Automatic Transmission Failed After 62,000 Miles!

[mattobri]

Hello all,

I have just bought a 1988 Toyota Camry GLi Executive. It has only done 62,000 and has a manufacturers service history of services every 3500 miles. I bought the car beleiving it was going to be reliable as I have just had a kid and my wife needs to be able to get around. I have driven it 5 times (to the shops) and I think the automatic gearbox has gone! I can't beleive firstly how unlucky I am but secondly that the box could go after only 62,000 miles. When I put her in drive she will not move until I floor the accelarator and then she will crawl (same in reverse). She has enough auto fluid and it is a nice colour (not burned) suggesting problems.

Can someone offer any insight as what it could be? I'm not going to replace the box as it would probably cost more than I paid for the car.

Just thought I would post prior to scrapping her.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Matt

[jamesholden]

It could be the torque converter, but it sounds very similar to a problem my dad had with an Audi 100 about 10 years ago which had to have a new auto box.

One word on the mileage though, as you say its very low mileage for a 19 year old car, which spells problems unfortunately.

Because the car has only done an average of 3600 miles a year, it means its most likely been town pottered which means an awful lot of gearchanges, probably many more than a similar car with 200,000 miles on it thats spent its life on the motorway.

[camrys84GL86GLi]

It could be the torque converter, but it sounds very similar to a problem my dad had with an Audi 100 about 10 years ago which had to have a new auto box.

One word on the mileage though, as you say its very low mileage for a 19 year old car, which spells problems unfortunately.

Because the car has only done an average of 3600 miles a year, it means its most likely been town pottered which means an awful lot of gearchanges, probably many more than a similar car with 200,000 miles on it thats spent its life on the motorway.

[camrys84GL86GLi]

Hello all,

I have just bought a 1988 Toyota Camry GLi Executive. It has only done 62,000 and has a manufacturers service history of services every 3500 miles. I bought the car beleiving it was going to be reliable as I have just had a kid and my wife needs to be able to get around. I have driven it 5 times (to the shops) and I think the automatic gearbox has gone! I can't beleive firstly how unlucky I am but secondly that the box could go after only 62,000 miles. When I put her in drive she will not move until I floor the accelarator and then she will crawl (same in reverse). She has enough auto fluid and it is a nice colour (not burned) suggesting problems.

Can someone offer any insight as what it could be? I'm not going to replace the box as it would probably cost more than I paid for the car.

Just thought I would post prior to scrapping her.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Matt

[camrys84GL86GLi]

Hi there, Find it hard to believe that a top of the range Camry gearbox would fail after such low mileage whether used for short journeys or not.Although maybe not relevant I know of at least two earlier Camry's mine and a friends albeit manual that have covered 100k + used for short journeys with no problems and on the original clutches. More likely to be the clutch needing replacing(as the autos get more use) or the gearshift linkages need adjusting.(details in the Haynes workshop manual ) Was the clutch slipping prior to failure, i.e. was car losing power going up hills? Any sign of hydraulic fluid leaks? Seems a shame to scrap if rest of car is good.Why not try getting a Toyota garage to look at it. A second hand box might not be so easy to come by and could be expensive to have fitted to make it economical.Probably not worth spending more than about £500. Let me know how you get on? Good luck Graham from Bournemouth>

[mattobri]

Thanks for the reply guys. I have to admit that I didn't really notice any decrease in the autobox performance prior to it giving up. She was sluggish on hills but I would just shift down to the lower gears and she would be fine. I had just climbed a steep hill and was coasting down the other side. When I got to a junction hit the accelarator and nothing. AA man said he had never had a gearbox go on one of these since he had been working.

Seriously need to think about what I should do now.

Anyways thanks for the replies, I really do appreciate the time.

Matt

[BarneyTT]

Matt, sorry to hear of your problems with your car......................what was the outcome?