Toyota Camry - Lost ATF - JoeB

Hi

I have a 1999 Toyota Camry 2.2 automatic. Mileage is approximately 300 000 miles.

The car is all original and doesn't give much trouble. I just get a basic service once a year and don't normally need to top up fluids etc.

About 18 months ago I had a new radiator fitted (the original started to weep at the bottom). I had new coolant and ATF topped up at the same time (some ATF was lost because the radiator incorporates an ATF cooler). The car was serviced (oil, filters and checks) in July last year.

Yesterday evening I checked the ATF and was surprised to find it was low. It needed just over a pint adding to bring it back to full.

I have checked underneath the car and can't find any leaks. I never see oil drips on the ground. Is it possible for the ATF to be drawn into the engine and burned, or do you think it was just not topped up properly when the radiator was replaced? If that is the case surely it should have been spotted at the service last July? The box shifts properly and is very very smooth.

Edited by JoeB on 26/01/2020 at 04:49

Toyota Camry - Lost ATF - gordonbennet

Auto radiators as they age can suffer from internal corrosion which allows coolant to mix with the automatic transmission, you've had a new one, good, so this should not be an issue, because if this does happen it seriously and often permanently damages the transmission.

I am hoping it only needs topping up, but to be on the safe side first i would search online to see what ATF if contaminated by coolant would look like and compare to what you find on the dipstick.

Then for the cost of it i would change the fluid regardless, on Toyotas (most good Japanese cars from this era are made to be serviced properly, as all cars should be but sadly are not) this is usually a simple operation no harder than an engine oil change, you don't say if the fluid was replaced at the time the rad was swapped, and it will only do the gearbox good to have some fresh oil anyway, the sump will probably hold about 3 to 5 litres at a time, this simple method won't flush the torque converter out (rarely are they fitted with their own drain plug) but if you repeated this operation three times over a period of a few days, allowing some running in between and you will have a majority of fresh fluid throughout and disturbed nothing, and priceless peace of mind.

The first sumpful should tell you if coolant has somehow mixed, the old fluid will be dark anyway unless its been changed at some point in the last few years.

Two other points, coolant clear? and not being funny here but you did check the trans oil via the correct method? usually in park with the engine ticking over, on Toyotas of this size there will probably be a cold and warm level marked on the dipstick.

Worth keeping this fine car going, one of the best cars ever made, they really don't make 'em like this any more.

PS, i hope this thread doesn't get ruined by pointless spammers.

Edited by gordonbennet on 26/01/2020 at 07:50

Toyota Camry - Lost ATF - JoeB

Thank you for the reply.

The coolant was changed when the radiator was changed. It is the same light red colour it has always been. It uses no coolant.

The ATF was just topped up when the radiator was changed. It is very clean looking and the colour of cherryade. I can't remember when it was last changed - maybe 6-8 years ago.

I checked the level according to instructions in the book - hot engine and in P. The ATF is difficult to see on the stick, but easier if you hold it up at an angle to the light.

Yes, these Toyotas are pretty good. I have had only a few small repairs - some rubber parts on the suspension and of course brakes and also a steering boot on the left side. Its all been pretty cheap. Everything works apart from the central locking on the front passenger door which sometimes doesn't lock on a hot day. So I just lean across and lock it by hand. I might get it fixed later this year.

My other car is a 2008 Toyota Avensis auto. That is also 100% reliable so far and runs beautifully. It had a new battery in late 2018 and a new fanbelt but that is all so far apart from servicing listed in the book.

I really don't like car problems because I don't know a lot about car mechanicals, so I stick with Toyota. So far so good. I have friends with Fiats, Renaults and various German brands but they seem to need a lot of repairs.

Edited by JoeB on 26/01/2020 at 11:51

Toyota Camry - Lost ATF - gordonbennet

Sounds to me like just needed a top up then JoeB, just keep an eye on it, it might have needed running for a while and rechecking after the radiator change in order to fully fill the oil cooler part of the combined radiator, if it had actually lost a pint or more there would be a wet mess showing or red drips on your parking spot and i don't believe there is any way for atf to enter the engine or air intake.

I wish that model Camry had been available as an estate, one of those would have been with us, but then Toyota arn't the only ones that have missed obvious goals, Hyundai Sonata and Kia Magentis would have made brilliant estate cars, and i do mean squared off real cavernous estates like the previous Camry, not some glorified fast/hatch back, they'd have cleaned up when PSA decided to stop making their previous superb estates when they came out with 407 and C5 mk2, mere shadows of what they replaced.

15 year old Landcruiser and 12 year old Forester here, no intention of replacing either, not as there's much sold new here apart from maybe current Outback that would pique any interest.

Lucky you, still having a gearbox dipstick, even Toyota have disappointingly dropped that on my model LC, checking the oil level is as faff, so much trouble in fact you might as well change the gearbox oil at the same time which is what i did, Subaru at least on our model still have the full three dipsticks under the bonnet, engine, gearbox (both types) and front diff, all car should be like this and would if they were built to last.

Edited by gordonbennet on 26/01/2020 at 13:22

Toyota Camry - Lost ATF - JoeB

Sounds to me like just needed a top up then JoeB, just keep an eye on it, it might have needed running for a while and rechecking after the radiator change in order to fully fill the oil cooler part of the combined radiator, if it had actually lost a pint or more there would be a wet mess showing or red drips on your parking spot and i don't believe there is any way for atf to enter the engine or air intake.

Thanks. The reason that I asked on this forum is that when I went to buy a litre of ATF at the motooring shop (for topping up yesterday) the lad in there told me that there is a hose runs from the gearbox to the intake pipe and that certain gearbox faults can cause ATF to be sucked into the engine. I looked for such a pipe and couldn't see it... but then I am not a mechanic.

Toyota Camry - Lost ATF - elekie&a/c doctor
The lad is partially correct . Many auto boxes pre 90 ,s ish , had a vacuum modulator on the side of the gearbox . If the internal diaphragm failed , then atf fluid would be sucked into the engine. You would soon know about it as it produced a lot of white smoke out the exhaust .