Hi
The auto trans on my 1998 /2.2l, camry is slipping when the car is cold ( -20 deg C) when the car warms up, its fine for the rest of the day.

All suggestions gratefully accepted

thanks

 

Possible causes:

Low trans fluid. Check fluid when it is HOT, engine running, trans in Park.

Fluid is worn out or dirty and needs changing.

Internal trans clutch or brake wear.

Low trans fluid pressure.

Your trans fluid is most likely Dexron III, a mineral oil (same as engine oil) and does not flow well at cold temps. Might give the trans fluid more time to heat up by letting the engine idle longer before driving in the morning.

Trans fluid is basically a high detergent 10 weight oil.

Check fluid level and or have it totally replaced.

Switch to a synthetic trans fluid that flows better at cold temps. See link below:

ATF | Mobil 1™ Synthetic ATF

 

Thanks Joey

I have managed to put this on hold by allowing the car to idle for longer. Meanwhile I am changing the Trans fluid. the car has 200k km on it and i wanted to drop the pan and clean up before shifting from dexron to synthetic. any opinions / suggestions?

Thanks again

 

The trans oil pan holds about 1/3 of the total fluid amount, the rest is in the torque converter.

To get all of the old fluid out you can do the following:

If you are going to drop the pan and clean do this first. Check trans oil pump inlet screen which unless a problem with the trans should be clean.

The pan should have a couple of magnets on the inside bottom, clean these of metal debris and put them back. There will be minor debris but should be nothing large.

Don't over tighten the pan bolts or nuts or you will squeeze out the gasket.

Refill the pan with whatever fluid you are going to use.

Disconnect the return trans fluid radiator cooler line at the trans inlet and route hose into a clear or translucent 1 gallon container.

Start engine and allow about 2 quarts to fill the container.

Refill the trans with fluid and repeat the process pump out process, then refill.

Repeat this process until the fluid is clean.

The trans holds over 6 quarts, will take a few more to clean out the old fluid.

If you are using synthetic the cost can add up. Suggest Mobil 1 ATF.

If you can't afford this use a name brand mineral ATF fluid. Dexron III has been discontinued, replacements are labeled ATF fluid. Read the label to make sure it is a replacement for Dexron III.

OR

You replace much of the fluid by doing many drain and refills of the pan over time. You will never get the fluid completely changed like doing the procedure above but may be good enough.

The internet should has post on both methods.

 

Thanks Joey. I will keep you posted. BTW, do the engine oil additives really work? MY camry has 203k km on it and i really like the car, very forgiving, wanted to see if i could take better care of it. Also, is it true that once you start putting synthetic oil in the engine, you cant put normal oil the next time around?
thanks again

 

The engine should not need engine oil additives.

The best way to long engine life is to change the engine oil and filter on regular basis. If using conventional oil say every 8000 Km or every year if you don't drive this much in a year. Synthetic can go longer but suggest not going beyond 16000 Km.

All oil companies state you can change to synthetic and back without problems or mix conventional and synthetic oil. There are oils available that are a blend of both, called blended synthetic.

As to the trans, which every way you the trans fluid does wear out and get dirty from the trans components such as clutches and brakes plus heat. Overheated fluid is the number 1 cause of trans fluid wearing out such as caused by stop and go driving.

If using conventional trans fluid suggest changing it every 48000 km. Once you have cleaned the pan in the first change, no need to remove and do it again.

You can as stated before do a number of drain and refills to change most of it.

Synthetic should last twice as long but no fluid (even so called lifetime) lasts forever.

Keep on eye on the fluid at the dipstick. Should be red for conventional and whatever color the synthetic is. The fluid turning dark or brown is sign it is wearing out. Black fluid is bad, don't let the fluid get this bad.

The 2.2L trans has a separate fluid chamber for the differential. You should also drain and refill this when changing the trans fluid. It holds 1.5L.

The trans pan holds 2.5L. The complete trans including fluid in the pan hold 5.6L.

If you look where the axles go into the diff there is plug under this housing to drain the fluid. The fill plug is behind this housing facing the firewall. Make sure you can remove the fill plug before removing the drain plug as some owners drained the diff only to find later they could not remove the fill plug.

To fill, install drain plug then fill via side port until the fluid runs out.

You should also change the power steering fluid which is the same type as the trans fluid. The easiest way it to suck the old fluid out of the reservoir and replace it with new. Do this between drives until the fluid is clean again.

I do a complete change on trans because using a pan drain and refill method the fluid never seems to fully clean up. The PS system does not seem to have this problem.

Also check the brake fluid. If black think about flushing the system by one at time bleeding the brakes until clean fluid appears.

No hurry on the brake and PS fluid can wait until warmer weather.

 

Thanks Joey, that was very helpful.

 

describe what you mean by "slipping" because if you mean it won't shift into OD or 4th gear when the engine isn't warm then that is how the car is designed, it won't shift until the engine reaches a certain temperature and this is to make sure that the fluids reach proper temperature quickly and safely