Tranny Fix; Temporary Or Perm.?

Lex3486 · November 28, 2003

I've been havin tranny problems lately and I finally got around to replacing the fluid and filter today, along with a new gasket for the pan. I was driving it for a while earlier today on the interstate and then when I got into stop and go traffic, it began slipping and trying to start in gears higher than first. Then when I got to my neighborhood (and what better place*whew*) the car finally became immobile. It wouldn't move in any gear; not even reverse. I walked home and came back with my mom's Lex to push it home with and when I got in the car and started it, it moved fine on its' own, so I drove it on to my house and proceeded to replace the fluid. It looked like old motor oil; no red tint at all whatsoever, and it smelled somewhat burnt. I've heard this is a bad sign, but I already knew something was off. Anyhow, the magnets on the pan were covered in metal flakes, but seeing how I have nothing to compare the amount to, I don't know if it was an excessive amount (signifying lots of wear on the tranny) or more normal for a car this old. Anyone have any pics or suggestions about this topic? After putting the new fluid in, the car drives 100% fine, no slips, no hesitations, smoother shifts, right shifting points, etc. etc. Should I expect my tranny problems to be gone for good, or should I stay close to home? I know some people here have had experience with changing these filters and fluid in hopes of fixing their trannys but I never heard anyone having quite the extent of trouble as I did (the car being totally immobile). Anyone know what I should expect in the future?? :huh:

Lex3486 · November 29, 2003

Thanks for everyones' responses...I guess no one can tell for sure so they don't wanna say anything. <_< It drives fine today, so I guess it's fixed...who knows? Just have to be cautious for a while til it can earn my trust back.

rhkwon · November 30, 2003

Your trans filter may have been clogged, esp. if you it had never been replaced before. And when the filter gets clogged, no fluid gets through, so what fluid there is bathing the gears is not enough and gets burned. Slipping occurs when there is not enough fluid in the trans case. Did you say big chunks of metal flakes? Having what looks like a lot of metal dust on the magnets is normal but chunks would not be good. If your car is running fine, then you should be ok. How many miles on your car?

SKperformance · November 30, 2003

Sorry i would have told you earlier but i was pretty busy yeasterday andnever checked the site at all.

The magnets should have no metal flkaes at all. There should be aslight metallic sludge on them.It is a mixture of oil and normal metal wear.If it feeeld like salt then you have a problem that is going to get worse.

I actually just did the same thing for the same rpoblem yeasterday.The mesh everyso often in my car does plug up and it only compounds itsefl to get worse if i do not change the fluid fast enough. The main thing is to remove the mech filter ( it has 3 bolts). Take it to a sink with hot water and spray the inside of it with throttle body cleaner (the one with the long stick pipes) to get into the creases ( if you have a pipe clean use tehm they aer great.)and corners of the filter.Shake it around with the fluid for 20 minutes as vigourosuly as possible . Then from the swuare hole on top( not the long rectangular one ,which is the inlet) you want to reverse flush the filter to remove the debris. Once it look pretty clean and no more oil left.Take the filter and put it in the toaster oven ( remove the gasket on the outlet so as not to bake and make it brittle) . Toast the filter X2 to heat it up enough to remove any water as it is very deadly to trannies.

Or you can just buy a new mesh filter from toyota.It is about $60.

Reinstall and fill up with 2 quarts and 2 pints. I have no idea on this stuff as i knopw very little on imperial measure.

That is exactly what i did and it worked perfectly after .This is the 3rd time i have had to do this in 3 years . If i do it again next week it hoepfully will never return as the mesh in the filter gets plugged and cause the tranny to starve of hydralic pressur to apply the clutches. My biggest problems where when the tranny was cold ,once it warmed up it worked much better after. I suspect alot of people changing there trannies because of a clogged filter and just not knowking they could have fixed it because the mechanic saw no changable filter.

If you restarted the car and it drove after i would say you might have been low on fluid also.

I also never have any large metal flakes ever just worn clutch material cloggin it.

Hopefully someone will search this topic out next time they have a tranny problem on an ES,RX,camry and avalon as they are the same style tranny with the exact same problems.