I was in creeping traffic for 20 minutes and suddenly the '89 240 transmission wouldn't go into any gear. I turned off the engine waiting for a tow and turned it back on 20 minutes later and it worked perfectly...drove home in city traffic. Thank you for your observations

 

Is this an automatic or a stickshift ?

if its an automatic, I'd be looking at the ATF first, is there enough? is it ancient and burnt smelling?

 

It's an automatic. The ATF was full and normal, no burnt smell. The shift lever moved freely into all positions, none of which worked. The shift does have a little play in each position.

 

play in the auto shifter is normal

hard to guess whats wrong from the symptoms, I wouldn't know where to begin diagnosing this. the auto in these cars is an Aisin-Warner AW70, a very robust transmission used in a number of larger Toyotas from the same vintage. i'm guessing it got very hot, then when it cooled down it started working again, but not shifting at all is unusual, I'd more expect behavior like slipping bands causing loss of power.

 

when is the last time the ATF was changed?

 

indeed, I'm thinking, not just a ATF flush, but dropping the transmission pan and cleaning it out carefully and thoroughly. this is something I usually leave to a good transmission shop, but its not a cheap service. It probably should be done every 100K miles or so just on principle.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I bought the car last year and don't know when the ATF was last changed, if ever, or the pan cleaned out.

 

take a look:
aw70

 

$20, eh? you price ATF recently? eek.

I've heard 12-16 quarts to get a good flush, especially if the tranny had been neglected for awhile. also, one quart out, one quart in, rather than flush til sputter, fill and repeat.

 

Yeah I agree, 1 quart at a time. That site is really old, I think Walmart's generic 4 quart ATF is ~$16 where I live.