Weird 88 camry problem

[Thom Serveaux]

Hi, I'm new here... this forum was a recommendation from a friend, which is why I'm here, and I have a question for ya'll.

I bought a 1988 Camry LE, four cylinder, automatic transmission this august. It had 65000 miles on it and was in excellent condition.

A month ago, I went to pull out of the driveway to find that my car wouldn't go backwards. It would just rev the engine, making no motion forwards or backwards. Eventually I pushed it out and drove it, finding that it was shifting slowly and not going into 4th gear (overdrive).

We just took the transmission out yesterday and inspected it. It looked (to the mechanic with me, a family friend) excellent, with no visible flaws or problems. Three very knowledgeable people have inspected the car and the transmission, and the problem remains elusive. We agreed it'd be ridiculous to replace such a near-flawless transmission. The problem is, we don't know what the problem is!

If anyone has had this problem, could help me out, or could just provide some helpful links I would be very, very grateful. It was such a great car, and still is, but this problem is driving me crazy.

It makes me think twice about where I park, though.

Thanks a lot!
Mendon

[Bossman]

This isn't going to be much help but the same exact thing happened to my 87 Camry auto trans. No movement in either forward or reverse. I did not have it inspected but I suspect it was caused by the sheer heat build-up which causes varnish and gum to accumulate. I had been running it pretty hard on the freeway during that time and I didn't take it in for its 15,000 mile service. Yep, I let it go too long; about 23,000 miles and I ended up getting rid of the car because, financially, it just wasn't worth it. I hope that it's just something simple and inexpensive on your trans. Best of luck.

[jsinton]

I don't mean to sound flippant, but how can you inspect the Automatic trans without tearing it down? Seems impossible to me.