1996 Corolla Transmission (3sp Auto) Issues - Pre-1997 Toyota Corolla and Geo Prizm

I purchased my 96 Corolla Sedan (3sp auto) with 100K on it in July. Now I'm about to hit 112K and twice, so far, I've had a problem where the car has sat for 24 hours, I put it in gear and then the car moves very slowly when put into gear (engine does not rev, it just sound normal). If I then stop the car, put it in gear again or go from reverse to drive and the car acts normally. The car rarely sits for 24 hours, so this doesn't happen much at all. It doesn't even happen if it sits overnight in 40 degree weather.

The tranny fluid isn't brown, but it isn't new either (still definitely some red in it). No bubbles or metal shavings in the fluid either. A friend of mine said to Not change the fluid and instead put a Lucas transmission conditioner in it. He said the transmission pump is getting weak and doesn't full function when it's cold.

Anyone else have this problem? Any insights?

I've seen the same symptom in a Ford truck and the Lucas Transmission Fix product did fix it....it's only $8 bucks so you don't have much to lose.

Good luck,

Jay in MA

I purchased my 96 Corolla Sedan (3sp auto) with 100K on it in July. Now I'm about to hit 112K and twice, so far, I've had a problem where the car has sat for 24 hours, I put it in gear and then the car moves very slowly when put into gear (engine does not rev, it just sound normal). If I then stop the car, put it in gear again or go from reverse to drive and the car acts normally. The car rarely sits for 24 hours, so this doesn't happen much at all. It doesn't even happen if it sits overnight in 40 degree weather.
The tranny fluid isn't brown, but it isn't new either (still definitely some red in it). No bubbles or metal shavings in the fluid either. A friend of mine said to Not change the fluid and instead put a Lucas transmission conditioner in it. He said the transmission pump is getting weak and doesn't full function when it's cold.
Anyone else have this problem? Any insights?

I would still change the fluid and see what happens - if you do not rememeber or know when the transmission was last serviced - it would be a good time to change it. You can add Lucas treatment afterwards if that does not fix it.

I believe your friend was worried you might take it in and a shop would "flush" the fluid out, instead of doing a plain drain and refill. Flushing can make things worse by stirring up all the debris and shavings inside the drain pan and circulating them all other the transmission. They sell it as an advantage - by removing all the old fluid at once and filling with fresh fluid, but I've seen them damage more trannys than help them.

Better to drain the fluid and drop the pan. Clean off the little magnets inside and any metal shavings, reinstall with a fresh transmission filter and pan gasket, refill, and drive around a bit. Then do another drain and refill (most of the old fluid is still in the torque converter - you can only get about 1/4 to a 1/3 of the total fluid per drain and refill). Do it enough times and you will get a good amount of fluid changed - don't have to do it right away either. If the transmission was neglected - I would do the drain and refill twice - drive 5K-10K, drain and refill again, then do normal drains and refills every 30K after that.

Also remember that your particular transmission has two separate fluid reservoirs. One is for the transaxle and one if for the differential - two separate drain plugs and fill openings (the dipstick will fill and check levels for the transaxle, the differential has a plug on the side that you check by feeling for the level inside).

it sounds like a valve is intermittently binding, and that moving the manual lever (which moves the manual valve) back and forth knocks it loose. a partially opened/closed valve will give a partial apply which can cause the car to creep slowly. also it could be that the cable to the trans is stretched and worn and the manual valve is having a hard time getting into the position it needs to be in.

the 3 speed is entirely hyrdrolic in nature, theres no electronic controls on it. if you can pickup a service manual for cheap it'll dive into the transmission pretty well.