Hi,
I have an 02 Camry SE w/ 118k mi.- it has a 4-speed auto. I was driving home from a friend's house the other night and my Check engine light came on. Right after that the transmission seemed like it lost 4th gear- my engine would rev to 4000 rpms, was hunting for a gear, etc. At that point I got off the freeway and took side streets home- I was able to maintain 50-60 mph but clearly the transmission was malfunctioning and I feared I was due for a costly transmission rebuild. I changed the trans fluid at 60k mi. w/ the correct Toyota ATF.

This morning I plugged my code scanner into the port and pulled a P0770 trouble code- Shift Solenoid E Malfunction. Is this solenoid serviceable when the transmission pan is dropped? I'm a classic car mechanic (rebuild engines, transmissions, rear ends, etc.), and have worked on newer import cars as well (mostly minor items like water pumps, timing belts, p/s racks, etc.), but I'm no Toyota tech. This car is my daily driver and will bite the bullet if I have to get it repaired correctly.

Has anyone else experienced this transmission problem/ part failure too?

Geno

 

You can access the solenoid with the pan removed.

There are some issues with this code and trans failure (not just a solenoid).

Is this 4 cylinder engine?

 

My 02 SE has the 2.4l 4-cylinder.

Is this a typical failure? I'm pretty disappointed if it does turn out to be a transmission failure- 118k mi on a trans. that got a fluid change at 60k mi. is pretty pathetic.

Geno

 

P0770 is common. The issue is if the problem is the solenoid or trans itself.

There are 5 shift solenoids. You want solenoid E also called SL or DSL. See links below.

http://www.toyotapart.com/U240E_U241...T-TC005-04.pdf

http://madstyle1972.com/Repair/05/2011ne09/cip0770.pdf

 

Joey,
Thanks very much for the Toyota TSB's- I will try and test the solenoid before I make funeral arrangements for my transaxle.

Geno