1988 camry standard transmission probs

[scrum1928]

My buddy has a 1998 camry with about 150k on it. A few days ago he was going to back out of the driveway and the transmission stuck in reverse and would not let him shift. The only way he was able to get it out of that gear was to turn the car off. This happens with every gear when the car is on. When he puts it in gear it gets stuck in that gear and cannot be shifted until the car is turned off. Any idea what could be causing this? Fixes for it?

[Brian R.]

Any trouble getting into reverse, like some gear grinding? Might be the clutch is not disengaging totally. Should only take one finger pressure to get into any gear if the engine is running and the clutch is disengaging totally. Check fluid level in reservoir. Check pedal travel. There should be only a couple inches of free travel at the top of the clutch pedal before you feel resistance of disengaging clutch. Much more than that and clutch may still not be disengaging totally.

The only thing I can think of that might cause this problem is air in the hydralic line.

[scrum1928]

Thanks. No it didn't grind at all. It just wouldn't shift out of the gear. It goes into gear fine, but once it was in gear, we were unable to get it out of gear. Again, this is only when the car is running. Its fine when the engine is off.

[Brian R.]

I would still try bleeding the clutch hydralic line. Only thing I can think of. You can try changing the transmission oil. Maybe there is a contaminant in the oil. Check the other issues I mentioned above.

[scrum1928]

Thanks for the help!

[Brian R.]

You're welcome. Don't give up on this thread yet, there are probably other people with better ideas.