Transaxle Failure

[ronhowell]

Originally Posted by efusco

Realize that that tow hook on the front bumper is for emergencies only, when you can't get under the car to hook up for proper towing.

Yes indeed! I certainly hope you had the tow-truck driver lift the front wheels onto his carrier so only the rear wheels were in ground contact when your car was towed.

[hobbit]

The front wheels would be locked with the parking pawl. The
rear wheels *might* be held hard enough to drag by the parking
brake, but rolling the car forcefully is often enough to overcome
that and make the wheels turn.
.
_H*

[icarus]

Advice that is worth exactly what you pay for it,,, but.

If this were my car, and it had just under gone a major failure of a pretty reliable component,,, I would consider a second opinion at a minimum, and certainly a second estimate. I would also look carefully for any TSBs that might be out there regarding this particular problem with this year/model etc.

It is always possible that some small failure is causing the person doing the diagnoses to conclude that "the transaxle" has failed, when in realit it might be a servo or a sensor or a left handed muffler bearing in the trans.

It just seems that with repairs of this magnitude some extra caution might be warranted.

Icarus

[dailyphotofix]

Originally Posted by icarus

Advice that is worth exactly what you pay for it,,, but.

If this were my car, and it had just under gone a major failure of a pretty reliable component,,, I would consider a second opinion at a minimum, and certainly a second estimate. I would also look carefully for any TSBs that might be out there regarding this particular problem with this year/model etc.

It is always possible that some small failure is causing the person doing the diagnoses to conclude that "the transaxle" has failed, when in realit it might be a servo or a sensor or a left handed muffler bearing in the trans.

It just seems that with repairs of this magnitude some extra caution might be warranted.

Icarus

Yes, I was very hesitant before actually purchasing the transaxle...but I spoke with the mechanic at the dealership and he said that he checked each of the parts individually for the faults since all the different codes came up and the transaxle came up as the part with the failure. Also, it was pretty obvious that the failure was the transaxle because when the warning lights came on the car would vibrate and shutter really bad upon acceleration until the gas engine kicked in and it would also make a really strange noise upon decelleration. With the combination of obvious noises, cars behaviour, warning lights, and diagnoisis of the mechanic I am 99.9% sure that it is the transaxle. I am still going to do more diagnostics myself as I am working on the car. I obtained the toyota factory manuals online which are quite extensive in giving the spefications and steps for testing and repairing each part of the car, so those are helping me out a lot.

I did not get much done this weekend as I was really busy with work. I should have the transaxle this week and Saturday and Sunday I will be working on it all day...so I will have a lot of photos for you after that!

[dailyphotofix]

Just a quick note...I was browsing through the manuals I bought and found this little tidbit about one of the codes that came up:

"With the power switch's power mode changed to ON (IG),
disconnect the battery. If the key is not in the key slot
during reconnection, DTC B2799 may be output."

I did disconnect the battery and replace it without the key in the slot while I was trying to troubleshoot when the car broke down.

That may be the explanation for that code.

[dailyphotofix]

The transaxle has been delayed...it will not be here until Tuesday. Looks like its going to be one more weekend before I can get it put in.

Good news is I have a couple more friends who are interested in helping me out with it so I should have plenty of hands to work with.

-Peter

[Patrick Wong]

Have you done any resistance checks in an effort to satisfy yourself that the existing transaxle actually needs to be replaced? You won't be happy if you go to the trouble of installing the replacement, only to find out there's no improvement...

[tochatihu]

Hobbit you really ought to go cross country (again) and get in on this project. Big Bear is lovely in the springtime...

[dailyphotofix]

Originally Posted by Patrick Wong

Have you done any resistance checks in an effort to satisfy yourself that the existing transaxle actually needs to be replaced? You won't be happy if you go to the trouble of installing the replacement, only to find out there's no improvement...

I have no done the resistance checks yet. I am planning on doing them tomorrow while I am working on my other car (81' VW Veggie/Diesel Rabbit).

Does anyone know if I need a gasket kit for replacing the transaxle? I guess I could call Art's they would probably know...

[dailyphotofix]

Originally Posted by tochatihu

Hobbit you really ought to go cross country (again) and get in on this project. Big Bear is lovely in the springtime...

It is! Well usually. It was nice and warm last week...now it is 29 degrees outside and I am freezing my butt off. I guess it is good for the skiers, keeps the snow around longer.