1990 Toyota Camry transmission issues

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The car is a 1990 Toyota Camry with the 2.0L 4-cyl 3sfe engine and A140E automatic transmission which specifies Dexron II atf. Sometimes when braking/slowing to a stop the car will shake and buck. It is an automatic transmission, but the shaking/bucking is the same as if in a manual transmission car you slowed down really slow but didn't put in the clutch.

The problem appears to somehow be heat/temperature related as it does not occur Fall/Winter/Spring but will reappear in the hot summer weather. Even in the summer, it doesn't happen every time I drive the car. It is more likely to occur if I'm out in the middle of the day heat in a lot of stop and go traffic. A 60 mile drive on two-lane country roads (45-55mph) done in the middle of a hot day saw no problems whatsoever.

It first happened about 3-4 summers ago. At the time I read that a clogged filter could cause that kind of behavior, so I dropped the pan, replaced the transmission filter, and did 3-4 drain refills with Valvoline Maxlife Dex/Merc ATF with a few days driving between each drain/refill. There were no metal fragments on the magnets, just a gray sludge on the bottom of the pan. Problem went away for awhile, but came back the following summer. That time I left the filter alone, but did 3-4 drain/refills using Mobil-1 Mercon V synthetic atf as I'd read that synthetic fluid could stand up to heat better. It again went away for awhile, but came back the following summer when I repeated the drain/refill drill with Mobil-1 Mercon V. This spring, when it started getting hot again and the problem reappeared, I decided to drop the pan again and replace the filter. This time the pan was clean, no gray residue, and the old filter appeared clean as well. My local Walmart no longer carries Mobil-1 atf, and it's really high at the auto parts stores, so I did 3 drain/refills using Castrol Domestic multi-vehicle Dex/Merc. Unlike before, this time the drain/refills have not given any temporary relief.

I took it to a local trans shop that a neighbor had used to see what they would say, hoping that it was maybe a bad solenoid. They supposedly dropped the pan to have a look. They said that sometimes the torque converter clutch was not disengaging and suggested a rebuild to the tune of about 2K.
I had them button it back up so I could think about whether I wanted to spend that much on a 21yr old car.

Since then, I tried adding a bottle of Lubegard red. It's been in a couple of weeks and 300-400 miles. While it feels smoother since adding the Lubegard, it has not solved the occasional episode of bucking/shaking when slowing to a stop.

Has anyone seen or experienced this before? Any ideas what it might be, or what can be done to correct it?

One other thing that may or may not be related. I replaced the original radiator several winters ago with an aftermarket unit from autozone after the original began to seep coolant at the seam on the top tank. It went in just fine, had the nipples for the trans fluid hoses just like what was on the original, and have had no water temperature issues since then, but I have wondered if somehow the built in trans cooler wasn't working as good as the one in the original radiator.

Some other things I have thought about trying, short of a trans rebuild, or a replacement vehicle, are going back to a synthetic Dex/Merc atf and/or plumbing in an auxiliary transmission cooler. I also have a leftover bottle of Auto-RX that I could try in the transmission.

It may just be time to let the old girl go, but I still like the car and would prefer to not be saddled with a car payment again if possible.

If anyone has seen this before, I'd appreciate hearing what it was and what it took to fix it. I figure it's worth getting some advice/suggestions/ideas before I do anything drastic. Thanks for any input and my apologies for the length of the post.
 
Well you said mobil 1 gave you temporary relief the previous 2 years and the non-synthetic stuff did not this past time. I would switch back to the mobil 1 ATF or another full synthetic ATF (amsoil, redline, royal purple) and change it when necessary until it finally dies. And who knows, maybe a premium brand atf could be a more permanent fix. It's a lot cheaper that way then a carpayment or a $2k tranny rebuild.
 
Those transmissions are in every junkyard in every town for about $200-300 or off ebay or craigslist. Get one that has less miles and have any backyard mechanic from craigslist install it for a couple hundred. Its a 2-4 hour job .
Don't let some over inflated trans shop give you the big price on a rebuild job either. The trans kit is $159 on ebay.I get them for under $100. The Whole job should be $5-600 either way u do it. I am not sure what town you are from in Alabama ,but I bet I could find you someone local from me looking where I am at as well a locate the parts if you want.
 
I did some more checking and maybe , just maybe you could get by with some lubegard platinum with a full synthetic fluid exchange through the cooler lines.Not just a drain and fill. I like amsoil universal in my older toyotas. That might keep the transmission cool enough for the converter to lock up on hot days.I do not think your trans cooler has anything to do with the transmission not locking up. It is just plain wearing out.
 
One alternative not mentioned is that you could manually shift the trans to another gear as you are slowing down - just before the bucking would start - and that should release the lockup feature.

It does sound like the transmission is wearing; you didn't say how many miles are on it, but a '90 likely has over 200k. The fluid changes probably helped a lot. I'd keep up with the regular changes (every 30k or so) and drive it. I like the idea of getting a boneyard transmission as a back up.
 
All that story and I forgot to list the mileage, sorry, it has 272,000 miles on it. Engine and trans are original.
 
Originally Posted By: Bama
All that story and I forgot to list the mileage, sorry, it has 272,000 miles on it. Engine and trans are original.

With that type of mileage that thing ows you nothing!
 
Hey Bama,

Sounds heat related. Get yourself a tranny cooler. They're under $50 and you can slap one in in just a few minutes if you are good with your hands.

I bought a 10,000lb stacked plate cooler from bulkpart dot com a few years ago and I haven't looked back. I just cut the factory tubes and double-clamped both sides with small radiator clamps. That way you don't need to buy connectors and worry about them leaking.

Search for:
Tru-Cool LPD thin, Stacked Plate cooler kit

Go with stacked plate over the fin style. Well worth it IMO.
 
Hello Bama,

TO recap on what you are saying, when you are driving around and brake to a stop, the engine feels strained at low RPMs as though it was being forced to stall (as in not disengaging a clutch on an MT)? If this is correct then right before it's about to stall, does all return to a smooth normal, in gear idle?
 
Hi OceanDoctor:

Sorry for the late response, I haven't been online for a few days. Your recap is correct. When slowing to a stop, car will buck and shake like it hasn't been downshifted and/or clutch has not been disengaged, like it has been left in too high a gear at too low of a speed. It does not stall out. After a bit of bucking/shaking it then does disengage.
 
...and yes, before it stalls, it does return to a smooth, normal in-gear idle.
 
Its just worn out, you can probably drive it for a bit longer.

At 21 years and 270k miles that gear box owes you nothing! That's a pretty good run.
 
Originally Posted By: Bama
Hi OceanDoctor:

Sorry for the late response, I haven't been online for a few days. Your recap is correct. When slowing to a stop, car will buck and shake like it hasn't been downshifted and/or clutch has not been disengaged, like it has been left in too high a gear at too low of a speed. It does not stall out. After a bit of bucking/shaking it then does disengage.


Hey Bama,

Well this all rings a lot of bells, I've seen this before. It appears that indeed the lockup clutch is not disengaging due to lockup solenoid either leaking, stuck open or receiving current from bad wiring (least likely), leaving the lockup channel pressurized. The A140E is valved in such a way that at all times that first gear is engaged, the valve body mechanically bleeds off all pressure in the lockup channel, making lockup in 1st gear impossible, regardless of the solenoid valve. This is why you don't stall and the bucking stops when the transmission downshifts into first gear as you come to a stop. You can induce a normal, smooth stop without the bucking by manually dropping the gear selector into L(1) at about 10MPH as you roll to a halt.

You may have also noticed a really large RPM drop from the 1-2 shift, caused by the TC locking up at the same time, and 'hard shifts' between 2-3-4, maybe even some engine rocking/bucking similar to a manual transmission when you let off the gas.

The solution is not difficult, you could tackle it yourself if you have the patience. First you should check to see that the solenoid is getting current at the right time.

First, locate the solenoid. It's on the outside of the transmission. Towards the front of the engine, underneath the starter motor, you will see the gear selector switch with a wiring connector plugged into it. The TCC lockup solenoid is located right behind it (a little round metal thing). It has a one wire connector plugged into it. TO gain access to this, you may need to unplug and unbolt the gear selector switch- you may be successful, and maybe not as this tends to be rusted and seized. If you can get access to the TCC lockup solenoid plug then with the car running, and in park, use a multimeter to test for + voltage. If none, you're okay in the wiring department and can proceed to change the solenoid. Obtain a replacement if you want to fix it, remove one or two bolts, re & re, plug
em back in and that is all there is to swap the solenoid. Best of luck!
 
Thanks OceanDoctor, I'll see about ordering a replacement lockup solenoid. It's not really any of my business, but I am curious. Did you have a Toyota with an A140E that had this problem, or do you work on Toyotas? Again, thanks very much.
It was my hope when I posted about the problem, that I would find someone who had experienced the same thing before who could tell me what the solution had been in their case.
 
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