# 93 Camry won't shift into drive

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/93-camry-wont-shift-into-drive/34059>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** transmissions, toyota, camry\
**Created:** [July 26, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/93-camry-wont-shift-into-drive/34059 "2009-07-26T21:32:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ambivalentmaybe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@ambivalentmaybe](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ambivalentmaybe)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/93-camry-wont-shift-into-drive/34059/1 "2009-07-26T21:32:04Z")

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At a stop light today, my usually reliable Camry wouldn’t go into gear. The shifter for the automatic transmission moved, but the indicator light for drive did light, and the car wouldn’t move in any gear. (The lights for 2 and L did work, but it never shifted into those, either.) The trans fluid level is fine, and we’ve never had a problem like this before. The transmission is original, and there are ca. 130,000 miles on the car.  
  
  
  
 Any guesses for what the problem is, and how much it might cost to fix it? Is the car worth fixing, or should I buy something newer?

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**Author:** ![ambivalentmaybe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@ambivalentmaybe](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ambivalentmaybe)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/93-camry-wont-shift-into-drive/34059/2 "2009-07-26T21:33:44Z")

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Oops, that should be “the indicator light for drive DIDN’T light.”

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**Author:** ![budd2049](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@budd2049](https://community.cartalk.com/u/budd2049)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 10:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/93-camry-wont-shift-into-drive/34059/3 "2009-07-26T22:26:40Z")

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I’m curious why it wasn’t still in gear at the stoplight. Did you shift it into Park or something?

Anyways, my first thought is a broken shift cable/linkage.

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**Author:** ![ambivalentmaybe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@ambivalentmaybe](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ambivalentmaybe)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 12:17am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/93-camry-wont-shift-into-drive/34059/4 "2009-07-27T00:17:51Z")

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It was in drive at the stop light, but then it wouldn’t move when the light turned green, nor would any of the gears engage after shifting into park and trying everything else. After several tries, it started moving again, but only got as far as the other side of the intersection, where we pulled into a gas station, parked, then couldn’t get the car moving again.

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**Author:** ![ambivalentmaybe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@ambivalentmaybe](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ambivalentmaybe)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 1:43am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/93-camry-wont-shift-into-drive/34059/5 "2009-07-30T01:43:37Z")

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For anyone interested in the resolution to this problem:  
It wasn’t a broken linkage. Our mechanic did a “power flush” of the transmission, plus some extra cleaning, and the transmission seems to be working fine. Before he started, the mechanic said the chances of it working were only 50-50, but our side of the coin came up, apparently, and the old Camry is back on the road.