Auto transmission won't shift up from first

[irowiki]

The AT strainer? It's in the FSM. Page AT-103. It is held on by six bolts, and gets torqued to 48 inch pounds. AT-104 has the procedure for the pan including magnet placement and torque.

I don't really think the strainer was meant to be changed except during a transmission rebuild. I checked mine and it was pretty clean, didn't look at it too closely though. Since I had the pan off I changed the strainer anyway.

If you drop the pan and take the strainer out, a lot more atf comes out than if you just drain it from the plug! Make sure you put enough back in. You can also see how dirty the pan is, and how much junk is on the magnets.

The Seafoam site does talk about flushing, and using trans tune before the flush, basically you put in half a bottle, drive the car around a while, flush the ATF, and then put more transtune in with the new ATF to keep things clean. This is what I did. World of difference!

[Gottolovem]

autozone part #T188 special order

You will need to drop the pan under the transmission to change the filter.
Be prepared to make a HUGE mess as there is know easy (clean way to do it)

I would try the additive first to see if there is any improvement

[irowiki]

Rockauto has the strainer and pan gasket in one nice easy package. Old seal was cork, new seal was rubber.

It was definitely one of the messier jobs I've done on a car ESPECIALLY when I took the strainer off and got like half a quart of ATF to the face

[dlb]

the auto trans filter (or screen, or strainer, i can't remember what they call it) is really easy to change. after draining all the ATF using the plug on the trans oil pan, undo all the bolts and drop the pan. if it's stuck on pretty good, be careful how you pry it off so that you don't bend it or else it will not seal well again. once the pan is off, use a lint-free rag to clean the magnets on the pan of any metallic sludge. undo the three or four 10 mm bolts holding the filter/screen/strainer in place, replace it with the new one, put it all back together. the filter comes in a kit with a new trans oil pan gasket so you will replace the gasket at the same time.

ONLY TIGHTEN THE PAN BOLTS SLIGHTLY MORE THAN FINGER-TIGHT. use a small ratchet and be very light with it. over-torquing them will cause it to leak.

also, the last time i did this i had a hell of a time getting the gasket to lay flat after being bunched up in its box for so long. i recommend laying the gasket flat somewhere with some big heavy books on it to flatten it out and ease installation.

just saw paul and dan's above posts. that's funny, i don't remember it being too messy when i did it. it was a while ago though. i guess let it drain for a good long time to start with, and then keep the oil catch basin underneath while you're removing the pan and filter. and keep lots of rags handy!

[irowiki]

What also made it even dirtier was everything under the car was grimy and grungy, probably from past oil leaks. I need to find an easy way to scrub that transmission clean.

Torque on the oil pan was 65 inch pounds, dad had me finger tighten each bolt by hand, then go in three passes 20, 40, 65. I went in sort of a random diagonal pattern. Probably overkill, but oh well!

Also while the pan is out, make sure all the oil tubes are fully inserted (with clean hands). A few of mine had almost worked loose!

Will the car run in reverse?

It's also important to drive around in different gears while trying to clean it. Drive for a while in L, 2, and D each.

[kitchman]

Thanks again everyone,
Not to sound lazy, but as some here has suggested, does it make rational sense to just add the Trans-tune run a while, drain, add fresh ATF with remaining Trans-tune and if the problems are solved, call it a day? The car only has 130K miles and I believe 40-50K are on a rebuilt trans. Also is the transmission type in the 2wd hatch back the smaller capacity A55?
Thanks again

[irowiki]

Oh, yes. I thought you had a 4WD for some reason.

One advantage of dropping the pan is you can see from the magnets what condition things are in.

If you add trans tune, run it a while, drain, add more atf and transtune, drive a while, and it fixes itself, you're probably okay.

[dlb]

trying to get away with as little as possible on a trans that is already giving you problems doesn't sound like a good idea to me. i would definitely drop the pan and replace the filter to give it the best chance at survival you can. besides, we're talking about a total of about 20 small, easily accessible bolts worth of work here. it's an easy job.

[kitchman]

Hello again,
Took a look see at pages 103-104 in FSM, no mention or clear photo of the ATM filter, although an oil strainer is briefly discussed on page 102. Is the filter and strainer one of the same and is it beneath the valve body cover? Any real photos of this area would be great. Assuming this is the A55 type trans. found what looks to be the best deal around from Advance Auto Parts, advanceautoparts.com , part # FK191, not stocked but only $11.69, is this the correct part?
Thanks again

[Mark]

There's no filter in the auto trans, just a coarse screen (sometimes called a filter). The mesh is so coarse, it's probably only designed to stop broken pieces of metal or gasket material from entering the pump and valve body. I've removed several on different cars from 1st and 2nd gen tercels and a 1st gen Camry. I've never found any that were in any way blocked even when the transmission fluid was black. Any metal chunks large enough to be stopped by the screen will fall down into the pan and collect there. I still think it's worth it to drop the pan and see what has collected in the pan and around the magnets.
-What colour is your transmission fluid?
Your problem could be caused by insufficient oil pressure in the trans, caused by many reasons: worn pump (not likely), leaking internal o-rings or seals (more likely), or non-functioning "governor" valve. The governor valve is a centrifugally-operated metal piston in a cylinder sealed by 3 metal piston rings like in an engine cylinder. There's a spring in it too acting on the valve. -Anyways, I doubt that's it.
Your fluid level could also be low, but if it was that bad you'd probably hear weird noises even at idle as the pump lost suction.
The lack of shifting could also be caused by sticking valves in the valve body. A transmission flush with some kind of detergent as mentioned might correct this. There are also small springs in the valve body. If any of these are broken the valves will not operate correctly.
The hydraulic pressure acts on stacks of clutch disks to shift the gears (some cars use bands that can be tightened, but Tercels don't). These clutch disks could be worn and slipping. There could also be the incorrect kind of transmission fluid in the trans, which might cause the clutches to slip.
The last thing I can think of is to check the linkages going into the transmission. There's one coming from the throttle on the carb and one coming from the shift lever to select "drive" "reverse", etc. Make sure these are connected properly. There's probably a section on it in the Factory Service Manual.

Basically I'd:
1: Check the colour and level of the fluid.
2: Add some kind of detergent additive to flush out any gunk in the valve body.
3: Drain the old fluid and check what's in the pan. Clean out the pan and re-install with a new gasket.
4: Replace the fluid, using the proper type (Dexron 2 or equivalent) and ensure it's at the proper level.
5: As long as your linkages are hooked up properly, this is about all you can do without replacing or rebuilding the trans.

[Mark]

Also, I'm not a fan of "snake oil" additives, but if the above doesn't work, I'd try adding one of those "trans medic" or whatever miracle additives to the new fluid just to see if it makes a difference. I think they might swell the seals/o-rings, which may not make them last in the long run, but if your transmission doesn't work anyway it's worth a try.

[kitchman]

Thanks for the input!
The ATF fluid is the correct level, the color appears to be a brownish red when compared to new redder fluid. The fluid does not seem to smell burnt, though does have a smell that fresh fluid has not. Don't know if this has any thing to do with the present problem of not shifting above first, but for some time now when driving on an incline at around 50-55 mph the transmission would frequently down shift like kick down shifting. When this happens I would feather off the throttle to find a zone that would stop the erratic shifting. I believe this can be solved by adjusting the trans. linkage to the throttle. Can not do any thing regarding the trans. for 3-4 days pending arrival of rear brake shoes, found a leaking LR caliper and contaminated pads etc. , so both sides are being serviced.
Thanks again
PS Is that part from Advance Auto # FK-191 the correct item?

[Mark]

That strainer/gasket looks right although I think the A55 and A55F kits are different. That website doesn't let you differentiate between the 2wd and 4wd versions. They might be the same after all, but I remember them being slightly different for some reason. The erratic downshifting does seem like a hydraulic pressure problem, possibly caused by that throttle-link controlled valve. If you really want to get into it, there is a description in the manual on how to evaluate the pressures using the pressure test ports (the series of bolt-like plugs on the side of the transmission) and a pressure gauge. It seems a bit too involved for me to try myself. Maybe and auto shop could do it for you and give you the results.

[Mark]

Oh by the way, there are no vacuum hoses on the trans. Some Tercels have a hose on the top that looks like a vacuum hose, but it's just a vent.

[kitchman]

Thanks again,
When I was speaking to a Advance Auto counter guy, he said the FK191 kit was for a 17 bolt pan, does the trans. for the 4wd version have 17 or?
Also couldn't it just be that the linkage between the throttle and trans. needs adjustment and not a matter of oil pressure?