2 part question. Cold tranny and ps pump (1 Viewer)

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So when the car is cold, I am getting 2 issues. One, and the one I am more concerned about due to possible more expense to fix is this:
1) The transmission holds 3rd gear, even if I come off of the gas going about 45-50, for about 4 minutes or so after I start driving it in the morning. Eventually it will kick down to 4th, but not sure if that is an issue.

2)My PS pump is loud when turning, especially when cold. It does go away after a while, but I am not sure what I should do next. I do have a spare I can throw in, although I am not sure if it works or not.

What do I do next?
 
1) Do you have a radiator with the stock inline heat exchanger for the tranny? Also, how fast is your engine (coolant) coming up to temp? I think on a 93-97 you won't get overdrive till the tranny is sufficiently warm.

2) Do folks still do the capful of Downey trick to quiet the PS?
 
1) Do you have a radiator with the stock inline heat exchanger for the tranny? Also, how fast is your engine (coolant) coming up to temp? I think on a 93-97 you won't get overdrive till the tranny is sufficiently warm.

2) Do folks still do the capful of Downey trick to quiet the PS?


Not sure in the inline heat exchanger, but she comes up to running temp pretty quickly. I would bet the thermostat is working fine. It is a 93, so that may be it for the OD.

I will do an exchange on the fluids and see how she does, especially the power steering.
 
Probably not warmed up enough to engage overdrive yet.

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Not sure in the inline heat exchanger

Well go check.

There should be tranny lines attached to each side of the bottom tank of the rad. One goes to the tranny, the other to the cooler in front of the A/C condenser.

Without it, tranny will warm up noticeably slower, and due to what ZackR posted, you'll experience your exact symptoms.
 
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@ZackR just told you your issue, when tranny is cold it will not go into overdrive, if pump is gronning I would change it at some point check make sure it has enough atf in the pump and not power steering fluid which will be brown. I put in a new pump couple years ago and it does not groan at all in the cold
 
Toyotas come with power steering fluid from the factory. For ease, the manuals say to use ATF to top off, because they are similar (hydraulic fluid with anti-foam agents), ATF has other additives that are not necessary for the power steering system. There is a theory that the extra additives actually cause the seals in the PS system to become hard over time. In any case, using power steering fluid in the power steering system is not a problem.
 
In my (arguably limited) experience, when your power steering pump starts groaning, it's because the seal(s) are failing and they're letting air into the system. I've had two fail, on both my '95s, within the past year. Both had the same symptoms: groaning without loss of function for a couple of months, then catastrophic failure (leaking fluid when the steering wheel was turned).

Replaced one, and am rebuilding the other this week.
 
My PS pump has always been loud in the cold. It fixes itelf every spring!:hillbilly:

And my tranny will not go into overdrive until my temp gage gets up to the bottom line, but I have the Raventai gage mod so YMMV.
 
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I have that same “issue” with the tranny. But as stated above, it’s normal.

As for the PS pump.. I had the same symptoms you described a while back. I fixed it by topping off the PS reservoir...
 
@ZackR has it right for the trans issue, it's a non-issue.
 

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