So last week I had a issue where I backed the truck out of the driveway, shifted to Drive and gave it gas and the only thing that happened was the revs went up. Almost no drive to the wheel whatsoever. It was pick up a little if i got it close to 2000 rpm but 5 mph was about top speed.

Did some research and drained the fluid and filled it back up. Let the new fluid settle and then tested it out. The old problem persisted for maybe 10 seconds or so but then the transmission kicked back to life. Took the truck on the highway with no problem, smooth shifts etc. I had to get this fixed as I was headed back to college soon.

So after I thought the issue had been resolved, I drove it 2 hours back to college. The truck ran normally for two days straight except for some slow cranks which i think is due to the battery being a little low but that shouldnt be related.

Then this morning the same problem came back. Put it in Drive and almost no power. I turned on a side street to turn around and it was a slight incline but it couldn't even get up it.

Any insight or help would be tremendously appreciated I don't really have any experience with transmissions.

Thanks.

Well it sounds like a drain/fill helped it somewhat. But you know that was only about 1/4 of the fluid, still has 3/4 used in it. What was the color/condition of the fluid removed?

May want to do a full flush, it has helped many out of problems. Some will suggest you skip this for now and pull the trans pan to check out the window screen filter and the magnets looking for large/largish chunks of metal, its normal to have fine particles.

Many on here will want to know how many mile the trans has on it.

Any CELs posted or pending?

Let us know what you find. Luck and enjoy those Toyotas.

More info will be helpful. What does the fluid look like? Does it smell burnt? Did you check the fluid level after the transmission (not the engine) got up to operating temp? Are you checking the trans fluid level on level ground with the vehicle running in park/neutral? Any other strange behavior before this problem? How old is the fluid and filter? Is this the original transmission and torque converter?

What others have said also does it drive forward in any of the gears? put it in first and 2nd and see if it moves.

Also make sure your rear brakes aren’t sticking, caused by old shoes or misadjusted bellcranks.

If it happens next time, try putting it reverse first.

Another forum member I believe had this problem some time ago. It ended up being the torque converter, which wouldn’t engage all the time when the fluid was cold. If the transmission is shifting well otherwise, you may want to start looking at such.

Check rear brakes. Mine would lock up hard on cold mornings due to bad axle seals. Only way I'd get moving was 4Lo.