when you first heard the noise, did you drop your pan and inspect the filter to see if it was clogged?

It will be interesting to see if its clogged or not. I've read on here, and on other car forums that often the filter gets so plugged (I know our is just a fine mesh screen) that it restricts the fluid and makes the whine. This would be similar to a PS pump either being low on fluid or having a clogged filter. You can burn out the pump by doing this.

Best case scenario, its just a clogged filter. Worst case scenario (most likely), the tranny finally shit the bed.

All good points. I've used rubber gaskets on other vehicles tranny pans and I've never had an issue.

I do have access to a lift, a guy i work with has a shop with a lift and tranny jack. Nothing is ever easy and spending 500 bucks on a used tranny wasn't exactly in my budget. Especially after spending about 2k on rebuilding a boat I bought back in October.

Oh well, that is life..

I just drove it around the way it was. Put new fluid in it and went on my way. But when i took the trans apart the filter was clear. I could have used it again if it wasnt for all of the metal.

I will say disconnect the wiring harness first and get it out of the way. Then disconnect the driveshafts. You can bungee the rear one to hold it in place. Completely remove the front drive shaft. If you have a lift it really isnt all that bad. Had the trans out in 2 hours and thats because i was being cautious.

So the pan had all sorts of metal in it? I guess when I drop mine if I find shavings in it, it's safe to say its time to do a swap.

Maybe having a lift speeds things up and then the fact @infamousRNR and I filmed the whole process but there is no f*cking way we had the trans out anywhere close to within 2 hours. It took Sean and I at least a whole days worth of work. I heard this before. Took us about 2 hours and I just don't see how that's possible.

First, we got the shifters disconnected and that took a while. Then we got the driveshafts out. Next was the rear crossmember and the sway bar. Then we disconnected all the electrical connections to the transfer case, removed the bolts that hold the transfer case to the transmission and separated the transfer case from the transmission. Next we took the upper dipstick tube out and took off the access plate off the bottom of the bell housing. Then, as Sean turned the crankshaft bolt, I got all the bolts out that hold the flex plate to the torque converter. Then we had to get all the electrical connections disconnected from the transmission and disconnected the wiring loom completely from the trans. Next we pulled the starter. Then we got the transmission jack in place and took out the front cross member. Finally, we remove the bell housing bolts and pull the transmission out.

Again, how the f*ck you do all the above in 2 hours is beyond my comprehension. Even if we weren't doing this all on our backs and we weren't filming this, I know we still would have taken way more than 2 hours. However, if 2 guys are working at the same time with a lift, I reckon things would go much quicker. Since we're filming every step, we can't be working on different things at the same time.

Anyway, I know I'm a slow mechanic but I mange to getter dun.

Sean is backed up with his editing duties because we've been doing quite a bit of wrenching lately so hopefully we'll have the video out within the next month. It will be a multi-part video because one video for the whole job would be way too long.

My first time doing a 4Runner trans (with a lift, 2 people working) we probably had it out in 3-4 hours. We had the trans out, modified the body for 4WD and back in in a short weekend... The only hang up was 1 exhaust stud, that we probably shouldn't have messed with in the first place.

I can see 2-3 hours if you know what you are doing and have no problem fasteners. Impact tools + lift + good trans jack makes a very big difference.

-Charlie

dude, i had one slip at 175K miles...All i did was drain the pan and refill with Royal Purple. Now has over 253k miles and hasn't slipped since. It was a 2wd 3.4...my brother drives it now.

2 hours does seem insanely fast for removing a transmission. I will be in a full on mechanics shop and the helper (the mechanic) has removed dozens and dozens of transmissions from school buses, ambulances, cars, trucks ect. Hopefully with his help, we can get it pulled and installed in one day.

Just for shits and grins, I checked the fluid again, color is damn near brand new and doesn't smell burnt. Granted, I changed the fluid within the last 5k miles.

I really...really hope its just a clogged filter/screen. I let it idle for 10 minutes tonight and the noise is completely gone.

what has me somewhat worried is the delay in shifting when it first starts up cold (from P to D or R). The delay is approximately 1.5 - 2 seconds. It never did that before but it also never made that noise before. The other part that was weird was this literally all of a sudden happened. It Never made that noise or had the delay in shifting from Park until a week ago. It still shifts perfectly fine when driving, even when its still super cold out right after the noise upon start up.

Here is it after warming up for 10 minutes, noise is gone well before 10 minutes...https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2F...w?usp=drivesdk

Exactly. Living in CA there's no rusted bolts or anything to deal with. Impact tools and electric archers make short work of fasteners. Once you know how it comes apart Iran obviously a lot easier. It took us around 3-4 hours. But the reinstall and button up was shorter. I'm sure that unless something was to come up that slowed it down, 2-3 hours would be enough to have it out. I also pulled the trans and transfer case as a unit.

hey Tim, what are ya'll doing, swapping with junkyard?

We put a Toyota remanned one in his rig. Sean called around to all the Toyota dealers in the Bay Area and picked up one at Melody Toyota in San Bruno for $2200. Most of the dealerships wanted $2500+.

awesome!

so it had transfer case and tranny in one?

No, it didn't. $2200 is just the price for the auto transmission. We separated the transfer case from the transmission and then turned in his damaged transmission to avoid paying the core charge.

His transfer case is fine, I hope. He had a noise before the transmission imploded and we're thinking it's the rear driveshaft. Sean said the noise has recently gotten louder so we're going to take a look at the driveshaft to see if there's any noticeable play. Then we'll probably remove the shaft and drive around in 4Hi to see if the noise goes away.

Did the rebuilt tranny for the dealer come with any kind of warranty and will they honor it if you install it yourself?

Thanks Tim