So my sister has a 1989 'Yota Camry sedan which has done about 140k kilometers in its life. When we got the car it was in decent mechanical condition and has been in our possession for about a year.
Recently I was doing an oil change and the filter wouldn't come off, so we just filled it up with oil. After this point in time the tranny would make really odd sounds and the car would be awfully weak for the first 5 minutes of operation after which point it would be fine.

Today I drained the oil and all I managed to drain was 1 liter, and the dipstick still says full even several hours after. We took off the filter and put a new Ryco one on.

Long story short now the gear selector does NOTHING to aid the car in moving, and putting it into D or R doesn't do anything, the car just revs on the spot.
The car is an Automatic as well. The gear selector has also occasionally been sticking, but seeing as it isn't my car I don't drive it often.

Please help guys as I don't know what to do.


tl:dr automatic car got an oil change, only drained 1 litre even though it has an adequate level before draining upon checking. now the car doesnt drive (put into D stands on the spot).

You filled the tranny with oil???? ? ?

EDIT: You drained the tranny instead of the case?? ? ?

You filled the tranny with oil???? ? ?

EDIT: You drained the tranny instead of the case?? ? ?

Ohh fuck!

lol not possible, i drained the right thing, I used a hex allen key to drain the sump plug as usual :)

lol not possible, i drained the right thing, I used a hex allen key to drain the sump plug as usual :)

Well, I've never had to use something other than a 13mm socket to get my plugs out, but I've never owned a Toyota...

If only 1L came out, did you add more than 1L back in? Something just doesn't add up here, especially considering the tranny should have nothing at all to do with the engine oil. It is true that the engine would run like shit if you overfilled the pan because the crank would be slapping into the oil.

Is the level of fluid in the transmission correct?

The transmission dipstick said that there is practically zero transmission fluid (its not my car, i dont service it, top it up nor do i drive it).
I added some transmission fluid and the car still has problems.
Im thinking that either I or my sister killed the transmission by avoiding servicing the car.
The last oil change or fluid check would have been light years ago (she's not a diy sort of girl).
I guess its my last call for help with the car, does anyone know what I should do next?

Get the car towed and serviced? Open up the gear selector assembly in the interior and troubleshoot? Shoot my arms off?

Im just plain screwed because Im responsible (car was working smoky but okayish before).

edit: about the socket things: thats what I though, I brought all of my socket pieces with me to her place, and then on arrival realise that it needs a goddamn allen key, so 20$ later I have the needed tool and open the sump plug.

All the toyotas i've ever worked on have a 12 or 14 mm drain plug. the hex (allen) bolt has always been for the tranny. Just to get a baseline, how did you put oil in the tranny? How did you put oil in the engine? What does the Engine oil level read. If it worked before the service and doesnt after, chances are it happened during the service.

Isn't transmission fluid red? Wouldn't he notice he was draining red liquid and not brown-black stuff?

That would be a rather silly thing to do.

edit: Why wouldn't the filter come off before? You shouldn't have stood for that. They have those grip things that are shaped like a ring.

I've seen trans fluid that looks like tar. Ive seen people do dumber things to their cars,...

I've seen trans fluid that looks like tar. Ive seen people do dumber things to their cars,...

Yea. Tranny fluid that hasn't been serviced will be black as used oil.

Trannies normally use little fluid and a liter should be about that. You would definitely have noticed if you drained a liter of oil out of your engine since the dipstick is usually calibrated to show you are a liter/quart too low when the line is that bottom of the hash marks. If it didn't move, you didn't drain any.

It's a fairly old car so I'm sure it will be alot cheaper to replace it than the transmission.

What the hell has changing the oil in the engine have to do with a loss of transmission? :confused:

All the toyotas i've ever worked on have a 12 or 14 mm drain plug. the hex (allen) bolt has always been for the tranny. Just to get a baseline, how did you put oil in the tranny? How did you put oil in the engine? What does the Engine oil level read. If it worked before the service and doesnt after, chances are it happened during the service.

I added oil into the engine using the oil filler cap, the big one with the text OIL on it :) near the spark plugs and EFI.
The engine oil level is reading WAY over high level even after I drained the sucker, I'm thinking that maybe the whole engine is sludged up and will need sludge treatment.

The tranny oil plug is nowhere to be found underneath the car (at least not that I can see), and I took the correct plug as I have been changing it this way several times.

Isn't transmission fluid red? Wouldn't he notice he was draining red liquid and not brown-black stuff?

That would be a rather silly thing to do.

edit: Why wouldn't the filter come off before? You shouldn't have stood for that. They have those grip things that are shaped like a ring.

The car was my only method of transportation (sister) so we COULDNT buy one of those grip tools, I even tried using very grippy rubber gloves to take it off and no cigar.
Yesterday we actually bought one of those tools and the filter came off no worries.

What the hell has changing the oil in the engine have to do with a loss of transmission? :confused:


Exactly, I am trying to troubleshoot this sucker. IF the car was working I would drive it back onto those tire stands and have another look. At the moment the car's future looks bleak.

Yea. Tranny fluid that hasn't been serviced will be black as used oil.

Trannies normally use little fluid and a liter should be about that. You would definitely have noticed if you drained a liter of oil out of your engine since the dipstick is usually calibrated to show you are a liter/quart too low when the line is that bottom of the hash marks. If it didn't move, you didn't drain any.

It's a fairly old car so I'm sure it will be alot cheaper to replace it than the transmission.

As I have said I am 99.95% sure that I drained the right thing, the only weird occurence was that when I tried to 'flush' the engine through with about 200ml's of clean oil, it didnt come out of the bottom, with the sump plug taken off and the car on a level service.


Thanks for all the suggestions and comments people, is there anything that I can do in my backyard to get the car going again (besides idling in Neutral)

Don't spend too much money on it.

My similar vintage cressida isn't worth much and its the step up from your camry.

Okay everyone, I drained the transmission and put new tranny oil in as well as RE-CHANGING the engine oil, and am yet to try it out. I am waiting until my sibling finishes work.

Okay everyone, I drained the transmission and put new tranny oil in as well as RE-CHANGING the engine oil, and am yet to try it out. I am waiting until my sibling finishes work.

You did that pretty fast. :eek:

I wonder, what kind of damage could've happened if you drained the transmission fluid completely and then tried to drive the car? Should you take the transmission pan down, clean out any metal shavings, and replace the filter now?

Maybe the oil is sludged up. I guess you could take the pan out or whatever to clean out the oil pump screen thing. My terminology is not too good so I hope you know what I mean. Has the check engine light come on? Or the oil pressure light? A car we used to have got really sludged up and the oil just had to be changed several times after a few miles of driving, and the pan and screen cleaned out at least twice before it started running normally, and the low oil pressure light went out. It would shut off at idle unless you kept your foot on the gas.

Just a tip for next time you change oil, if you can't get the filter unscrewed, you can just take an old belt and wrap it around and pull it so it unscrews it. It should be easy on a 89 camry, i have a 91 camry and the oil filter is just sticking out right in the middle, very easily accessible.

Everything you say is pointing to the fact that you must have drained the tranny. You say it didn't flush through with oil, your tranny level was wicked low, and the oil is high. Thus, you drained the tranny, then filled the oil. Also, the 89' camry does not have an allen key drain plug. It is a hex.

Just a tip for next time you change oil, if you can't get the filter unscrewed, you can just take an old belt and wrap it around and pull it so it unscrews it. It should be easy on a 89 camry, i have a 91 camry and the oil filter is just sticking out right in the middle, very easily accessible.Agreed! I've been able to get an old belt into places a filter remover had a hard time reaching.

You did that pretty fast. :eek:

I wonder, what kind of damage could've happened if you drained the transmission fluid completely and then tried to drive the car? Should you take the transmission pan down, clean out any metal shavings, and replace the filter now?

Maybe the oil is sludged up. I guess you could take the pan out or whatever to clean out the oil pump screen thing. My terminology is not too good so I hope you know what I mean. Has the check engine light come on? Or the oil pressure light? A car we used to have got really sludged up and the oil just had to be changed several times after a few miles of driving, and the pan and screen cleaned out at least twice before it started running normally, and the low oil pressure light went out. It would shut off at idle unless you kept your foot on the gas.

I wouldn't think that anything too terrible would happen since it's like driving the oil pump without any oil. Nothing else would work because there is no hydraulic pressure and the pump itself should have enough residual oil to keep itself from drying out. Then again, I know next to nothing about how automatics work.

Agreed! I've been able to get an old belt into places a filter remover had a hard time reaching.

also you can take a screwdriver and pound it in with a hammer it is messy but it is a good last resort

also you can take a screwdriver and pound it in with a hammer it is messy but it is a good last resort
As a last resort Yah! I know it works.
Having oil running down your arm into your arm pit is not cool.:(

You also simply could have broken the gear selector lever/arm thing. I had that happen on my dads truck.
We were so lucky that it broke when it did (we were three hours away from home), at the gas station next to the highway instead of on the taco bell parking lot, lol.