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You are asking me to open up a can of worms on this subject. Everyone who has an opinion will be posting, but I will give my opinion. I would suggest that you do a search on this subject on the Accord board. Much has been written on this subject.Some people have traded their Accord over this issue!
The Driver's outside mirror needed to be moved forward and to the left to eliminate the blind spot. In order to used the mirror,(as positioned on the vehicle), the driver had to move his / her head forward while looking into the mirror to see if a vehicle was on the left side of the vehicle. This made it VERY difficult to make emergency moves!!!!!!!!!!!
The "A" pillar blocked the driver's view from the right side at intersections, and it blocked the driver's view when making left turns at intersections.
The Camry does not have the blind spot in the outside driver's mirror. The "A" pillar issue is the same as the Accord. But, the seats are 100% better in the Camry than the Accord, so I can live with the "A" pillar!!!! Best regards: ----- Dwayne :shades:
We did get the transmission replaced after a couple trips to the dealer and letting them know we were not going to accept there assessment that nothing was wrong. They finally had a certified Toyota mechanic out who confirmed that we did have the transmission problem, and agreed to replace it.
That was about 2000 miles ago, and we are experiencing the problem again. I don't believe that Toyota has a fix for this problem, nor do I believe that they understand the exact nature of the problem.
I am very interested in this issue. My V6 2007 Camry is only three (3) weeks old, and I have 1,800 + miles on the vehicle. So far, I do not have any of the symptoms of the problem. Since I live in a cold area, I always warm up my vehicle in the morning,(for about 10 minutes), prior to driving off! (I know, we are not suppose to warm up a vehicle, but I like a warm car, and I want to be sure that the oil is flowing properly throughout the engine!) The transmission shifts very positive in each gear. When driving off in the morning, I use the "manual shift option" of the transmission. I set the selector for 4th gear, and let the trans shift up from one to four. Since I drive city streets for about three miles, traveling in this lower gear,(4th), gives both the engine and the trans the opportunity to reach normal operating temperature. Upon reaching the highway, I place the seclector into "DRIVE" position and the transmission shift normally, (1-to-6).
I just made an appointment with the Toyota dealer for the first oil & filter change, which will most probably occur on or about the 2,500 mile mark, (give or take a few hundred miles). The next oil & filter change after that will be at 5,000 miles. The 5,000 mile oil & filter changes are part of a pre-paid maintenace program from Toyota.
Let's share information about this issue. The more information in the hands of the owner's, the more power we have as consumers. Remember, Toyota is just getting over their "sludge issue", and I would think that they would be all over this problem, so that it does not become an out of control issue, thus hurting their future sales. Any company can manufacture a product with a problem. But, what separates one company from another, is how they handle the problem once it is discovered! The Toyota engineers need to develop a solution to this issue, and implement that solution ASAP! ---- Best regards: ----- Dwayne :shades: :confuse:
Isn't it just a box of gears? shouldn't there be some similarity in design?
Maybe it's just a crappy design, and there's no fix.
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If you begin with a smallist car, say a Camry or ES300, and then place a good size V6 sideways, East to West, in the engine compartment there isn't much room left for the torque converter, transaxle itself, and a fully integrated diff'l.
That may well be why the ATF oil sump/pan is not deep enough to hold enough ATF for COLD operation. If you fill it completely FULL with COLD ATF it will be too full once the ATF warms to operating temperature. A deeper, not as shallow, sump could allow for maybe another quart of ATF.
But that would mean raising the entire transaxle to keep the gears from stirring the ATF into a foam, or lowering the bottom of the sump even closer to the roadbed.
Just a few of the relatively minor problems with FWD.
Is there any chance this flare problem only involves the new 6 speed transaxle?
More gears. more clutches, less room for an ATF sump large enough...
Keep in touch
THE LOCAL DEALER HAS TRIED ABOUT EVERYTHING TO FIX THE TRANSMISSION.
UNFORTUNATELY NOT COMPLETELY SUCCESSFULLY.
THE REAL PROBLEM IS THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSIONS IN THE V6 ARE ENGINEERING DEFECTIVE AND CAN'T BE REPAIRED. TOYOTA WON'T SO FAR OWN UP TO THIS. SO, I AM NOTIFYING THE NHTSA TO INVESTGATE THE ABOVE AND IF THEY CONCLUDE THAT THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSIONS ARE DEFECTIVE THEN TOYOTA HAS 3 CHOICES: 1. REFUND THE ENTIRE PURCHASE PRICE TO EVERY PERSON WHO BOUGHT A A 2007 CAMRY V6. 2. PROVIDE A NEWLY MANUFACTURED OPRATIONAL TRANSMISSION V6 WHICH I BELIEVE TO BE IMPOSSIBLE BECAUSE IT WOULD TAKE THEN AT LEAST 2-3 YEARS TO DEVELOP ONE AND 3. THE NHTSA SHOULD REQUIRE ALL 2007 CAMRY'S WITH V6 AND PROBABLY V4 TRANSMISISSIONS FROM BEING SOLD IN THE U.S. THEY ARE A DANGER TO THE PUBLIC.
None of this is true it's only your wish. The Fed Govt ( NHTSA ) will do nothing in a commercial dispute ( your daughter vs Toyota ) except note your comment. It is not a mediator or arbitrator.
I know that you posted before that there were 28000 complaints and that the US Govt was going to force Toyota to take them all back ( your post of Jan 30... THERE HAVE BEEN OVER 28,000 DOCUMENTED COMPLAINTS NOT ONLY ON THE V6 TRANSMOISSION BUT THE V4 ALSO, ). This is a false exageration. You are wishing again.
There are 35 complaints!!!! That's a total of Thirty Five real actual people with vehicles and VIN's. Keep it real and you will be taken more seriously. YELLING doesnt help. It's a sign of immaturity.
It now appears that the flare problem has to do with insufficient space in the ATF sump/pan to hold enough COLD volume and not be overfull when warmed to operational temperature.
Mounting a V6 engine East/West in a Camry and still having enough room for a torque converter, 6-speed transaxle and diff'l is no small design problem to overcome.
If I had one of these and were experiencing the flare on a regular basis I would quite seriously consider finding a way to increase the volume of the ATF sump in a "sideways" manner.
ATF oil cooler, maybe?
Or maybe just a long serious "bulge" in the ATF cooling return line from the radiator. Or increase the return line hose size dramatically?
You make an excellent point about the COLD transmission fluid. I always make it a point to warm up my vehicle in cold weather. This was true with the 2003 Honda Accord, and this is true with the 2007 XLE V6 Camry.
Today it was VERY cold. I let the Camry run for about 15 minutes in the driveway. By the time that I got settled in the vehicle, the temperature gauge was up to normal. I placed the vehicle in manual 4, and proceeded to drive through local streets to the highway. Once entering the highway, I placed the selector in "D" and proceeded to drive at highway speeds. I drove about 200 miles today, and according to the MPG monitor on the dash, I averaged about 30mpg at 65 mph. I personally think this is GREAT mileage for this vehicle.
Could it be, that the transmission fluid needs to be warm, to operate the transmission properly? Is there an aftermarket transmission pan that will allow an extra quart of transmission fluid to be added? This was a common accessory for American cars in the 60s and 70s. If the problem centers around the flow of the fluid or the availibility of the fluid when cold, a larger pan might be the simple solution!
Best regards. -------- Dwayne :confuse: :shades:
Larger hoses to/from the radiator might be a perfect solution.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2003 Camrys with 1-2 second downshift delays..
2006 Camrys with....
We're now FAR beyond suspicion.
By letting your cold engine idle upon the start-up you just prolong its warm up cycle when the engine is running under cooler than normal operating conditions.
You don't give your engines any favors by doing that.
In order to warm it up sooner, you would need to operate the engine under some load by driving it off the lot as soon as you start it.
Don't go by the temp gauge alone.
It shows the coolant temperature only. The oil temperature rise will always trail the coolant temps.
Are you sure about that?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Are you sure about that?"
Yes, pretty much.
I've seen the graphs logged in real time, clearly showing the oil temps always trailing those of the coolant during the first 10-20 min on the road.
Those graphs have also showed that the "spirited" freeway driving was the fastest way to bring the oil up to its normal operating temperature.
And idling would hardly allow the oil to reach that point, regardless of the amount of time it was left running. Unfortunately I can't find those graphs.
But I came accross this thread where another person discovers the same phenomenon:
Here are some quotes:
"Prior to Saturday, I always thought that oil temperature went up maybe 1/2 as fast as coolant temperature. Every car I had ever driven always had a coolant temp gauge, but no oil temp. I would basically double the time it took for the coolant to warm up before I would push the car, and wait a little more than that before enjoying WOT. Well, when HT took me for a spin in his M3 (woohoo!) I got to see what was really happening.
We drove several miles beyond the coolant temp hitting 'normal' and the oil temp never got anywhere near 'normal'. That is pretty scary. This was something that had concerned me when I first got my 330Ci because the coolant temp goes to 'normal' in what seems like 1/2 mile. I knew the oil was taking considerably longer (4-5x was my guess), but it was still a guess. Now I know my guess was pretty far off even though I was leaving quite a bit of room."
"I believe the general rule-of-thumb is that it takes about 20mins of 'normal' load operation to get the oil up to full temp"
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16363
But you can get an idea by reading the comments of the poster:
"So these are my observations:
-Warming up car sitting on parking lot doesnt do anything for oil Temp. [No, no]
-It took almost 18min to get oil above 90C [Eek!] which means that we are driving on pretty thick oil, hence my idea of running RL 5W-20 during the winter months.
-Oil temp is directly proportinal to engine load and speed as you can see it quickly rise above 100C once I put my foot down, but again how many of us can comute to and back from work at 140mph?"
"Just made another log on my way back from work...This time outside temperature was 46F and comute took longer ...friday traffic
Still it took 31 min for oil to reach 100C and then it stayed there until shutdown."
http://theoildrop.server101.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=166447&page=0&f- - - - - - - part=1&vc=1
What you say might be true, but answer these questions: ---- Why does a vehicle drive easier,(smoother), shift smoother and run better after the engine has reached normal operating temperature, than driving it after only running about one minute on a cold morning? ---- What is the rate of expansion of the aluminum block & heads, compared to the steel crankshaft, connecting rods and camshaft? ---------- Why is it an accepted practice to warm up a marine engine, (to noraml operating temperature), prior to leaving the dock, but it is not ok to do the same thing to a land based engine? (Marine engines can have both a closed or a raw water cooling system, and inboard or I/O engines are basically automotive blocks with a marine camshaft). -------Best regards. ----- Dwayne :shades: :confuse:
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
"Why is it an accepted practice to warm up a marine engine, (to normal operating temperature), prior to leaving the dock, but it is not ok to do the same thing to a land based engine?"
Marine engines operate under full load ALL the time. Auto engines do not.
Also, your comment about marine engines and their cooling systems, ie, they are "basically auto engines" is only partially correct.
Yes, many marine engines (mostly lighter/smaller boats) are converted auto engines, but with some unique enhancements. Many other marine engines are designed and built for marine use exclusively.
Marine cooling systems are of two types--raw water "open" systems; and fresh water only "closed" systems which use an external heat exchanger (Most of the latter type are for salt water applications)
you get the best fuel economy when the engine is at temperature. you get no FE when you idle.
that may influence what you experience in terms of shifting. it's probably mentioned in the owner's manual.
you'll probably find this interesting:
http://www.aa1car.com/library/2002/us90224.htm
and maybe this:
http://www.swri.org/4org/d03/vehsys/drivetrn/whtpprs/electran.htm
More efficient heat transfer.
Unless you're driving an older Porsche or VW.
As for interior heating using the motor oil and how it was faster, I'll ask him eventually since we have little contact anymore. At the time he didn't explain much how it was designed since it was experimental. But it was faster than coolant heating.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
TSB EG056-06 is posted in my profile. Feel free to print it out and take it to the dealer with you.
Also, any toyota dealer can do warranty work........so, if you are unhappy with the service at one I suggest trying another and "see" what they say.
Meanwhile, this discussion is about specific issues of ALL sorts that 07 Camry owners are having with their cars. Let's keep it on topic. Thanks.
dealer had to remove the whole dashboard and re insulate it.
It has been three weeks and not a sound. I was told this
problem is common on Rav4's and corolla's
A few weeks ago, when the alldata.com website was "open" I could have sworn I saw a couple TSBs for the V6 transmission flare issue. Actually, I guarantee I saw them.
For some reason, the link I used no longer works so I cannot access the site.
Also, I thought people with the V6 made posts about having a TSB performed or having the transmission replaced and then they didn't have any problems.
See if the dealer will go to alldata.com and search for the TSB with you watching.........who knows?
Any info you can forward would be great, thanks, chuck
The dashboard noise might be related to cold weather. But I have never had this issue with my other Toyotas or Honda.
The fan issue is not a feature. On 07 Camry, the heating ducks are extended to the rear seat from under the front seats. There are no additional fans for these ducts similar to 4Runner. The low pressure might be related to this fact depending on way the ducts are distributed.
I will be taking the car in a month or so and will keep you posted.
Anyone else hear anything like this and if so, any idea what it is?
Rich
You may want to ask a friend to sit on the drivers seat and step on the accelerator while you pop the hood and listen directly on the engine to see where is it coming from.
I also have a 2007 V6 Camry. Every engine, when cold will have some "sounds" at "start-up"! My personal procedure is to start the engine and let it run for about five minutes, while I load the vehicle for the day's events. On VERY cold mornings, I might let the engine run for ten to fifteen minutes before I pull out of the driveway. Now, I know according to the manual and current automotive information the driver should be able to start the engine, let it run for one minute and drive off! I am not trying to start a "BIG DEBATE" on this subject! This is simply my way of doing things. I fine that the vehicle drives better in a "warmed-up condition"! Picture yourself jumping out of bed, and trying to play baseball. I don't think you would perform very well! Give the engine a chance to warm up and circulate the oil. Try my system, and see if you have the problem. You can always go back to your system. ---- Best regards. ------ Dwayne :shades: