained, be wary of doing the AT filter/fluid change. I think I just learned why:

As some of you guys know, I've been working on my gf's camry. it's a '94 5fse with 140k miles. She's the third owner.

Not knowing how the car's been maintained, I did a full tune up - spark plugs, wires, distrib cap and rotor, air, fuel filters. The radiator on her car looked like it was about ready to go, so I bought a new radiator from radiatorbarn.com and installed it, along with a new t-stat.

I also replaced her front struts and motor mounts.

The last thing to do was a transmission fluid/filter change. Her tranny seemed to be slipping a little bit going into first gear. I didn't want to do a power flush, so I ended up cleaning the pan/filter, and then drained/refilled the fluid several times (driving the car in between) to simulate my own flush.

the car still seemed to slip, so I was planning to take it in for a mechanic to take a look.

I drove it to her place, went inside for an hour. when it was time to leave, the car wouldn't get into gear. It'll reverse, but not go into first gear at all.

[email protected]!$

Did some research this morning... this is what I found:


***************************************************
"If your vehicle has high mileage (> 80,000 miles) and the transmission has not been maintained, I would not recommend replacing the fluid and filter. The fluid that has been in the transmission all this time has become dirty and gritty. This gritty fluid is actually providing needed friction for the worn internal parts of the transmission. Changing the fluid and replacing the filter would remove this friction that the internal transmission parts have become dependent on. If you have not been regularly maintaining the transmission throughout the life of the car, you might actually be doing more harm than good if you replace the transmission fluid at this point. For example, putting new clean slick transmission fluid in an older high mileage vehicle could cause the transmission to slip.

If you are not experiencing a problem, have over 80,000 miles on your car, and have not kept up regular maintenance on the transmission, my advice would be to leave the transmission fluid and filter alone. If you are experiencing a transmission problem like those listed above, seek the advice of a qualified transmission shop before allowing your regular mechanic to service the transmission.

I learned about this problem several years ago...the hard way. We had two cars in our shop with these "minor" transmission symptoms that I have listed above, and both of them had to be towed out to the transmission shop after servicing. The old fluid was gritty due to metal shavings caused by normal internal wear and tear on the transmission clutches and was acting like liquid sandpaper. This "sandpaper" was producing the friction needed for the transmission to pull itself. When we changed the filter and replaced the old fluid with new fluid, the clutches inside the transmission had nothing to grab on to. Sometimes even the best of us learn lessons the hard (and expensive) way."

Well, I disagree with your assessments and conclusions.

I have a 1992 Toyota Camry XLE (5S-FE, 2.2 Liter) with over 487,015+ miles without any Engine or Automatic Transmission rebuilt history.

The Automatic Transmission has been serviced regularly on my watch and at one time I performed a DO-IT-YOURSELF (DIY) to drop the pan and allow the ATF to drain and clean the metal mesh filter. What you don't know is that almost 67% of the ATF fluid will still be inside the Automatic Transmission and most especially the Torque Converter.

Another 35,000 miles down the road and my Automatic Transmission began to exhibit a Torque Converter "Shutter"and notice the Fluid becoming brown. I took it to a Pro Shop who recommended a Flush using the Automatic Transmission Cooling lines going to the Radiator. I asked them kindly to use only the Engine at idle and not to include any CLEANING agents during the flush.

Well, to make a long story short, the Torque Converter "Shutter" disappeared and to this day, I have had three Flushes done and the Automatic Transmission still shifts like new!:laugh:

I can understand the very old automobiles from the days of 1960's and 1970 such as the General Motors Hydromatic Turbo units that worked on strictly on Fluid pressure, however, today's automobiles and especially today's Automatic Transmissions work on Electronic Shifting and today people don't even allow their vehicles to warm up and shift their cars in gear and Electronically the unit is forced to shift in cold conditions. This is "why" as one example that it is very important to change today's Automatic Transmission Fluid per your Maintenance schedule and depending on how you use your vehicle.

I use Flush machines at a Pro Shop every 65,000 - 70,000 miles and my 1992 Camry XLE keeps going the road and shifts like new.

It appears that depending on how your GF's car was maintained and how the vehicle was treated goes a long way on what or how the Automatic Transmission issues manifested and not some sort of generalized rule.:wink:

 

[Toyota_JP]

Some input on transmission maintenance

This was a great thread for me because I was interested in how high-mileage transmissions have failed people and how long an automatic might last. I wouldn't consider 80,000 miles to be high mileage. Doesn't most major maintenance begin at 100,000 miles? To my knowledge, my 2000 Solara's transmission was never serviced until I decided to have it checked at 300,000 miles. They did a drain and refill (no flush) and said it looked and operated fine. That was 100,000 miles ago and it's still going strong.

 

[guapoman2000]

This was a great thread for me because I was interested in how high-mileage transmissions have failed people and how long an automatic might last. I wouldn't consider 80,000 miles to be high mileage. Doesn't most major maintenance begin at 100,000 miles? To my knowledge, my 2000 Solara's transmission was never serviced until I decided to have it checked at 300,000 miles. They did a drain and refill (no flush) and said it looked and operated fine. That was 100,000 miles ago and it's still going strong.

Yes indeed, this thread is very good in as so far provides you with how long an Automatic can last by following some sound recommendations.

Seems like many here are hung UP on the word "FLUSH" and to me it means allowing a PRO SHOP hook up a machine containing two separate TANKS, a recovery tank for the OLD dirty Fluid and the other containing the Fresh new Automatic Transmission fluid. The entire process is done by the idle of the Engine and not any harsh POWER FLUSH that many here keeps thinking of.

Again, I now allow a PRO SHOP to "FLUSH" my very high mileage Auto Transmission on my 1992 Camry 5S-FE and it shifts like new.:laugh:

 

[ToyotaFan95341]

Well, I disagree with your assessments and conclusions.

I have a 1992 Toyota Camry XLE (5S-FE, 2.2 Liter) with over 487,015+ miles without any Engine or Automatic Transmission rebuilt history.

The Automatic Transmission has been serviced regularly on my watch and at one time I performed a DO-IT-YOURSELF (DIY) to drop the pan and allow the ATF to drain and clean the metal mesh filter. What you don't know is that almost 67% of the ATF fluid will still be inside the Automatic Transmission and most especially the Torque Converter.

Another 35,000 miles down the road and my Automatic Transmission began to exhibit a Torque Converter "Shutter"and notice the Fluid becoming brown. I took it to a Pro Shop who recommended a Flush using the Automatic Transmission Cooling lines going to the Radiator. I asked them kindly to use only the Engine at idle and not to include any CLEANING agents during the flush.

Well, to make a long story short, the Torque Converter "Shutter" disappeared and to this day, I have had three Flushes done and the Automatic Transmission still shifts like new!:laugh:

I can understand the very old automobiles from the days of 1960's and 1970 such as the General Motors Hydromatic Turbo units that worked on strictly on Fluid pressure, however, today's automobiles and especially today's Automatic Transmissions work on Electronic Shifting and today people don't even allow their vehicles to warm up and shift their cars in gear and Electronically the unit is forced to shift in cold conditions. This is "why" as one example that it is very important to change today's Automatic Transmission Fluid per your Maintenance schedule and depending on how you use your vehicle.

I use Flush machines at a Pro Shop every 65,000 - 70,000 miles and my 1992 Camry XLE keeps going the road and shifts like new.

It appears that depending on how your GF's car was maintained and how the vehicle was treated goes a long way on what or how the Automatic Transmission issues manifested and not some sort of generalized rule.😉

How your transmission doing now?

 

[guapoman2000]

How your transmission doing now?

Apart from replacing all Shift Solenoids (something that was done without the Auto Tranny taken down), the Transmission is shifting like new! 😊

 

[BlackCamSe]

Don’t let this experience steer you in the wrong direction. A common misconception is that servicing the trans is what causes the failure. In most cases (including this one based on your original post) people will wait to service their transmission until it begins to give them a drivability issue, which in your case was the slipping in first gear. Unfortunately that trans was already on its way out and no fluid/filter change will fix a worn clutch pack. As a rule of thumb, if your transmission is shifting and operating properly, servicing it will not harm it in any way, regardless of mileage. I just did 3x drain and fill on my 07 Camry with 180k miles on it. Have put 10k trouble free miles on it since, with some nice fresh clean transmission fluid.


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