2002 Toyota Corolla...Need Transmission help

[sc98cbra]

Aloha,

My girlfriend owns a 2002 Toyota Corolla. About a month ago, she had her friends boyfriend change her oil, because I was out of town. Right after he changed her oil, she said that her 'Check Engine' light came on, and she noticed that her transmission started slipping.

Soon thereafter, her transmission started slipping even more, and eventually her reverse completely stopped working. She took the car to Advanced Auto to have the codes pulled, and the codes were transmission related.

Ive been hounding her to get her car to a transmission shop, so they could figure out what was wrong, as I was still out of town, but she didnt. About 2 days ago, her transmission completely stopped working in forward gears, and her reverse started working again. I told her to check her transmission fluid level. Low and behold, there was no fluid in the transmission :bash::bash:. So I told her to put Dextron 3 (According to the manual) Automatic Transmission fluid in the car. Her friends boyfriend, the same one who changed her oil, put ATF Type A fluid in the transmission :bash::bash::bash:. I got home last night, checked both the transmission fluid and the oil in the car.

The oil was about 3-4 quarts above what should have been in the car, and the transmission fluid was at the right level, but is the wrong fluid. So, I think this kid drained her transmission fluid, thinking it was her oil pan.

Here are the symptoms of the car:

* Check engine light is on

* The car didnt move in reverse about 2 weeks ago, but worked in the forward gears (D, 2, 1)

*Wrong transmission fluid in the transmission

*Way too much oil in the oil pan

*Reverse works now, but forward gears don't, UNLESS you push the pedal all the way to the floor and the car rev's to about 5000 RPMS (Then it starts to slowly work)

Should I drain the ATF type A fluid, and put the Dextron 3 in, or is the transmission shot?

 

[oldmodman]

Change both the engine and transmission oil with the fluids that Toyota requires.

Drive car gently for a few miles in city traffic so it has to shift up and down. If not too much damage was done to the plates and band it should be OK.

If it does improve and seem to be operating normally I would suggest changing the fluid again. The fluid will be mixed with the residue of the old, wrong fluid and probably has some "gunk" floating around in it. The final change might restore it to normal service and it might just last for another 50K.

 

[big dad]

My guess is the guy changed the filter but failed to drain the crankcase oil. That's why the oil level is so high. Then he drained the trans fluid by mistake thinking it was engine oil. Now because the vehicle was driven with low trans fluid, the clutch packs for the foward clutch are toast.
It's like the old lady that has an operation to remove gall stones, and while she's on the operating table has a heart attack.
Best of luck to you and your girlfriend getting this F U resolved.

PS. You give her sound advise, she just didn't follow it. Before I retired I was a Toyota tech, if that matters.

 

[SVT F15O]

*Reverse works now, but forward gears don't, UNLESS you push the pedal all the way to the floor and the car rev's to about 5000 RPMS (Then it starts to slowly work)

What kind of codes does it have>???
Maybe it is in failsafe due to a bad solenoid and taking off in high gear>???
What does the fluid look and smell like>???
Does it smell burnt>???

 

[VirtualSVT]

well he found out the pans look alike to a retard lol

That sucks

 

[BladeX10]

Time for a new transmission and time for that guy to never work on another car again if he cant use common sense as to where the engine and transmission is on a FWD car.

 

[MysticRob]

First kill the idiot that did the fluid change so he can't reproduce, then completely drain both engine and transmission of fluids and refill both with correct fluid types. Drive it a few miles and ensure proper shifting into all gears, then if all is good, drain both and again refill just to completely remove all possibilities of cross-contamination of fluid types.