That is strange, most places would leave the new ones in, as that is the cheapest route for them (my guess).
The parts were $480. The labor was $270. Seems to make sense to eat the labor on getting them back I guess, especially because I’m sure they don’t pay that guy $270 just for that job. Probably only cost them about $60 to get them back.
It won’t cost the company anything, the tech won’t get paid. No labor collected, no labor paid to the tech.
If the vehicle smokes on start up (oil or coolant) perhaps you should put aside this discomfort issue until you know the what the engine problem is.
I guess I was wrong on the motor mounts too.
Glad you got a refund, but maybe you should have pressed them on further diagnosis since the last one was wrong, then ask for a refund. after the refund there is not much incentive for them to do a better diagnosis.
The dark brown tranny fluid that you describe is not a good sign either. How many miles were on the tranny between the last fluid change and the recent flush that you had done. If that was the first fluid change the tranny may be on it’s last legs now.
The white smoke on start up may be the sign of a head gasket failure.
A leak down test would verify this, and there is a test that can be done on the coolant to test for hydro carbons. You could buy the test kit at any parts store.
Yosemite
Well their further diagnosis was to replace the entire transmission. Really do not trust them. I don’t know how many miles were on it I just bought the car 3 months ago. How can I tell if the transmission is really bad, though?
There is nothing happening when the car shifts when I am applying steady acceleration. It’s 100% smooth, can not feel it at all. Even slowing down it’s smooth. It’s only when I let of the accelerator abruptly. I can shift it from 1st, to 2nd, to drive manually and nothing, 100% smooth. It could be the transmission though only when enough change in gas? Could it possibly be something with the fuel delivery??
It could be an engine or transmission fault or as I mentioned previously, a worn CV joint.
One odd thing I have run into several times that can cause a problem like this is a problem with the secondary ignition; meaning plug and coil wires. This would be easy to check and free to fix.
Unplug the wires from the distributor cap (especially the coil wire) and check them for any kind of scale or corrosion.
I remember running into something like this the first time years ago with a car that started instantly every time, idled like a Swiss watch, and ran like a top no matter how hard the pedal was nailed.
Let off of the pedal suddenly and it would lurch like it was runnng out of gas; and lurch hard too.
This threw me a bit at first because the engine ran so well and smooth.
The cause was corrosion on the coil wire where it plugged into the distributor cap. Cleaned that off with a small wire brush and problem gone.
I’m not saying this is the cause of your problem but it’s worth checking out.
If so many mechanics have been unable to find a major problem perhaps there isn’t one. Were you able to demonstrate this problem to each mechanic?
Your short ownership makes me wonder if your old Camry is no worse than any other old Camry. Why not drive the car for 5 years and see what develops?
You might also check the rubber intake boot between the throttle body and air cleaner housing. Those are prone to rot and cracking so an air leak in the intake tract could also cause this kind of problem.
Just another easy and cheap/free thing to consider.
My buddy has a 2004 camry. It’s not a V6 but definitely doesn’t have this problem. The mechanics all say there is something wrong they just don’t know what it is. I was easily able to demonstrate it. I wish I was just imagining it, though. I’ll check all this stuff tomorrow. Thanks for all the suggestions.
My manual tranny Corolla experienced a symptom somewhat similar, especially noticeable when driving fairly slow in neighborhood traffic situations. So here’s an idea.
When you let your foot off the accelerator w/a modern electronic fuel injected engine like your car has, the ecm (engine computer) does something a little different than it is normally doing. In order to save fuel, it completely turns off the fuel injectors, and lets the car coast. It is constantly monitoring the speed and engine rpm as this happens and if it gets into a condition that the engine might start to stall, it (the computer) will start to inject fuel again.
On my Corolla I can feel this happen very clearly in normal driving. If I let my foot off the gas as I approach a stop light in 3rd gear at say 35 mph, there’s a very slight jerk as the gas is cut off, then as the speed drops to around 7 mph I can feel the gas turn back on and the speed picks up slightly. Try that on your car, see what happens.
So your symptom possibly may have something to do w/ all that. In order for this fuel saving scheme to work smoothly, first the idle rpm must be correct, and second, the fuel injectors must be able to meter very small amounts of fuel accurately.
On my Corolla, the way I fixed it, I discovered the idle speed was set about 200 rpm too high. When I set it correctly, that improved things noticeably, but it still wasn’t completely fixed. What fixed it was I was trying to get my car to pass emissions, and part of that process I cleaned the fuel injectors. Cleaning the injectors seemed like it completely got rid of the remaining part of the symptom.
So make sure the idle speed is correct, and try a fuel injector cleaning. It of course would make no sense to do this unless all the engine routine maintenance was already up to date, so if there’s something needing doing, like maybe you need to replace the air filter or fuel filter, do that first.
I expect this has already been done at the dealership, but with any drivability issue, make sure to check both the engine computer and transmission computer for stored and pending diagnostic trouble codes.
Best of luck.
mechanics actually told me my idle speed is low not high. I have no idea how to clean my fuel injectors so will need to take it into the shop. I checked all the spark plug wires, can’t see anything wrong with them. I cleaned the throttle body but no change. Air intake looks fine to me.
Maybe this is a better way to explain. It feels like someone pulled back a large cable like it was a guitar string and let it fly, the feeling would be when the cable momentum stops suddenly then swings back at you. it feels like something is moving around in my car. I really can’t see that it happens when the transmission is shifting, it really seems like it has to do when the engine is getting gas or letting off gas.
I can shift it from 1st, to 2nd, to drive manually and nothing, 100% smooth.
But, if left in 1st, you let off the gas, you get the same jerk?
I just tried that Insightful and I absolutely do get the same jerk. It’s also more pronounced for some reason. Push accelator, one jerk, left off, one big jerk followed by 2 successive small jerks like something is moving around.
the two smaller jerks are also bigger when in 2nd gear for some reason.
I just talked to a mechanic that says he’s 99% sure it is my transmission valve body. I tried to clean it but really don’t know what to look for exactly. He said he thinks it’s sticking.
I would be more inclined to lean towards a fuel pressure, injector or ignition problem than a transmission problem. Run some seafoam or techron through it if you have time.
Agree w/Barky above, if this same jerking sensation occurs with the transmission selector in a fixed gear setting, like in “1” or “2”, it is sort of hard to believe the jerking is being caused by the transmission or its valve body. & I don’t think there’s anything that can stick in the valve body proper. Technically speaking I mean. The valve body is just a bunch of hydraulic tubes going every which way, sort of the hydraulic-computer analogy of a wiring harness. Nothing to stick. Plug or clog up maybe, but not stick. There are things that attach to the valve body that could stick though, selenoids, valves, and such, so I expect that is what your mechanic means.
The valve body is intimately involved with the gear changing process, not so much in a fixed gear. Since you feel like something is moving around during the jerk sensation, it could be the transmission mounts are worn out I suppose. Edit: Auto tranny’s have clutches too, so something wrong with those could be a cause, but when the clutches go bad usually the symptom is it won’t go into certain gears. So I’d discount worn clutches as the cause. But something to keep in mind anyway.
I’m still leaning towards the problem I described above, where the fuel injectors are cut off when you let your foot off the gas, then they quickly come back on again when you press on the gas. If they can’t meter the fuel gradually during the transition, you pretty much have to expect jerking. Have you asked your shop if they can fix the idle rpm problem? That would be where I’d start if I had this problem. Either too high or too low could conceivably cause jerking although too high would be the more likely of the two causes.
There are both aftermarket injector cleaners and pro-shop cleaning techniques. One of the regular expert posters here – db4690 – has said he has seen some significant improvements in drivability after a pro-shop injector cleaning. I used an aftermarket method using a product you add to the gas tank called “Clean Power” I think was the name. I think w/your symptoms, the severity you are noticing, you might be better to go with a pro-shop method. From what I gather, they’ll hook some kind of contraption right up to the injector rail and slowly inject a concentrated solution of the cleaning solution.
I know you are going to think this is stupid, but humor us and go check under the seats.
We had another poster here about a year ago that had found her problem to be something heavy that was rolling under the seat.
I had the same thing with my mom’s PT Cruiser. you would hear this thud and you could feel a very slight jarring motion as you slowed down. I listened and couldn’t figure out what it would be. I looked under the passenger seat and found a heavy can of something (can’t remember what it was now). It would roll to the back of the seat and rest there as you drove, but as you slowed and braked, the can would roll forward and hit the seat posts. When you accelerated again it would roll to the back again.
Check the trunk too for last years Propane bottle for the grill, that you meant to fill last fall.
Maybe it’s the Dumbbell that you found on the road
Yosemite
Here’s a wild thought . . .
I know for a fact that on the 2002-2006 Camrys, Toyota had some issues with shift complaints. And there were a few software patches to correct the problem
I wouldn’t be surprised if OP still has the original transmission software. Flashing the transmission control module won’t cost an arm and a leg, and if nothing else, you’ve ruled it out
