Won't shift into od 4th when cold?

It has been really cold in NY and since this is a new vehicle for me I'm not sure if this is ok. 96 camry 2.2 I4 when cold car will not shift into 4th. Soon as it hits the line above c on the temp gauge it shifts. This does this every time its cold and shifts at exactly at that point. Once she is at the line on the temp gauge car is fine after that. Now fluid looks like it was never changed. Could this be the prob. let me know Thank you.

Not upshifting to 4th when cold is normal for this generation of Camry. The ECM does this intentionally to help warm up the fluids faster. Once the temp gauge starts rising, then the ECM will allow upshift to 4th and OD engage.

Fluid checks/changes are usually the first things I do when I buy a used car, so changing the tranny fluid and the filter would definitely be in order. Consider also changing the differential fluid as well...it is a separate reservoir accessed on the driver's side under the car, facing the rear of the car. It takes transmission fluid as well.

Hope this helps!

cool thanks for the info. Like I said Im a ford nut so these toyota's ae a different world to me. Tranny service should be easy right? pan is on the bottom with the filter? and this diff fluid tank is under there also?

Ayup, pan comes off, filter is held in place with bolts. Diff is just to the left of the tranny (facing forward). You'll see two plugs, one for drain, one for fill.

Sometimes filter kits come with new pan gaskets, some don't. So check & make sure.

A $18 Haynes manual helps with most of the common repairs and torque specs. You can also d/l the service manuals from the stickies at the top of this forum, but having the Haynes book is handy.

Good luck & welcome to Toyota forum!

Thanks for all the help much appriciated.

"You'll see two plugs, one for drain, one for fill."

Just a bit of advice if you are going to do this job yourself; remove the fill plug first. That's just in case you remove the drain plug and then can't remove the fill plug.

Mike

Thanks I was thinking about that. I have a boat and i drained the lower unit fluid but I had to drill and tap the vent plug to get the air out. Thanks