Toyota Camry Gearbox & Transmission Problems

It can be difficult to diagnose and fix a car when the problem is intermittent, it might not occur when the mechanic of technician is present to observe it. Follow Toyota’s advice and record instances with as much detail as you can. The more information you can gibe Toyota the better the chance of fixing the problem.

Ford was having heaps of trouble with its dual-clutch automatic transmission back then, so it would be wise not to take the risk of buying one. Holden was in just as much trouble with the torque-converted auto in the Cruze, and I would urge you not to go down that route either. Instead of those, consider a Toyota Camry.

The CVT oil should be changed every 100,000km. As for the fuel consumption it's best to do a check yourself by measuring how much fuel it is actually using. Judging the consumption by how far the gauge falls is very inaccurate, and I wouldn't stake my life on the fuel consumption gauges in the car. Do an actual measurement and you will know exactly what the consumption is. Nissan claims an average of 9.1L/100km, 7.7L/100km on country driving, and 11.5L/100km on city use. I would expect your car would fall somewhere between 9.1 and 11.5L/100km.

It could be a mismatched gear set in the oil pump in the transmission, or a mismatch in the planetary gear set.

Final drive gear whine is something many owners complain about in Toyotas. It's usually a result of the gear cutting process and there is not much you can do about it, except replace the gears. You could try different gear oil, which might make it a little quieter.

You're clearly not getting anywhere with this dealer, so I would seek advice from a specialist in automatic transmissions on the problem and, depending on that advice, take the information back to the dealer and demand it be fixed. Our information is that it's unlikely to be a converter problem.

There is nothing in particular to be concerned about; the Camry is generally a robust and reliable car. You did the right thing in having the auto transmission serviced, but that was 100,000 km ago, so I would have it serviced again. Keeping the transmission fluid fresh and not working the transmission too hard are the keys to keeping it alive in the long term.

IT'S HARD to diagnose the sort of problem you report without actually driving the car. Whining noises can be caused by many different factors. The best thing to do is to take your car to a Toyota dealer for proper diagnosis.

WHEN you start your engine, the transmission is in the overdrive mode -- it will shift through all gears, including the overdrive fifth gear. If you press the overdrive button, you will notice the warning light on the dash is illuminated telling you that the overdrive is off. In this case the transmission will not engage fifth gear. If you press the button above 80km/h the transmission will shift down to fourth. The overdrive should be engaged for normal driving to get better fuel consumption, but you can disengage it when you want more passing performance, or to slow the car when you are approaching a town.