At 150k miles my tranny died on my beloved ES300. It was completely unexpected, my wife was driving down the highway and it just "stopped going" as she described, it was like it was in neutral. After we had the tranny shop look it over they said we needed a new transmission. We ended up ordering a remanufactured transmission off the internet and had a reputable shop install it. We've only put about 50 miles on it now, but it drives like crap. It's jerky when shifting, sometimes you have to let off the gas to get it to shift, and when at a stop sign it rolls backwards (!!) if you give it gas, the transmission engages at about 1100 rpms and goes fine, but the car just isn't right. We took it back to the shop and they checked the fluid and looked it over and said that it just needs a few hundred miles of breaking in. They said it should be fine if we just continue to drive it. Is this correct? Also of note, the Check engine light flashes at a steady pace while driving (but does go completely out from time to time) and the "trac off" light is permanently lit.

Thoughts? Recommendations?

Thanks,
Casey
Dallas, TX

 

Sounds like a nightmare.

Good Luck

 

A flashing check engine light??#!#!

This shop must be nuts. I'd pull out my OBD2 scanner and be checking that code immediately. Generally, I'd see that code with a misfire of an ignition coil, but in the case of the transmission that can also flash as describe and also pinpoint the problem, perhaps a solenoid or other issue. I'd also make sure that all of the grounding wires on the transmission were put back on correctly. The fluid level can be off by a quart low and cause issues as described, but the flashing check engine light...I'd have an independent mechanic pull the code...some auto parts places will do that for free. Bring us that code.

 

It sounds liek the shop is giving you the run around.....Break in? Total BS.

My friend and I last week, not having ANY clue what we were doing, replaced the tranny in his Maxima with a junkayard one over a 3 day period. Ran perfect the 1st time starting.

And x2 what Lexmex said. I bet the CEL is a solinoid code.

AutoZone, and I think Advance Auto, will read your CEL, for free.

 

well I just put an used tranny on my 97 Camry a few weeks ago.
My car has 175K miles, slipping, no go, rolling back... so I had someone worked at Toyota to put an used tranny for me.

With the used tranny, the car drives ok, just like the way it supposed to. No problem at all. The tranny was from local toyota parts store, they gave 90 days warranty. I think the problem could be the tranny you put on.

I don't think there is any issue with break-in. I would go seek 2nd opinion from another tranny shop.

 

There's no real break in period for planetary gear sets that you should be worried about - as long as they are lubricated, they'll be fine.

I think you have a torque converter issue. Rolling backwards at a stop sounds like the torque converter is not generating enough pressure between the turbine and the pump. In fact, I'm almost willing to bet that your stock transmission was 100% fine, and that the torque converter was what "went out." Especially if they re-used it. Unless you're doing some seriously crazy things with the accelerator peddle, that gear set in the transmission should have very little issues.

Edit: After review, I think the torque converter issue could explain your hard shifts too. The clutches within a auto transmission can engage any time, and the torque converter generally just absorbs the shock of the changing speeds. So if yours is malfunctioning, it will not be able to absorb as much shock, and it will transfer to other parts of the power transmission system, and you'll feel that through the shakes and shudders.

 

The tranny shop noted that the catalytic converter was glowing and recommended I get it replaced/cleaned out. I am going to do that this week. They also said that before they replaced the transmission, it threw several misfire codes. I will get these taken care of then take it back to the transmission shop.

I maintain my car quite well and I assume that the clogged cat would indicate another issue. The spark plugs were changed only 6 months ago (4k miles or so). I can't imagine that it would be missfiring from lack of good plugs.

-Casey

 

Well, parts do fail - and spark plugs are easy and cheap to replace, so start there. But like you said, that's probably not related to your transmission issues.