supra gearbox problem

i have a problem with my 86 supra auto in that it has lost 3rd gear and overdrive.
it takes time to engage any gear and has no gears if overdrive is pressed could anyone help me out by telling me if its a clutch or gearbox issue and if so how i can fix it
thanks in advance

86 mkII or 86.5 mkIII?

have you checked your fluid level? if your fluid is low, or burned (supposed to be bright pink/red, burned will be brownish) your tranny will slip. I suggest doing a filter and fluid change before assuming any big problems like a slipping band

yeah it was high so i drained about a pint and a half out and colour is fine but i did give the car a good thrashing prior to the loss of gears and had a clutch smell when i stopped

btw its the same model as your pic if that helps heh

someone else said i should check the torque settings of the bands and they should be checked every 22000 miles but as i dont have a manual that explains this im wary of trying and any pics or info as to doing this would help to save me the cost of going to a garage to have it checked

lol never heard of checking the bands every 22,000 miles, that's sounds a bit over the edge.
the filter is $15 and fluid is 3-4qts of Dexron III. Try this 1st, it's cheap and relatively easy! After you have the filter and new fluid in, make sure you run the car, put it into gear (while braking) and move it through all the gears to get the fluid flowing properly. If that doesn't work, your tranny is prolly toast. A shop will charge you about $700 to rebuild one (outrageous I know), so you'd be better off locating a tranny in the boneyard, prolly cost $100-$200.
Where are you located? I have a spare A43DE tranny waiting to be picked up. I have no personal need for it, I drive stick

heh im in the uk
i actually have 2 supras and hardly suprising my manual one is fine
but the last time i had a auto it was a ford granada and had exactly the same problem so i sold it just irratating to lose gears and it sometimes doesnt find 2nd until like 4500 rpm

yeah well if the tranny fliter is clogged up, this will happen, changing an automatic transmission filter is a general maintenance item. you don't have to change it as often as the oil filter, but you can't just forget about it either.

my buddys '85 Supra automatic, his tranny lines leak. ANd when he filled it back up w/ fluid, it didn't want to shift. I took his car for a ride and it took about 10 seconds and 3500rpm to get into gear. Was very bad. We did the filter/fluid change and it shifted like brand new again. You'd have never noticed it ever slipped

this is gonna make me sound dumb.. but where is the filter lol and what does it look like
i've taken a good look and followed pipes but dont see anything that would resemble one

aha
the filter is IN the transmission. if you slide underneath the car, under the tranny you will see a flat, rectangular pan with like 20 or so bolts. you need to drain the fluid 1st, there will be a drain plug. undo all the little bolts and pull down the pan. there you will see the filter. it is also bolted in. TAKE CARE to remember how the tranny filter is placed, you don't want to try to put the new one in upside down. ALSO beware of the trannys wires that run along side the pipes near the filter. Putting the filter back in may be a bit of a pain in the butt. But for a newbie, I taught my friend to do it, he did it within an hour, about 45 minutes or so.

cool i'll sort that out tomorrow when i get me some bits from the local car store and then prey to god it works im tempted to check the bands at the same time though so information of torque settings would be real handy

just a little update for anyone interested...
after following grateful advice of changing filter i have also flushed the gearbox changed the oil a further 3 times and still i have no third gear and lose 2nd gear at high revs if overdrive is pressed.. if anyone is willing to go a little more indepth with fault finding or whatever is neccesary i would be eternally grateful
sorry its taken me so long to post a reply jus i formatted and lost the sites address LOL

Have you pulled your codes?
-Colin

what do ya mean have ya pulled ya codes ? im unfamiliar with this term

When the computer notices an error, it stores the error in the computer so you can retreive it later. Search the net for how to retreive them for your car, it should be fairly easy -- especially if you have a Super Monitor...

-Colin