97 camry tranny changes hard. is it a problem?

hello new to the forum here, this question might have been answered elsewhere but i couldnt find it.
got a 4 cyl 1997 camry, 176,000 miles. owened it about 3 years. the transmission has always went into gear with a hard jerk (especially drive to reverse) and changes 1st to 2nd with a hard jerk, and 2nd to 3rd with a lighter jerk.
this has been the case since i bought the car. it changes smoothly, just hard. wondering if this is an indication of potential failure or something i need to address. had tranny flushed once, no difference. mechanic that i trust said that its fine. id like to believe that.
any insight?

At this stage of the game based on age and mileage I would just drive it and keep doing your regular tranmission service (flush) every 30,000 miles.

i used to have the same issue for about a year, then it went away. Here's what I think did it, though I don't know why :dunno:

I took the car with me to school, and around campus driving is a lot of short stop and go trips :banghead:, so I always kept the overdrive off, and I would often drive with the shifter in the '2' position to keep it from shifting often. I figured since it shifts hard, keep it from shifting, right? I would also lift off the throttle a little bit whenever the car was going to shift. Well, for whatever reason, driving it like that made the hard shifting disappear. No trans flush, no additives, nothing, and i'm no grandma when it comes to driving either.

I noticed lighter shifts a few weeks into doing that whether i lift off the throttle or not, and its been a few months since then. Maybe it will work for you too? Of course you need to be doing the right type of driving for you to be able to try this.

the trans will adjust to your driving habits, so that is probably what happened to you xfeejayx. You were consistent in your changes. ;)

perplex2000, you need to check your throttle pressure cable going into the transmission. There is a possibility the sleeve ferrule has broken at the trans side and it is causing the cable tension to be more than it should be inside the trans. IE. the effect is that it seems the cable is shorter or the sleeve is longer. The analogy is a bicycle brake where the sheath has been pulled out of the brake handle and now the brake engages with less handle pull. To check the cable at the trans, you will need to pull the battery and its tray out to have a good look.

Or if someone has ever played with the cable adjustment at the TB, this is another possibility.

From your symptoms, you are definitely suffering from excessive trans pressure, and this is one of the common causes.


dave mc

hey thanks all for the input!
i may try your method xfeejax as i now do lots of stop and go, and rarely get over 35mph. often the tranny will change hard into 3rd just as im hitting the brake to stop at a light. i feel so bad, like its hurting me and my precious camry!
davemc would there be a legitamte reason for wanting to alter the cable tension to make it change as mine? i have always had a suspicion that the prior owner had attempted to street mod the car to degree, with the very random elements of...to get more hp (?) with custom filters before i replaced them to factory and a missing heat shield over the motor, really high end struts and custom painted rear brake rotor covers (?). always wondered about that one.
ill have a good look at the cable to the trans. would adjustment to the sleeve be a possible solve or would one have to crack it open and adjust cable length inside?
again, thanks to all!
cheers

davemc would there be a legitamte reason for wanting to alter the cable tension to make it change as mine? i have always had a suspicion that the prior owner had attempted to street mod the car to degree, with the very random elements of...to get more hp (?) with custom filters before i replaced them to factory and a missing heat shield over the motor, really high end struts and custom painted rear brake rotor covers (?). always wondered about that one.
ill have a good look at the cable to the trans. would adjustment to the sleeve be a possible solve or would one have to crack it open and adjust cable length inside?
again, thanks to all!
cheers

No need to try to modify the existing cable. There is an adjustment at the throttle body end. You want to loosen the 2 lockiing nuts and turn it clockwise to reduce pressure. Try about 3 or 4 turns initially. Since you mention that the car was modified, it's very possible the previous owner tried to alter his shift timing and hardness by adjusting this cable or even installing some sort of modification to the trans CU (control unit) or a modified transmission valve body in the extreme case, or some other mod on the engine intake sensors such that the TCU does not get correct signals from teh sensors. Another thing to check are the motor mounts to make sure they are all in good shape. If they were ever replaced with non-oem stuff, it's a good possibility they are shot. Try putting the car in drive and put your foot firmly on the brake and rev the engine while observing how much the engine rocks back and forth. If you get some clunking with that, you likely hae bad mounts.

dave mc

often the tranny will change hard into 3rd just as im hitting the brake to stop at a light. i feel so bad, like its hurting me and my precious camry!cheers


yup, exactly what i was trying to avoid. i cringed every time...:eek7:

In my case, changing the tranny filter and switching to a synthetic tranny fluid made worlds of difference. I've had good luck with Mobil 1 but everybody has their favorite.