Celica transmission grinding noise

I'm writing about an issue with my 2001 Toyota Celica with a gasoline engine. At 106316 km, it's showing signs of a faulty transmission oil temperature sensor. The engine warning light, and sometimes the transmission warning light, come on and an error code is stored. The gearbox sometimes goes into emergency mode, with slipping, unclean shifting, and grinding when changing gears. Could low gearbox oil be the cause?

4 comment(s)

Sounds familiar. I had similar overheating problems with my Celica automatic transmission. Check the oil level first, but don't be surprised if it's the sensor itself. Was the shifting rough?

When you had similar overheating problems with your Celica automatic transmission, were the symptoms the same? Did you also experience the grinding noises? Did fixing it involve low gearbox oil, sensor replacement, or both?

Yep, grinding sounds awful, right? I’d get it to a workshop pronto. Mine was similar, but not exactly the same - still, dodgy shifting is a sign of auto 'box issues. Could be low on oil, could be the sensor itself failing, either way, get it looked at. It saved me a bigger bill later. Ignoring it will only make it worse. Trust me.

Following your advice, I took the Celica to a mechanic. They said the faulty transmission oil temperature sensor was the main issue, made worse by slightly low gearbox oil. The sensor was replaced, the oil level corrected, and the error codes cleared. The total repair cost was 365€. The Celica now shifts smoothly without any noises or warning lights. Thanks for your help.

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