[staticpat]

what happened before was when the car got really hot it wouldnt crank. after checking all the signs i assumed it was the starter contacts. and had been meaning to replace them.

then the transmission(auto) started slipping sometimes, the rpms would shoot up really high but it wouldn't go into 3rd gear. this always happend from 2nd to 3rd, never any others. it kinda seemed like it was stuck in neutral. it only seemed to happen on long drives too.

so i changed the tranny fluid and filter, and checked the starter contacts. the contacts seemed pretty bad off but not terrible. i sanded all the pits and everything out, reinstalled it and all was great. i also accidentally fixed the brake lights when checking out the ect ecu.

the car has driven fine for the past week, i think the transmission slipped for a second one night when it was really cold and i was putting a bit more gas than usual on (ive been scared lately and drving like a grandma). since the car has been fine otherwise i wasnt worried.

but today i drove for about 40 minutes, and it was pretty hot out. the transmission started slipping again, but if i let off the gas for a second and put it back on then it shifted fine.

finally i lost 3rd gear again, i pulled over and stopped. after checking fluid and everything i went to start the car and it wouldnt crank again. it has to be something electrical! anyway after hitting the starter with a hammer it started right up and drove 40 more minutes incident free, even though the car was still really hot.

any help at all would be much appreciated. i really dont think the transmission is bad mechanically. im gonna bring the car by the guys who installed my engine tomorrow, he wanted to check the transmission cooler and some other stuff for me. there really not experienced toyota mechanics or anything so id like some of your opinions

 

[GreaseMonkey]

tranny cooler is a good place to start for the slipage. Do our trannys have shift solenoids? because i had one go bad in my truck and it would only go into gear part of the time. but it had a computer code. just something to check into.

 

[werkkrew]

On my camaro I was pushing 450hp with a notoriously crappy 700R4 tranny and a stock rearend (with richmond gears)

Tranny was ok for a while, after snapping 2 sets of spider gears and 3 sets of axles, I got a better rear, and a 2200rpm stall converter...

After a while my tranny started doing the same thing, it would seem to go into neutral after 2nd gear and if you put it in neutral then back in drive it would work for a while....

To the point - It gets worse before it gets better, your going to need a rebuild, or at least a new stall converter, Id suggest getting it rebuilt and worked up a bit in the process, probably gonna run you at least $1100

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

My assumption on the starter - Your tranny is probably slipping a lot even when it seems not to be, adding a lot of friction, and since the tranny is getting hotter not only is your engine working a bit harder, but (at least with camaros) the tranny cooler works off the same circuit as the engine coolant so that is making your engine run hot.

Long story short, the starter wires run very very close to the block and if the block is excessively hot, the wires could be getting a little fried, so look for that.