I own a 2014 Camry that was running perfectly. Has about 110,000 miles. I had the automatic transmission flushed at around 100,000 miles by a non-Toyota garage.. Ran perfectly. However, when I brought in the car to the Toyota dealership to have the door locks checked, they said the trans pan gasket was leaking. I had that replaced and now the transmission slips when cold. I've since discovered that the flushing was not done with Toyota transmission fluid, and of course the dealership used that to refill the pan. I'm wondering if either the Toyota fluid mixed with the fluid used for the flush don't play well together and this is causing the problem, or this is a normal flushing problem that has revealed seal shrinkage.

Now, I think I've got three options:

1. Have the transmission reflushed at the non-Toyota garage (less expensive)
2. Have the transmission reflushed at the Toyota garage (may do nothing)
3. Add Lucas transmission additive at the non-Toyota garage (this would further dilute the Toyota Trans fluid)

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

A transmission "flush" can mean many things.

1) The shop can use gravity (and the transmissions own fluid pump) to simultaneously remove the old fluid while adding new fluid of the correct type. This is the best and safest route.

Or

2) Force fluid under pressure into the trans to move the old fluid out and new in. Or do the same but add cleaning chemicals. Or do the same but reverse the flow direction of new fluid added and old removed. These methods can cause issues.

What type of "flush" did the non-Toyota shop do?

Does this trans have a transmission fluid check dipstick? If not when refilling trans fluid level to the correct level a specific procedure needs to followed as outlined by Toyota. It is possible but not likely the Toyota dealer may have under or overfilled the trans fluid to the point of causing issues..

Assuming the trans fluid is OK, your issue could be the result of the flush or the mixing of trans fluids types, or something else..

Toyota designed the trans to use a specific fluid type. Using another type of fluid or mixing fluids may cause issues.

The place to start is to check the fluid level. If OK then remove ALL the old transmission fluid using No 1 method stated here and replace with Toyota fluid.

If this fixes the issues don't know but its the simplest given your facts stated.

DO NOT use additives of any kind as they should not be needed in proper functioning trains and they can cause MORE problems then they solve!

 

Thanks for the advice! My only issue is that the transmission worked after what ever the independent mechanic did, and didn't start slipping until the pan gasket change at the Toyota dealership. I can't think of anything involving a pan gasket change that could cause this except the addition of Toyota transmission fluid. So, what I'm afraid of is that changing over to Toyota fluid could make the whole thing worse, and I don't want to pay the exorbitant price the dealership charges, only to have to have it done again at the independent garage. That would be three fluid changes ( over $1,000) just because I had the gasket fixed at the Toyota dealership lol.

So how about this (because I can do this myself.). I drain the pan and refill with Toyota fluid. Drive it for a week and if it still slips, do it again. After 2 or three times it should be almost 100% Toyota fluid. If it's still slipping, it's the fluid?????

 

If going DIY read up first on doing the job.

The trans has no dip stick and needs to be drained and refilled from under the car, then the fluid level checked at a specified temperature.

Before draining the fluid, check the level when its at the specified temp. Too how or low fluid level can cause operational issues.

Might try to find out what fluid the first shop used as the majority of fluid in the trans is that type of fluid.

 

If you have the 2014 Camry with the 4 cylinder engine you should have the U760E six speed automatic transmission. Please read below and do as follows. I hope it helps to save you some money and buys you some time before you have to get this flawed transmission rebuilt at your local transmission shop ($4000) or replaced with remanufactured at Toyota ($7200).

I have a 2012 Toyota Camry LE 96,000 miles this same issue. I have known about the issue for years and took it to the Toyota dealership to get Warranty Enhancement Notification - ZE5 (warranty good for 8 years or 150K miles) done in 2015. Instead they did Limited Service Campaign E03. Your car still falls under Warranty ZE5. You need to look up both of these online and print them out so you can take them both to the dealer and so you know what they are doing. E03 is only a software update. ZE5 is the same software update, replace the torque converter, and add more pan magnets. They issued both of these at the same time so they could do the E03 that only cost them around $200 instead of doing ZE5 on 795K (this number is on Toyota's E03 document) Camry's that Toyota is saying this affects at $2300 per car.

How to proceed: If I were you I would print out both E03 and ZE5. Call your closest dealership and set up an appointment. Take the Camry in and tell them that your Camry has a "Transmission Shudder". They are going to do E03 (software update). I would let them do it and drive the car home and park it for a couple of days. Then call them back and say that the Camry still has a "Transmission Shudder" set up a new appointment and they should do ZE5 (new torque convert and pan magnets). If not show them your ZE5 document and tell them you found this online and were hoping that since it falls under warranty you were hoping to have it done. They should do ZE5 if you go back because they admitted to the problem when they did E03. If they refuse to do it go home park the car and try another dealer. Then also try Toyota corporate. Remember Toyota issued LSC E03 in October 2014 then in November 2014 they issued WEN ZE5 so they are trying to get out of replacing the torque converter by issuing these two different directives at the same time (they got me with this shell game). Don't let them get out of replacing the torque converter no matter what you do. Don't do like me and settle for just the software update and trust Toyota.

I unfortunately was to late and will be spending $4000 on a rebuilt transmission. I looked and looked online because I knew something wasn't right about this transmission. However, I thought I could trust Toyota and I was wrong. I only found out what had happened to me after I finally found someone else online who had bought their 2012 Toyota Camry a few months before me and the warranty just ran out on them.

I would also start saving $4000 as you will have to rebuild this transmission no matter what you do in a few years. I will be posting on this forum what happened to me and my thoughts on this issue. If you would like to read more about this you will find it there in a few minutes when I post it. I will also be posting it on every forum I can find to help people save some money and not get taken by Toyota and their faulty U760E transmission. Please reply back on this thread with what happens to you and your Transmission Shudder issue so that it will help more people. ZE5 warranty is still good for some 2013 and all 2014 Camry's at this time. ZE5 will buy some people time before they have to get the transmission rebuilt and that will help a few people during these troubling times.

Live free or buy a new Toyota!