Hey all, I have a 2010 Toyota Camry i4 XLE with about 83,000 miles on it. A day ago I noticed a massive amount of smoke coming from the rear of the vehicle, so I pulled over. After pulling over I noticed smoke coming from the engine bay, and noticed liquid under the car. It looked black, and I thought it was oil. I let things stop smoking, and then got back on the road towards my dealer. I then noticed a trail of liquid coming from under the car on the right side (when looking at it from the back) very consistently, and only when the vehicle was on. I stopped again and asked a friend who works on cars if they thought I’d make it 8 minutes to the dealer and they said yes. So I got back on the road and there was no longer a trail of liquid following me, but now the car would have random rpm jumps; even at a red light not touching the accelerator pedal. I had to get on the accel pedal pretty high to go anywhere near a decent speed, like 80% to go 40 miles per hour and at a low rpm, with random spikes in rpm. The entire time, I didn’t get a check engine light until right as I pulled into the dealership. The dealer said the transmission fluid was leaking and it would cost $10,000, but I’m not sure the trustworthiness of that, given they also said they don’t know if replacing the transmission will fix the car. What do I do? It’s SO low mileage so it’s hard to believe all of it. Last time it was taken in for service was three months ago and they claimed to have replaced the transmission fluid then, even though I see no report of anything related to transmission on the carfax maintenance report. What are my best options here?
So I got back on the road
Big mistake. You should have stopped immediately and had it towed.
I had to get on the accel pedal pretty high to go anywhere near a decent speed
That's how you destroy a transmission. It was starved of fluid.
It's like telling your friend with a severed artery to do a 100m sprint.
It sure sounds like your transmission is toast. Unless things have changed a lot in the past year, you should be able to get it replaced for half of what they are quoting you. Talk to some transmission shops. I had the transmission in my daughter's 2012 Camry replaced last year for 5k with a 3 year 500000 mile warranty. So, of course, she was rear ended and totalled 6 months later. Sigh.
You said the dealership changed the trans fluid 3 months ago. Did they tighten the drain plug, at all? No way to know now unless its missing or they overfilled the trans and blew out the rear main seal. Just another reason never to go to a dealer for ANYTHING!
I am betting that the shop he went to used the cooler lines to replace the fluid, and then didn't put them back on properly, and KABLOOEY!
I'll bet the same.
The most likely thing that happened is a cooler line let loose and your trans fluid sprayed out. Other possibilities would be a loose drain plug falling out or a really bad seal (the latter very unlikely at that mileage).
Unfortunately your transmission was destroyed by continuing to drive it without sufficient fluid. Anyone who would tell you that you can drive 8 miles with your trans hemorrhaging its life blood out all over the road is not much of a friend and certainly does not know much about cars. If you want to keep that car you're going to need a replacement transmission, either a rebuilt trans or possibly a low-mileage used one from a wreck.
