Well, I couldn't figure out my Transmission problems so I ended up taking it to a local and reputable tranny shop. Originally the speed sensor wasn't allowing any diagnosis to be done they said so they put in a new one. Then they couldn't figure out what was happening until they got a newer diagnosistics reader of some sort. They called me back and said it needed to be rebuilt and would cost between $1600 and $2000 so i ok'ed it. After they got it rebuilt it was still having problems and it turns out, they say that the computer is bad (didn't know there was a computer in the tranny but they say there is). They are telling me that it works fine until it heats up and then something in the computer (like a capacitor) fails and starts telling the tranny to do all kind of crazy stuff... which sounds right because it would work fine until the engine got up to temp.

So all that said to ask... is there a computer in the tranny and was all the rebuild done but not needed and only the computer needed to be replaced?

 

1600 to 2000? thats alot of money... i never heard of anything about a computer inside a transmission besides having a speed sensor and a back up sensor.

 

go **** rape them for lots of money. they've not fixed anything.
the transmission computer is INSIDE the ECU which is located right behind the glove box INSIDE the passanger cabin wher eit is not exposed to anything...




See the big black IC at the bottom right of this picture? That's the transmission controller.



Toyota ECU's also almost never fail after the late 80's. Period. Plus you can buy them for $25-50 on ebay if you watch long enough.

 

Thanks for the information Pheonix So what is your expert take on this if they get it working... was it just a computer component gone bad and that is all that was needed to fix the problem or was the rebuild necessary? The car started shifting out of overdrive after the engine would warm up to driving temps... took longer in the cool mornings than it did in the hot afternoon to stop going into OD... after a few weeks of this it just stopped going into OD completely... then after a couple of months started shifting in and out of third to second and second to first depending on my speed. This is when I had to take it in. The tach and speedo also wouldn't work in the morning when cool but started working after driving a few miles and worked right away in the afternoon.

 

Need a new speed sensor, and possibly a direct clutch sensor too.


Nothing to do with the ECU caps etc. (tho old caps can leak, that's besides the point.)