gammasphere

Hi,

I have a 1999 Camry LE that has 97,000 miles on it. I bought it used and have had it inspected by a toyota dealership. They found the tranny fluid to be black! But no metal flakes, so that's good. Problem is, does this black fluid indicate that the transmission has taken much unnecessary abuse in the past? I had the dealership flush out the system, hopefully this is all I'll hear about the problem. Do you think that there could be a deeper problem down the road regarding the transimission, and what might that be?

Also, my car's engine roars a LITTLE louder than what seems normal at 2000 RPM...is this suspcious or is this normal? There is little to no roar at any other RPM except between 1800 and 2000 RPM. What could this mean? Or, again, is this normal?

One more thing, I am going to get an oil change real soon. Do you have any suggestions as to what type of oil to use considering that: I live in Michigan where it is quite cold and snows a lot, my car has to be kept outside overnight, I drive 120 miles round-trip every day for work with lots of stop and go traffic, and considering that I don't know how my engine has been treated in the past as to being properly maintained with oil changes and the likes.
(P.S. what oil do toyota dealerships use?)

Thank you all very much for any help you can give me!

WickedNYCowboy

My engine is pretty loud above 2 grand as well. Also just change the ATF and see what happens. If it goes black you could add a cooler and that should solve your problem. I run Mobil 5-30.

__________________
Evan
Support your local volunteer fire department
===============
My Rides:
2003 Ford F-350 Long Horn Hauler
Others:
1999 Toyota Camry LE V6-Dad
2004 Chevy Tahoe Z71-Sister
2004 Toyota Camry LE V6-Mom

It is a car!

5W-30 ?
cold stuff, Artic circle grade.

If I was doing that much driving I would use 20W-50.
especially in the summer.
and for winter : 10W-40

WEF

Our xmission was replaced at 47k and the fluid had turned black by 25k. I don't remember the code it was throwing but it was something about a B solenoid failure??? The new xmission has 30k on it and is getting black. This little 4 cylinder is pushed pretty hard so I wonder if a prior poster was correct about a cooler.

I don't see any reason to use any different weight oil than the factory recommends.