Need help! 1990 toyota Celica SX

[jack_the_lad]

G'day,

Lately my Celica has been acting very strange. Its started after I changed a hose that burst that had coolant ****** out of it.

I replaced the hose myself with one I got from repco and put some oil in it.. this was fine. About a week ago it started heavily leaking oil and now it wont select gears at all or it or when it does not properly , it revs very high i feel a shudder coming from the engine bay and it cluncks into gear. I belive it is a Four speed automatic I have no idea wtf is going on, and as I am a student atm any info I can get with out taking it in and getting charged just to find out what is wrong with it would be sweet.

Cheers

Jack the Lad.

[95celica]

which hose did you replace? is it engine oil or transmission oil its leaking. It sounds like transmission oil, if it leaking from the transmission pretty bad that will be why its not selecting gears, transmission oil does more than lubricate, it uses the oil under pressure to activate the clutches/bands in the transmission to select gears, if no oil, theres no gears

[KIRIUS]

*is awaiting Mick or Trent to come in and give you a full in detail explanation of your problem, the cause and how to fix guide.*

Hehehe...

[Guest]

I dont know alot about the auto's in there (I prefer manuals) but yeah, if its dropped all its trans oil then it wont work. What color is the fluid leaking out?

[jack_the_lad]

Mate, I'm not a huge fan of auto's either if the trans is ******e* then i'm going to get it converted to manual.

It look like it's leaking engine oil, smells like it to.

The hose i replaced ran from the elec fuel injector to a section behind the right hand side of the engine (2.2lt) My car has 3sge stickers all over it but i have been told its got a 5sfe?? i put about 1 lt of detron 3 in it the day it ****** out as their was no trans fluid and smoke was coming out of the trans hose. When i do drive it and it eventually goes into higher gears theirs no problem, but it inst holding gears to start of with any more so yeah I am guessing it is transmition is gone.

Any ideas on how much price difference between Manual conversion compared to getting the auto fixed that is currently in it?

Cheers for your help guy's.

Jack.

Edited August 29, 2011 by jack_the_lad

[jack_the_lad]

bump!

[trentmeyer23]

Where the hell do I start? First of all take a pic of your engine(if it's 2.2L it's a 5S-FE) for me so I know which one I'm talking about.

Regarding the hose you replaced, if it contained fluid it could have possibly been powersteering, but you have given a vague description.

Where exactly was the smoke coming from out of the "trans hose"?

There is a good chance you have oil starved the trans and it's overheated and caused damage.

Mick also asked you what colour oil is leaking...

[jack_the_lad]

OK guys, sorry about the Fk'd up description's and what not , ill give it my best shot. haha

1)I have attached a photo of engine bay( I think)so hopefully that helps in the identification of the engine type.

2)As for the hose I replaced ill give the best description I can, but as I don't have a clue what the hell it even does I'm just trying to lead the blind here.

There are to Identical hoses running to the bottom right hand side of the Electronic fuel injector . It burst on a drive out to Cleavers firearms and water and coolant started to ***** out of it (best guess as it was water and a green fluid and the radiator was near empty) so I got in behind the pod filter and underneath the EFI to find that the hose on the left had burst. I replaced it (this was not easy as access to this part was difficult) and didn't have any problems with the hose or radiator after this.

3) "trans Hose" lol , The area you pour transmittion fluid into had smoke coming out of it the arvo the gears stopped catching. It was after this that I put the detron in it Immediately but to no avail.

4) oil colour changed from dark to dark red so I am now convinced it is transmition fluid.

I bought this car after I had my motorbike accident because I didn't want to end up in a ******n box and I was lucky to be alive,(2 broken wrist and 4 ribs later, including a nasty bump to the head) so that is why I don't know alot about cars, I was into bikes.

I appreciate your patients and advice, I was going to take it to Action transmition in Wollengabba on Wednesday, but will wait to see what you blokes have to say.

Cheers again

Jack the Lad.

Where the hell do I start? First of all take a pic of your engine(if it's 2.2L it's a 5S-FE) for me so I know which one I'm talking about.

Regarding the hose you replaced, if it contained fluid it could have possibly been powersteering, but you have given a vague description.

Where exactly was the smoke coming from out of the "trans hose"?

There is a good chance you have oil starved the trans and it's overheated and caused damage.

Mick also asked you what colour oil is leaking...

[trentmeyer23]

1) Engine is a 1st Generation 5S-FE.

2) Heater (Core) Hose. Use drivers or passengers side when giving descriptions, makes it easier.

3) Cooked the oil due to the transmission cooler not having coolant.

4) Burnt the oil, overheated when lost coolant. Radiator coolant is used to cool transmission fluid.

I would suggest talking to car to an automatic transmissions specialist or mechanic ASAP, so they can physically have a look. From the info you have given me above is what I believe has happend, but you never know until you actually take a look for yourself.

[jack_the_lad]

Thanks for your speedy response Trent.

Do you think it would be much of a difference in cost to get it converted to a manual?

Any suggestion's on a good place to take it in Brisbane city.

Cheers.

[trentmeyer23]

You could buy 2 manual ST184's for the price of a manual conversion. It is very laborious and time consuming.

As for places in Brisbane, no idea. I do my own work.

[KIRIUS]

There are a bunch of decent mechanics down pickering street, but whatever you do dont take it to a white shed i cant give you the name, nor address over forum but if your curious ill pm it.

Good luck with your transmission probs, ive heard carline on pickering are one of the best mechs in bris, they've won a number of awards and are one of the few with public feedback/reviews, decent priced and reliable, i shall be going to them next i need work done too if i dont figure out how to do it myself.

Trents right though if i were you i'd be getting it looked at asap.

Hope this helps and good luck with it, it just seems you need a few mech mates :P

If your interested, come along to a TOCAU Meet on a Thurs Night or a Brisbane Celica Club meet/cruise sometime there are a bunch of great guys at both that may give you the tech support your after and the more celica's the better :)

Dont give up on it yet.

Brisbane Celica Car Club is also a group on Facebook.

Look us up sometime.

[jack_the_lad]

OK , well thanks again for your advice guys, and when I get her all fixed up I will be sure to come and have a cruise with ya's.

Stay Safe

Jack_the_lad

[jack_the_lad]

Took the Celica to Automatic transmition specialist in Wollengabba on Monday.

Got back to me on tuesday arvo basically told me the transmition is completely ******e#. He quoted $2500 - $3000 to fix it, around 700 for labour.

I had it towed back to my place and is sitting in garage.

I have only had the car 8 months and spent over $4500 on it. Might have a look around at some wreckers for 2nd hand part and see if I can source someone to put it all together as I feel like i would just rather fix it and have a car to get me to study, instead of selling it for nothing and basically being just a huge waste of time and money.

Could just get back on the black tops lol.

Cheers ladies and gents

Jack the lad.

[jack_the_lad]

Update- found a wrecker with near new, full transmission and are going to put it in for under $1000 including the part.

Hell of alot better than 3 grand!

Will be coming to a meet sooner rather than later.

[Guest]

A grand for a celiac auto box.... That is insanely expensive

[jack_the_lad]

Apparently there was a issue with finding the part as my Celica is an import. I thought a $1000 bucks for the part and putting it all in was O.K?

[trentmeyer23]

Apparently there was a issue with finding the part as my Celica is an import. I thought a $1000 bucks for the part and putting it all in was O.K?

Would not be any physical difference, just sensors.

[Guest]

If it's an ST184 it's definately not an import... The guy is probably just trying to screw you

[jack_the_lad]

It isn't an St184 (I thought it was?), apparently its an all trac and it is def an import since the compliance isn't were it is suppose to be, also found out it had a 3sgte originally now has a 5sfe.

[Guest]

It isn't an St184 (I thought it was?), apparently its an all trac and it is def an import since the compliance isn't were it is suppose to be, also found out it had a 3sgte originally now has a 5sfe.

WTF?! there is no such thing an automatic ST185... it could be an ST182 or ST183... but definately not an ST185... Take a photo of the build plate?

[jack_the_lad]

Get it back this arvo ..will do

[trentmeyer23]

probs 3sge

[Guest]

probs 3sge

yeah, ST182/ST183

[jack_the_lad]

Correction- Had a chat with the actual mechanic (not the bloke behind the counter), and he has informed me that its is not an ST184 SX, its actually a JDM GT-R ST182 that has had the engine swapped from a 3SGE (you were right mick). How are these different from the ST184?