mission mike Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Does anyone have an idea what could be happening with my automatic transmission, if I kick the gas pedal down when climbing a hill to get into a lower gear, to keep my speed up on the freeway, the transmission runs on for quite some time in that lower gear before it will eventually return to a higher gear. I made this post back in January at the start of our trip down to Baja Mexico, I think at the time we where in Tacoma Washington heading south on I-5, someone suggested there could be a problem with the throttle valve linkage, so I did attempt to adjust as per instructions in my Haynes repair book, but this only made things worse, now the transmission was stuck in first gear, so I reversed what I had done and after a few miles the transmission started shifting as it should, well almost! to you guys who have driven down in Baja, you will be aware of the Topes (speed bumps) in every town, each time I hit a series of Topes, after almost coming to a stop prior to driving over them, the transmission would hold in the lower gear before eventually changing up, this happened throughout the 2 1/2 months we were on the road, but touch wood we kept on rolling, now last week after driving home through the states to B.C. the problem with staying in the lower gears got worse. driving on I-5, calm day, dead flat road I would have to be moving along at 65mph before it would go into overdrive, if the speed dropped below 53mph it would change down, since I got home it has only got worse. I have to be at about 40 mph before it will change into second, and if then speed drops to 30mph it will kick back into first, any ideas out there with what could be wrong? I must say though during the 6000 miles of this trip we climbed some pretty steep hills, a couple of passes were in the 4000 ft range, never once did the transmission feel like it was slipping, nor does the fluid have a burning smell to it, and is of a nice pink color. Sorry to be so long winded with this problem. thanks Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodad Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Does anyone have an idea what could be happening with my automatic transmission, if I kick the gas pedal down when climbing a hill to get into a lower gear, to keep my speed up on the freeway, the transmission runs on for quite some time in that lower gear before it will eventually return to a higher gear. I made this post back in January at the start of our trip down to Baja Mexico, I think at the time we where in Tacoma Washington heading south on I-5, someone suggested there could be a problem with the throttle valve linkage, so I did attempt to adjust as per instructions in my Haynes repair book, but this only made things worse, now the transmission was stuck in first gear, so I reversed what I had done and after a few miles the transmission started shifting as it should, well almost! to you guys who have driven down in Baja, you will be aware of the Topes (speed bumps) in every town, each time I hit a series of Topes, after almost coming to a stop prior to driving over them, the transmission would hold in the lower gear before eventually changing up, this happened throughout the 2 1/2 months we were on the road, but touch wood we kept on rolling, now last week after driving home through the states to B.C. the problem with staying in the lower gears got worse. driving on I-5, calm day, dead flat road I would have to be moving along at 65mph before it would go into overdrive, if the speed dropped below 53mph it would change down, since I got home it has only got worse. I have to be at about 40 mph before it will change into second, and if then speed drops to 30mph it will kick back into first, any ideas out there with what could be wrong? I must say though during the 6000 miles of this trip we climbed some pretty steep hills, a couple of passes were in the 4000 ft range, never once did the transmission feel like it was slipping, nor does the fluid have a burning smell to it, and is of a nice pink color. Sorry to be so long winded with this problem. thanks Mike hey there i do trans for liveing you shoud cheek your detint cable . some toyotas have a bad probelm with cables stiking do to no ground on the tranny if sow replace it lube is gust temperrary fix and add a new ground cable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission mike Posted March 29, 2009 Author Share Posted March 29, 2009 hey there i do trans for liveing you shoud cheek your detint cable . some toyotas have a bad probelm with cables stiking do to no ground on the tranny if sow replace it lube is gust temperrary fix and add a new ground cable Thanks for the reply Dodad, I'm not familier with the "detint cable" what is that? and where is it located? Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodybagger Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Do you have 50-70k miles on the tranny? Have you checked for play at extension housing bushing? Very simple. Get under it and wiggle the driveshaft at the transmission. If it wiggles, you have a worn ext. housing bushing. Have a tranny shop measure the governor circuit pressure throughout the driving range. I think you will find it is low due to damage to the transmission case from the output shaft wobbling too much. I just rebuilt mine from this very common problem following almost exactly the same symptoms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 It is the heavy black cable that is connected to your throttle linkage. It has nuts both sides of the bracket that allow you to adjust it. Pull it with your finger, it is under spring tension and should return to where you started with no binding and a smooth feel to it. Now if you want to adjust it loosen both nuts and have a friend press the gas to the floor pull the out side black cable back till it stops (gently you don't have to pull real hard) and bring both nuts back to the bracket then let go of the cable and tighten the nuts together. If the cable is pulled back to far it will shift late if it is too far forward it will shift too soon. If the inner cable is free and the adjustment does not fix it you may have governor issues they had problems with bushing ware at the governor rings. How many miles on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission mike Posted March 29, 2009 Author Share Posted March 29, 2009 Thanks Bodybagger & Maineah I'll check it out tomorrow, the transmission has 66000miles on it, there was 55000 on the camper when we bought it a year and a half ago,its an 89 winnie 4 cyl. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Hard to say Mike I hope the cable adjustment does it for you usually if the shifting becomes random or refuses to shift it's a governor issue. All of them things take quite awhile to shift back into O/D once they have down shifted because the drive shaft speed is slow to increase at hiway speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission mike Posted March 30, 2009 Author Share Posted March 30, 2009 Hi Maineah I only had chance to take a quick look at the detent cable today, you mean to pull on the inner cable right? I did this, and there is no movement at all, will not pull out, or push back in, no feeling of spring tension, also did a check of the drive shaft at the transmission end, no up and down movement, so that should be OK. Back to the detent cable, what does that connect to on the transmission? I couldn't see too much in the time I had, I will have to run up on some wheel ramps to get a good look. thanks for putting me on the right track Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodad Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Hi MaineahI only had chance to take a quick look at the detent cable today, you mean to pull on the inner cable right? I did this, and there is no movement at all, will not pull out, or push back in, no feeling of spring tension, also did a check of the drive shaft at the transmission end, no up and down movement, so that should be OK. Back to the detent cable, what does that connect to on the transmission? I couldn't see too much in the time I had, I will have to run up on some wheel ramps to get a good look. thanks for putting me on the right track Mike the cable is coneted to the valve body to repace it you must pull the vavle body off this needs to be done by a transmision shop .but .i recmend you get the cable frist from toyota .and dont foget a new ground strap so this dont hapen agien Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission mike Posted March 30, 2009 Author Share Posted March 30, 2009 Thanks Dodad Where would you recomend attaching the ground strap to the transmission? close to the cable? or just any old place? I'm going to do some phoning around to see where I can get it fixed, we have a Toyota dealer about 12mls away, maybe they can do the whole job. will keep you all posted, and thanks to everyone for advise. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodad Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Thanks DodadWhere would you recomend attaching the ground strap to the transmission? close to the cable? or just any old place? I'm going to do some phoning around to see where I can get it fixed, we have a Toyota dealer about 12mls away, maybe they can do the whole job. will keep you all posted, and thanks to everyone for advise. Mike i like to go from ome of the bolts on the torsion bar on the frame to the bell houseing on the drivers side you will see 12mm bolts there and i think you will need your ground strap to be 16 to 18 inchs long . i must do this to all toyotas that come in for a overhule . so that cable dose not weld up in side and stick good luck there .dodad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D. Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 hey there i do trans for liveing you shoud cheek your detint cable . some toyotas have a bad probelm with cables stiking do to no ground on the tranny if sow replace it lube is gust temperrary fix and add a new ground cable I am only courious. How come the transmision does not ground through the motor? I am not a mechanic so I am not challenging your statement. I am going to have my cable replaced in about two weeks and would like to have all the information I can.when I suggest the ground strap for the transmission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 How come the transmission does not ground through the motor? When its brand new, it probably does., but don't count on it. Over time, road salts, electrolysis (dissimilar metals) can take place and build a microscopic film residue between some dissimilar metals. This film can be a thin as 1 molecule thick, just enough to raise the electrical resistance to an unacceptable level. Grounding straps eliminate this by grounding the Transmission to the engine block, or to the vehicle frame. If you have weird electrical behavior, install grounding straps. JOhn Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D. Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Grounding straps eliminate this by grounding the Transmission to the engine block, or to the vehicle frame. If you have weird electrical behavior, install grounding straps. Thanks John for the infor. By the way I enjoyed your Alaska Blog. I do not trust my Motor Home to that degree yet but we are getting there. I still need to correct a few more things. TDS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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