A few weeks ago I was on the highway and my 2000 2wd suddenly lost all power and I was unable to accelerate. I coasted to the safest spot I could, and when I got out and checked under the hood the radiator was dumping coolant. I got towed to my office where I could safely leave it for a while, and noticed that the crack in the radiator i had sealed had blown open (been good for 3+ years - yes I know I should have just replaced it). The lack of power is concerning though. If i try to put the car in gear and give it gas the engine just revvs. It reminds me of when my intake hose ripped open. On the cursory inspection I did the hole in the radiator tank was the only thing I noticed. Is this the culprit, or is there something else I should be looking at?

short answer is no. if there is a change in power and there is a hole in the radiator my worry would be a over heat causing a loss of compression. I would check the normal things first. Refill with water for now check air cleaner check the oil level and if there is a milkshake condition. Fix any leaks start let it come to temp if ok take it for a short drive with phone in hand.

If all is ok refill with coolant and drive think about changing all coolant lines. If the power is poor I would look at doing a compression test.

Check transmission fluid too... good chance of a pink milkshake (mixing coolant and trans fluid).

-Charlie

You have power it sounds like but your transmission seems to have failed. The motor starts and revs but vehicle does not move when put in drive is a transmission issue.

A coolant leak and a vacuum leak are two different systems so one causing the other isn't possible.

As for the engine starts/runs but vehicle doesn't move I would first check your transmission fluid it should be red (or brownish/black if you haven't changed it lately) if it is milky, has a glue consistency, or is a strawberry milkshake color then your transmission cooler which is internal to the radiator has a leak and you are mixing coolant and transmission fluid. Very few have had any luck flushing the transmission and it lasting for long.

If your transmission fluid looks fine then shift into neutral and make sure it rolls at least a foot. This makes sure that your shifter linkage is working.

About the same advice everyone else has given. Sounds like your tranny fluid and coolant mixed and ruined your transmission. Look up strawberry milkshake on these forums. It's common knowledge here enough that people replace the radiator before any signs of failure as preventative maintenance. If any signs of fatigue on these radiators it's best to get them replaced or at the very least bypass the cooler in the radiator for an external transmission cooler eliminating the chance of it mixing.

Curious where the crack was that you fixed a while back? Was it on the top or bottom of the radiator?

I know it's shifting because I had to put it into neutral to push it about 20 yards when the tow truck couldn't back into the driveway

The crack is in the very top plastic part of the radiator, i sealed it with some industrial epoxy.

I'll check the transmission fluid when I go to the office tomorrow night. Thanks for the tips.

Putting it into neutral and shifting are different things.
It going into neutral just means the linkage is working.
It not going forward or backward means it's not going into gear.
It not going from 1st to 2cnd etc. means it's not shifting.

Transmission fluid was brown and oily, so doesn't seem like a pink milkshake situation. What's my next step here?

wow ...blew a radiator...sealed it with some goop...drove it for another few years...lucky you.
hope when you fix your running issue you replace the radiator...like what..... 120 aftermarket cheepy
sorry...thats so wrong to let that go

Not sure what else you are possibly looking for because everyone has given you great advice and now it is time for you to take your car to a mechanic. Pretty much everyone up here would have had their car towed to a mechanic if they weren't capable of fixing it themselves if this happen to us.

I'm trying to avoid doing that because of the current health crisis. If I'm able to nail down what exactly the problem is I can determine if it's something I can tackle myself or not first. I'm just here looking for troubleshooting tips.

Post of a picture of what the tranny fluid looks like. Does it smell burnt? Is the fluid milky (not translucent) or is just brown? Is the fluid level low/high?

I cant think of any other reason why your transmission quit work at the exact same time your radiator blew other than the fluids mixed. Before this all happened, did you notice any shifting issues, higher engine temps? Pull the radiator cap off and also look in your overflow tank to see if you see any oily consistency. Does the 4runner start up and idle fine?

This 4Runner sounds so far gone from the details in this thread.