01-07-2019, 07:32 PM
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#1
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Snow= Trouble Shifting
I've had this happen in the past but just ran in to this situation again today and wanted to see if anyone has a solution before i get stuck.
We often times get this really wet snow out West that is referred to as Sierra Cement. Last night we got about 6" of really wet snow that came down when the temp was between 32-35* and on my drive in to work it completely entombed my transmission and uncarriage. It really stacks up on the passenger side above the plastic piece that cover the fuel lines.
Long story short... I get to work and can't shift the truck out of drive... Can't get it in to reverse, park or neutral so if I shut it off I won't be able to start it up without neutral so I shut it off anyway because I was going to be here for 8 hours. Here it is almost 8 later and it still hadn't melted enough to shift so I just spent 20 minutues melting the snow out from under my rig with a hose and I can now shift in to all gears. When this has happened in the past I was fortunate and was able to park in the garage overnight and it had melted by morning.
Anyone else have this issue and if so what have you done to mitigate it in the future? Thanks!
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1998 Toyota 4Runner 3.4 4x4 with 340,000 miles.
199mm TBU-Bilstein 4600-'99 Tall Springs(Rear).Almost Totally Stock
1997 Toyota 4Runner 3.4 4x4 with 247k miles-Project car
Last edited by JMat; 01-07-2019 at 07:34 PM.
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01-07-2019, 08:20 PM
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#2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JMat
I've had this happen in the past but just ran in to this situation again today and wanted to see if anyone has a solution before i get stuck.
We often times get this really wet snow out West that is referred to as Sierra Cement. Last night we got about 6" of really wet snow that came down when the temp was between 32-35* and on my drive in to work it completely entombed my transmission and uncarriage. It really stacks up on the passenger side above the plastic piece that cover the fuel lines.
Long story short... I get to work and can't shift the truck out of drive... Can't get it in to reverse, park or neutral so if I shut it off I won't be able to start it up without neutral so I shut it off anyway because I was going to be here for 8 hours. Here it is almost 8 later and it still hadn't melted enough to shift so I just spent 20 minutues melting the snow out from under my rig with a hose and I can now shift in to all gears. When this has happened in the past I was fortunate and was able to park in the garage overnight and it had melted by morning.
Anyone else have this issue and if so what have you done to mitigate it in the future? Thanks!
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Do you mean you move the shifter into another gear and nothing happens or you physically cannot move the shifter at all?
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01-07-2019, 08:44 PM
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#3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johnbyebye
Do you mean you move the shifter into another gear and nothing happens or you physically cannot move the shifter at all?
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I am pretty sure he means the transmission doesn't shift, so he shifts to D but nothing happens.
Your fluid is probably too cold to shift, that's the component of the transmission that is most affected by temperature. I would recommend a fluid exchange for high quality synthetic fluid, such as Redline or AMSOIL. I've noticed my 4Runner behave much nicer in cold weather since the change. It has properties compared to regular fluids that keep the viscosity thinner in cold temps.
One thing that doesn't make sense though is your stock transmission cooler on the underside of the radiator. Are your transmission lines disconnected or bypassed through an auxiliary cooler? If yes, disconnect the lines and reconnect the stock cooler ASAP. They are not recommended by the manufacturers to be run separately in colder climate but in series, so flow goes from transmission -> stock cooler -> auxiliary cooler. If you remove it the transmission temps take a very, very long time to warm up.
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01-07-2019, 08:55 PM
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#4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johnbyebye
Do you mean you move the shifter into another gear and nothing happens or you physically cannot move the shifter at all?
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Sorry... The shifter handle won't move past D into neutral. reverse or park. It is physically jammed at that point. I can drive it because it's in Drive. I've put as much pressure as I feel comfortable doing(don't want to break it) and I can't force it north of drive.
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1998 Toyota 4Runner 3.4 4x4 with 340,000 miles.
199mm TBU-Bilstein 4600-'99 Tall Springs(Rear).Almost Totally Stock
1997 Toyota 4Runner 3.4 4x4 with 247k miles-Project car
Last edited by JMat; 01-07-2019 at 09:01 PM.
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01-07-2019, 09:10 PM
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#5
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what it sounds like your saying is that the snow builds up over your shifter linkage and you cant move the shifter due to it being "frozen"
If you crawl under the truck and look on the driver side of the transmission you'll see the linkage, its a horizontal bar with a bolt that connects to the shifter. If that doesn't make sense look up a body lift write up and most will have a picture of the linkage
Theres the dumb solution of carrying a hair dryer to melt the snow off the linkage when it builds up, or maybe a screwdriver to chip it off.
Long term maybe build some sort of skid plate to keep the snow off the linkage or even like a cut pool noodle? I've never heard of that issue before
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Last edited by Asaspades93; 01-07-2019 at 09:15 PM.
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01-07-2019, 09:18 PM
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#6
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Is there not supposed to be a plastic shield under the tuck to help prevent this sort of thing?
I'm not talking about skid plates.
Under my truck near the transmission I have the remains of a plastic shield.
Just a thought.
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01-07-2019, 09:27 PM
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#7
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I don't think that mine had a plastic shield. could be wrong though
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96 SR5, Ghetto ISR mod, SCS Stealth 6s, 35x12.5 Toyo MTs, Bilstein 5100s/Eibach coils, B&M Transmission cooler, 1.5 Inch Fat Pat body lift, OME 851s, TJM XGS Gold series LC shocks, Satoshi grill, Rear diff breather, 167 series snorkel, Toytec rear brake line, All Pro apex Front bumper with custom hoops, Custom rear bumper with Ghetto swing out, First Gen roll bar,LED parking lights/turn signals, Hybrid model
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01-07-2019, 10:20 PM
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#8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alumarine
Is there not supposed to be a plastic shield under the tuck to help prevent this sort of thing?
I'm not talking about skid plates.
Under my truck near the transmission I have the remains of a plastic shield.
Just a thought.
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I do have that plastic shield... All it seems to do though is collect more and more of this slushy snow. As a matter of fact... There was so much snow it had sagged down about 6"+
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1998 Toyota 4Runner 3.4 4x4 with 340,000 miles.
199mm TBU-Bilstein 4600-'99 Tall Springs(Rear).Almost Totally Stock
1997 Toyota 4Runner 3.4 4x4 with 247k miles-Project car
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01-07-2019, 10:23 PM
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#9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Asaspades93
what it sounds like your saying is that the snow builds up over your shifter linkage and you cant move the shifter due to it being "frozen"
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Thanks. That's definitely what's going on and I'll have to climb under there to see if the pool noodle thing will work. Just looking for a way to keep from having to lay under there on my back when it's cold and wet.
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1998 Toyota 4Runner 3.4 4x4 with 340,000 miles.
199mm TBU-Bilstein 4600-'99 Tall Springs(Rear).Almost Totally Stock
1997 Toyota 4Runner 3.4 4x4 with 247k miles-Project car
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01-07-2019, 11:14 PM
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#10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JMat
Thanks. That's definitely what's going on and I'll have to climb under there to see if the pool noodle thing will work. Just looking for a way to keep from having to lay under there on my back when it's cold and wet.
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I'll be Captain obvious ..... Definitely need to find somewhere you can park your truck where the transmission isn't frozen solid to the ground.
I found my truck's transmission to be particularly unfriendly to the cold and I live in SoCal. On cold mornings I sometimes have to let it warm up for 30-60 seconds before driving to avoid any slippage. At normal temps it is a great transmission.
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01-08-2019, 12:24 AM
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#11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianSD_42
I'll be Captain obvious ..... Definitely need to find somewhere you can park your truck where the transmission isn't frozen solid to the ground.
I found my truck's transmission to be particularly unfriendly to the cold and I live in SoCal. On cold mornings I sometimes have to let it warm up for 30-60 seconds before driving to avoid any slippage. At normal temps it is a great transmission.
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I could handle that... It's the stuff that comes up from the road that kills me
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1998 Toyota 4Runner 3.4 4x4 with 340,000 miles.
199mm TBU-Bilstein 4600-'99 Tall Springs(Rear).Almost Totally Stock
1997 Toyota 4Runner 3.4 4x4 with 247k miles-Project car
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01-08-2019, 01:28 PM
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#12
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Not all of the 4WD's came with the plastic shield there (and none of the 2WD's did). Most are gone at this point due to physical damage or lazy mechanics. It may be worth removing it to see if it keeps the snow from packing in that location.
-Charlie
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01-08-2019, 01:39 PM
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#13
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My 97 did not have that plastic shield although it could have at one point. The 99 I bought for parts still had it but I never put it on my 97.
A healthy transmission will have no problems/issues operating at temperatures well below freezing. Last winter in Wisconsin we had 3 or 4 days in a row where it was -15 ish and my transmission acted completely normal as it should have.
If you keep getting snow/slush build up around the shift linkage, I would fab up some kind of "shield" to keep it from happening.
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