Transmission Disengage Delay When Suddenly Stopping - Corolland: the Toyota Corolla Forums

Car is 2000 Corolla with 58k miles. Last year, I replaced both front CV axles with some generic brand because the left side was leaking. I also drained the ATF and filled it with Royal Purple. This worked fine for more than a year.

Recently, the car has an issue when stopping suddenly OR taking a sharp turn slowly (20-30mph) and then stopping immediately. Sometimes it happens when stopping normaly as well. As far as I remember, this issue started happening after one incident where I had to hard brake..basically from 70mph...down to 0 over a short distance (the car slipped several feet). As soon as the car stopped, the transmission was still engaged and the engine seemed to be under load as it was around 900rpm.

The issue is that as soon as I stop, the transmission seems to still be engaged for about 2-3 seconds. During this time, the RPM is around 800-1000rpm and the engine sounds like it is under load. After 2-3 seconds, there is a jolt and the engine rpm goes back down to 650rpm. During those 2-3 seconds, if I press on the gas...the engine rpm will hit 2500+rpm and there will be a jolt and then the car will start moving.

It seems like the transmission fails to disengage at stops. I checked the ATF fluid level and it is fine. Do you think this could be a solenoid issue or related to the Royal Purple ATF? Should I get a transmission flush and then replace with Toyota ATF?

Is this a 3-speed or 4-speed automatic? If it is a 3-speed, did you also change the differential oil, as it has a separate drain and fill port from the main transaxle.

Could be a number of things at this point - might be worth a shot to replace the ATF fluid - as a number of shifting issues are solved with fresh fluid.

Those aftermarket axles might also be an issue - might be worthwhile to check the axles, make sure they are not binding on you or have any damage (leaking, torn boots, etc.)

In my old Prizm (cloneRolla) hard braking then immediate reapplication of the throttle would cause something similar, I too had an A245E (you may have an A246E but they're the same essentially). I believe it's an issue caused by several things.

1. Excessive dive caused by worn struts

2. Excessive dive caused by weak rear brakes

3. Fluid sloshing away from the pickup

So, in my mind the cause is the fluid is sloshing to the very front of the trans away from the pickup and causing air to be pumped into the torque converter and de-coupling the engine from the trans. The cause of the extreme fluid movement, in my opinion again, is that the vehicle is diving too hard during a panic stop due to worn parts, struts and rear brakes. I think replacing your struts and checking/fixing the rear brake adjustment would solve your problem.

Assuming the fluid is at the proper level. If you toss the trans into nuetral and back into drive with your foot off the brakes do you get a similar jolt?

This problem is now fixed. It was low transmission fluid.

Long story:

I was checking the transmission fluid the wrong way. Before, I would let the engine warm up, go through each gear, put it back into park and then check the transmission fluid.

Yesterday, instead, I had someone put it in drive and hold the brakes while I checked the fluid. It was dry!

I took it to the mechanic and watched him drain it......only a bottle's worth came out. After putting Toyota ATF, the problem is now fixed. Hopefully, I did not damage my transmission by having low fluid.

Weird. Supposed the check the fluid with the engine running, transaxle in park or neutral, car on level ground. If the transaxle is in gear - it could read a completely different level, as the fluid is being actively pulled into the valvebody assembly. You can run the car through the gears prior to checking the level, but you have to give time for the oil to flow back into the pan.

If the transaxle is a 3-speed - you have two separate reservoirs - one holds about 2.5 quarts, the other holds about 1.5 quarts. One is filled through the dipstick tube, the other is filled through a fill port on the side of the differential.

If the transaxle is a 4-speed (has an O/D button) - you only have the single reservoir - holds about 4 quarts, filled through the dipstick tube.

Glad to hear that it was just low fluid. As long as you didn't drive too long like that - should be fine. Just make sure to do some short drains and refills, to make sure you slowly exchange the old fluid in there. A transaxle flush may be too much of a shock to the transaxle, especially if it hasn't seen routine maintenance.