1995 LE Four Automatic: Options for Marginal Transmission?

Who did the flush??? You need to use the correct type of fluid

Buy Haynes Repair Manual. Drain transmission. Remove pan. Clean strainer. Gasoline OK for solvent. Take pan to NAPA. Buy correct gasket. Put small amount of grease on both sides of gasket. Reinstall pan. Refill transmission. Add SIX quarts of ATF. Start motor. Run through gears at idle speed for several minutes. Drain ATF. Repeat. Drain and refill. Then drive and enjoy wagon. If that doesn't work, sell it to me. Where are you located? I am in California.

The flush was done by a Toyota dealer.

I'm in upstate NY. I'll be having the work done, not doing it myself. What I want to know is, what's the best course of action to improve the life and operation of this abused transmission? You say two drain and fills, along with the pan/filter cleaning. Thanks for the input. It pretty much agrees with my thoughts. Any Toyota techs here?

Oh, and is the strainer so expensive that I'd want to reuse a (presumably) gummed up one, even after cleaning? Why not use a new part?

The toy dealer did not change the filter, did they know it wasnt ever done, if so blame them. Drop the pan and change the fluid dont listen to naysayers on this. If it gets real bad and you cant get a cheap mechanical fix thicker oil helps, I used 140w gear lube on a soon to be junker. It helped alot. There are some additives that are maybe 200w or whatever that might help. Your enemy is heat, a Trans cooler will help.

===== You could try Lucas Transmission Fix.

Thanks.

HAY! Where the hell you been? Hmmmm?

I have yet to see a badly gummed up strainer, even on cars that have a couple hundred thou on them.

The strainer is a screen; unless the screen is damaged, then it can be cleaned and reused. Some say you can use Gas for this; you CAN but make sure it's all gone before replacing the screen. Also, make sure the rest of the filter assy is free of gummy residue.

A new filter costs a whopping $12-18 at a parts store, and about $22 or more from Toyota.

And a note on Flushing: the brown/black you're seeing is the friction material from the clutches and brakes in the tranny. They're what make the car go. I have a Supra that I don't think EVER had a trans service; the fluid is BLACK as bad oil! I'm scared to death to do ANYTHING to this transmission, since the car is running. Removing the 'black' removes the friction material; the reason so many trannys fail after a flushing is that there IS no more friction material left in the tranny to move the car!

Let me know what happens...I live in Mass, and am looking for a Camry wagon! (like, I need ANOTHER car!)

I don't know if you're joking or not, but the friction material only 'moves the car' when it's on the brake bands in the transmission - not floating in the fluid. We'll be having it serviced in a couple of weeks.

Huh 140W in an automatic? I don't think so - his year uses Dextron II or newer II most likely which is most likely about 30W...

The longer you wait the worst it will get. The sooner you have it changed the better driving it for another month in it's current condition may finish the trans

Let me get this staright So, its just cleaning the pan and strainer; changing the oil, or strainer if required; DON"T remove the dirt or clean the metal parts of the transmission/gears with any solvent; and replace gaskets. This means the earlier post that need to drain the ATF twice is not required??

Actually, having it suspended in the ATF is better than NOT having it at all! I have seen three trannies totally fail within AN HOUR of being flushed, and they weren't even Chryslers! The 'fluid' they use for flushing is the usual stuff you buy off-the-rack, OK for Fords and Chevys, but not for Chryslers. And yet, every car I saw fail after flushing was a Ford.

We vowed we would NEVER do it again! We were getting a 'break' from the place because we were a dealer and sent them a lot of business, and it wasn't worth saving $20 and then having to replace the trannies!

It's only being driven once a week to keep it 'excercised.'

It was either junk it or try 140w, the 140w worked.

My understanding of what's been suggested is that I should have the pan cleaned, gaskets and strainer replaced, and that some folks feel I should have the fluid changed twice as well. I think I'm going to have one fluid change now, and another one as part of the 120k service in the Spring.

There is always the old wisdom that you shouldn't touch a transmission that's about to go over the cliff.

But otherwise I like to make sure the strainer and gasket is periodically changed (like using the Fram $20 ATF kit with a nice cork rubber gasket) and the pan is wiped clean of the metal shavings every

24-30K miles. Don't try to clean a strainer in its casing. It just doesn't work.

The tranny probably lost a good part of the original clutch and brake band material. ATF and diff fluid takes about 5qts of Dexron III. That's about $10 a drain and refill.

mjc13 wrote: